History is ripe with stories of injustice. Below are six examples of people who were punished only to later be found innocent...as mentioned on MSN.com.
1. John D. Lavelle - Vietnam-era General who was blamed for actions President Nixon ordered. Lost two of his four stars and was forced to retire from the Army. He devoted his life to clearing his name, but he didn't live to see it happen. Our current President Obama pardoned him only recently on August 4, 2010.
2. Joan of Arc - French peasant girl who claimed God told her to lead the French army to victory over the English. She was caught by her enemy, accused of heresy, and burned at the stake. Her conviction was later reversed; Pope Benedict XV made her "Saint" Joan of Arc.
3. All victims of the Salem Witch Trials were formally declared innocent by the state of Massachusetts.
4. Gouoverneur Warren, leader of the Union's V Corp, was fired by General Sheridian for supposedly moving too slowly at the battle of Five Forks (even though he won the battle). A panel later ruled that Warren had been in the right. Unfortunately, Warren died three months earlier.
5. Thomas and Meeks Griffen - Two black landowners (brothers) who were executed for the murder of a white landowner (who also happened to be a veteran of the Confederate Army). Even then the judge saw no evidence of their guilt, but the governor had them convicted. It is believed the brothers were victims of an elaborate plot to steal their land.
6. Captain Charles McVay - Commander of the sunken USS Indianapolis which was attacked by a Japanese submarine. The crew had abandoned ship and suffered hunger, dehydration, and shark attacks. Their SOS calls went unanswered and hundreds of men died. McVay was courtmartialed for losing a ship during wartime; the surviving crew members believed McVay was innocent and was used as a scapegoat for the Navy's mistakes.
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