Maurice Taff

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Charge:	Robbery (includes armed robbery)
Sentence:	10 years
Years Imprisoned:	1
Year Crime:	1931
Year Convicted:	1931
Year Cleared:	1932
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Missouri
County or Region of Crime:	St. Louis
City of Crime:	St. Louis
Result:	Pardoned
Summary of Case:	"Maurice Taft was wrongly convicted in December 1931 of robbery in St. Louis, Missouri. Taft's conviction was based on his identification by the two women victims and his false confession coerced by the police. One of the admitted robbers, William Eiseman, testified Taft wasn't his accomplice, although he refused to reveal the identity of accomplice. After Taft was convicted by a jury he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Eiseman later told authorities his accomplice was his 15-yea-old brother Donald. After Donald pled guilty in juvenile court, Taft was granted an unconditional pardon by Missouri's Governor Henry S. Caulfield on December 12, 1932 and he was released afer a year in prison."
Conviction Caused By:	Eyewitness error and false confession
Innocence Proved By:	"After the actual culprit was discovered and convicted, Taft was granted an unconditional pardon by Missouri's Governor Henry S. Caulfield on December 12, 1932 and he was released afer a year in prison."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:	19
Age When Released:	20
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"''Not Guilty," Judge Jerome Frank and Barbara Frank, Doubleday, NY, 1957, Chapter 6, 165-167"
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Maurice Taff

Charge:

Robbery (includes armed robbery)

Sentence:

10 years

Years Imprisoned:

1

Year Crime:

1931

Year Convicted:

1931

Year Cleared:

1932

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Missouri

County or Region of Crime:

St. Louis

City of Crime:

St. Louis

Result:

Pardoned

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Eyewitness error and false confession

Innocence Proved By:

"After the actual culprit was discovered and convicted, Taft was granted an unconditional pardon by Missouri's Governor Henry S. Caulfield on December 12, 1932 and he was released afer a year in prison."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

19

Age When Released:

20

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"''Not Guilty," Judge Jerome Frank and Barbara Frank, Doubleday, NY, 1957, Chapter 6, 165-167"

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