Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Criminal Charge |
Sentence: |
Suspended sentence & 3 years probation |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
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Year Convicted: |
1979 |
Year Cleared: |
1990 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Michigan |
County or Region of Crime: |
Wayne |
City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Pardoned |
Summary of Case: |
"Scott A. Ferguson was convicted in 1979 of a criminal charge in Wayne County, Michigan. Ferguson was sentenced to a suspended sentence and 3 years probation. Scott Ferguson was pardoned by Michigan's governor on December 27, 1990. 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: |
"Scott A. Ferguson was pardoned by Michigan's governor on December 27, 1990. 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