Joseph Ward

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Charge:	Larceny
Sentence:	5 years
Years Imprisoned:	0.67
Year Crime:	1895
Year Convicted:	1895
Year Cleared:	1896
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Massachusetts
County or Region of Crime:	Suffolk
City of Crime:	Boston
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Joseph Ward was wrongly convicted on April 18, 1895 of larceny for the snatching of a woman's purse at a store in Boston, Massachusetts on February 19, 1895. Ward's prosecution was based on the testimony of several eyewitnesses. Ward's alibi was he was another state on the day of the crime, but he was afraid to testify because he had a criminal record. After his conviction Ward was sentenced to five years in prison. Ward's conviction was overturned in 1896 and he was released after 8 months imprisonment. In July 1895 Ward's alleged accomplice, James Mahoney was arrested. Mahoney told Ward's lawyer that his accomplice was a man named Dooley from New York, and not Ward. The police officer who was one of the witnesses against Ward, discovered that Ward and Dooley resembled each other. The officer informed the Suffolk County District Attorney, who along with the officer, wrote letters supporting Ward's application for a pardon. On January 30, 1896 Joseph Ward was pardoned by Massachusett's Governor Frederic T. Greenhalge based on his actual innocence."
Conviction Caused By:	Eyewitness error
Innocence Proved By:	"On January 30, 1896 Joseph Ward was pardoned by Massachusett's Governor Frederic T. Greenhalge based on his actual innocence."
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"
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"CONVICTIONS OF INNOCENT PERSONS IN MASSACHUSETTS: AN OVERVIEW, By Stanley Z. Fishera, 12 B.U. Pub. Int. L.J. 1"
Information Location 2:	http://vots.altervista.org/MA/CIPM.htm
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Joseph Ward

Charge:

Larceny

Sentence:

5 years

Years Imprisoned:

0.67

Year Crime:

1895

Year Convicted:

1895

Year Cleared:

1896

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Massachusetts

County or Region of Crime:

Suffolk

City of Crime:

Boston

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Eyewitness error

Innocence Proved By:

"On January 30, 1896 Joseph Ward was pardoned by Massachusett's Governor Frederic T. Greenhalge based on his actual innocence."

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"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"CONVICTIONS OF INNOCENT PERSONS IN MASSACHUSETTS: AN OVERVIEW, By Stanley Z. Fishera, 12 B.U. Pub. Int. L.J. 1"

Information Location 2:

http://vots.altervista.org/MA/CIPM.htm

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Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: