Philip Caruso

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Charge:	Robbery (includes armed robbery)
Sentence:	10 to 20 years
Years Imprisoned:	1
Year Crime:	1938
Year Convicted:	1938
Year Cleared:	1939
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	New York
County or Region of Crime:	New York
City of Crime:	New York City
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Philip Caruso was 23 when wrongly convicted on December 9, 1938 of a robbery committed in New York City. The jury convicted Caruso based on the eyewitness identification by the victim who was robbed of $1,200 by two men who also stole his car. Caruso was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. The victim recanted his identification of Caruso as soon as he saw the actual robber. When arrested the two actual robbers confessed. On September 6, 1939 Caruso's conviction was reversed and his indictment ordered dismised based on the confessions of two of the robbers who denied that Caruso was involved, and the eyewitness vocto, recanted his identification of Caruso when he saw the actual robbers."
Conviction Caused By:	Eyewitness error and police misconduct of withholding exculpatory evidence
Innocence Proved By:	"On September 6, 1939 Caruso's conviction was reversed and his indictment ordered dismised based on the confessions of two of the robbers who denied that Caruso was involved, and the eyewitness vocto, recanted his identification of Caruso when he saw the actual robbers."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:	23
Age When Released:	24
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"People v. Caruso, 172 Misc. 191 (N.Y. Misc. 1939) (9-6-1939 granting motion for a new trial, and ordering dismissal of the indictment and Caruso's release due to no opposition by the prosecution.)"
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"''Not Guilty," Judge Jerome Frank and Barbara Frank, Doubleday, NY, 1957, Chapter 5"
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Information Source 3:	"Arrests Clear Man Wrongly Convicted, The New York Times, July 31, 1939, p. 3"
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Philip Caruso

Charge:

Robbery (includes armed robbery)

Sentence:

10 to 20 years

Years Imprisoned:

1

Year Crime:

1938

Year Convicted:

1938

Year Cleared:

1939

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New York

County or Region of Crime:

New York

City of Crime:

New York City

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Eyewitness error and police misconduct of withholding exculpatory evidence

Innocence Proved By:

"On September 6, 1939 Caruso's conviction was reversed and his indictment ordered dismised based on the confessions of two of the robbers who denied that Caruso was involved, and the eyewitness vocto, recanted his identification of Caruso when he saw the actual robbers."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

23

Age When Released:

24

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"People v. Caruso, 172 Misc. 191 (N.Y. Misc. 1939) (9-6-1939 granting motion for a new trial, and ordering dismissal of the indictment and Caruso's release due to no opposition by the prosecution.)"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"''Not Guilty," Judge Jerome Frank and Barbara Frank, Doubleday, NY, 1957, Chapter 5"

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

"Arrests Clear Man Wrongly Convicted, The New York Times, July 31, 1939, p. 3"

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: