Wrongly Convicted Database Record
|
Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
18 |
Year Crime: |
|
Year Convicted: |
1975 |
Year Cleared: |
1992 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
California |
County or Region of Crime: |
Los Angeles |
City of Crime: |
|
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Benny Powell was codefendant of Clarence Chance. Both were wrongly convicted in 1975 of the 1973 murder of a sheriff deputy due to the false testimony of trial witnesses coerced by police intimidation. On March 25, 1992 a Los Angeles judge apologized to the men as they were freed from almost 18 years of imprisonment. Their release resulted from a 4-year investigation by Centurion Ministries that proved the witnesses that fabricated their testimony implicating Clarence Chance and Benny Powell in the murder." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Perjured testimony of witnesses coerced by police intimidation. |
Innocence Proved By: |
An exhaustive four-year private investigation by a charitable sleuth unconvered proof the government's witnesses committed perjury at the behest of the prosecution. |
Defendant Aided By: |
Centurion Ministries |
Compensation Awarded: |
|
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
|
Age When Imprisoned: |
|
Age When Released: |
|
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
Centurion Ministries website |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.centurionministries.org/cases.html |
Information Source 2: |
""Judge Apologizes, Frees 2 Men in 1973 Murder," Sheryl Stolberg (staff writer), Los Angeles Times, March 26, 1992." |
Information Location 2: |
|
Information Source 3: |
""Wrongful Convictions Spark Righteous Acts," Chicago Tribune, March 22, 1992. " |
Information Location 3: |
http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~critcrim/wrong/wrong.chance |
Information Source 4: |
"Not Guilty After All, San Francisco Magazine, November 2004" |
Information Location 4: |
http://sanfran.com/archives/view_story/200/ |
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