# Has anyone ever escaped from jail to "clear their name"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 19, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-escaped-from-jail-to-clear-their-name/481935 "2009-01-19T03:12:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-escaped-from-jail-to-clear-their-name/481935/1 "2009-01-19T03:12:20Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-escaped-from-jail-to-clear-their-name/481935/2 "2009-01-19T03:45:40Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-escaped-from-jail-to-clear-their-name/481935/3 "2009-01-19T04:13:38Z")
[Lawrencia “Laurie” Bembenek](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurie_Bembenek) tried it, and was given a second trial, but eventually chose a plea bargain rather than risk another trial. ---
**Author:** ![jakesteele](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jakesteele](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakesteele)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-escaped-from-jail-to-clear-their-name/481935/4 "2009-01-19T06:45:24Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > 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? 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. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-escaped-from-jail-to-clear-their-name/481935/5 "2009-01-19T06:52:29Z")
Yeah, um, that’s what the appeals process is for. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-escaped-from-jail-to-clear-their-name/481935/6 "2009-01-19T11:31:26Z")
Meet [Robert Elliott Burns](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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.