Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Joseph Antoniewicz

 

Charge:

Felony Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

15.83

Year Crime:

1952

Year Convicted:

1952

Year Cleared:

1968

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Pennsylvania

County or Region of Crime:

Philadelphia

City of Crime:

Philadelphia

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Joseph Antoniewicz was a co-defendant of William A. Hallowell and Edward H. Parks. All three were under 18 when wrongly convicted of felony-murder in the death of 52-year-old Harry Thompson who died nine days after the three robbed him of $15 on May 21, 1952 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They all pled guilty and were sentenced to life in prison. On February 14, 1968 their convictions were overturned by Judge Edmund B. Spaeth Jr. based on new evidence by the Philadelphia Medical Examiner Dr. Joseph W. Spellman that "Harry Thompson died as a result of a coronary heart disease, which was not caused, contributed to, or aggravated by the assault." The three co-defendants were released in March 1968 after almost 16 years of imprisonment."

Conviction Caused By:

Nine days after a man was robbed of $15 he died.

Innocence Proved By:

"Felony murder conviction overturned based on new evidence by the Philadelphia medical examiner that the victim "died as a result of a coronary heart disease, which was not caused, contributed to, or aggravated by the assault.""

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

16

Age When Released:

32

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"“In Spite of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases,” Michael L Radelet, Hugo Adam Bedau, and Constance E. Putnam, Northeastern University Press, Boston, 1992 p. 282-3."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 92."

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

"Judge Rules 'Murder' in '52 Did Not Occur, By Associated Press, The New York Times, February 15, 1968, pg. 49"

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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