Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Louis Thorvik

 

Charge:

Robbery (includes armed robbery)

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

10

Year Crime:

1921

Year Convicted:

1921

Year Cleared:

1931

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Minnesota

County or Region of Crime:

Chisago

City of Crime:

Almelund

Result:

Pardoned

Summary of Case:

"Louis Thorvik was co-defendant of George Hughes. Both men were convicted in 1921 of robbing the Farmers State Bank in Almelund, Minnesota and sentenced to life in prison. The prosecution's main evidence was an eyewitness identification and testimony by Chisago County Deputy Sheriff H. L. Hammerstrom. The getaway driver for the robbery was convicted in 1925 and the day of his sentencing he told authorities that Louis Thorvik and George Hughes were not involved in the robbery. The driver, James Laughlin, gave a statement describing the crime and he named his four accomplices. Years later Laughlin's account was corroborated and in 1931 Thorvik and Hughes were pardoned by Minnesota's governor."

Conviction Caused By:

Eyewitness error

Innocence Proved By:

Actual culprit discovered

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Convicting the Innocent - Sixty-Five Actual Errors of Criminal Justice, by Edwin Borchard, Yale Univ Press, 1932"

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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