Bobby Joe Leaster

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Charge:	First Degree Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	15
Year Crime:
Year Convicted:	1971
Year Cleared:	1986
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Massachusetts
County or Region of Crime:	Suffolk
City of Crime:	Boston
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Bobby Joe Leaster was wrongly convicted in 1971 of first-degree murder in Boston, Massachusetts. Leaster was sentenced to life in prison. Two attorneys convinced of his innocence, donated $400,000 worth of time to prove his innocence. After Leaster's conviction was oveturned, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office announced on December 26, 1986 that he would not be retried. Bobby Leaster spent 15 years in prison before his release in 1986. In 1992 Bobby Joe Leaster was awarded the compensation of a $500,000 annuity through a special bill passed by the Massachusetts legislature, in order "to discharge a moral obligation of the Commonwealth." Leaster was only the third former prisoner to be awarded compensation by a special bill passed by the Massachusetts legislature. The previous two were Cornelius Usher who after he was pardoned, received $1,000 compensation in 1904 through a special bill in the legislature. The other was Santos Rodriguez who after his release from prison was awarded a $12,500 indemnity in 1957 by the Massachusetts legislature."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"$500,000 (State of Massachusetts, 1992)"
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. 138+."
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"Wrongful Murder Convictions in Massachusetts, Amnesty International, June 20, 2004"
Information Location 2:	http://www.amnesty133.org/ai/actionteams/dp/mistake.htm
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Bobby Joe Leaster

Charge:

First Degree Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

15

Year Crime:

Year Convicted:

1971

Year Cleared:

1986

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Massachusetts

County or Region of Crime:

Suffolk

City of Crime:

Boston

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$500,000 (State of Massachusetts, 1992)"

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. 138+."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Wrongful Murder Convictions in Massachusetts, Amnesty International, June 20, 2004"

Information Location 2:

http://www.amnesty133.org/ai/actionteams/dp/mistake.htm

Information Source 3:

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Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: