Has there ever been a Hollywood style break out only to have the person prove he/she is innocent?
I thought about this while watching The Fugitive has this type of thing ever happened in real life?
AND along these same lines, if one did escape from jail and successfully clear their name, would they be guilty of breaking out of jail?
Lawrencia “Laurie” Bembenek tried it, and was given a second trial, but eventually chose a plea bargain rather than risk another trial.
I remember this happening 10-15 yrs. ago. The guy escaped and was later found not guilty on his original charge but the asshole judge threw him back in jail for committing a felony crime of “escaping”. If I remember correctly, the judge had a lot of leeway in what he could do but chose to fuck up this guy’s life more than it already was.
Yeah, um, that’s what the appeals process is for.
Meet Robert Elliott Burns, author of I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. It was made into a movie starring Paul Muni. He didn’t so much protest his innocence as the over-severity of the punishment for the meager crime. He escaped a Georgia chain gang, went north, wrote a book about his ordeal, fought extradition to Georgia and became a celebrity.
After he wrote the book, he went back to Georgia to finish the sentence. He was promised a 90-day sentence with no hard labor and a chance to start fresh. Big mistake. He escaped again.
The movie was made at this point. He was eventually pardoned.