Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Loren Hamby

 

Charge:

First Degree Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

6

Year Crime:

1937

Year Convicted:

1940

Year Cleared:

1946

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Colorado

County or Region of Crime:

Huerfano

City of Crime:

Walsenburg

Result:

Pardoned

Summary of Case:

"Loren Hamby was wrongly convicted in 1939 of murdering a Walsenburg, Colorado gas station operator in 1939. He was sentenced to life in prison and began serving his sentence on January 2, 1940. His conviction was affirmed on appeal by the Colorado Supreme Court with two justices dissenting. With his mother leading the way, Colorado Governor John Vivian appointed a commission to reinvestigate Hamby's case. A series of lie-detector tests established prosecution witnesses discrediting Hamby's alibi defense hadn't testified truthfully, while the witness who testified that Hamby wasn't at the scene had testified truthfully. Based on the new evidence of his innocence Hamby's conviction was overturned in 1946 and he was released on April 3, 1946 after about six years of wrongful incarceration from the time of his arrest. Colorado Governor John C. Vivian pardoned Hamby after his release. The Colorado legislature voted to compensate Hamby with $10,000, and on May 12, 1946 Colorado Governor Lee Knous handed Hamby a check for $10,000."

Conviction Caused By:

Prosecution witnesses committed perjury.

Innocence Proved By:

"Based on new evidence of his innocence Hamby's conviction was overturned in 1946 and he was released on April 3, 1946. Colorado Governor John C. Vivian pardoned Hamby after his release."

Defendant Aided By:

Hamby's mother championed his innocence until Colorado's governor appointed a commission to reinvestigate his case.

Compensation Awarded:

"$10,000 (State of Colorado, May 1947)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"“In Spite of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases,” Michael L Radelet, HugoAdam Bedau, and Constance E. Putnam, Northeastern University Press, Boston, 1996 pb ed. with new forward, 311 ( © 1992)."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"$10,000 For 'Wrong Term', Associated Press story, The New York Times, May 13, 1947, pg. 27"

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

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