User:CipherSleuth/sandbox
| William Woods Identity Theft Case | |
|---|---|
| Court | Los Angeles County Superior Court |
| Full case name | People of the State of California v. William Woods (wrongful conviction) |
| Decided | April 11, 2024 |
| Case history | |
| Prior actions | Woods arrested in 2019 for alleged identity theft; pleaded no contest in 2021[1][2] |
| Subsequent actions | Conviction vacated on April 11, 2024; real culprit pleaded guilty in federal court and was sentenced to 12 years[1][2][3] |
| Related action | United States v. Keirans (federal case) |
| Court membership | |
| Judge sitting | William Ryan (case dismissal) |
| Keywords | |
| Identity theft, wrongful conviction | |
Williams woods had his identity stolen. The case was widely regarded as a "Kafkaesque" miscarriage of justice.[4]
Following Keirans’s conviction, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office vacated Woods’s wrongful conviction on April 11, 2024. The case was widely regarded as a "Kafkaesque" miscarriage of justice [5].
The Identity Theft Scheme
In 1990, Keirans fraudulently obtained a Colorado state ID under Woods’s name. Over the years, he used Woods’s identity to acquire credit, bank accounts, and insurance. In 2013, Keirans secured employment as a systems architect at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, earning over $140,000 per year under Woods’s name [2].
Keirans’s deception extended to personal aspects of his life. He married under Woods’s name and had a child, who carried the Woods surname [3]. He even paid taxes and accumulated more than $700,000 in income under the stolen identity [2].
Wrongful Arrest and Incarceration of William Woods
In 2019, Woods, who was homeless and living in Los Angeles, discovered that $130,000 in debt had been fraudulently accumulated in his name. When he went to a bank to close the accounts, Keirans intervened, successfully convincing authorities that Woods was the fraudster [1]. Woods was arrested and charged with identity theft and impersonation. He spent 428 days in jail and an additional 147 days in a mental hospital after being declared incompetent to stand trial [3]. During his incarceration, Keirans actively contacted prosecutors, pushing for Woods’s continued detention [4]. In 2021, Woods pleaded no contest to identity theft in exchange for his release. The court ordered him to use the name "Matthew Keirans," further legitimizing the fraudster's deception [5].
Discovery and Exoneration
Woods did not give up his efforts to reclaim his identity. In 2023, he contacted the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where Keirans was employed. The hospital launched an investigation, which led to law enforcement involvement [2]. Detective Ian Mallory from the University of Iowa police investigated Woods’s claims. He secured a DNA test from Woods and his father in Kentucky, conclusively proving Woods’s true identity [4]. Confronted with the evidence, Keirans admitted to the decades-long fraud, stating, "My life is over" [2]. On April 1, 2024, Keirans pleaded guilty to identity theft and fraud. His fraudulent actions led to his sentencing to 12 years in prison [4].
Woods has since sought to rebuild his life, exploring legal options for compensation for his wrongful incarceration and identity theft. His case serves as a cautionary tale about identity theft, wrongful conviction, and systemic failures in law enforcement and criminal justice systems.
Premise
forthcoming
Conception
McMutry wrote the novel after finishing college at Northwestern State, writing at least 5-pages each morning. Shortly thereafter, the novel was sold to the movies for $10,000 in proceeds. In reflecting on the memoir, he wrote: "The publication so long awaited for, was anti-climatic".[5]
Analysis
In the book Southern Writers at Century's end, Folks and Perkins write that Horseman, Pass by “tells a story characteristic of much contemporary Western fiction: a young man's initiation into manhood.”[6] Hud represents the modern cowboy who is fenced out of his old range, whose mythological roots are dying, and who responds with range and violence."[7]
However, Horseman, Pass By eschews the typical formula of the Western novel up until that time, opting for a more realistic portrait of the modern cowboy after the settling of the Old West.[8] Bloodworth writes that "the landscape of the Old West exists primarily in the dreams and fantasies of the main characters".
Characters
Homer Bannon- old cowman who represented the old, ranching way of life. He has no interest in the oil fields springing up in the surrounding property.[9]
Hud - the stepson of Homer Bannon, who represents modern life and wants to turn the ranch into oil rig place
References
- ^ a b National Registry of Exonerations – William Woods (April 11, 2024).
- ^ a b New York Times – He Went to Jail for Stealing Someone’s Identity. But It Was His All Along (Feb. 3, 2025).
- ^ Los Angeles Times – William Woods was victim of identity theft, but he was the one jailed (April 9, 2024).
- ^ "Judge vacates conviction of man whose identity was stolen in 'Kafkaesque' case". Los Angeles Times. 2024-04-11. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
- ^ McMurtry, Larry (2008). Books: A Memoir. United States: Simon & Schuster. p. 59. ISBN 9781416583349.
- ^ Folks, Jeffrey J.; Perkins, James A. (1997). Southern Writers at Century's End. University Press of Kentucky.
- ^ Erickson, John R. (2004). The Modern Cowboy. University of North Texas Press. p. 94. ISBN 9781574411775.
- ^ Bloodworth, William (1980). Literary Extensions of the Formula Western. United States: University of Nebraska Press. p. 291.
Some Literary Westerns which are set after the years of settling the West seem to be conscious efforts at avoiding the classic landscape of the formula. In McMurtry's Horseman, Pass By... the landscape of the Old West exists primarily in the dreams and fantasies of the main characters.
- ^ Rebein, Robert (2014). Hicks, Tribes, and Dirty Realists: American Fiction After Postmodernism. United States: University Press of Kentucky. p. 120-121. ISBN 9780813149974.