Byron Halsey

DNA excluded Halsey

DNA testing of semen and cigarette butts from the crime scene excluded Halsey and proved his innocence, according to the Registry.

Whereabouts corroborated at trial

Witnesses at trial corroborated Halsey's account of his whereabouts on the night of the crime — he was dropped off across town with friends by Clifton Hall — and testified about his repeated phone calls searching for the missing children.

Conduct on the night of the crime

Halsey walked home a couple of hours after being dropped off, found the children missing, and spent the night calling Urquhart at work and relatives looking for them.

Confession was internally inconsistent

On every key fact — including the location of the bodies and the manner of death — Halsey initially gave wrong answers and had to guess repeatedly before answering correctly.

He actually passed the polygraph

The Third Circuit noted Halsey was told he had failed a polygraph examination "that we now know he passed."

Consistent claims of innocence

Halsey maintained his innocence at trial and continued to assert it throughout his imprisonment, according to the federal civil-suit record.

2002 DNA access statute enabled testing

New Jersey's post-conviction DNA access law took effect in July 2002, and the Innocence Project secured testing in 2006 at state labs and at Orchid Cellmark, which did some work pro bono.

DNA identified Clifton Hall

DNA linked crime-scene evidence to Clifton Hall, a neighbor in the same rooming house who had been an original suspect.

Hall's later sex crime convictions

By the time of the DNA testing, Hall was imprisoned for three separate Plainfield sex crimes committed in 1991 and 1992.

Hall was prepared to confess

Hall's attorney later told prosecutors that Hall was prepared to confess to the crimes. Hall died in 2009 of kidney failure before trial.

Official misconduct and false confession

The Registry's listed Contributing Factors include "Official Misconduct" and "False Confession."

Marathon interrogation of a disabled suspect

Police interrogated Halsey, a man with a sixth-grade education and severe learning disabilities, for about 30 hours over a 40-hour period.

Statement concealed how it was produced

The signed statement omitted both the inaccuracies in his answers and the process that produced it.

Third Circuit findings on fabrication

The Third Circuit found the "confession" contained details investigators must have inserted because Halsey could not have known them; he was falsely told he had failed a polygraph he actually passed and was confronted with false incriminating evidence.

Malicious prosecution claim reinstated

The Third Circuit reaffirmed that a police officer who fabricates evidence to obtain a conviction violates due process, and reinstated Halsey's malicious prosecution claim, noting the prosecutor acknowledged the false confession contributed to the charging decision and that without it there was no direct evidence linking Halsey to the crimes.

Civil complaint allegations

Halsey's civil complaint alleged fabrication and concealment of evidence and coercion of a false confession in violation of his constitutional rights.

Investigation of the real perpetrator abandoned

Police stopped investigating Clifton Hall — their initial suspect — once the interrogation produced Halsey's statement.

Uncorroborated false confession

The uncorroborated false confession was the central evidence at trial; prosecutors argued the false details in it were inserted deliberately by Halsey to evade conviction.

Polygraph results admitted at trial

Polygraph results were admitted at trial, though polygraph evidence has been proven unreliable, according to the Registry.

Questionable forensic testimony

A "forensic geologist" and an expert in "forensic metallurgy" testified about characteristics of the nails and of a brick said to have caused the impact — the basis for the "False or Misleading Forensic Evidence" factor.

Testimony from the actual perpetrator

Clifton Hall — later identified by DNA — testified as a prosecution witness; his testimony was contradicted by other witnesses but damaged Halsey's case, the basis for the "Perjury or False Accusation" factor.