| First Name | Carlos Marcos |
| Last Name | Lavernia |
| Year of Conviction | 1985 |
| Year of Exoneration | 2000 |
| State of Conviction | Texas |
| Trial, Bench Trial, or Guilty Plea | Trial |
| Type of Crime | Rape |
| Death Sentence | No |
| Gender of Exoneree | Male |
| Race of exoneree | Hispanic |
| Juvenile | No |
| Did the defendant testify at trial? | No |
| Types of evidence at trial |
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| Type of Forensic Evidence |
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| Types of Flawed Forensics |
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| Reason why invalid | (1) Masking |
| Brief Quote / Description of Testimony | Analyst testified that the victim was an O secretor, while Lavernia was an O non-secretor. The analyst testified “That the semen donor was either a blood group O Secretor or a non-secretor” and that “O secretor is found in 33 percent or the populationm so that’s a third of the people, of males.” See Part II.A.2 for a description of the problem of masking and non-quantification and discussion of similar cases. |
| Identity of eyewitness |
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| Suggestive Procedures | Yes ● Suggestive line-up – none in photos resembled defendant ● Prior identification suppressed by court ● Victim not told that attacker might not be present in line-up |
| Quotes from testimony #1 | Victim was shown the five photos from the array and agreed the others “nowhere near resembles” defendant and that the only photo that did resemble the defendant was his photo, which she identified. Victim was simply presented with photo array and asked “Are any of these the man that attacked you?” |
| Unreliable Identification? | No ● Discrepancies in description – did not identify prominent silver tooth with star on it or multiple tattoos |
| Quotes from testimony #2 | Victim said she saw “nothing unusual” about attacker’s teeth and did not see the numerous tattoos defendant had on his arms. |
| Highest level reached | FederalHabeas |
| Claims Raised During All Appeals and Postconviction |
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| Harmless Error Rulings |
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| Citations to judicial opinions | Lavernia v. Lynaugh 845 F.2d 493 (5th Cir. 1988.) |