William Mason Wellman

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Charge:	Rape
Sentence:	Death
Years Imprisoned:	2
Year Crime:	1941
Year Convicted:	1942
Year Cleared:	1943
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	North Carolina
County or Region of Crime:	Iredall
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"William Mason Wellman was wrongly convicted in August 1942 of raping a white woman on February 11, 1941 in Iredall County, North Carolina based on her eyewitness identification and sentenced to death. Wellman was already strapped into the electric chair when NC Govenor Broughton received word that another man had confessed to the rape. Wellman's sentence was stayed and an investigation by the NC State Parole Commission established that Wellman was at work 350 miles away in Fort Belvoir, Virginia at the time of the rape. Six months later he was granted a full pardon and released in April 1943."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous eyewitness identification by the victim.
Innocence Proved By:	"Wellman was already strapped into the electric chair when NC Govenor Broughton received word that another man had confessed to the rape. The governor granted a stay. It was later established that Wellman was at work 350 miles away in Fort Belvoir, Virginia at the time of the rape in Iredall County, NC, and Gov. Broughton granted Wellman a full pardon in April 1943 and he was released."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"“In Spite of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases,” Michael L Radelet, Hugo Adam Bedau, and Constance E. Putnam, Northeastern University Press, Boston, 1992 p. 352-353"
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Information Source 2:	"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 167+."
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William Mason Wellman

Charge:

Rape

Sentence:

Death

Years Imprisoned:

2

Year Crime:

1941

Year Convicted:

1942

Year Cleared:

1943

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

North Carolina

County or Region of Crime:

Iredall

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous eyewitness identification by the victim.

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"“In Spite of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases,” Michael L Radelet, Hugo Adam Bedau, and Constance E. Putnam, Northeastern University Press, Boston, 1992 p. 352-353"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 167+."

Information Location 2:

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Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: