Joseph Edward Morissette

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Charge:	"Theft (including swindling/fraud, deception and grand larceny)"
Sentence:	2 months in jail or a $200 fine
Years Imprisoned:	0.1
Year Crime:	1948
Year Convicted:
Year Cleared:	1952
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Michigan - Federal Case
County or Region of Crime:
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Joseph Edward Morissette was wrongly convicted of theft for salvaging 3 tons of apparently abandoned fake bomb cylinders worth $84 that he found on a federal bombing range during a deer hunting trip. The judge's instructions to the jury were based on that the crime was a strict liability offense, and thus thatt the jury had to find him guilty if based on the admitted facts of the case he took the cylinders without permission -- and without considering whether he did or didn't have any criminal intent. Morissette was sentenced to 2 months in jail or a fine of $200. On January 7, 1952 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Mirissette's conviction on the basis that theft is a common law crime and therefore mens rea (crijminal intent) is an essential element that must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt by the prosecution."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	In 1952 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Mirissette's conviction on the basis that theft is a common law crime and therefore mens rea (crijminal intent) is an essential element that must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt by the prosecution.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	27
Age When Released:	27
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Morissette v. United States, 342 US 246, 72 S. Ct. 240, 96 L. Ed. 288 (1952)"
Information Location 1:	"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=787130527265701764&q=Morissette&hl=en&as_sdt=2,48"
Information Source 2:	"The Decline and Fall of Mens Rea," By Harvey A. Silvergate, The Champion (NACDL), Sept/Oct 2009, p. 14"
Information Location 2:	http://www.nacdl.org/Champion.aspx?id=14738
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Joseph Edward Morissette

Charge:

"Theft (including swindling/fraud, deception and grand larceny)"

Sentence:

2 months in jail or a $200 fine

Years Imprisoned:

0.1

Year Crime:

1948

Year Convicted:

Year Cleared:

1952

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Michigan - Federal Case

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

In 1952 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Mirissette's conviction on the basis that theft is a common law crime and therefore mens rea (crijminal intent) is an essential element that must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt by the prosecution.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

27

Age When Released:

27

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Morissette v. United States, 342 US 246, 72 S. Ct. 240, 96 L. Ed. 288 (1952)"

Information Location 1:

"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=787130527265701764&q=Morissette&hl=en&as_sdt=2,48"

Information Source 2:

"The Decline and Fall of Mens Rea," By Harvey A. Silvergate, The Champion (NACDL), Sept/Oct 2009, p. 14"

Information Location 2:

http://www.nacdl.org/Champion.aspx?id=14738

Information Source 3:

Information Location 3:

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Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

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Movie About Case:

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