Robert John Dowlut

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Charge:	Second Degree Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	5
Year Crime:	1963
Year Convicted:	1964
Year Cleared:	1968
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Indiana
County or Region of Crime:	St. Joseph
City of Crime:	South Bend
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Robert John Dowlut was wrongly convicted of second-degree murder on November 3, 1964 in the shooting death of his girlfriend Anna Marie Yocum on April 15, 1963 in South Bend, Indiana. Dowlut was 17 and home on leave from the Army at the time of the 16-year-old Yocum's death. Dowlut's prosecution was based on his confession that he retracted as coerced. Dowlut claimed the police interrogated him for more than 20 hours over less than two days, without advising him of his constitutional rights, refusing his right to call an attorney or consult with his father, ordering him to "lift his hand" for a paraffin test, and threatening that his dad would go to prison and possibly even the electric chair if he didn't confess. Dowlut's attorney filed a motion to suppress his confession and all evidence obtained from it which were "fruits of the poisonous tree." The judge granted exclusion of Dowlut's confession but not any evidence obtained as a result of it. After his conviction by a jury Dowlut was sentenced to life in prison. Dowlut filed a post-verdict motion for a new trial that among its 26 issues asserted the judge prejudicially erred in denying the motion to suppress all fruits of Dowlut's illegal confession. The trial judge denied the motion, and Dowlut appealed. On April 1, 1968 the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed Dowlut's conviction on the basis the trial judge erred in denying the motion for a new trial. The Court stated that apart from evidence derived from Dowlut's illegal confession "The record is void of any independent evidence" he committed the crime. The Court ordered a retrial, but with no admissible evidence Dowlut committed the crime, the St. Joseph District Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the charges which was granted."
Conviction Caused By:	"Police misconduct of coercing Dowlut to +confess after interrogating him for more than 20 hours over less than two days, without advising him of his constitutional rights, refusing his right to call an attorney or consult with his father, ordering him to "lift his hand" for a paraffin test, and threatening that his dad would go to prison and possibly even the electric chair if he didn't confess."
Innocence Proved By:	"On April 1, 1968 the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed Dowlut's conviction on the basis the trial judge erred in denying the motion to suppress in its entirety. The Court stated that apart from evidence derived from Dowlut's illegal confession "The record is void of any independent evidence" he committed the crime. The Court ordered a retrial, but with no admissible evidence Dowlut committed the crime, the St. Joseph District Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the charges which was granted."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	17
Age When Released:	22
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Dowlut v. State, 235 NE 2d 173 (Ind: Supreme Court 1968) (Reversed conviction and ordered a new trial on April 1, 1968)"
Information Location 1:	"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16204508178040376145&q=Robert+J.+Dowlut&hl=en&as_sdt=4,15"
Information Source 2:	"The NRA's Murder Mystery, By Dave Gilson, Mother Jones magazine, Sept-Oct. 2014 issue"
Information Location 2:	http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/07/robert-dowlut-nra-murder-mystery
Information Source 3:	"NRA general counsel was once convicted of second-degree murder; conviction was overturned, By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal, July 30, 2014"
Information Location 3:	http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/nra_general_counsel_was_once_convicted_of_second-degree_murder_conviction_w
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Robert John Dowlut

Charge:

Second Degree Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

5

Year Crime:

1963

Year Convicted:

1964

Year Cleared:

1968

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Indiana

County or Region of Crime:

St. Joseph

City of Crime:

South Bend

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

17

Age When Released:

22

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Dowlut v. State, 235 NE 2d 173 (Ind: Supreme Court 1968) (Reversed conviction and ordered a new trial on April 1, 1968)"

Information Location 1:

"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16204508178040376145&q=Robert+J.+Dowlut&hl=en&as_sdt=4,15"

Information Source 2:

"The NRA's Murder Mystery, By Dave Gilson, Mother Jones magazine, Sept-Oct. 2014 issue"

Information Location 2:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/07/robert-dowlut-nra-murder-mystery

Information Source 3:

"NRA general counsel was once convicted of second-degree murder; conviction was overturned, By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal, July 30, 2014"

Information Location 3:

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/nra_general_counsel_was_once_convicted_of_second-degree_murder_conviction_w

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