Sidney Wood

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Charge:	Robbery (includes armed robbery)
Sentence:	5 years to life imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	1.5
Year Crime:	1923
Year Convicted:	1924
Year Cleared:	1925
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	California
County or Region of Crime:	Los Angeles
City of Crime:	Los Angeles
Result:	Pardoned
Summary of Case:	"Sidney Wood was wrongly convicted on March 3, 1924 of being one of three men who robbed passenger's at gunpoint on an electric trolley traveling between Los Angeles and Pasadena, California on November 7, 1923. Wood's first trial ended in a mistrial because the jury couldn't reach a verdict. During Wood's second trial the prosecution introduced the testimony of several of the robbed passengers who didn't testify at his first trial. Those eyewitnesses positively identified Wood's as one of the robbers. The jury rejected Wood's alibi defense in convicting him of first-degree robbery. The trial judge denied the motion by Wood's attorney for a new trial based on the evidence didn't support a guilty verdict, stating: "If that is the ground for your motion, if there ever was a case where the evidence was sufficient to uphold that verdict, it was this case. If the court did not agree with the jury he would set it aside; so far as the evidence is concerned, there is evidence to support the verdict. The witnesses saw him in the act." The judge then sentenced Wood to 5 years to life in prison. On April 10, 1925 one of the robbers made a complete confession that named his two accomplices, and absolving Wood of any involvement. On May 5, 1925 California Governor F. W. Richardon granted Wood a full pardon based on the new evidence of his innocence, and he was granted payment of $100 by the governor."
Conviction Caused By:	Eyewitness error
Innocence Proved By:	"On May 5, 1925 California Governor F. W. Richardon granted Wood a full pardon based on the new evidence of his innocence, and he was granted payment of $100 by the governor."
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, pgs. 311-314."
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Sidney Wood

Charge:

Robbery (includes armed robbery)

Sentence:

5 years to life imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

1.5

Year Crime:

1923

Year Convicted:

1924

Year Cleared:

1925

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

California

County or Region of Crime:

Los Angeles

City of Crime:

Los Angeles

Result:

Pardoned

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Eyewitness error

Innocence Proved By:

"On May 5, 1925 California Governor F. W. Richardon granted Wood a full pardon based on the new evidence of his innocence, and he was granted payment of $100 by the governor."

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, pgs. 311-314."

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Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: