Joseph William Smith

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Charge:	Voluntary Manslaughter
Sentence:	10 years
Years Imprisoned:	4
Year Crime:	1907
Year Convicted:	1907
Year Cleared:	1987
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Nevada
County or Region of Crime:	Esmeralda
City of Crime:	Goldfield
Result:	Pardoned Posthumously
Summary of Case:	"Joseph Smith and Morris 'Morrie' Preston were co-defendants wrongly convicted on May 9, 1907 charges related to the murder on March 10, 1907 of a restaurant owner in the mining town of Goldfield, Nevada. Smith's alibi defense is he was at home having dinner with his family at the time of the murder. Preston was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison, and Smith was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Smith was paroled in 1911 and died in 1935. Preston was paroled in 1914 and sought, but was unsuccessful at being granted a pardon before his death in 1924. Smith and Preston were posthumously pardoned by Nevada's Board of Pardons in 1987 based on new evidence of their innocence in a book about their case -- "The Ignoble Conspiracy - Radicalism on Trial in Nevada," by Sally Zanjani and Guy Louis Rocha (Reno, University of Nevada Press, 1986). 14 relatives of Smith's were present at the announcement of the men's pardon. Morris Preston was also known as Morrie."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	The men were posthumously pardoned by Nevada's Board of Pardons in 1987 based on new evidence of their innocence in a book about their case.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Nevada's Pardon Board Rectifies an Old Judicial Scar, By Mark A. Stein (staff writer), Los Angeles Times, May 13, 1987"
Information Location 1:	http://articles.latimes.com/1987-05-13/news/mn-4257_1_pardons
Information Source 2:	"Morris "Morrie" Rockwood Preston and Joseph William Smith, Nevada State Prison Inmate Case Files, Nevada State Library and Archives (last viewed 08-30-2011)"
Information Location 2:	http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1517&Itemid=95
Information Source 3:	"Nevada Pardons 2 In 1907 Murder During Labor-Company Battle, AP news story, New York Times, May 15, 1987"
Information Location 3:	http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/15/us/nevada-pardons-2-in-1907-murder-during-labor-company-battle.html
Information Source 4:	"Posthumous pardons granted to `Wobblies' labor members, AP news story, Houston Chronicle, May 13, 1987"
Information Location 4:	http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1987_462412/posthumous-pardons-granted-to-wobblies-labor-membe.html
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
Book About Case:	"The Ignoble Conspiracy - Radicalism on Trial in Nevada, by Sally Zanjani and Guy Louis Rocha (Reno, University of Nevada Press, 1986)"
Book Information:
Book About Case (2):	"George Wingfield: owner and operator of Nevada, by C. Elizabeth Raymond (University of Nevada Press (November 1, 1992)"
Book Information (2):
Movie About Case:
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Joseph William Smith

Charge:

Voluntary Manslaughter

Sentence:

10 years

Years Imprisoned:

4

Year Crime:

1907

Year Convicted:

1907

Year Cleared:

1987

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Nevada

County or Region of Crime:

Esmeralda

City of Crime:

Goldfield

Result:

Pardoned Posthumously

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

The men were posthumously pardoned by Nevada's Board of Pardons in 1987 based on new evidence of their innocence in a book about their case.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Nevada's Pardon Board Rectifies an Old Judicial Scar, By Mark A. Stein (staff writer), Los Angeles Times, May 13, 1987"

Information Location 1:

http://articles.latimes.com/1987-05-13/news/mn-4257_1_pardons

Information Source 2:

"Morris "Morrie" Rockwood Preston and Joseph William Smith, Nevada State Prison Inmate Case Files, Nevada State Library and Archives (last viewed 08-30-2011)"

Information Location 2:

http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1517&Itemid=95

Information Source 3:

"Nevada Pardons 2 In 1907 Murder During Labor-Company Battle, AP news story, New York Times, May 15, 1987"

Information Location 3:

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/15/us/nevada-pardons-2-in-1907-murder-during-labor-company-battle.html

Information Source 4:

"Posthumous pardons granted to `Wobblies' labor members, AP news story, Houston Chronicle, May 13, 1987"

Information Location 4:

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1987_462412/posthumous-pardons-granted-to-wobblies-labor-membe.html

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

"The Ignoble Conspiracy - Radicalism on Trial in Nevada, by Sally Zanjani and Guy Louis Rocha (Reno, University of Nevada Press, 1986)"

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

"George Wingfield: owner and operator of Nevada, by C. Elizabeth Raymond (University of Nevada Press (November 1, 1992)"

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: