Will Evans (a.k.a Sam White) Case Data
Compiled by Rob Warden
Copyright © 2006, Center on Wrongful Convictions
Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern University School of Law
Crime date: December 23, 1911
Jurisdiction: Pulaski County, Illinois
Crime: Attempted rape
Related crime(s): None
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Race or ethnicity: Black
Arrest date: December 26, 1911
Victim: Laura Johnson
Victim's gender: Female
Victim's race: Black
Victim's age: Early or mid thirties
How defendant became a suspect: Arrested in the area
Principal evidence of defendant's guilt: In-court identification by Laura Johnson
Principal defense: Reasonable doubt, as a result of the questionable identification
Type of trial: Jury (all white)
Conviction date: January 19, 1912
Convicted of: Assault to rape
Sentence: Ninety-nine years
Appellate record: None
Basis for exoneration: Confirmation of alibi by Chief of Police in Cairo, Illinois, who interrupted a railcar burglary Evans committed at the time of the alleged rape near Grand Chain. (Cairo and Grand Chain are twenty-five miles apart.)
Legal form of exoneration: Pardon (April 23, 1932) by Governor Louis Lincoln Emmerson acknowledging that Evans "had been the victim of mistaken identity."
Release date: April 23, 1932
Days of incarceration: 7,432
Prior record: Unknown
Compensation: None
