Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Drug Related (Possession or sale) |
Sentence: |
5 years probation |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
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Year Convicted: |
1990 |
Year Cleared: |
2002 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Michigan |
County or Region of Crime: |
Macomb |
City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Pardoned |
Summary of Case: |
"Thomas Zemstra was convicted in 1990 of delivering marijuana and cocaine in Macomb County, Michigan. Zemstra was sentenced to 5 years probation. Thomas Zemstra was pardoned by Michigan's governor on March 5, 2002. An executive pardon in Michigan erases a conviction and restores the pardoned person's presumption of innocence the same as a court order vacating a conviction. The Michigan Court of Appeal stated in People v. Van Heck, 252 Mich. App. 207, 651 NW 2d 174 (Mich. Ct. of Appeals 9-24-2002): "As our Supreme Court has observed, such an act of clemency "`reaches both the punishment prescribed for the offense and the guilt of the offender. It releases the punishment and blots out of existence the guilt, so that in the eye of the law the offender is as innocent as if he had never committed the offense.'" People v. Stickle, 156 Mich. 557, 564, 121 N.W. 497 (1909), quoting People, ex rel. Forsyth v. Court of Sessions of Monroe County, 141 N.Y. 288, 294-295, 36 N.E. 386 (1894)." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"Thomas Zemstra was pardoned by Michigan's governor on March 5, 2002. An executive pardon in Michigan erases a conviction and restores the pardoned person's presumption of innocence the same as a court order vacating a conviction. The Michigan Court of Appeal stated in People v. Van Heck, 252 Mich. App. 207, 651 NW 2d 174 (Mich. Ct. of Appeals 9-24-2002): "As our Supreme Court has observed, such an act of clemency "`reaches both the punishment prescribed for the offense and the guilt of the offender. It releases the punishment and blots out of existence the guilt, so that in the eye of the law the offender is as innocent as if he had never committed the offense.'" People v. Stickle, 156 Mich. 557, 564, 121 N.W. 497 (1909), quoting People, ex rel. Forsyth v. Court of Sessions of Monroe County, 141 N.Y. 288, 294-295, 36 N.E. 386 (1894)." |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
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Information Source 1: |
"Pardons Approved By Governor, 1/1/1969 to 4/30/2015, Mich. Dept. of Corr., Office of the Parole and Commutation Board (List of 69 pardoned individuals sent to Hans Sherrer on 4/30/2015)" |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org