Gary Dotson

Article summary

Gary E. Dotson (born March 8, 1957) is an American man who was the second person to be exonerated of a criminal conviction by DNA evidence (after David Vasquez was given an unconditional pardon on the 4th of January 1989, for the 1984 murder of Carolyn Hamm). In May 1979, Dotson was found guilty and sentenced to 25 to 50 years' imprisonment for rape, and another 25 to 50 years for aggravated kidnapping, the terms to be served concurrently. This conviction was upheld by the appellate court in 1981. In 1985, the accusing witness recanted her testimony, which had been the main evidence against Dotson. He was not exonerated or pardoned at that time, but due to popular belief that he was a victim of a false rape accusation, Dotson went through a series of paroles and re-incarcerations until DNA evidence proved his innocence in 1988. Dotson was subsequently cleared of his conviction.

Key claims

1. date of birth: 1957-03-08 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. date of death: 2008-05-15 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of birth is "1957-03-08". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the date of death is "2008-05-15". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.