Ernest Lyons

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Charge:	Second Degree Murder
Sentence:	18 years
Years Imprisoned:	3.33
Year Crime:	1908
Year Convicted:	1909
Year Cleared:	1912
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Virginia
County or Region of Crime:	Suffolk
City of Crime:	Reid's Ferry
Result:	Pardoned
Summary of Case:	"Ernest Lyons was wrongly convicted on January 13, 1909 of second-degree murder in Virginia based on circumstantial evidence. Ernest Lyons was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment. After three years in prison a friend located the supposed victim who was alive in North Carolina. Lyons was granted a full pardon by Virginia Governor William H. Mann on April 3, 1912. Lyons was immediately released after more than 3 years and 4 months in custody."
Conviction Caused By:	Circumstantial evidence that he had killed a person who was actually alive.
Innocence Proved By:	"The supposed murder victim was found alive and living in North Carolina, and Virginia Governor William Hodges granted Lyons a full pardon."
Defendant Aided By:
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Was Perpetrator Identified?
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Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"“In Spite of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases,” Michael L Radelet, Hugo Adam Bedau, and Constance E. Putnam, Northeastern University Press, Boston, 1992 p. 329."
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Information Source 2:	"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 142."
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Ernest Lyons

Charge:

Second Degree Murder

Sentence:

18 years

Years Imprisoned:

3.33

Year Crime:

1908

Year Convicted:

1909

Year Cleared:

1912

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Virginia

County or Region of Crime:

Suffolk

City of Crime:

Reid's Ferry

Result:

Pardoned

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Circumstantial evidence that he had killed a person who was actually alive.

Innocence Proved By:

"The supposed murder victim was found alive and living in North Carolina, and Virginia Governor William Hodges granted Lyons a full pardon."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"“In Spite of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases,” Michael L Radelet, Hugo Adam Bedau, and Constance E. Putnam, Northeastern University Press, Boston, 1992 p. 329."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 142."

Information Location 2:

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Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: