Clifton Alton Poret

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Charge:	Rape
Sentence:	Death
Years Imprisoned:	19
Year Crime:	1950
Year Convicted:	1953
Year Cleared:	1969
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Louisiana
County or Region of Crime:	Orleans
City of Crime:	New Orleans
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Clifton Alton Poret and Edgar Labat were black codefendants convicted in 1953 of the aggravated rape of a white woman in New Orleans and sentenced to death on the basis of the victim's testimony and that of her male friend who was present. After their convictions were affirmed they filed a federal writ of habeas corpus that was denied, and in 1959 that ruling was upheld by the federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1964 the US Supreme Court ordered that the federal district court consider an issue in their appeal. In 1966 the two men smuggled an appeal out of death row that was published as advertisement in the Los Angeles Times. A reader of the ad was moved to offer to hire attorneys for the men and they obtained a stay only 3 hours before the men's scheduled execution. The men's convictions were eventually reversed when it was proven they were based on false testimony given under police pressure."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:
Defendant Aided By:	The two men smuggled an appeal out of death row that was published as an ad in the LA Times. A woman reader of the ad was moved to hire attorneys for the men that obtained a stay only 3 hours before the men's scheduled execution. The men's convictions were eventually reversed when it was proven that false testimony was given under police pressure.
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
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Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 135+."
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Clifton Alton Poret

Charge:

Rape

Sentence:

Death

Years Imprisoned:

19

Year Crime:

1950

Year Convicted:

1953

Year Cleared:

1969

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Louisiana

County or Region of Crime:

Orleans

City of Crime:

New Orleans

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 135+."

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