FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Frankfort man has been exonerated after spending nearly nine years in prison for a wrongful conviction in a 2019 stabbing of his neighbor and friend Kate Sanders, according to a release from the Exoneration Project.
On Wednesday, the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the reversal of John Brandon Lamotte's conviction for stabbing his neighbor Kate Sanders in 2017.
Sanders initially told police her ex-boyfriend attacked her, but later testified that Lamotte was the attacker. After the trial, Sanders recanted her testimony on social media, admitting she sent an innocent man to prison.
Lamotte was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to 11 years. He appealed with the help of the Exoneration Project and the Kentucky Innocence Project.
The Court of Appeals found there was insufficient evidence to convict him.
Franklin County Commonwealth's Attorney Larry Cleveland told LEX 18 that Lamotte was "convicted by a jury of 12 who decided he did commit the crime beyond reasonable doubt. The Court of Appeals decided victim didn't receive 'serious physical injury' when her neck and face were cut. Cleveland said she spent months recovering from her injuries."
