Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Robert Mitchum

 

Charge:

Drug Related (Possession or sale)

Sentence:

1 year with all but 60 days suspended & 2 years probation

Years Imprisoned:

0.14

Year Crime:

1948

Year Convicted:

1949

Year Cleared:

1951

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

California

County or Region of Crime:

Los Angeles

City of Crime:

Los Angeles

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

"Robert Mitchum was wrongly convicted on January 18, 1949 of conspiracy to possess marijuana cigarettes. Mitchum was sentenced on February 9, 1949 to one year in jail and two years probation, but suspended all but 60 days of the jail sentence. Mitchum served 7 days at the Los Angeles County Jail and 43 days at the Los Angeles County prison farm in Castaic, California. Mitchum was arrested during a raid on the cottage of 20 year-old actress Lila Leeds. Leeds was arrested at the same time as Mitchum and they both pled no contest on January 18, 1949. Mitchum decided not to go to trial after the judge ruled his juvenile convictions and sentences that included serving on a chain gang in Georgia, would be admissible if he testified. Leeds was also convicted and given the same sentence as Mitchum. Leeds' cottage had been under surveillance, and an investigation after Mitchum was convicted and had served his jail sentence determined that at the time her cottage was raided he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and not part of a conspiracy. On January 31, 1951 Mitchum's conviction was overturned and the charge was dismissed with the approval of the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office that released the statement: "After an exhaustive investigation of the evidence and testimony presented at the trial, the court orders that the verdict of guilty be set aside and that a plea of not guilty be entered and that the information or complaint be dismissed." Mitchum's conviction didn't appear to harm his film career. Leeds' conviction was apparently never overturned, and she continued on probation after Mitchum's conviction was overturned. Leeds' last movie was made in 1949 when she was 21."

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On January 31, 1951 Robert Mitchum's conviction was overturned and the charge was dismissed with the approval of the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

31

Age When Released:

31

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Court Jails Mitchum and Lila Leeds, UPI wire service story, The Miami News, February 9, 1949, p. 1"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Lila Leeds Will Return To California, UPI wire service story, Schenectady Gazette, December 20, 1951"

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

"Robert Mitchum, Wikipedia.org (May 19, 2013)"

Information Location 3:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mitchum

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:

Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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