Paul Pfeffer

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Charge:	Second Degree Murder
Sentence:	20 years to life imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	2
Year Crime:	1953
Year Convicted:	1954
Year Cleared:	1955
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	New York
County or Region of Crime:	Queens
City of Crime:	New York City
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Paul Pfeffer was wrongly convicted in June 1954 of second-degree murder in Queens County, New York of seaman Edward Bates. Pfeffer's conviction was based on his confession, which he said was coerced by his police interrogators. Pfeffer was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. Pfeffer's conviction was overturned and he was granted a new trial when serial murderer John Francis Roche confessed to the murder of Bates, and Pfeffer passed a series of lie detector tests. Pfeffer was never retried, because while awaiting his retrial he was convicted of second-degree murder in another case and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison."
Conviction Caused By:	False confession coerced by the police.
Innocence Proved By:	"Pfeffer's conviction was overturned and he was granted a new trial when serial murderer John Francis Roche confessed to the murder of Bates, and Pfeffer passed a series of lie detector tests. Pfeffer was never retried."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:	20
Age When Released:	22
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 152."
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"Slayer of 4 Dies in Chair, By Associated Press (from Ossining, NY) The Florence Times (Florence, Ala.), January 27, 1956, p. 14"
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Information Source 3:	"Innocent: Inside Wrongful Conviction Cases, By Scott Christianson, New York University Press, 2004, p. 181"
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Paul Pfeffer

Charge:

Second Degree Murder

Sentence:

20 years to life imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

2

Year Crime:

1953

Year Convicted:

1954

Year Cleared:

1955

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New York

County or Region of Crime:

Queens

City of Crime:

New York City

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

False confession coerced by the police.

Innocence Proved By:

"Pfeffer's conviction was overturned and he was granted a new trial when serial murderer John Francis Roche confessed to the murder of Bates, and Pfeffer passed a series of lie detector tests. Pfeffer was never retried."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

20

Age When Released:

22

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 152."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Slayer of 4 Dies in Chair, By Associated Press (from Ossining, NY) The Florence Times (Florence, Ala.), January 27, 1956, p. 14"

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

"Innocent: Inside Wrongful Conviction Cases, By Scott Christianson, New York University Press, 2004, p. 181"

Information Location 3:

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: