James Willis

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Charge:	Robbery and Assault
Sentence:	5 years to life imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	0.43
Year Crime:	1927
Year Convicted:	1927
Year Cleared:	1927
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	California
County or Region of Crime:	Sacramento
City of Crime:	Sacramento
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"James Willis was wrongly convicted on April 12, 1927 of assault and robbery in the non-fatal shooting of a man in Sacramento, California on March 19, 1927. Willis was arrested based on the eyewitness identification of two witnesses to the incident. Willis insisted on his innocence, but he pled guilty and was sentenced to 5 years to life in prison on the robbery charge and from one to 14 years on the assault charge, with the sentences to be served consecutively. About the time that Willis pled guilty Vincent Bohac went to the police in Detroit, Michigan and confessed to shooting a man in Sacramento in March, but he didn't know if he lived or died. Bohac was extradicted to California, and he made a complete confession to the shooting and led police to where he had buried the pistol and money he had taken during the robbery. Bohac didn't know that Willis had been convicted of the crime. When the eyewitnesses say Bohac they recanted their identification of Willis and said Bohac was the shooter and thief. In the latter part of May 1927 Bohac pled guilty to first-degree robbery and assault with intent to murder and was sentenced to prison. The Sacramento County District Attorney recommended the pardoning of Willis based on the new evidence he had falsely pled guilty, and on August 18, 1927 California Governor Young granted Willis a full pardon based on his innocence."
Conviction Caused By:	Eyewitness error
Innocence Proved By:	"The Sacramento County District Attorney recommended the pardoning of Willis based on the new evidence he had falsely pled guilty, and on August 18, 1927 California Governor Young granted Willis a full pardon based on his innocence."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:
Information Source 1:	"Convicting the Innocent - Sixty-Five Actual Errors of Criminal Justice, by Edwin Borchard, Yale Univ Press, 1932, pgs. 367-370."
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:
Information Location 2:
Information Source 3:
Information Location 3:
Information Source 4:
Information Location 4:
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
Book About Case:
Book Information:
Book About Case (2):
Book Information (2):
Movie About Case:
Comments About Case:

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

James Willis

Charge:

Robbery and Assault

Sentence:

5 years to life imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

0.43

Year Crime:

1927

Year Convicted:

1927

Year Cleared:

1927

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

California

County or Region of Crime:

Sacramento

City of Crime:

Sacramento

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Eyewitness error

Innocence Proved By:

"The Sacramento County District Attorney recommended the pardoning of Willis based on the new evidence he had falsely pled guilty, and on August 18, 1927 California Governor Young granted Willis a full pardon based on his innocence."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"Convicting the Innocent - Sixty-Five Actual Errors of Criminal Justice, by Edwin Borchard, Yale Univ Press, 1932, pgs. 367-370."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: