Walter Fowler

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	99 years
Years Imprisoned:	13
Year Crime:	1936
Year Convicted:	1937
Year Cleared:
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Illinois
County or Region of Crime:	Cook
City of Crime:	Chicago
Result:	Not Judicially Exonerated - Died in prison before codefendant exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Walter Fowler and his codefendant Heywood Pugh (a.k.a. Earl Howard Pugh) were both wrongly convicted in January 1937 of the murder of William J. Haag, a white Railway Express Agency driver, who was stabbed to death during an apparent robbery on September 5, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois. Pugh and Fowler, both black, were arrested because they were in the vicinity of the crime. Fowler confessed after being beaten,and Pugh confessed as well after sustaining beatings over several days while in custody. During their trial Pugh and Fowler both testified to having nothing to do with the crime and that they confessed only after being beaten. The Chicago Police Detective George MIller, who obtained the confessions, denied he beat either man. The jury convicted the two based solely on their confessions because "There was no corroborative evidence to link either of them to the murder." On January 27, 1937 Fowler was sentenced to 99 years in prison and Pugh to life in prison. In 1949, Fowler died in prison. In 1950 Chicago attorney George N. Leighton was retained by a club that Pugh's aunt belonged, to re-examine the case and file a post-conviction petition for Pugh. In June 1953 detective Miller inadvertely allowed Leighton to see a file that contained pre-trial statements by two eyewitnesses identifying the killer by name, and he was white. On June 19, 1953 Cook County Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Covelli reversed Pugh's conviction and ordered a new trial, based on the concealed exculpatory evidence. Judge Covelli called the case of Pugh and Fowler the worst miscarriage of justice he had ever seen. The motion by the Cook County State's Attorney to dismiss Pugh's charges was granted on June 23, 1953, and Pugh was released. The State of Illinois later awarded Pugh a settlement of $51,000 -- $3,000 for each of the 17 years he was wrongly held in custody. (Summary from "Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases" (1987), 114-115.) Fowler's conviction remains on the record because the incontrovertible evidence of his innocence was discovered four years after his death."
Conviction Caused By:	False confessions by Fowler and Pugh after police beatings.
Innocence Proved By:	"The conviction of Pugh, Fowler's codefendant, was overturned, and the prosecution's motion to dismiss the charges was granted on June 23, 1953."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	37
Age When Released:	50
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 114+."
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Information Source 2:	"Walter Fowler, Center on Wrongful Convictions"
Information Location 2:	http://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/il/walter-fowler.html
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Walter Fowler

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

99 years

Years Imprisoned:

13

Year Crime:

1936

Year Convicted:

1937

Year Cleared:

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Illinois

County or Region of Crime:

Cook

City of Crime:

Chicago

Result:

Not Judicially Exonerated - Died in prison before codefendant exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

False confessions by Fowler and Pugh after police beatings.

Innocence Proved By:

"The conviction of Pugh, Fowler's codefendant, was overturned, and the prosecution's motion to dismiss the charges was granted on June 23, 1953."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

37

Age When Released:

50

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 114+."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Walter Fowler, Center on Wrongful Convictions"

Information Location 2:

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/il/walter-fowler.html

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