Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Mr. Graceffo

 

Charge:

"Alcohol crime (Incl. illegal manufacturing, possessing, selling or transporting whisky)"

Sentence:

Years Imprisoned:

Year Crime:

1928

Year Convicted:

1929

Year Cleared:

1931

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Pennsylvania - Federal Case

County or Region of Crime:

Berks

City of Crime:

Reading

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

"Mr. Graceffo was wrongly convicted in 1929 in federal court of unlawfully manufacturing liquor, for unlawfully possessing property designed and intended for the manufacture of intoxicating liquor, and for maintaining a nuisance in Reading, Pennsylvania. Graceffo, along with eight other men, was arrested on November 2, 1928 at a building in Redding where illegal alcohol was being manufactured. Graceffo testified in his own defense that he had arrived in Reading the night before and he was at the building to see a friend, and he had nothing to do with what was being done in the building. The prosecution didn't present any evidence to contradict or impeach Graceffo's testimony. After his conviction by a jury Graceffo appealed. On February 16, 1931 the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Graceffo's conviction based on the prosecution's failure to introduce sufficient (or any) evidence that he had anything to do with the illegal alcohol operation where he was arrested, and that he wasn't an innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time as he claimed, who was simply there to see a friend. The prosecution's evidence supported Graceffo's innocence as much as it could be inferred to support his guilt."

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On February 16, 1931 the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Graceffo's conviction based on the prosecution's failure to introduce sufficient (or any) evidence that he had anything to do with the illegal alcohol operation where he was arrested, and that he wasn't an innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time as he claimed, who was simply there to see a friend."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"Graceffo v. United States, 46 F. 2d 852 (3rd Circuit 1931) (Reversing conviction based on insufficent evidence to prove Graceffo's guilt.)"

Information Location 1:

"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6980663393655561476&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48"

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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