| First Name | Chad |
| Last Name | Heins |
| Year of Conviction | 1996 |
| Year of Exoneration | 2007 |
| State of Conviction | Florida |
| Trial, Bench Trial, or Guilty Plea | Trial |
| Type of Crime | Murder |
| Death Sentence | No |
| Life / LWOP sentence | Life |
| Gender of Exoneree | Male |
| Race of exoneree | White |
| Juvenile | No |
| Type of Innocence Defense |
|
| Description / Quotes from Testimony Concerning Defense | ● Three witnesses testified that victim’s husband (who was also the defendant’s brother) made inculpatory statements suggesting he was responsible for his wife’s murder. |
| Did the defendant testify at trial? | Yes |
| Quotes from Exoneree Testimony | “Q: Chad did you have anything to do with the death of [the victim]? A: No sir. Q: Did you kill [the victim]? A: No sir. Q: Did you attempt to have any type of sexual relationship with her on April 17, 1994? A: No sir.” |
| Types of evidence at trial |
|
| Type of Forensic Evidence |
|
| Types of Flawed Forensics |
|
| Reason why invalid | (3) Incorrect frequency provided |
| Brief Quote / Description of Testimony | The analyst failed to provide the relevant statistic for population included by DQ Alpha type. See Part II.C. for discussion of this case. Hair comparison excluded the defendant. |
| Jailhouse informant, Co-defendant, Incentivized Witness | J |
| Examples of Non-Public or Corroborated Facts and Inconsistencies | ● Non-public details in admissions allegedly overheard by two jailhouse informants |
| Quotes from testimony #3 | Prosecutor argued, “What rings true about what [the informants] didn’t get any deal or compensation from testifying? The words they claimed he used. Remember, they didn’t know whether it was Jeremy’s wife that got killed, what did they tell you this defendant said. I killed my brother’s old lady… neither one of them knew anything about the facts of this defendant’s case…” |
| Quotes regarding any deal or leniency with informant, or prior use of informant | Prosecutor asserted “they didn’t get any deal or compensation from testifying” |
| Highest level reached | NR |