Innocence Project Bournemouth

posted by Justice on Jan 16

Here are some of the stories we didn’t get to on the Innocence Blog this week.

Friday Roundup: Ringing the Liberty Bell

Here are some of the stories we didn’t get to on the Innocence Blog this week. For breaking news, follow us on Twitter @innocenceblog.

James Bain served 35 years in Florida prisons for a rape he didn’t commit before DNA testing obtained by the Innocence Project of Florida led to his exoneration in December. On Monday, he will ring the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia in a celebration of one of his heroes, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Oklahoma State Sen. Constance Johnson filed a bill yesterday that would create a commission to study the causes of wrongful convictions and recommend reforms to address them.

A wave of drug-related crime has led to a spike in demand for forensic tests in Mexico. Educational opportunities for aspiring forensic analysts are expanding as well.

British exoneree Sean Hodgson could receive several million Pounds in compensation after serving 27 years in U.K. prisons for a crime he didn’t commit. He spoke with the BBC this week about the challenges of life after exoneration.

A new paper from University of Houston Law Center Professor Sandra Guerra Thompson explores how state courts across the U.S. have handled evidence of eyewitness misidentifications.

Tags: Layla D’monte, pro bono, Miscarriage of Justice

posted by Justice on Dec 28

Donald Eugene Gates was freed from prison and his conviction was vacated last week when a D.C. Superior Court judge acted at the prosecutor’s request and acknowledged Gates was wrongfully imprisoned for 27 years

27 Years Later, Donald Gates is Declared Innocent

Donald Eugene Gates was freed from prison and his conviction was vacated last week when a D.C. Superior Court judge acted at the prosecutor’s request and acknowledged Gates was wrongfully imprisoned for 27 years. DNA testing and other evidence showed that Gates was innocent. The U.S. Attorney’s Office initially said it would block Gates’ exoneration, but backed down late Friday.

The Washington Post writes:

“The court finds by clear and convincing evidence that Mister Gates is actually innocent,” Judge Fred B. Ugast wrote in his opinion issued Friday, clearing Gates of all charges….

Prosecutors also acknowledged in a letter Friday to Ugast that they had found correspondence alerting them in 1997 to 12 discredited FBI crime analysts, including one whose testimony they had relied on heavily during Gates’s trial. Prosecutors previously indicated in court that they had not been told about the analysts, a mistake that Ugast had called “outrageous.” Also, prosecutors had relied on testimony from a paid informant who testified that Gates confessed the killing and rape to him.

Read the full article here.

Gates, who is now 58, was released from an Arizona prison last Tuesday. A hearing in his case that was scheduled for today was canceled once prosecutors agreed to drop the case – and admitted that they have known for 12 years that the forensic expert who testified at his trial has been discredited.

The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia handled Gates’ post-conviction case. The Innocence Project has called for thorough review and follow-up of other cases involving the discredited FBI analysts who testified in Gates’ case.

Tags: pro bono, legal aid, Barrister

posted by Justice on Dec 28

Two recent Florida exonerees are celebrating their freedom this holiday season after marking too many New Year’s Days behind bars. Jamie Bain was freed December 17 after spending 35 years in Florida prisons for a crime DNA now proves he didn’t commit. He served more time for his wrongful conviction than any other DNA exoneree in U.S

Florida Exonerees Celebrate Freedom

Two recent Florida exonerees are celebrating their freedom this holiday season after marking too many New Year’s Days behind bars.

Jamie Bain was freed December 17 after spending 35 years in Florida prisons for a crime DNA now proves he didn’t commit. He served more time for his wrongful conviction than any other DNA exoneree in U.S. history. He spent Christmas at home this year for the first time in 35 years, and said it was a dream come true.

The entire time he was in prison, Bain said he dreamed he could spend a Christmas with his mother.

“Wishing and hoping I was with her throughout the years, just wishing and hoping,” he said. “Hoping one day I could get out and be with her.”

William Dillon spent his second Christmas at home this year, and a new video documentary and interactive web feature on Florida Today digs into the details of his wrongful conviction. Dillon served 26 years in prison for a 1981 murder he didn’t commit before he was freed last November.

Both Bain and Dillon were exonerated through the work of the Innocence Project of Florida, a member of the Innocence Network.

Tags: Layla D’monte, Miscarriage of Justice, Innocence Project

posted by Justice on Dec 10

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in a case challenging the wording of the Miranda rights that law enforcement officers read to suspects before questioning.

Supreme Court Reviews Miranda Warnings
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in a case challenging the wording of the Miranda rights that law enforcement officers read to suspects before questioning. Miranda rights, established in a 1966 Supreme Court decision, alert suspects to their rights before and during an interrogation, including the right to remain silent and to speak with an attorney. At issue in Monday’s case was the wording about the right to have an attorney present throughout an interrogation.

These details are critical to preventing wrongful convictions, because 25% of the wrongful convictions overturned through DNA testing involved false confessions, many of which were made by suspects who were interrogated by police without a lawyer present.

Monday’s case, Florida v. Powell, involved a Tampa, Florida, case where the defendant, Kevin DeWayne Powell, signed a statement that included the language: “You have the right to talk to a lawyer before answering any of our questions. If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, one will be appointed for you without cost and before any questioning. You have the right to use any of these rights at any time you want during this interview.''

Powell’s attorneys challenged the Tampa version of the rights, saying they didn’t meet the Miranda standard, which includes a clause informing suspects that an attorney can be with them during questioning, as opposed to before. The Florida Supreme Court agreed, tossing his conviction because the rights were too vague. According to SCOTUSblog, some of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices suggested at oral arguments that narrowing the required rights could be dangerous, while Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia argued that the court had established a standard set of rights that did not include a warning about the continued presence of a lawyer.

Read the full analysis at SCOTUSblog.

Read more coverage of oral arguments in the Miami Herald.

Learn more about the role of false confessions in wrongful convictions.

Tags: Miscarriage of Justice, legal, injustice

posted by Justice on Dec 2

Many of the 245 people exonerated through DNA testing were represented at their original trial by public defenders or appointed attorneys who were underfunded, overburdened, in over their heads, or all of the above. And the threat of wrongful convictions caused by bad lawyering isn’t an issue of the past.

Public Defense and Wrongful Conviction

Many of the 245 people exonerated through DNA testing were represented at their original trial by public defenders or appointed attorneys who were underfunded, overburdened, in over their heads, or all of the above.

And the threat of wrongful convictions caused by bad lawyering isn’t an issue of the past. A new report from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics finds public defense offices around the country stuggling to stay above water – even before the recession took hold in 2008. Today, states and counties are facing budget cuts that could compromise the quality of representation and contribute to more wrongful convictions.

An editorial in the Detroit Free Press today calls of the Michigan Legislature to address the state’s inadequate indigent defense system, which is 44th in the country in spending, through a package of bills introduced last month. The paper writes:

An effective public defense system will save money by reducing wrongful-conviction lawsuits, keeping innocent people out of prison and making sure defendants who can't afford counsel don't get unjustifiably long sentences.

…In calling attention to Michigan's abysmal public defense system, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recently cited the wrongful conviction of Eddie Joe Lloyd, who served 17 years in prison for a murder and rape he didn't commit. Lloyd's appointed attorneys failed to investigate, or even cross-examine police about, Lloyd's false confession. As Holder pointed out, Lloyd's imprisonment and appeals cost Michigan nearly $1 million, not including the $4-million civil judgment Lloyd later won for his wrongful conviction.

Legislators ought to remember cases like Lloyd's as they consider overdue bills to fix Michigan's morally indefensible and economically shortsighted system for public defense.

Other states are facing similar burdens. Over the weekend, a Kentucky county learned that it must cut 30 percent of its budget for next year and an Indiana county announced that it was cutting several attorney and support staff positions.

Read more about bad lawyering and wrongful convictions here.

Tags: Miscarriage of Justice, Innocence Project, Barrister

posted by Justice on Nov 15

On Tuesday, Texas Senators questioned John Bradley, the new chairman of the state Forensic Science Commission.

Friday Roundup: An Arson Case Keeps the Spotlight

On Tuesday, Texas Senators questioned John Bradley, the new chairman of the state Forensic Science Commission. We reported on the hearing here. Bradley said the commission would eventually continue its investigation into the arson science used to convict Willingham, who was executed in 2004, but warned that the investigation could stretch into 2011. One state Senator said the commission could emerge stronger from the attention it has received through this process.

A column by Rick Casey in the Chronicle questioned whether Bradley, a prosecutor, is the right person to lead an inquiry into scientific practices.

In an editorial yesterday, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram criticized Gov. Rick Perry for refusing to hand over the clemency report in Willingham’s case in response to a Houston Chronicle request. The Chronicle is suing the state for access to the document.

In other news, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled this week that Greg Wilhoit, who spent four years on Oklahoma’s death row before he was acquitted on retrial, has a viable legal claim against the state for his wrongful conviction.

An op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News by Kathleen Ridolfi and Maurice Possley of the Northern California Innocence Project points to prosecutorial misconduct’s high cost to taxpayers.

Brian Dugan was sentenced to death in Illinois this week for the murder of a 10-year-old girl in 1983 – a crime for which two innocent men — Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez – spent 12 years each on death row. Read more and watch a video interview with Cruz.

Lawyers in Wisconsin are seeking a new trial for Reynold Moore, who was convicted in 1995 with five other men for allegedly committing a 1992 murder. A new book about the case – “The Monfils Conspiracy” is available here.

Death row exoneree Kirk Bloodsworth spoke this week at the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota.

North Carolina exoneree Ronald Cotton and crime victim Jennifer Thompson-Cannino will speak November 18 at Vanderbilt University.

A new searchable Supreme Court database offers information and analysis on the court’s rulings since 1953.

Tags: Layla D’monte, legal aid,

posted by Justice on Nov 15

Anthony Robinson spent ten years in prison for a rape he didn't commit and 13 years fighting for the DNA testing that would finally exonerate him. Today, he is a successful attorney practicing in China and Texas and Saturday marks the ninth anniversary of his exoneration.

Nine Years After Exoneration, Practicing Law Across Borders

Anthony Robinson spent ten years in prison for a rape he didn't commit and 13 years fighting for the DNA testing that would finally exonerate him. Today, he is a successful attorney practicing in China and Texas and Saturday marks the ninth anniversary of his exoneration.

An eyewitness misidentification played a key role in Robinson’s wrongful conviction. On the day of the crime, he was picking up a car for a friend at the University of Houston. University police blocked his car and accused him of raping a woman. According to the victim, her attacker was a black man wearing a jacket. Although the victim said the perpetrator had a mustache and Robinson didn’t, he was brought in for questioning. No physical evidence linked him to the crime. Based almost entirely on the victim’s testimony, Robinson was convicted in 1987 and sentenced to 27 years in prison.

He would later reflect on the feeling of being wrongfully accused: “It was not so much the fear of imprisonment. It wasn’t so much the fear of what was going to happen. Everything that I had lived for, everything that I had done had been boiled down to – we think you’re a rapist with no evidence whatsoever other than your skin and someone saying you did this.”

After serving ten years of his sentence, he was paroled and began raising funds to obtain DNA testing on the evidence used in his trial. He worked a variety of temporary jobs to raise the funds for DNA testing. Although he was a college graduate and a former Army officer, his status as a registered sex offender excluded him from higher paying jobs. Robinson hired an attorney, Randy Schaffer, and obtained access to DNA testing on evidence in his case. The results proved what he had known all along – another man had committed the crime.

On November 14, 2000, Governor George W. Bush pardoned Robinson. Since his exoneration, Robinson has spoken actively about the issue of wrongful conviction to lawmakers and the media and played a key role in the passage of a law in Texas compensating the wrongfully convicted after their release.

After Robinson was cleared, Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis and other Houston attorneys helped raise funds for him to attend law school. He graduated from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in 2004, and currently works in international law. He is also a member of the Innocence Project of Texas Board of Directors and the Texas Exoneree Council.

Other exoneration anniversaries this week:

Bruce Dallas Goodman, Utah (Served 19 Years, Exonerated 11/9/04)

Joseph White, Nebraska (Served 19 Years, Exonerated 11/10/08)

David Brian Sutherlin, Minnesota (Exonerated 11/13/02)

Paula Gray, Illinois (Served 9 years, Exonerated 2002)

Tags: law, , Miscarriage of Justice

posted by Justice on Aug 25

Today marks the seventh anniversary of the day Marvin Anderson was pardoned by Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, ending a two-decade nightmare that began when he was just 17 years old. Anderson was convicted in 1982 of a rape he didn't commit and sentenced to 210 years in prison.

Marvin Anderson Marks Seven Years of Freedom

Today marks the seventh anniversary of the day Marvin Anderson was pardoned by Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, ending a two-decade nightmare that began when he was just 17 years old.

Anderson was convicted in 1982 of a rape he didn't commit and sentenced to 210 years in prison. He was released on parole after 15 years, but he continued to fight to overturn his wrongful conviction. It would be five more years before DNA testing obtained with the help of the Innocence Project finally proved his innocence. Today he works as a truck driver and a firefighter.

More than one-third of the people exonerated through DNA testing were arrested, like Anderson, before their 22nd birthday. They lost the prime of their lives for crimes they didn't commit and there's very little doubt they left innocent people behind them in prison when they walked out. Together, people wrongfully convicted in their youth served a combined 947 years in prison for crimes they didn't commit.

For a video on Anderson's case and multimedia features on 10 other cases, and to take action today, visit the Innocence Project's youth action campaign – “947 Years“

Learn more about the extraordinary events that led to Anderson's exoneration.

Other exoneration anniversaries this week:

Charles Dabbs, New York (Exonerated 8/22/91, Served 7 Years)
Michael Evans and Paul Terry, Illinois (Exonerated 8/22/2003, Served 26 Years)

Tags: Barrister, pro bono, Innocence Project

posted by Justice on Aug 9

Innocence Project client Ernest Sonnier is free today after more than two decades in Texas prisons for a rape he didn’t commit. DNA testing has proven Sonnier’s innocence of the 1985 attack and implicated two other men. Sonnier was freed on bond today by a Texas judge while he continues seeking to fully clear his name in the weeks ahead.

Houston Man Free After 23 Years

Innocence Project client Ernest Sonnier is free today after more than two decades in Texas prisons for a rape he didn’t commit. DNA testing has proven Sonnier’s innocence of the 1985 attack and implicated two other men. Sonnier was freed on bond today by a Texas judge while he continues seeking to fully clear his name in the weeks ahead.

His mother, Altha Davis, told reporters that she always knew he was innocent because he was with her when the crime was allegedly committed – on Christmas Eve 1985. “It’s been long for me, so long,” she said. “I’m happy and so sad at the same time.” Watch a video interview with Sonnier’s mother here.

Sonnier will stay with Davis while he adjusts to his newfound freedom. He was joined in court today by family members, Innocence Project Staff Attorney Alba Morales, Social Worker Angela Amel and several people previously exonerated by DNA testing in Texas. Click here to send him a personal message welcoming him home after 23 long years of wrongful incarceration.

Sonnier’s case is the latest in a string of wrongful convictions caused in part by faulty forensic testing at the Houston Police Department Crime Lab. Although blood-type testing on important crime scene evidence conducted before trial didn’t match Sonnier’s type – and even suggested that he may be innocent – an analysts testified at his trial that he could still be the perpetrator, based on a conclusion not supported by the analyst’s own report.

Houston has been an epicenter of forensic problems – but faulty forensic testing is a national problem and must be addressed in order to prevent more wrongful convictions. Earlier this year, the National Academies of Sciences called for the creation of a National Institute of Forensic Science to provide research, support and oversight in forensic disciplines to prevent wrongful convictions and help law enforcement identify the perpetrators of crime.
Read more about troubles in the Houston crime lab, and sign a petition supporting the creation of a National Institute of Forensic Science.

News coverage of today’s hearing:

Houston Chronicle: Houston Judge Orders Release of Man Convicted of Rape

KHOU: Ernest Sonnier's Mom Said She Always Knew He Was Innocent

Innocence Project Press Release

Tags: law, injustice,

posted by Justice on Jul 22

As of today, 240 people have been exonerated by DNA testing in 34 states. They come from all walks of life and their experiences after exoneration are as diverse as they are

Uneven Compensation Leaves the Exonerated in Limbo
As of today, 240 people have been exonerated by DNA testing in 34 states. They come from all walks of life and their experiences after exoneration are as diverse as they are. But they all share a common experience – they served years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit. Rebuilding a life after exoneration is not easy, and the level of support offered to the exonerated varies greatly from state to state – and even sometimes within states.

Twenty-seven states offer some compensation to the exonerated after their release, but the compensation laws in these vary widely. Click here to find your state on our interactive map.

Even within some states, exonerees’ experiences after exoneration – and the services offered by the state – can take different paths. Georgia is one of the 23 states without a statewide compensation law, but several exonerees have been awarded compensation by the legislature in individual bills. As the Associated Press reported recently, however, Georgia exonerees Samuel Scott and Douglas Echols never received any compensation from the state for the injustice they suffered.

Seven years after DNA evidence exonerated Echols and Scott, neither has received a cent from the state of Georgia. Their appeal was doomed by the influential district attorney of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” fame who locked them both away in 1987 and is still not convinced they're innocent.

…”We're like ghosts,” Scott said recently. “They want to pretend we don't exist.”

…Like Echols and like most ex-cons, he's struggled to find steady work since he got out. He started a small landscaping business but has few customers these days. He had a line on a job waxing and cleaning floors that he says would have paid about $15 an hour, but when the company discovered he had a criminal record, it was a no go. He is two months behind on his mortgage.

Read the full story here. (Associated Press, 7/18/09)

Read more about the Innocence Project’s efforts to seek exoneree compensation in states across the country.

Tags: pro bono, law, legal