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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
False Statement to law enforcement agent or on govt. document |
Sentence: |
5 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
3 |
Year Crime: |
1950 |
Year Convicted: |
1954 |
Year Cleared: |
1957 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Texas - Federal Case |
County or Region of Crime: |
El Paso |
City of Crime: |
El Paso |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Clinton Jencks was wrongly convicted in January 1954 of two counts of making a false statement to a government agency - the National Labor Relations Board. On April 17, 1953 Jencks was arrested, charged, and indicted in El Paso, Texas. Jencks' prosecution was based on his denial on April 28, 1950 that he was a Communist in his non-Communist Taft-Hartley affidavit. The prosecution's key witness was Harvey Matusow, a paid FBI informant and a Communist turned undercover agent for the FBI. After Jencks conviction by a jury he was sentenced to five years in prison. In 1955 Matusow admitted in his publication "False Witness," that he lied about Jencks. He also admitted to his perjury for Jencks appeal for a new trial. On October 26, 1956 the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans affirmed Jencks' convictions. The US Supreme Court reversed Jencks conviction on June 3, 1957. The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to retry Jencks and the charges were dismissed." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Perjury by prosecutions key witness. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"The US Supreme Court reversed Jencks conviction on June 3, 1957. The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to retry Jencks and the charges were dismissed." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
36 |
Age When Released: |
39 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Jencks Unbalanced - Clinton Jencks - The Man - The Act, Heater Williams, The Champion, July 2005, pp. 12-16" |
Information Location 1: |
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Information Source 2: |
"Clinton Jencks Papers 1950-1957, Arizona Archives Online, www.azarchivesonline.org" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.azarchivesonline.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/asu/jencks.xml;query=;brand=default |
Information Source 3: |
Clinton E. JENCKS v. UNITED STATES of America. 353 U.S. 657 (1957) (Reversing conviction and ordering new trial.) |
Information Location 3: |
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/353/657 |
Information Source 4: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org