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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Second Degree Murder |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
5 |
Year Crime: |
1915 |
Year Convicted: |
1916 |
Year Cleared: |
1920 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Oregon |
County or Region of Crime: |
Yamhill |
City of Crime: |
Willamina |
Result: |
Pardoned |
Summary of Case: |
"William Branson and Anna Booth were co-defendants wrongly convicted of her husband's murder in October 8, 1915. The prosecution alleged the two were lovers and they murdered William Booth when he found out. Their first trial ended in a mistrial because the jury couldn't reach a verdict. They were both convicted of murder after their second trial in March 1916 and they were both sentenced to life in prison. Ten days after Anna's conviction her mother died. Their convictions were overturned by the Oregon Supreme Court, and prior to their retrial Anna accepted a plea deal for manslaughter with a sentence of 1 to 15 years in prison so she would have the opportunity to return to her children at some point. Branson was convicted of second-degree murder in 1916 after his third trial and sentenced to life in prison. In May 1917, another man, William Riggin, confessed to Booth's murder while he was imprisoned for larceny that was committed after Booth's death. Riggin's confession was corroborated by matching the facts of the crime. The Yamhill County DA opposed a new trial for Branson, so after a concerted campaign by Branson's supporters Oregon Governor Ben W. Olcott granted Branson a full and unconditional pardon on September 11, 1920 and he was released. Anna Booth had been released on parole earlier in 1920, and she was not pardoned, although the new evidence by Riggin's also cleared her of the crime that she had pled guilty to committing." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"Oregon Governor Ben W. Olcott granted Branson a full and unconditional pardon on September 11, 1920 and he was released. Anna Booth had been released on parole earlier in 1920, and she was not pardoned, although the new evidence by Riggin's also cleared her of the crime." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
23 |
Age When Released: |
28 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Pender, Branson Get Full Pardons: Governor Frees Two in Prison For Murder, Special Report, The Sunday Oregonian (Portland, OR), September 12, 1920, pp. 1, 20" |
Information Location 1: |
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Information Source 2: |
"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 99." |
Information Location 2: |
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Information Source 3: |
"Why Some Men Kill or Murder Mysteries Revealed, by George A. Thacher (Gale, Making of Modern Law), 2010, pp. 21-44" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.archive.org/stream/whysomemenkillor00thacrich/whysomemenkillor00thacrich_djvu.txt |
Information Source 4: |
"Mother's Day: The Murder Quilt, Genealogy Imaginings, May 8, 2012 " |
Information Location 4: |
http://genealogyimaginings.blogspot.com/2012/05/mothers-day-murder-quilt.html |
Information Source 5: |
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Information Location 5: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org