Jerome Gene Miller Case Data
Compiled by Rob Warden
Copyright © 2006, Center on Wrongful Convictions
Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern University School of Law
Date of crime: May 11, 1967
Place of crime: Randolph County, Illinois
Type of crime: Murder
Sentence: 199 years
Defendant’s age at time of crime: 22 (born May 3, 1943)
Defendant’s gender: Male
Defendant’s race: White
Defendant’s prior adult conviction record: Burglary conviction for which he served one year in prison in Illinois
Victim: Joseph Gagnepain
Victim’s gender: Male
Victim’s race:White
Victim’s Age at time of crime: 55
How defendant became a suspect: Police claim to have received a tip that Miller had a revolver and a box of change in his car. (The victim, keeper of a Mississippi River toll booth, had been shot in the head and robbed of $40 in change.)
Date of arrest: May 13, 1967
Type of proceeding resulting in conviction: Jury trial, at which Miller changed his plea to guilty after the prosecution concluded its case.
Racial makeup of jury: All white
Principal evidence presented at trial purporting to establish guilt: Miller’s possession of a box of change (which he had told his lawyer he was saving to buy his wife a vacuum cleaner) and a revolver.
Was conviction ever affirmed on appeal? No
Date of release:November 19, 1970
Days incarcerated: 1,283
How case was resolved: Acquittal upon retrial
Date of resolution: Same as date of release
Factors leading to resolution: Ballistics tests revealed that Miller’s revolver was not the murder weapon and his testimony that he was saving the change to buy his wife a vacuum cleaner
Individual(s) responsible for bringing miscarriage to light: Privately retained appellate counsel (William Brandt)
Did defendant receive compensation for the wrongful conviction?No
After exoneration, was defendant charged with or convicted of another crime? No
