Wrongly Convicted Database

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Paul Kern Imbler

Years Imprisoned:	10
Charge:	First Degree Murder
Sentence:	Death
Year Convicted:	1961
Year Cleared:	1971
Location of Trial:	California
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	Death Row Inmate. Convicted of murder largely based a prosecution fingerprint expert's false testimony that Imbler's fingerprint matched a latent crime scene print. Paul Imbler was sentenced to death. He was granted stay 7 days before his scheduled excution. His conviction was overturned based on prosecutorial misconduct of concealing exculpatory evidence, police manufacturing of evidence, and the fingerprint examiner's false testimony that deprived him of his constitutional right to a fair trial. After his exoneration he sued the prosecutor, Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Richard Pachtman for damages, but the US Supreme Court dismissed the suit on the grounds of prosecutorial immunity. (See, Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409 (1976))
Conviction Caused By:	Prosecutorial misconduct of concealing exculpatory evidence and police manufacturing of evidence. A prosecution fingerprint expert falsely testified that Imbler's fingerprint matched latent crime scene prints.
Innocence Proved By:	Conviction overturned based on prosecutorial misconduct of concealing exculpatory evidence, police manufacturing of evidence, and the fingerprint examiner's false testimony that affected the jury's verdict.
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Was Perpetrator Found?
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Information Source 1:	“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 128.
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Information Source 2:	Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
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Ethnicity/Skin:	White
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Paul Kern Imbler

Years Imprisoned:

10

Charge:

First Degree Murder

Sentence:

Death

Year Convicted:

1961

Year Cleared:

1971

Location of Trial:

California

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Prosecutorial misconduct of concealing exculpatory evidence and police manufacturing of evidence. A prosecution fingerprint expert falsely testified that Imbler's fingerprint matched latent crime scene prints.

Innocence Proved By:

Conviction overturned based on prosecutorial misconduct of concealing exculpatory evidence, police manufacturing of evidence, and the fingerprint examiner's false testimony that affected the jury's verdict.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Found?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Information Source 1:

“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 128.

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409 (1976)

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Ethnicity/Skin:

White

Book About Case:

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Movie About Case:

Comments About Case:

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