Innocence Project Bournemouth

posted by on Feb 28

A North Carolina judge denied prisoner Ronnie Long access to a new trial for a 1976 rape he has always maintained he didn’t commit. The North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence represents Long and has argued that evidence before his conviction should have cleared him.

A judge ordered DNA testing this week in the case of Esdras Cardona, a client of the Innocence Project of Florida.

Exoneree Steve Barnes spoke Tuesday in Albany before a New York State Bar committee investigating wrongful convictions and reforms to prevent future injustice. "I always believed in the system but the system failed me," Barnes said. Innocence Project Policy Director Stephen Saloom also testified about reforms supported the by the Innocence Project.

The Mississippi House of Representatives is considering a bill that would require law enforcement agencies to preserve DNA evidence in criminal convictions as long as the convicted person is incarcerated or under state supervision.

Exonerees, attorneys, students and policymakers from around the country will come together in Houston next month for the annual Innocence Network Conference. Learn more about the three-day event and register to attend here.

posted by on Feb 27

Oral arguments are scheduled for Monday in the case of District Attorney’s Office vs. William Osborne. Innocence Project Co-Director Peter Neufeld will argue before the U.S. Supreme Court that prisoners have a constitutional right to DNA testing when it can prove their innocence. We’ll update the case here – and on twitter – as we have details on Monday. For more background on Osborne, get briefs, press releases, media coverage and more on the case here.

Yesterday, exonerees and others whose lives were directly affected by wrongful conviction came together in Washington, D.C., to discuss the case and the importance of DNA testing. Watch a video of the event here. Today, Louisiana exoneree Rickie Johnson spoke to students about the case at a Virginia High School’s Case Day.

And legal experts from across the country continued this week to speak out on Osborne’s behalf. In today’s New York Daily News, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Mogenthau wrote that Alaska prosecutors have no logical reason for failing to grant Osborne a DNA test.

When a defendant who has always protested innocence will pay for a test that will resolve that protest one way or the other, only stubbornness can explain denying him access to the evidence. What can Alaska be afraid of – finding that it has imprisoned the wrong man?

Attorney David C. Fathi writes in today’s Huffington Post that he strongly disagrees with the choice by the Obama administration to proceed with the brief filed under Bush that argues against the right to DNA testing.

The Bush administration argued in its brief — now effectively adopted by the Obama administration — that the decision about whether to allow DNA testing should be left up to the states as part of a "vibrant democratic process." But some things shouldn't be put up for a vote — and the liberty of a possibly innocent person is one of them.

posted by on Feb 26

Today’s Innocence Project event in Washington, D.C., featuring exonerees, legal experts and others directly affected by wrongful conviction, will be broadcast live on the web at 12:30 p.m. EST here. Tune in, and follow our live tweets at www.twitter.com/innocenceblog

If you're in the D.C. area, head over to today's event – it's free and won't be one you soon forget.

Speakers at today's event include:

Marvin Anderson, who served 15 years in prison for crimes he didn’t commit. He was exonerated with DNA testing in 2002 – becoming the first person in Virginia exonerated through post-conviction DNA testing.

Rickie Johnson, who served 25 years at Louisiana’s notorious Angola Farm Penitentiary for a 1982 rape he didn’t commit. Johnson was exonerated in 2008 after the Sabine Parish District Attorney quickly agreed to DNA testing in his case.

Dennis Fritz, who was convicted of murder in Oklahoma and served 11 years in prison before DNA testing exonerated him in 1999. The wrongful convictions of Fritz and his co-defendant, Ron Williamson, are the subject of John Grisham’s best-selling nonfiction book, “The Innocent Man.”

Michele Mallin, who was brutally raped in 1985 when she was a 20-year-old sophomore at Texas Tech. She was the fifth victim of a serial rapist on campus, and she identified Timothy Cole as her assailant. Cole was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison. In 1999, Cole died in prison at the age of 39. Last year, Mallin learned about evidence of Cole’s innocence and joined his family in an effort to exonerate him posthumously. Mallin testified at an unprecedented hearing in Austin earlier this month, where a judge recommended throwing out Cole’s conviction.

Det. Jim Trainum, a 25-year veteran of the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department who oversees the department’s Violent Crime Case Review Project, reviewing “cold cases.” Trainum, who handles murder cases, obtained a false confession from an innocent suspect several years ago and now educates fellow police officers and others about wrongful convictions.

David Rudovsky, one of the nation’s leading authorities on post-conviction remedies under federal law. Rudovsky is a Senior Fellow at University of Pennsylvania Law School and has written scholarly articles and litigation-related books on criminal law, constitutional criminal procedure and evidence. He recently presented about the Osborne case to a National Institute of Justice conference.

They will be joined by several other people exonerated through DNA testing and other leading attorneys in the field. The event is sponsored by Georgetown’s Office of Public Interest and Community Service, the Innocence Project and the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project.

Read more about the Osborne case.

posted by on Feb 25

“Picking Cotton,” a highly anticipated new book set to be released next week, tells the story of a wrongful conviction from the perspectives of both the victim of a 1984 sexual assault and the innocent man who spent a decade in prison for the crime before DNA testing set him free. But the story doesn’t end at exoneration. The book goes on to describe the unlikely friendship between the crime victim, Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, and Ronald Cotton, who she misidentified in the attack. The two met two years after Cotton was exonerated and today they travel around the country telling their story and urging states to reform eyewitness identification practices to prevent wrongful convictions.

Written with author Erin Torneo, “Picking Cotton” will – in the words of Sister Helen Prejean – “break your heart and lift it up again.”

The book is set to be released Tuesday, March 3, but you can preorder your copy from Amazon.com today and a portion of proceeds will support the Innocence Project.

Watch a video here to hear the moving story in the words of Cotton and Thompson-Cannino.

posted by on Feb 24

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case of Innocence Project client William Osborne, who is seeking DNA testing that could prove his innocence of a 1993 Alaska rape. And on Thursday, Georgetown University Law School in Washington, D.C., will host an unprecedented gathering of people directly affected by the injustice of wrongful convictions. Joining several exonerees at Thursday’s discussion will be Michele Mallin, a rape victim who recently joined with the family of Timothy Cole to clear his name years after he died in prison.

Learn more about the case and Thursday’s event.

Discussion of the Osborne case is hearing up this week on the blogosphere. Yesterday at Mother Jones, Kevin Drum wrote that he is not persuaded by arguments that allowing DNA testing when it can prove innocence opens floodgates to frivolous requests. Today, at the Atlantic, Megan McArdle responds to Drum, writing that DNA testing is an extremely affordable way to determine the truth and should be a right. Lively discussions are going on at both sites.

The Innocence Project has a guest blog post about the case today at Justice Watch, and Erica Goldberg wrote an extensive preview of the case last week on the SCOTUSblog.

We’ll be posting more about the case throughout the week.

posted by on Feb 23

Today at 4pm ET at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., author John Grisham will discuss his book, “The Innocent Man,” about the cases of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, who spent a decade in Oklahoma prison for a murder they didn’t commit. The event will be webcast live here.

And Fritz will be among the speakers on Thursday when the Innocence Project holds an unprecedented gathering of exonerees, legal experts and others to discuss the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case of Innocence Project client William Osborne. The event, at Georgetown University Law Center at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, is free and open to the public.

Joining Fritz, and several other exonerees will be Michele Mallin, who was the victim of a rape in 1985 for which Timothy Cole was wrongfully convicited. Cole died in prison in 1999, but Mallin has been working with his family in recent months to clear his name posthumously. Click here for more on this exciting event. Facebook users can visit the Facebook event page to invite friends.

posted by on Feb 23

An editorial this weekend in the New York Times praised the National Academy of Sciences on its “sensible suggestions” for improvements to forensic science practices in the United States, and called for research into unvalidated disciplines.

The academy’s panel makes sensible suggestions for improvement, such as certification of forensic professionals, accreditation of laboratories, uniform standards for analyzing evidence and independence of the laboratories from police and prosecutors who might bias judgments. In the long run, research is needed to determine the accuracy of forensic methods. For now, judges, lawyers and juries are on notice that high-tech forensic perfection is a television fantasy, not a courtroom reality.

Read the full editorial here. (New York Times, 02/21/09)

And writing in the Austin American-Statesman, author Joyce King (a member of the Innocence Project of Texas Board of Directors) writes that “lawmakers should not ignore” criminal justice reforms proven to prevent wrongful convictions – especially in the wake of Timothy Cole being cleared posthumously.

Read King’s op-ed here. (Austin American-Statesman, 02/22/09)

posted by on Feb 21

Wednesday marked the ninth anniversary of Herman Atkins’ exoneration in California. After serving nearly 12 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit, Atkins was freed on February 18, 2000 based on DNA testing proving his innocence.

He was wrongfully convicted of 1988 of a robbery and rape. After the crime in the spring of 1986, the victim was taken to the police station and shown several photos in an identification procedure. She did not identify anyone, but saw a photo of Atkins elsewhere in the station. After identifying the other photo, the victim was shown a photo lineup including Atkins and identified him again.

Since his exoneration, Atkins has graduated from college and gotten married. He and his wife, Machara, have started the Life Interventions for Exonerees foundation to help exonerees get back on their feet after their release. This week, LIFE launched its new website, at www.exonereelife.org. Atkins wrote last year on the Innocence Blog about why he and Machara founded the Life Foundation.

Other Exoneration Anniversaries This Week:

Wednesday: Peter Rose, California (Served 8 years, Exonerated (2/18/05)

posted by on Feb 21

Newly elected Mississippi chief justice Bill Waller, Jr. said this week that his primary goal in office is to restore public trust and ensure that all citizens have access to fair justice.

In his remarks, Waller singled out the decision to cut ties with former acting state medical examiner Steven Hayne as an important move toward building public confidence in the system. Hayne’s improper forensic testimony contributed to the wrongful convictions of Kennedy Brewer and Levon Brooks, who each spent more than a decade behind bars before they were proven innocent and freed last year. Hayne has conducted criminal autopsies in Mississippi for two decades and has testified that he conducted more than 1,500 autopsies a year during some years. A thorough review of cases handled by Hayne is ongoing, and Waller said cases involving Hayne’s testimony were being reviewed "very closely" by the state Supreme Court.

"We're going to evaluate the cases one at a time. I applaud Commissioner Simpson's decision to go a different direction from Dr. Hayne," he said. "We must follow appropriate standards. I think we're moving in a better direction."

Read the full story here. (Hattiesburg American,

For over two years, Reason Magazine Senior Editor Radley Balko has investigated the forensic practices of Hayne and Dr. Michael West, a bitemark expert who frequently worked with him. In a new report published online yesterday, Balko says new evidence shows that another man may have been wrongfully convicted and sent to Louisiana’s death row based on questionable forensic reports from Hayne and West. Read the Reason story here.

posted by on Feb 20

We posted yesterday some feedback and media coverage of the watershed forensics report released by the National Academy of Sciences. Here are some more stories running around the world today. We’ve noted which stories allow comments, so you can click through and join the discussion:

NPR On Point: Crime Labs and Dismal Science – One-hour radio show with Judge Harry Edwards (the co-chair of the committee that published the report), Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck, L.A. County Crime Lab Director Barry Fisher and John Jay College Prof. James Doyle. (Allows comments)

New York Times: Study Calls for Oversight of Forensics in Crime Labs

USA Today: Report: Real-world Police Forensics Don’t Resemble ‘CSI’

LA Times Op-Ed: Clueless ‘Science’

LA Times: Report questions science, reliability of crime lab evidence

NPR Morning Edition: Call for Forensics Overhaul Linked to 'CSI' Effect (Allows Comments)

Simple Justice: National Academies of Science: Trust Nothing (Allows Comments)