Wilbert Lee

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	Death
Years Imprisoned:	12
Year Crime:	1963
Year Convicted:	1963
Year Cleared:	1975
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Florida
County or Region of Crime:	Gulf
City of Crime:	Port St. Joe
Result:	Pardoned
Summary of Case:	"Wilbert Lee was the codefendant of Freddie Pitts. Both men are black, and were twice wrongly convicted by all-white juries of murdering two white gas station attendants in 1963 in Port St. Joe, Florida. Both men were sentenced to death. They were the victims of a literal conspiracy of the police and DA to frame the two innocent men. Pitts and Lee's convictions were reversed and they were awarded a new trial when Curtis "Boo" Adams admitted to the murders. However, for their retrial Adams' confession was ruled inadmissible and they were again convicted and sentenced to death. The men were pardoned by Florida Governor Reubin Askew in 1975 based on substantial doubt about their guilt, and they were and released after 12 years wrongful imprisonment, including nine years on death row. Pitts and Lee were each awarded $500,000 in compensation by the Florida legislature in July 1998."
Conviction Caused By:	"Literal conspiracy of the police and DA to frame the two innocent men, with Pitts' confession beaten out of him by the police. The prosecutor concealed that another man had confessed to the murder and that the sole eyewitness had recanted."
Innocence Proved By:	Pardoned by Florida Governor Reubin Askew in 1975 and released based on substantial doubt about their guilt.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"$500,000 (State of Florida, July 1998)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:	27
Age When Released:	39
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. 139+."
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	Death Penalty Information Center
Information Location 2:	http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html
Information Source 3:	Patrick Crusade website & database
Information Location 3:	http://www.patrickcrusade.org/wrongful.htm
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Wilbert Lee

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Death

Years Imprisoned:

12

Year Crime:

1963

Year Convicted:

1963

Year Cleared:

1975

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Florida

County or Region of Crime:

Gulf

City of Crime:

Port St. Joe

Result:

Pardoned

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"Literal conspiracy of the police and DA to frame the two innocent men, with Pitts' confession beaten out of him by the police. The prosecutor concealed that another man had confessed to the murder and that the sole eyewitness had recanted."

Innocence Proved By:

Pardoned by Florida Governor Reubin Askew in 1975 and released based on substantial doubt about their guilt.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$500,000 (State of Florida, July 1998)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

27

Age When Released:

39

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. 139+."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

Death Penalty Information Center

Information Location 2:

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html

Information Source 3:

Patrick Crusade website & database

Information Location 3:

http://www.patrickcrusade.org/wrongful.htm

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: