Juwan Deering

Wrongfully convicted: August 1, 2006
Exonerated: September 30, 2021
Oakland County

Juwan Deering was convicted in 2006 of arson and murder for setting a fire six years earlier, which resulted in the tragic deaths of five children. A fire investigator testified for the prosecution that the physical markers present at the fire scene showed that the fire started on the porch and involved the use of an accelerant. The State also presented questionable jailhouse informant testimony from three informants. 

The Innocence Clinic worked on Deering’s case for over a decade, working to show that the expert testimony used at trial was junk science and the jailhouse informants lacked credibility. In early 2021, newly-elected Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald began to review the case and discovered additional evidence that was exculpatory to Deering but had never been disclosed at trial. 

After appointing a special prosecutor to conduct a full independent review of the case, Prosecutor McDonald decided to join the Clinic’s motion to vacate Deering’s convictions. The Court granted the motion, and the prosecutor subsequently dismissed all charges. Deering was exonerated and released on September 30, 2021.

More details available at:

Back to Michigan Innocence Clinic