MISCARRIAGES OF JUSTICE
IN POTENTIALLY CAPITAL CASES (1987)
by Hugo Adam Bedau and Michael L. Radelet

Excerpt from Appendix A: Catalogue of Defendants

BRANSON, WILLIAM (white). 1916. Oregon. Branson was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The conviction was reversed on appeal because of improper jury instructions.1 In 1917, he was retried, reconvicted, and resentenced to life. The state parole board reported to the governor that “We . . . are satisfied after a full and complete investigation of this case that the accused was not guilty of the crime with which he was charged.”2 The trial judge also wrote to the governor and requested the pardon. In 1920, Branson was given an unconditional pardon by Governor Olcott.3

Footnotes

1. State v. Branson, 82 Or. 377, 161 P. 689 (1916).
 
2. Oregonian, Sept. 12, 1920, at 1, col. 8.
 
3. Id.