On November 19, 2005, police in Sierra Vista, Arizona, arrested 43-year-old Nubian Amon-Ra and charged him with aggravated assault for striking 37-year-old Gailland Ballou with a gun.
Amon-Ra, who was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, went to trial in Cochise County Superior Court in June 2006 before Judge Wallace Hoggatt, who heard the evidence without a jury. Ballou testified that Amon-Ra punched him and struck him in the head with a gun.
Hoggatt convicted Amon-Ra of punching Ballou and acquitted Amon-Ra of striking him with a gun. Amon-Ra was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison.
In 2011, a post-conviction petition for a new trial was filed after a witness came forward and said that Ballou admitted that Amon-Ra never attacked him. The witness said that Ballou said he concocted the story of the attack because he believed that Amon-Ra had sex with Ballou's daughter.
The witness testified at an evidentiary hearing in 2012 and in April 2012, Judge Hoggatt vacated Amon-Ra's conviction and ordered a new trial. On May 31, 2012, the charge was dismissed. Amon-Ra was convicted in 2013 of a different aggravated assault and sentenced to seven years in prison.
- Maurice Possley
Amon-Ra, who was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, went to trial in Cochise County Superior Court in June 2006 before Judge Wallace Hoggatt, who heard the evidence without a jury. Ballou testified that Amon-Ra punched him and struck him in the head with a gun.
Hoggatt convicted Amon-Ra of punching Ballou and acquitted Amon-Ra of striking him with a gun. Amon-Ra was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison.
In 2011, a post-conviction petition for a new trial was filed after a witness came forward and said that Ballou admitted that Amon-Ra never attacked him. The witness said that Ballou said he concocted the story of the attack because he believed that Amon-Ra had sex with Ballou's daughter.
The witness testified at an evidentiary hearing in 2012 and in April 2012, Judge Hoggatt vacated Amon-Ra's conviction and ordered a new trial. On May 31, 2012, the charge was dismissed. Amon-Ra was convicted in 2013 of a different aggravated assault and sentenced to seven years in prison.
- Maurice Possley
Posting Date: 08-25-2015
Case Details:
State:
Arizona
County:
Cochise
Most Serious Crime:
Assault
Reported Crime Date:
2005
Convicted:
2006
Exonerated:
2012
Sentence:
Term of Years
Race / Ethnicity:
Black
Sex:
Male
Age at the date of reported crime:
43
Contributing Factors:
Perjury or False Accusation
Did DNA evidence contribute to the exoneration?:
No