Francisco Rivera

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Charge:	Drug Related (Possession or sale)
Sentence:
Years Imprisoned:	1
Year Crime:
Year Convicted:	2002
Year Cleared:	2003
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Mexico
County or Region of Crime:
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Francisco Rivera was wrongly convicted of drug trafficking in Mexico after 37 pounds of marijuana was found in the door of a Nissan Pathfinder that Rivera, a Mexican businessman, was driving. He had bought the car for $2,600 at a U.S. government auction, after it was seized when 59 pounds of marijuana was found inside its gasoline tank. Rivera's brother-in-law was convicted along with him. The conviction's were overturned on appeal after it was established that the marijuana had been in the car for more than a year when the two men were arrested, which was the time the vehicle was seized. US Customs had simply missed finding the marijuana in the door. After their exoneration, the men filed a civil suit against the US government for the harm caused them by their wrongful conviction and imprisonment."
Conviction Caused By:	The trial judge refused to believe that US Customs could have searched the vehicle and not found the majijuana in the door - so he assumed the two defendant's made the story up.
Innocence Proved By:	Proof the marijunana had been in the car's door compartment for a year before the men's arrest - which was the time it had been seized by US Customs..
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Hispanic
Information Source 1:	"2 Men Sue Customs For Not Finding Drugs, Deborah Tedford (Reuters), The Seattle Times, Feb. 4, 2003, A14."
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Francisco Rivera

Charge:

Drug Related (Possession or sale)

Sentence:

Years Imprisoned:

1

Year Crime:

Year Convicted:

2002

Year Cleared:

2003

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Mexico

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

The trial judge refused to believe that US Customs could have searched the vehicle and not found the majijuana in the door - so he assumed the two defendant's made the story up.

Innocence Proved By:

Proof the marijunana had been in the car's door compartment for a year before the men's arrest - which was the time it had been seized by US Customs..

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Hispanic

Information Source 1:

"2 Men Sue Customs For Not Finding Drugs, Deborah Tedford (Reuters), The Seattle Times, Feb. 4, 2003, A14."

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Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: