Ernest J. Triplett

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Charge:	Second Degree Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole
Years Imprisoned:	18.12
Year Crime:	1954
Year Convicted:	1955
Year Cleared:	1972
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Iowa
County or Region of Crime:	Plymouth
City of Crime:	Sioux City
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Ernest Triplett was wrongly convicted of second-degree murder on June 17, 1955 of the August 1954 murder of 8-year-old Jimmy Bremmer in Sioux City, Iowa. Bremmer disappeared on August 31, 1954 and his body wasn't discovered until September 29, 1954. However, Triplett lived in the neighborhood and he was arrested on September 2, 1954 as a suspect in Bremmer's disappearance after a neighbor reported to the police that it seemed peculiar to him that Triplett wasn't wearing any socks on the evening that Bremmer disappeared. On October 1 the police disclosed that Triplett had been arrested a month earlier and during his repeated and extensive interrogations he had adamantly denied any involvement in Bremmer's disappearance, and then his murder after his body was discovered, The Sioux City police chief described Triplett as "psychotic as well as homosexual." After being transported to the Mental Health Institute in Cherokee, Iowa for psychiatric evaluation, Triplett made a tape recorded confession on October 6, 1954. He had been in custody and interrogated for 34 days without being allowed to meet with a lawyer. Triplett's trial began on June 6, 1955 and he was convicted on the basis of his confession and his demeanor on the evening of Bremmer's disappearance, because there was no physical, forensic or eyewitness evidence linking him to the crime. Triplett was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Triplett insisted on his innocence and after his direct appeal was denied in 1956 he filed a number of post-conviction petitions claiming his innocence, all of which were denied. In 1970 Triplett submitted an application for Legal Assistance to the University of Iowa College of Law. In 1971 the clinic accepted Triplett's case, and after an exhaustive investigation discovered that Triplett had been drugged at the time of his confession. Based on the new evidence undermining the legality of his confession and that it was likely false, Triplett's conviction was overturned on October 17, 1972, based on the judge's finding that his confession was involuntary. The Plymouth County District Attorney immediately filed a motion to dismiss the indictment based on insufficient evidence to retry Triplett, which the judge granted. Triplett was released from custody on October 18, 1972. Triplett was wrongly incarcerated for 18 years, 1 month and 16 days. Triplett filed state and federal lawsuits against Plymouth County and its officials. In 1978 he settled his state lawsuit for $50,000, and his federal civil rights lawsuit for $3,000. Robert Bartels was one of the lawyers who worked pro bono on Triplett's case, and in 1988 the University of Iowa Press published his book, "Benefit of Law - The Murder Case of Ernest Triplett" (By Robert Bartels (Iowa State Univ Press, 1988))."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"$53,000 total. $50,000 (State lawsuit, 1978), $3,000 (federal civil rights lawsuit, 1978)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	50
Age When Released:	68
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Benefit of Law - The Murder Case of Ernest Triplett, by Robert Bartels (Iowa State Univ Press, 1988)"
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"State v_ Triplett, 79 NW 2d 391, 248 Iowa 339, 248 Ia. 339 (Iowa Sup Ct, 1956) -affirming conviction and sentence.htm"
Information Location 2:	"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2299464018154359668&q=Ernest+Triplett+iowa&hl=en&as_sdt=2,48"
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Book About Case:	"Benefit of Law - 'The Murder Case of Ernest Triplett, by Robert Bartels (Iowa State Univ Press, 1988)"
Book Information:
Book About Case (2):	"Sex Crime Panic by Neil Miller (Alyson Books, Los Angeles, 2002)"
Book Information (2):
Movie About Case:
Comments About Case:

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Ernest J. Triplett

Charge:

Second Degree Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole

Years Imprisoned:

18.12

Year Crime:

1954

Year Convicted:

1955

Year Cleared:

1972

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Iowa

County or Region of Crime:

Plymouth

City of Crime:

Sioux City

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$53,000 total. $50,000 (State lawsuit, 1978), $3,000 (federal civil rights lawsuit, 1978)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

50

Age When Released:

68

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Benefit of Law - The Murder Case of Ernest Triplett, by Robert Bartels (Iowa State Univ Press, 1988)"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"State v_ Triplett, 79 NW 2d 391, 248 Iowa 339, 248 Ia. 339 (Iowa Sup Ct, 1956) -affirming conviction and sentence.htm"

Information Location 2:

"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2299464018154359668&q=Ernest+Triplett+iowa&hl=en&as_sdt=2,48"

Information Source 3:

Information Location 3:

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Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

"Benefit of Law - 'The Murder Case of Ernest Triplett, by Robert Bartels (Iowa State Univ Press, 1988)"

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

"Sex Crime Panic by Neil Miller (Alyson Books, Los Angeles, 2002)"

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: