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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
"Kidnapping, Assault and Conspiracy" |
Sentence: |
5 to Life imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
2.18 |
Year Crime: |
1947 |
Year Convicted: |
1948 |
Year Cleared: |
1951 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
California |
County or Region of Crime: |
Los Angeles |
City of Crime: |
Los Angles |
Result: |
Sentence Commuted |
Summary of Case: |
"Madge Meredith aka Marjorie Massow was wrongly convicted on December 12, 1947 of two counts of kidnapping, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of conspiracy in Los Angles County, Califonria. Her prosecution was based on the Los Angeles Districat Attorney's claim that she conspired with three men to kidnap and beat her former manager, Nick Gianaclis and his bodyguard, in Los Angeles County on June 30, 1947. Meredith was an actress who appeared in a number of movies, including co-starring with Randolph Scott and Robert Ryan in "Trail Street," released to theaters in 1947. The charges stemmed from a dispute over possession of a house in the Hollywood Hills that Meredith and Gianaclis jointly bought. After her conviction by a jury Meredith was sentenced on January 22, 1948 to serve 5 years to life in prison. Meredith wrote in a personal note to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles W. Fricke: "It seems I am asking for my very life itself. From the bottom of my heart I do not feel that I am justly paying for a deed that I am in any way responsible for." Meredith was allowed to remain free on bail pending the outcome of her appeal. The California Court of Appeals affirmed her conviction and sentence, and the California Supreme Court declined to review her case. Meredith was 27 when she began serving her sentence on May 10, 1949. Many well known people in Hollywood, including actress Zasu Pitts and film producer Charles Weinstraub, rallied in support of Meredith by circulating a petition for California Governor Earl Warren to review her case. In March 1951 the California Parole Board recommended parole for Meredith, although normally she wouldn't be eligible for two more years. Then later that month, on March 26, 1951 the California Assembly Interim Committee on Crime and Corrections issued an official report that concluded that if she had been "properly defended in a court free of prejudice she undoubtedly would have been proven innocent." The report noted there was evidence "the crime itself was a hoax" and that she was "the victim of a 'frame.'" The report charged Meredith's case is "a mockery of investigation, of defense counseling, of trial procedure, and of justice itself." The report stated that if Meredith had been "properly defended in a court free of prejudice she undoutedly would have been proven innocent." The reported detailed, "“…nor are the tactics of the prosecution above reproach. That witnesses were intimidated is a matter of court record. There is shocking evidence of perjury, suppression of evidence and an almost unbelievable reluctance on the part of defense counsel to investigate the cause of Defendant Meredith.” Meredith was released on her thirtieth birthday, July 15, 1951, after the day before Governor Warren commuted her sentence to time served. Gov. Warren's commutation stated: "“This is a bizarre case, perhaps more fantastic than any moving picture in which the defendant acted — but certainly having many of the attributes of a scenario.” Meredith received no compensation for 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days at the Tehachapi Women's Prison, and her 11 months in the Los Angeles County Jail. After her release Meredith sucessfully sued Gianaclis for ownership of the house at the center of her case, and he was evicted. Gianaclis, an immigrate from Greece in the 1930s, was later denied U.S. citizenship because of evidence he perjured himself during Meredith's trial and he failed to appear for his immigration hearing. Meredith's case is written about extensively in Gayle D. Haffner's biography of actress Zasu Pitts -- "Hands With A Friend: The Personal Biography of Actress Zasu Pitts" (Outskirts Press, Inc. Denver, 2011). Madge Meredith was the stage name adopted by Marjorie May Massow, who was born on July 15, 1921 in Iowa Falls, Iowa. Meredith celebrated her 95th birthday on July 15, 2016." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"Sentence commutted to time served by California Governor Earl Warren after California Assembly report concluded she had been framed, and she was the victim of a biased judge, a vindictive prosecutor, and an incompetent trial lawyer." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
No |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
27 |
Age When Released: |
30 |
Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"The Innocents, Edward Radin,William Morrow & Co., 1964, p. 250-251." |
Information Location 1: |
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Information Source 2: |
"Out of Prison and Happily Wed, Madge Meredith Seeks Pardon, By Bob Thomas (AP, Hollywood, Calif.), Milwaukee Journal, July 19, 1955, p. 1" |
Information Location 2: |
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Information Source 3: |
"Madge Meredith Begins Sentence: Friends Seek Pardon For Former Actress, By Associated Press (Tehachapi, Calif.), Toledo Blade, May 10, 1949" |
Information Location 3: |
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Information Source 4: |
"Madge Meredith Freed On Thirtieth Birthday: Actress Who Served Over Two Years In California Kidnap Case Quits Prison, By Associated Press (Techachapi, Calif.), Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 16, 1951" |
Information Location 4: |
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Information Source 5: |
"Film Actress Sentenced: Madge Meredith Gets One to 25 Years For Kidnaping, By Associated Press (Los Angeles), Reading Eagle, January 22, 1948" |
Information Location 5: |
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Book About Case: |
"Gayle D. Haffner's biography of actress Zasu Pitts -- "Hands With A Friend: The Personal Biography of Actress Zasu Pitts" (Outskirts Press, Inc. Denver, 2011)." |
Book Information: |
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Book About Case (2): |
"People v. Klinkenberg, et al, Defendants, Marjorie May Massow, et al., Appellants, 90 Cal. App. 2d 608 (Cal. Court of Appeal 3-15-1949) (Affirming conviction of Madge Meredith and her three codefendants.)" |
Book Information (2): |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11825438878963922071&q=madge+meredith+Marjorie+Massow&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48" |
Movie About Case: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org