On the morning of May 8, 2001, a New Orleans pharmacy was robbed by two young Black men. One of the robbers took money from the register after threatening the clerk with a knife. The second man appeared to be armed with a gun wrapped in a bandana and robbed the register at the back pharmacy counter. The manager heard screaming and called police. He saw the two men fleeing and gave chase. They entered a small red car and drove away.
Police collected descriptions from the victims and surveillance footage. Two prints were found on the front cash register, but were deemed unsuitable for comparison. Local news stations aired stories that night that included surveillance footage. On the day after the crime, police received an anonymous tip from a person claiming to have recognized the first robber as Donald Degruy, whose photo was then placed in a photographic lineup. The pharmacy clerk identified Mr. Degruy as the robber with a knife.
Mr. Degruy, claiming innocence, was tried twice for this crime. His first trial ended with a hung jury. The second trial ended with a non-unanimous jury convicting him, in February 2002, of armed robbery. At both trials, the state relied on the clerk’s identification of Mr. Degruy. The pharmacy counter victim would not identify anyone, though she testified at the second trial that she could. Her trial testimony contradicted both the police report and the detective’s testimony that she did not get a good look at the first robber and could not identify him. Mr. Degruy was sentenced to 66 years.
Innocence & Justice Louisiana began investigating Mr. Degruy’s case in 2015, as part of a joint effort with the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office. Another man, who’d previously confessed to this crime and had committed very similar robberies, admitted that he, not Mr. Degruy, robbed the pharmacy. Further, he and Mr. Degruy bore a striking resemblance to each other. Though there was new evidence of actual innocence, the state suggested that Mr. Degruy plead guilty to secure a reduced sentence that would mean immediate release. In July 2016, 15 years after he was wrongfully convicted, Mr. Degruy agreed to take the plea and was released.
