“Ohio 4” Wrongful Convictions Set to be Overturned – Men Have Spent More Than a Century in Prison for Crime They Did Not Commit

DRC announces that the “Ohio 4” wrongful convictions are set to be overturned. This momentous development is the result of dedicated efforts by DRC founder and President Josh Dubin, Esq. and The Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo Law, Lauren Staley and Shantya Goddard of the Ohio Innocence Project, Joanna Sanchez and Nicholas Allen of the Ohio Public Defender’s Wrongful Conviction Project, and wrongful conviction attorney Kimberly Kendall Corral. The “Ohio 4”—Alfred Cleveland, Benson Davis, John Edwards, and Lenworth Edwards—were wrongfully tried and convicted for the 1991 murder of Marsha Blakely in Lorain County, Ohio. Collectively, these four men have endured 122 years of incarceration, despite overwhelming evidence of innocence.

On Monday, December 2, 2024, Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson took a decisive step toward rectifying these miscarriages of justice by filing a joint motion with defense counsel to vacate the convictions and request a new trial. “If the court grants this motion, I will move to dismiss all charges against these four men,” said Prosecutor Tomlinson in his formal statement.

The four convictions were built almost entirely upon the testimony of a single witness, William Avery Jr., whose credibility has since been thoroughly discredited. Avery has admitted to fabricating his initial statements for a $2,000 reward. Despite first recanting in 1991 and later providing sworn statements to the FBI in 2004 and a signed affidavit in 2006 declaring his testimony was made up, the State of Ohio relied on his false claims during the trials that resulted in the convictions of the Ohio 4. Avery’s more recent statements not only recant his allegations but also implicate his father in the case.

No physical evidence ties any of the four men to the murder, and forensic examinations have failed to support Avery’s testimony. Alibis, corroborated by several witnesses and documentary evidence, also place Alfred Cleveland in New York City—hundreds of miles away from Lorain County—and John Edwards at a local bar during the timeframe Avery described the murder took place. These verified accounts, combined with Avery’s repeated recantations and the absence of physical evidence, completely undermine the integrity of the convictions.

In 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found Alfred Cleveland’s claims of innocence credible. He was only released on parole in 2020 after serving twenty-six years. Lenworth Edwards was also released on parole that same year after having served twenty-nine and a half years. John Edwards and Benson Davis remain incarcerated.