Innocence Project Bournemouth

posted by Justice on Jul 15

As states face budget shortfalls this year, crime labs across the country are feeling the pinch. Cutbacks in lab budgets can lead to layoffs and longer backlogs for DNA testing and other forensic work, and it can compromise case investigations.

Shrinking State Budgets and Crime Labs
As states face budget shortfalls this year, crime labs across the country are feeling the pinch. Cutbacks in lab budgets can lead to layoffs and longer backlogs for DNA testing and other forensic work, and it can compromise case investigations. In some cases, critical forensic testing could be skipped in a case because there aren’t funds to conduct the tests.

The California legislature has proposed cutting the state’s crime lab budget in half, and the Daily Breeze newspaper recently said this will lead to “a less safe state.” The state crime lab may start charging local agencies to conduct forensic tests on evidence collected from crime scenes, and if those agencies don’t have the money for the tests they might not get done.

Federal funds will soon help the Los Angeles Police Department and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Office address backlogs of untested rape kits that compromise public safety – and could potentially lead to overturning wrongful convictions. The Pasadena Star-News wrote this week that money spent on addressing crime lab backlogs is a “wise investment.”

Medical examiners offices around the country are cutting back on autopsy schedules due to budget shortfalls and some critics say the cuts could hamper investigations.

A new law in Mississippi requires that evidence from some crimes be stored, and some local law enforcement agencies are saying they don’t have the capacity to store crime scene evidence and comply with the law. Evidence preservation is vital to overturning wrongful convictions – and locating the real perpetrators of crimes.

Tags: law, , Innocence Project

posted by Justice on Jun 23

In a 5-4 decision last week, the U.S.

A Strong Response to the Supreme Court
In a 5-4 decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court denied DNA testing access to Innocence Project client William Osborne, ruling that the finality of a conviction is more important than making sure the right person was convicted.

The disagreement from the press and the public was swift and strong. The New York Times called the ruling “appalling.” The Washington Post said “access to DNA evidence should not be based on the luck of the draw.”

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram called the decision a “devastating setback for prisoners.” The Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger added: “In its ruling the court made clear it cares more about procedure than making certain the right person has been convicted.”

Political strategist Robert Creamer wrote today on the Huffington Post that “in the view of the majority of the court, justice and due process are irrelevant.”

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder issued a statement separating the decision from the interest of fair justice. “Today’s decision is limited: the Court merely spoke about what is constitutional, not what is good policy,” Holder said. “This administration believes that defendants should be permitted access to DNA evidence in a range of circumstances.”

Discussion boards and social networks have been active with discussion of the decision, as well. Several commenters on the Innocence Project Facebook Page expressed dismay with the decision, and hundreds of people have criticized the decision on twitter.

The Innocence Project is now more determined than ever to pass DNA access laws in the three states that lack them (Alaska, Massachusetts and Oklahoma). DNA access statutes in other states, like Alabama and Kentucky, are in desperate need of improvement. Join our call for fair justice today by signing the petition for DNA access.

Tags: legal aid, Barrister, law

posted by Justice on Jun 23

Florida exonerees William Dillon and Wilton Dedge were both convicted based, in part, on the testimony of John Preston, a now-discredited dog handler. The Innocence Project of Florida is now working on another case involving Preston, and calls are increasing for officials to reexamine any possible wrongful convictions from the early 1980s – especially those involving Preston. An editorial on Saturday in Florida Today listed some of the evidence of prosecutorial misconduct in Brevard County in the 1980s and called on Governor Charlie Crist to launch an official investigation into questionable convictions from the county.

Growing Calls to Reopen Florida Cases

Florida exonerees William Dillon and Wilton Dedge were both convicted based, in part, on the testimony of John Preston, a now-discredited dog handler. The Innocence Project of Florida is now working on another case involving Preston, and calls are increasing for officials to reexamine any possible wrongful convictions from the early 1980s – especially those involving Preston.

An editorial on Saturday in Florida Today listed some of the evidence of prosecutorial misconduct in Brevard County in the 1980s and called on Governor Charlie Crist to launch an official investigation into questionable convictions from the county.

– Titusville attorney and former Brevard prosecutor Sam Bardwell, who encountered Preston in a 1981 rape case, says then-State Attorney Doug Cheshire … as well as the Brevard Sheriff’s Office and most law enforcement officers at the time knew Preston was a charlatan.

“I left the State Attorney’s Office because I could not abide by the fabrication of evidence,” Bardwell says.

– Retired 18th Circuit and appellate Judge Gil Goshorn confirmed Cheshire relied heavily on Preston in a number of cases, along with questionable jailhouse snitches.

“Cheshire’s office often relied on such evidence of dubious reliability,” Goshorn said in a sworn affadavit in 2008.

Dedge, an Innocence Project client, was exonerated in 2004. Dillon, represented by the Innocence Project of Florida, was cleared last year. The Innocence Project of Florida is now working on the case of Gary Bennett, who was convicted of murder based in part on Preston’s testimony. Preston, who testified in 60 cases in Brevard County and many more elsewhere in the U.S., is now deceased.

Read more about Bennett’s case on the Innocence Project of Florida website. And set your DVR for a special report on Dillon’s case from CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 – scheduled to air tomorrow (Wednesday) night at 10 p.m. ET.

Read the Florida Today investigative article and editorial.

Tags: injustice, Barrister, Miscarriage of Justice