Innocence Project Bournemouth

posted by Justice on Jul 2

States across the country are facing budget crises – and by cutting back on public defense they are increasing the risk of sending an innocent person to prison.

Injustice and Bad Defense
States across the country are facing budget crises – and by cutting back on public defense they are increasing the risk of sending an innocent person to prison.

Furloughs and layoffs are hindering public defense offices from Georgia to California, and a Minnesota defender recently told a judge he simply did not have the staff to take on additional cases. Even when budget shortfalls don’t lead to layoffs, however, they can hurt the chances of defendants to investigate, call experts and present a rigorous defense.

Both short-staffed public defense offices and incompetent attorneys have played a role in allowing the innocent to go to prison in recent years. A review of the 255 convictions overturned through DNA testing reveals a trail of sleeping, drunk, incompetent and overburdened defense attorneys, at the trial level and on appeal. While these instances represent extreme examples of badly practiced law, even everyday practices like advising a client to plead guilty could be a path to injustice – 19 of the 255 DNA exonerees pled guilty to crimes they didn’t commit.
Attorney General Eric Holder has been calling on states – and individual attorneys – to do what they can to address the problem. “In some parts of the country, the primary institutions for the delivery of defense to the poor – I’m talking about basic public-defender systems – simply do not exist,” he recently told a group of North Carolina lawyers.

And while the economic situation remains dire for many states, some are taking action to address foundering public defense systems. On June 9, the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense approved over $2.5 million in new funding to Texas counties for the purpose of improving their indigent defense systems. The new programs are scheduled to begin this fall.

Similar attempts in Nevada have been less successful, where a high court commission tasked with identifying and solving problems in the state’s indigent defense system has been prevented from doing so because of discrepancies between the public defender’s and the District Attorney’s recorded number of cases. The squabbling has prevented the commission from making progress on its original mission to reform indigent defense in Nevada.

It’s all too easy to see how bad defense, indigent and otherwise, can lead to wrongful convictions. Read more about bad lawyering and wrongful convictions here, and review examples of DNA exonerations involving lawyers who fell short of providing a thorough defense of an innocent client.

Tags: legal aid, Barrister, legal

posted by Justice on Jun 21

Mark your calendar and get ready to speak up for criminal justice reform next Wednesday, June 23. The Innocence Project will be asking supporters to call Senate leaders on Wednesday, urging them to support the creation of a national criminal justice reform commission. A bill pending in the U.S.

June 23: A Day of Action for Criminal Justice Reform
Mark your calendar and get ready to speak up for criminal justice reform next Wednesday, June 23.

The Innocence Project will be asking supporters to call Senate leaders on Wednesday, urging them to support the creation of a national criminal justice reform commission.

A bill pending in the U.S. Senate would form a National Criminal Justice Commission to review and evaluate the country’s sprawling criminal justice system and make recommendations for reform. The bill is sponsored by Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, with more than three dozen co-sponsors from both parties.

The 254 DNA exonerations to date have revealed troubling flaws in our criminal justice system, and the proposed blue-ribbon panel could consider the causes of wrongful convictions and recommend federal measures to address them. And the issues seen in wrongful conviction cases extend throughout the system. From forensic oversight to indigent defense, the commission’s work could lead to reforms that improve public safety and confront the causes of injustice.

Phone numbers and more will be posted here on the morning of June 23 – but sign up for Innocence Project email updates here to get the action alert in your inbox on Wednesday morning.

Let your friends know about next week’s day of action by posting on Facebook and Twitter today.

And read more about the proposed commission below:

Open Congress: S. 714 National Criminal Justice Act

Sen. Jim Webb: National Criminal Justice Commission Act

Tags: injustice, Miscarriage of Justice, law

posted by Justice on Apr 9

One year ago this week, Timothy Brian Cole was officially exonerated for a 1985 Texas rape he did not commit. Cole’s exoneration, while welcomed by family and friends who had fought on his behalf, came too late for Cole himself. He died of an asthma attack in 1999 while still in prison at the age of 39.

A Posthumous Exoneration, One Year Later
One year ago this week, Timothy Brian Cole was officially exonerated for a 1985 Texas rape he did not commit. Cole’s exoneration, while welcomed by family and friends who had fought on his behalf, came too late for Cole himself. He died of an asthma attack in 1999 while still in prison at the age of 39. Cole’s story is tragic even in the annals of Texas, which leads the country with 40 wrongful convictions overturned by DNA testing.

In 1985, Cole was a 26-year-old Army veteran studying business at Texas Tech in Lubbock, when another student, Michele Mallin, was raped and robbed at knife-point while parking her car across the street from her dormitory. Mallin described her attacker as a young black male who chain smoked cigarettes. Cole lived in the area, and a detective took a Polaroid of Cole and showed it to Mallin along with five other photographs. Cole’s picture stood out from the others, as it was the only color Polaroid among five black-and-white photos. Mallin identified him as the perpetrator and confirmed her identification of Cole at a live lineup the following day.
At trial, Cole’s brother and friend both testified that they played cards while Cole studied at home the night of the attack. Cole also presented evidence of his severe asthma, which prevented him from smoking cigarettes. Cole’s attorney also tried to introduce evidence of similar rapes before and after Cole’s arrest, which he could not have committed. This evidence was disallowed by the trial judge, and after six hours of jury deliberation, Cole was convicted of rape and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

In 1995, Jerry Wayne Johnson, a Texas prisoner serving a life sentence, wrote a letter to prosecutors confessing to the rape for which Cole had been convicted. This letter was ignored, and Cole passed away without ever learning of Johnson’s admission. In 2000, Johnson again wrote a letter confessing to the rape, but was still ignored. Eventually, the Innocence Project and Cole’s family learned of the confession. The Innocence Project joined with the Innocence Project of Texas as co-counsel and sought DNA testing on serological evidence from the crime scene. The results conclusively excluded Cole and implicated Johnson. Finally, at an April 7, 2009 hearing, a Texas judge officially exonerated Cole.

Fortunately, Cole’s posthumous exoneration has spurred calls for reform in Texas. In 2009, the legislature passed the Timothy Cole Act, increasing compensation paid to exonerees to $80,000 a year. The state also created the Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions to study ways to prevent similar injustice across the state. Mallin also speaks out against faulty eyewitness identification procedures. In a 2009 op-ed in the Houston Chronicle, she urged Texas to adopt the recommendations of the National Academy of Science 2009 Report.

Watch a video of Mallin telling her story at Georgetown University Law Center here.

On March 1, 2010, Governor Rick Perry granted Cole a full posthumous pardon after the unanimous recommendation of the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles. Cole’s 73-year-old mother, Ruby Session, while ecstatic, still realizes that there is much work to be done. Because of her son’s sacrifice, she said, “we’re on the forefront of a new day in the criminal justice system.”

Other Exoneree Anniversaries This Week:

Brandon Moon, Texas (Served 17 years, Exonerated 4/6/05)

Harold Buntin, Indiana (Served 13 years, Exonerated 5/20/05, Released 4/4/07)

Terry Chalmers, New York (Served 7.5 years, Exonerated 4/5/95)

Tags: pro bono, legal,

posted by Justice on Jan 2

As we wrote yesterday in our post on ten great moments of the decade , it has been an eventful and successful 10 years for individuals and groups working to overturn wrongful convictions – but there’s plenty of work left to do. As we embark on a new decade, here’s a roundup of 10 must-read books on wrongful convictions and criminal justice reform from the last 10 years, in no particular order. There were many more great books on the issue in the 2000s than we can name here, however, so please visit our book list for more good reads .

Ten Great Books of the Decade

As we wrote yesterday in our post on ten great moments of the decade, it has been an eventful and successful 10 years for individuals and groups working to overturn wrongful convictions – but there’s plenty of work left to do.

As we embark on a new decade, here’s a roundup of 10 must-read books on wrongful convictions and criminal justice reform from the last 10 years, in no particular order. There were many more great books on the issue in the 2000s than we can name here, however, so please visit our book list for more good reads.

“Picking Cotton” by exoneree Ronald Cotton and crime victim Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, with Erin Torneo. Set to come out in paperback on January 4, this book was a highlight of 2009 and tells the moving story of a wrongful conviction and the fight for reform from the perspectives of an exoneree and crime victim.

“Actual Innocence“, by Innocence Project Co-Directors Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, with Jim Dwyer, this groundbreaking book examines the emergence of DNA testing and the causes of wrongful conviction it unveiled.

“Exit to Freedom,” an autobiography by Georgia exoneree Calvin Johnson, with Greg Hampikian of the Idaho Innocence Project, describes Johnson’s 1983 wrongful conviction, his fight for freedom and the challenges of building a new life after exoneration.

“The Innocents,” is a visually stunning collection of exoneree photos by Taryn Simon, with commentary by Innocence Project Co-Directors Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld.

“Surviving Justice: America’s Wrongfully Convicted and Exonerated,” includes first-hand accounts of injustice and exoneration from 13 men and women who were wrongfully convicted. Edited by Dave Eggers and Lola Vollen.

“Journey Toward Justice,” is Dennis Fritz’s personal account of his conviction in Oklahoma for a murder he didn’t commit.

“True Stories of False Confessions,” gathers articles and stories of false confessions, one of the leading causes of wrongful conviction. Edited by Rob Warden and Steve Drizin of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at the Northwestern University School of Law.

“Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town,” by Nate Blakeslee, explores injustice and the drug war through the lens of a wrongful conviction scandal in Texas.

“The Innocent Man,” John Grisham’s first non-fiction book tells the heartbreaking story of a murder in Oklahoma and an unimaginable injustice suffered by two innocent men: Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz.

“Bloodsworth,” by Tim Junkin, is the story of Kirk Bloodsworth, the first person exonerated through DNA testing in the U.S. after serving time on death row.

Tags: Barrister, legal aid, injustice

posted by Justice on Jan 2

Happy New Year from all of us at the Innocence Project to our wonderful blog readers and our online community.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from all of us at the Innocence Project to our wonderful blog readers and our online community. We're looking forward to working with you the bring about more exonerations in 2010 and to pass critical reforms across the country that will prevent injustice from happening.

There are just a few hours left to make a tax-deductible donation to the Innocence Project in 2009, the deadline is midnight tonight. We wouldn't be here without your support. Please make an online donation today.

Thank you for your dedication and generosity, here's to overturning injustice together in the New Year!

Tags: legal, injustice, law

posted by Justice on Dec 17

As we reported yesterday , Donald Eugene Gates was freed in Arizona after serving nearly three decades behind bars for a Washington, D.C., crime he didn’t commit.

Forensics and the Gates Case
As we reported yesterday, Donald Eugene Gates was freed in Arizona after serving nearly three decades behind bars for a Washington, D.C., crime he didn’t commit. An examination of the forensics behind his wrongful conviction makes a strong case for federal forensic reform to prevent injustices like this in the future.

FBI forensic analyst Michael Malone testified at Gates’ trial in 1982 that hairs found at the scene of the 1981 rape and murder were “microscopically indistinguishable” from Gates’ hairs. His statements vastly overstated the possible conclusions that could be drawn from a hair comparison. Unlike some other forensic disciplines (DNA testing, blood type testing), hair comparison analysis can only reveal potential similarities between specimens, not the statistical likelihood that two specimens might share common characteristics.

Although Malone’s forensic conclusions have been challenged in other cases, and a 1997 Justice Department review discredited his work, no formal review of his convictions has ever been conducted. The Judge who presided over the Gates case recently ordered the U.S. Attorney’s Office to conduct such a review.

Gates joins a growing group of exonerees whose wrongful convictions were caused, at least in part, by unvalidated or improper forensic science. More than 100 people have been exonerated through DNA testing after unvalidated or improper forensic science contributed to their wrongful conviction (flawed analysis of hair was a factor in many of those cases).The National Academy of Sciences has reported a systemic lack of forensic standards and oversight and has proposed the creation of an independent federal agency to oversee the forensic sciences. According to a report released by the National Academy of Sciences earlier this year, microscopic hair analysis is not a valid science.

In response to the groundbreaking NAS report finding serious problems with forensic science nationwide, the Innocence Project recently drafted a proposal for federal legislation to create the a federal Office of Forensic Science Improvement and Support (OFSIS). The office would be established within the Department of Commerce, which would help define the office’s agenda for research. OFSIS would also engage existing government entities to regulate the mandatory accreditation of crime labs and certification of forensic practitioners; support science-based education and training throughout the criminal justice system; provide periodic needs assessments of the forensic system; and oversee compliance. To learn more and sign a petition in support of the agency visit the Just Science Coalition website.

Tags: legal aid, law, Innocence Project

posted by Justice on Dec 17

Yesterday, Michael Marshall was freed in Georgia after spending more than two years behind bars for a crime DNA proves he didn’t commit. He is the 247th person exonerated through DNA testing in the United States, and his case is a troubling example of the failure of many jurisdictions across the country to address the causes of wrongful conviction.

Georgia Man Freed After 2008 Conviction Is Overturned

Yesterday, Michael Marshall was freed in Georgia after spending more than two years behind bars for a crime DNA proves he didn’t commit.

He is the 247th person exonerated through DNA testing in the United States, and his case is a troubling example of the failure of many jurisdictions across the country to address the causes of wrongful conviction. Marshall was convicted based in part in part on an unreliable eyewitness identification procedure, and although DNA testing could have been conducted before his conviction, it was not.

Marshall was homeless in 2007 when a police officer decided he resembled a composite sketch of a perpetrator in a truck theft case. He was identified by a man who saw the perpetrator steal the truck and would eventually plead guilty, receiving a four-year sentence.

Yesterday, Michael Marshall was freed in Georgia after spending more than two years behind bars for a crime DNA proves he didn’t commit.

He is the 247th person exonerated through DNA testing in the United States, and his case is a troubling example of the failure of many jurisdictions across the country to address the causes of wrongful conviction. Marshall was convicted based in part in part on an unreliable eyewitness identification procedure, and although DNA testing could have been conducted before his conviction, it was not.

Marshall was homeless in 2007 when a police officer decided he resembled a composite sketch of a perpetrator in a truck theft case. He was identified by a man who saw the perpetrator steal the truck and would eventually plead guilty, receiving a four-year sentence.

Moments after the crime happened, police officers pursued a man driving the stolen truck. The perpetrator escaped capture, but officers noted that he dropped a T-shirt, cell phone and cell phone case during his flight. These items were collected, and testing obtained this year by the Georgia Innocence Project found the DNA profile of another man on all three items, proving that Marshall was not the perpetrator. A check of the national DNA database found a match to another man, whose name has not been revealed.

Lawyers at the Georgia Innocence Project point to two troubling aspects of Marshall’s conviction. First, the identification procedure was deeply flawed. Marshall was identified in a highly suggestive “show-up” procedure ten days after the crime, in which a victim who witnessed the crime was brought to the location of Marshall’s arrest.

The second issue is the lack of DNA testing before Marshall’s conviction. Although DNA testing was available and widely used in 2007, there is no record that the shirt, phone or phone case were subjected to DNA testing before Marshall’s conviction.

Watch video of Marshall’s release here. (Fox 5 Atlanta)

Read more about Marshall’s case on the Georgia Innocence Project website.

Above, Marshall enjoys his first moments of freedom with Georgia Innocence Project intern Christina Rupp.

Tags: Barrister, legal aid, pro bono

posted by Justice on Dec 10

DNA testing has been suspended for over a month in New Mexico’s State Police crime lab after the state’s forensic accreditation lapsed at the end of October, and a backlog is building up. Officials reported recently that the lab is 124 cases behind and that at least two cases will have passed court deadlines before accreditation can be renewed, which could happen as soon as this week. “This could be a blow to every district attorney's office across New Mexico, as well as law enforcement,” Lemuel Martinez, a district attorney in New Mexico, told the Albuquerque Journal .

DNA Backlogs Build Across the U.S.

DNA testing has been suspended for over a month in New Mexico’s State Police crime lab after the state’s forensic accreditation lapsed at the end of October, and a backlog is building up. Officials reported recently that the lab is 124 cases behind and that at least two cases will have passed court deadlines before accreditation can be renewed, which could happen as soon as this week.

“This could be a blow to every district attorney's office across New Mexico, as well as law enforcement,” Lemuel Martinez, a district attorney in New Mexico, told the Albuquerque Journal. “To not have that service readily available will really be terrible for the entire criminal justice system. I just hope no cases fall through the cracks.”

We’ve reported in recent weeks that backups in labs across the country have left critical evidence, including rape kits, untested nationwide in thousands of cases.

And budget shortfalls mean that some departments rule out testing in entire categories of crimes. Although DNA testing has been used increasingly in burglary cases in recent years, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt told the Houston Chronicle on Friday that he can’t get funding to expand the use of DNA tests in burglary investigations. Burglaries are up 4.4 percent in Houston this year, with 21,212 break-ins through September.

It would cost $8 million to upgrade the current HPD crime lab to process DNA evidence from non-violent offenses in addition to violent crimes, Hurtt estimated….

“I'm so frustrated with this whole process,” Hurtt said Friday. “We find a problem, we find a solution, and … everybody says, ‘This is important. We have to do it.' However, it doesn't seem to be a priority. And we're not going to be able to do this for free.”

Even when testing is eventually conducted, lab backlogs can delay arrests for violent crimes and delay the slow investigations that eventually clear innocent suspects.

A Massachusetts man recently spent five months in jail before DNA tests proved he didn’t commit the crime he had been charged with — and he was freed. Another man was recently charged with a 2003 sexual assault based on evidence collected in 2005, but not tested until this year.

Despite this, Massachusetts officials announced last week that are not focused on eliminating the state’s backlog of 16,000 cases.

Tags: legal aid, law, Miscarriage of Justice

posted by Justice on Dec 2

In 2004, Kentucky improved its evidence preservation law, requiring that law enforcement agencies save evidence from most major crimes. But an Associated Press report this weekend shows that evidence is missing in several key cases across the state and casts doubt on preservation policies in practice

Missing Evidence Presents a Problem in Kentucky

In 2004, Kentucky improved its evidence preservation law, requiring that law enforcement agencies save evidence from most major crimes. But an Associated Press report this weekend shows that evidence is missing in several key cases across the state and casts doubt on preservation policies in practice.

Defense attorneys say evidence has gone missing in Kentucky, resulting in problems for six capital cases and possibly hundreds of other prosecutions, including rapes and robberies.

All the cases predate DNA testing, which can now be used to determine guilt.

“It's really becoming an issue,” said Kentucky Innocence Project chief Ted Shouse, whose office is reviewing more than 4,000 old cases. “This is going to be a huge problem.”

… “Clearly, the number of exonerations from DNA in this country should be a wake up call to preserve evidence,” Shouse said.

The catch is making sure the law is followed by all parties – clerks, court reporters, law enforcement, said Rebecca Brown, a policy advocate for The Innocence Project, a New York-based national organization that seeks to free those wrongly convicted.

“There's sometimes a disconnect between what's on the books and actual practice,” Brown said. “A mandate doesn't necessarily make it down to all the people charged with retaining that evidence.”

Read the full story here. (Associated Press, 11/26/09)

Procedures mandating proper collection, cataloguing and storage of crime scene evidence are crucial to a fair justice system — preserving evidence doesn’t only help free the innocent, it also helps law enforcement agencies solve cold cases.

View a map of evidence preservation policies nationwide.

Learn more about the Innocence Project’s recommended policies for evidence preservation.

Tags: , Miscarriage of Justice, pro bono

posted by Justice on Oct 26

The innocent continue to walk out of prisons across the country, and Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins thinks today's exoneration of two men might be the “biggest yet” for his office. Claude Simmons Jr

Two Men Freed in Dallas, Another Seeks Justice in New York

The innocent continue to walk out of prisons across the country, and Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins thinks today's exoneration of two men might be the “biggest yet” for his office.

Claude Simmons Jr. and Christopher Scott were freed today in Dallas after spending 12 years in prison for a murder that evidence now shows they didn't commit.

Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins, whose county has seen more DNA exonerations than any other in the country, said today's non-DNA exonerations may inspire other prosecutors' offices and police departments around the country to reopen questionable old convictions for investigation. “I expect this case will get a lot of attention, and I expect you'll see other police departments get involved in cases like this. We're going to lead the way in how to dispense justice,” he told the Dallas Observer.

Meanwhile, a New York man has been granted a new trial in a 1977 murder that evidence shows he didn't commit. Dewey Bozella has been in prison for more than 25 years, and said he was overjoyed at the news of his new trial. “It was like a miracle had happened,” he said. Bozella is represented by pro-bono attorneys at the firm WilmerHale. The Innocence Project represented Bozella until it was clear that evidence did not exist for DNA testing, at which point the organization reached out to WilmerHale to take on the case. Over the last two years, WilmerHale attorneys have uncovered substantial evidence that Bozella is innocent and that another man actually committed the crime.

Kenneth Ireland has been free for two months, since DNA testing proved him innocent of a 1986 Connecticut murder he didn't commit. Ireland, who was 18 when he was arrested and 39 when he was freed, spoke with Fox this week about adjusting to life outside of prison.

A man was exonerated and compensated after spending 27 years in a Chinese prison for a rape he says he didn't commit. He was retried and acquitted this year in Henan Province, and a court has now awarded him 1.02 million yuan (about $146,000) in compensation.

The Cameron Todd Willingham case continued to draw coverage and discussion this week. We posted yesterday on the letter from 400+ Texans to forensic commission chairman John Bradley. JR posted today at Daily Kos on the letter and other developments in the case. Randi Kaye covered the story this week for CNN's Anderson Cooper 360. Her latest report from Texas is set for tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

An L.A. Times editorial today said Gov. Rick Perry's decision to reconfigure the Forensic Science Commission “looks highly suspicious.” Innocence Project Online Communications Manager Matt Kelley wrote about the case — and the outlook for the Forensic Science Commission — today on the American Constitution Society blog.

We reported earlier this week on the case of prosecutors subpoenaing student information from the Medill Innocence Project. The case continues to make news, with a report yesterday in Time magazine.

And, finally, the most offbeat DNA story the week: An Australian man was charged with a robbery after blood recovered from a leech found at the crime scene matched his profile.

Tags: Miscarriage of Justice, legal aid, Innocence Project