Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Drug Related (Possession or sale) |
Sentence: |
5 to 20 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
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Year Convicted: |
1989 |
Year Cleared: |
2010 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Michigan |
County or Region of Crime: |
Eaton |
City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Pardoned |
Summary of Case: |
"Douglas Alan Elders was convicted in 1989 of delivery/manufacturing of marijuana and delivery/manufacturing of less than 50 grams of cocaine in Eaton County, Michigan. Elders was sentenced to 2 to 4 years on the marijuana conviction and 5 to 20 years on the cocaine conviction. Douglas Alan Elders was pardoned by Michigan's governor on October 26, 2010. An executive pardon in Michigan erases a conviction and restores the pardoned person's presumption of innocence the same as a court order vacating a conviction. The Michigan Court of Appeal stated in People v. Van Heck, 252 Mich. App. 207, 651 NW 2d 174 (Mich. Ct. of Appeals 9-24-2002): "As our Supreme Court has observed, such an act of clemency "`reaches both the punishment prescribed for the offense and the guilt of the offender. It releases the punishment and blots out of existence the guilt, so that in the eye of the law the offender is as innocent as if he had never committed the offense.'" People v. Stickle, 156 Mich. 557, 564, 121 N.W. 497 (1909), quoting People, ex rel. Forsyth v. Court of Sessions of Monroe County, 141 N.Y. 288, 294-295, 36 N.E. 386 (1894)." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"Douglas Alan Elders was pardoned by Michigan's governor on October 26, 2010. An executive pardon in Michigan erases a conviction and restores the pardoned person's presumption of innocence the same as a court order vacating a conviction. The Michigan Court of Appeal stated in People v. Van Heck, 252 Mich. App. 207, 651 NW 2d 174 (Mich. Ct. of Appeals 9-24-2002): "As our Supreme Court has observed, such an act of clemency "`reaches both the punishment prescribed for the offense and the guilt of the offender. It releases the punishment and blots out of existence the guilt, so that in the eye of the law the offender is as innocent as if he had never committed the offense.'" People v. Stickle, 156 Mich. 557, 564, 121 N.W. 497 (1909), quoting People, ex rel. Forsyth v. Court of Sessions of Monroe County, 141 N.Y. 288, 294-295, 36 N.E. 386 (1894)." |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
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Information Source 1: |
"Pardons Approved By Governor, 1/1/1969 to 4/30/2015, Mich. Dept. of Corr., Office of the Parole and Commutation Board (List of 69 pardoned individuals sent to Hans Sherrer on 4/30/2015)" |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org