James Albert Robison

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Charge:	Murder and Conspiracy
Sentence:	Death
Years Imprisoned:	7.58
Year Crime:	1976
Year Convicted:	1977
Year Cleared:	1993
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Arizona
County or Region of Crime:	Maricopa
City of Crime:	Phoenix
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"James Albert Robison and Max Dunlap were codefendants convicted on November 6, 1977 of first-degree murder and conspiracy in the death of Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles as a result of dynamite planted in his car exploded as he was backing out of the driveway of his home in Phoenix on June 2, 1976. The prosecution's key evidence was the testimony of John Harvey Adamson, who admitted to planting the bomb in exchange for a plea deal of second-degree murder and a 20 year, 2 month prison sentence. Robison and Dunlap were sentenced to death on February 25, 1980. On February 25, 1980 the Arizona Supreme Court overturned Robison and Dunlap's convictions on the grounds that the trial judge erred by limiting their lawyer's cross-examination of the prosecution's key witness Adamson. In June 1980 the murder charges are dismissed without prejudice against Dunlap and Robison when Adamson refused to testify against them at a retrial. Prosecutor's revoked Adamson's plea deal and he was sentenced to death after being convicted of first-degree murder. Adamson's death sentence was later overturned on appeal. On November 27, 1989 Robison was recharged with Bolles murder, and on December 19, 1990 Dunlap was recharged with Bolles murder. Robison and Dunlap were granted separate trials. Dunlap was found guilty of murder in April 1993 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. On December 17, 1993 Robison was acquitted after his retrial and released. Robison had been in custody a total of 7 years and 7 months from the time of his first arrest on January 15, 1977. In 1995 Robison pled guilty to soliciting an act of criminal violence for trying to have Adamson killed to prevent him from testifying against him. Robison was sentenced to five years in federal prison, and he was released in 1998 when he was 76 years old."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"On December 17, 1993 Robison was acquitted after his retrial."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	54
Age When Released:	71
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"A chronology of the major events in the car-bomb murder of Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles, By Investigative Reporters & Editors, IRE.org"
Information Location 1:	https://www.ire.org/about/history/chronology-events/
Information Source 2:	Death Penalty Information Center
Information Location 2:	http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html
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James Albert Robison

Charge:

Murder and Conspiracy

Sentence:

Death

Years Imprisoned:

7.58

Year Crime:

1976

Year Convicted:

1977

Year Cleared:

1993

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Arizona

County or Region of Crime:

Maricopa

City of Crime:

Phoenix

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On December 17, 1993 Robison was acquitted after his retrial."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

54

Age When Released:

71

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"A chronology of the major events in the car-bomb murder of Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles, By Investigative Reporters & Editors, IRE.org"

Information Location 1:

https://www.ire.org/about/history/chronology-events/

Information Source 2:

Death Penalty Information Center

Information Location 2:

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html

Information Source 3:

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

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Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: