Santiago Ventura Morales

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	5
Year Crime:
Year Convicted:	1986
Year Cleared:	1991
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Oregon
County or Region of Crime:	Clackamas
City of Crime:	Sandy
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Portland Oregonian newspaper columnist Phil Stanford wrote many columns outlining Santiago Ventura Morales innocence of a stabbing murder that aroused the public outrage that finally led to Morales being exonerated and released. During Morales trial he didn't understand what was going on because he was provided a Spanish interpreter, even though he did not speak either Spanish or English, but Mixteco. When the actual murderer was identified four years after his conviction, the Oregon Attorney General opposed Morales' habeas corpus petition on the grounds that his factual innocence was not a legal basis to overturn his conviction and release him. Four years after Morales' release in 1991, the state of Oregon passed a law in 1995 that requires testing and certification of court interpreters as a result of Morales' case."
Conviction Caused By:	"Prosecutorial misconduct, including the presention of fabricated evidence during Morales' trial as authentic - such as a fake murder weapon."
Innocence Proved By:	Actual murderer discovered.
Defendant Aided By:	Portland Oregonian newspaper columnist Phil Stanford.
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Hispanic
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, 1996 pb ed. with new forward, 334 ( © 1992)."
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Information Source 2:	"Santiago Ventura Morales, Wikipedia.org (last checked 6-3-08)"
Information Location 2:	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_Ventura_Morales
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Santiago Ventura Morales

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

5

Year Crime:

Year Convicted:

1986

Year Cleared:

1991

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Oregon

County or Region of Crime:

Clackamas

City of Crime:

Sandy

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"Prosecutorial misconduct, including the presention of fabricated evidence during Morales' trial as authentic - such as a fake murder weapon."

Innocence Proved By:

Actual murderer discovered.

Defendant Aided By:

Portland Oregonian newspaper columnist Phil Stanford.

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Hispanic

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, 1996 pb ed. with new forward, 334 ( © 1992)."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Santiago Ventura Morales, Wikipedia.org (last checked 6-3-08)"

Information Location 2:

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

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Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

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