On February 27, 1992, a string of five armed robberies occurred in Gary, Indiana, leaving

one man shot dead in front of his wife and three young daughters.

All the victims described the assailant as a black man around five-six with a cangal hat,

red bandana, black leather jacket, and some sort of scarring on his face.

Instead of compiling a photo array of men fitting that description, investigators included

the photo of Timmy Donald, a man who was six feet tall with no facial scarring, and,

according to at least one victim, was the suggested choice of investigators.

In fact, a search warrant had already been obtained for Timmy's home before he had been

misidentified.

Three of the robbery victims, including one former Gary police officer, were separately

shown the photo array and did not identify Timmy, but the other two viewed the array together.

A mixture of police and peer pressure produced two misidentifications.

During the live lineup, according to one victim, when she said that Timmy was bigger than

the armed robber, she was assured that they had the right guy.

Even though it was proven that Timmy was at work at the exact time that the victim had

spotted the actual attacker on the street and tried to report it, tunnel vision had already

set in, and that report was hidden from the defense.

Despite no physical or forensic evidence, as well as a solid alibi and the protests of

all the other victims, the misidentifications were enough to send Timmy down all the way

for a 60-year sentence.

This is wrongful conviction.

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