John Giles

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Charge:	Rape
Sentence:	Death
Years Imprisoned:	7
Year Crime:	1961
Year Convicted:	1961
Year Cleared:	1967
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Maryland
County or Region of Crime:	Montgomery
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"John Giles, James Giles, and Joseph Johnson Jr. were codefendants were wrongly convicted in December 1961 of raping 16-year-old Joyce Roberts in Montgomery County, Maryland on July 20, 1961. The prosecution of the three defendants was based on the accusation of Roberts, who was white, that the three black men of raped her. Their defense was she consented to the sex. Because of pre-trial publicity the trial of the three was moved to Anne Arundel County. After their conviction by a jury the three were sentenced to death. In 1963 the Maryland Court of Appeals affirmed their convictions. Dr. Harold Knapp took an interest in the Giles-Johnson case. Knapp was an MIT educated nuclear-weapons scientist, working for the Department of Defense in Washington. Knapp interviewed many character witnesses, all of whom corroborated the same story about Joyce’s sexual proclivities and mental instability, supporting the defense’s claim that she had invited the young mens’ sexual advances and then lied about it to the police because she was on probation, and to save her reputation. Based on the evidence uncovered by Knapp that the prosecution concealed evidence that Roberts and a friend deliberately concealed evidence from the judge, jury, and defense counsel, the men filed a petition in May 1964 to vacate their convictions and for a new trial. The trial court granted the petition and ordered a new trial. The Maryland Court of Appeals reversed the ruling, and reinstated their convictions. The U.S. Supreme Court accepted review of their case. On February 20, 1967 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5 to 4 majority decision to vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals reinstating the men's convictions, and remanded the case back to the Maryland Ct. of Appeals. The Maryland Ct. of Appeals reversed the convictions of James Giles and John Giles, but not the convictions of Joseph Johnson. Roberts refused to testify at a retrial. Without the testimony of their key witness for a retrial, the Montgomery County District Attorney's filed a motion to dismiss the charges against the Giles, which was granted. They were released in 1967. Based on the evidence of his innocence, Joseph Johnson was granted a full pardon in 1968 by Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew."
Conviction Caused By:	Perjury by the alleged victim and her friend.
Innocence Proved By:	"Without the testimony of their key witness for a retrial, the Anne Arundel County District Attorney's filed a motion to dismiss the charges against the Giles, which was granted. They were released in 1967. Based on the evidence of his innocence, Joseph Johnson was granted a full pardon in 1968 by Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
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. 117+."
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"Johnson Jr. v. State, 232 Md. 1999 (Md. 1963)"
Information Location 2:	https://casetext.com/case/johnson-jr-v-state-1
Information Source 3:	"Remembering the Giles-Johnson Case, By Hannah Riley, Criminal Injustice (hannahcriley.wordpress.com), September 13, 2013"
Information Location 3:	https://hannahcriley.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/remembering-the-giles-johnson-case-2/
Information Source 4:	"James V. Giles v. State of Maryland, 386 U.S. 66 (1967) (Reversing ruling of Maryland Ct. of Appeals that reinstated convictions.)"
Information Location 4:	https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/386/66
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
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John Giles

Charge:

Rape

Sentence:

Death

Years Imprisoned:

7

Year Crime:

1961

Year Convicted:

1961

Year Cleared:

1967

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Maryland

County or Region of Crime:

Montgomery

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Perjury by the alleged victim and her friend.

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

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. 117+."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Johnson Jr. v. State, 232 Md. 1999 (Md. 1963)"

Information Location 2:

https://casetext.com/case/johnson-jr-v-state-1

Information Source 3:

"Remembering the Giles-Johnson Case, By Hannah Riley, Criminal Injustice (hannahcriley.wordpress.com), September 13, 2013"

Information Location 3:

https://hannahcriley.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/remembering-the-giles-johnson-case-2/

Information Source 4:

"James V. Giles v. State of Maryland, 386 U.S. 66 (1967) (Reversing ruling of Maryland Ct. of Appeals that reinstated convictions.)"

Information Location 4:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/386/66

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

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