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Wrongly
Convicted Database
Record
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Years
Imprisoned:
|
3 |
Charge: |
Second Degree Murder |
Sentence: |
35 yrs |
Year Convicted: |
1957 |
Year
Cleared:
|
1960 |
Location
of Trial:
|
Oklahoma |
Result:
|
Pardoned |
Summary
of Case:
|
Although innocent, Bennett falsely confessed and pled guilty out of fear he would get the death sentence if convicted. He was implicated because his fingerprints were found on a door in the victim's house. The victim was a friend of Bennett's, and his fingerprints were found on the victim's door because he had recently painted the door for the friend. |
Conviction
Caused By:
|
False confession extracted by threats of having the death penalty imposed if Bennett was convicted. |
Innocence
Proved By:
|
""A Texas prisoner, Leonard McClain, had confessed to the crime, and authorities had verified the confession." Pardoned in 1960."
|
Defendant
Aided By:
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Compensation Awarded: |
No |
Was Perpetrator Found? |
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Age
When Imprisoned:
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Age
When Released:
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Information Source 1: |
“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 96. |
Information
Location 1:
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Information
Source 2:
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The Innocents, Edward Radin,William Morrow & Co., 1964, p. 252. |
Information
Location 2:
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Information
Source 3:
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Information
Location 3:
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Information
Source 4:
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Information
Location 4:
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Information
Source 5:
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Information
Location 5:
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Ethnicity/Skin:
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White |
Book
About
Case:
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Book
Information:
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Book About Case (2): |
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Book Information (2): |
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Movie About Case: |
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Comments About Case: |
Falsely confessed |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org