Louis Benevente

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Charge:	Robbery (includes armed robbery)
Sentence:	5 to 15 years
Years Imprisoned:	5
Year Crime:	1919
Year Convicted:	1919
Year Cleared:	1936
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	New Jersey
County or Region of Crime:	Camden
City of Crime:
Result:	Legislature Overturned Conviction
Summary of Case:	"Louis Benevente was wrongly convicted in 1919 of robbing a New Jersey baking company of $192 based on the testimony of a single witness - John Dougherty. After serving five years in prison, Benevente was paroled. The man that had accused him of the robbery, John Dougherty, admitted in 1931 that Benevente had never stolen any money, and that he had falsely accused him to cover up for $90 in company money that he had lost playing dice. On October 3, 1939 the New Jersey legislature acknowledged the innocence of Benevente, who had changed his last name to Bennett, by awarding him $5,000 in compensation."
Conviction Caused By:	Sole witness perjured himself to cover up that he was the actual theif.
Innocence Proved By:	Sole witness admitted 12 yrs after Benevente's conviction that he had committed perjury. However the statute of limitations had expired so he couldn't be prosecuted.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"$5,000 (State of New Jersey, Oct. 3, 1939)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"''Not Guilty," Judge Jerome Frank and Barbara Frank, Doubleday, NY, 1957, p. 187"
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Louis Benevente

Charge:

Robbery (includes armed robbery)

Sentence:

5 to 15 years

Years Imprisoned:

5

Year Crime:

1919

Year Convicted:

1919

Year Cleared:

1936

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New Jersey

County or Region of Crime:

Camden

City of Crime:

Result:

Legislature Overturned Conviction

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Sole witness perjured himself to cover up that he was the actual theif.

Innocence Proved By:

Sole witness admitted 12 yrs after Benevente's conviction that he had committed perjury. However the statute of limitations had expired so he couldn't be prosecuted.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$5,000 (State of New Jersey, Oct. 3, 1939)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"''Not Guilty," Judge Jerome Frank and Barbara Frank, Doubleday, NY, 1957, p. 187"

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