Booker W. Townsell

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Charge:	Rioting (Incl Common Law)
Sentence:	8 years
Years Imprisoned:
Year Crime:	1944
Year Convicted:	1944
Year Cleared:	2007
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	U.S. Military - Federal Case
County or Region of Crime:	King
City of Crime:	Seattle
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Posthumously
Summary of Case:	"Booker W. Townsell was wrongly convicted after a military court martial at Fort Lawton, Washington in 1944 of being involved in the lynching of an Italian POW. Booker Townsell was one of 28 Black soldiers convicted in what was the largest court martial trial by the US military in World War II. Effective May 4, 1945 all the convicted soldiers sentenced to less than five years in prison would be allowed to continue service in the Army, while all the others would be dishonorably discharged. On October 26, 2007, Army's Board of Corrections of Military Records overturned the convictions of four men who petitioned to have their case's reviewed. The Board ruled that the men's trials were "fundamentally unfair" because the defense lawyers only had ten days to prepare and the Army prosecutors did not turn over the exculpatory information that a white Army MP was a suspect in the lynching. The Board's ruling is applicable to all 28 men convicted, but only immediately applies to the four men, two who are still alive, who petioned the Board. Booker W. Townsell was from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was deceased at the time his petition was granted. During a July 26, 2008 ceremony at the site of the former Fort Lawton (which is now Seattle's Discovery Park), the Army officially apologized to each of the 28 convicted men, and each was given an honorable discharge, their convictions were set aside, and their families awarded back pay for the time they served in jail. Only two of the men are living, so the other 26 were honored posthumously."
Conviction Caused By:	Prosecutorial misconduct of concealing exculpatory evidence.
Innocence Proved By:	"On October 26, 2007, Army's Board of Corrections of Military Records overturned the convictions of four men who petitioned to have their case's reviewed. During a July 26, 2008 ceremony at the site of the former Fort Lawton (which is now Seattle's Discovery Park), the Army officially apologized to each of the 28 convicted men, and each was given an honorable discharge, their convictions were set aside, and their families awarded back pay for the time they served in jail. Only two of the men are living, so the other 26 were honored posthumously."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"Court martialed in 1944, Fort Lawton veterans formally exonerated, By Lisa Stiffler (staff writer), Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 27, 2008"
Information Location 1:	http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/372367_fortlawton27.html?source=mypi
Information Source 2:	"63 years later, army exonerates black troops, By Jonathan Martin, Seattle Times, October 27, 2007"
Information Location 2:	http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003977812_fortlawton27m.html
Information Source 3:	"U.S. Army overturns convictions of fort lawton soldiers court-martialed in 1944 after riot, lynching, By Jonathan Martin, Seattle Times, October 26, 2007"
Information Location 3:	http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003976785_webfortlawton27.html
Information Source 4:	"Riot at Fort Lawton, 1944, By Doninic W. Moreo (iUniverse 2004), 137"
Information Location 4:
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
Book About Case:	On American Soil: How Justice Became a Casualty of World War II by Jack Hamann (Algonquin Books) 2005
Book Information:
Book About Case (2):	"Riot at Fort Lawton, 1944, By Doninic W. Moreo (iUniverse 2004)"
Book Information (2):
Movie About Case:
Comments About Case:

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Booker W. Townsell

Charge:

Rioting (Incl Common Law)

Sentence:

8 years

Years Imprisoned:

Year Crime:

1944

Year Convicted:

1944

Year Cleared:

2007

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

U.S. Military - Federal Case

County or Region of Crime:

King

City of Crime:

Seattle

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Posthumously

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Prosecutorial misconduct of concealing exculpatory evidence.

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Court martialed in 1944, Fort Lawton veterans formally exonerated, By Lisa Stiffler (staff writer), Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 27, 2008"

Information Location 1:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/372367_fortlawton27.html?source=mypi

Information Source 2:

"63 years later, army exonerates black troops, By Jonathan Martin, Seattle Times, October 27, 2007"

Information Location 2:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003977812_fortlawton27m.html

Information Source 3:

"U.S. Army overturns convictions of fort lawton soldiers court-martialed in 1944 after riot, lynching, By Jonathan Martin, Seattle Times, October 26, 2007"

Information Location 3:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003976785_webfortlawton27.html

Information Source 4:

"Riot at Fort Lawton, 1944, By Doninic W. Moreo (iUniverse 2004), 137"

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

On American Soil: How Justice Became a Casualty of World War II by Jack Hamann (Algonquin Books) 2005

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

"Riot at Fort Lawton, 1944, By Doninic W. Moreo (iUniverse 2004)"

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: