Innocence Project Bournemouth

posted by Justice on Aug 6

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (left) and Attorney General Richard Cordray wrote to prosecutors across the state yesterday urging them to allow DNA testing in seven criminal cases where it has previously been denied.

Ohio Governor Pursues DNA Tests in Seven Cases
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (left) and Attorney General Richard Cordray wrote to prosecutors across the state yesterday urging them to allow DNA testing in seven criminal cases where it has previously been denied. The cases in question include one man on death row, two prisoners serving long sentences, three who are out of prison and want to clear their names and one who died in 2006.

The testing – which could confirm guilt or prove innocence – has been opposed by prosecutors and denied by judges in the past.

Strickland told the Columbus Dispatch that he doesn’t have the power to force prosecutors or judges to grant DNA testing but said prosecutors should provide evidence “as a matter of public policy.”

“I really think it’s irrational not to take advantage of methods that could establish either guilt or innocence when those technologies are available to us,” Strickland told The Dispatch. “I can think of no good argument why anyone would be denied DNA testing if, in fact, there is a reasonable or relevant opportunity to bring clarity to whether or not someone is guilty of a crime.”

Five of the seven cases highlighted by Strickland and Cordray were part of an investigation the Columbus Dispatch conducted in 2008. In collaboration with the Ohio Innocence Project, the paper reviewed more than 300 cases for DNA testing. Attorneys agreed that testing was necessary in 30 cases and was ultimately approved for 18.

If prosecution grants DNA testing, Cincinnati-based lab DDC Diagnostics would conduct the tests for free.

Read the full story here.

Read the Columbus Dispatch investigation here.

Tags: Layla D’monte, law, pro bono

posted by Justice on Mar 19

Eight years ago today, Kenneth Waters walked out of a Massachusetts prison a free man after serving 18 years for a crime he didn’t commit.

Eight Years Later, an Exoneration Case Approaches the Spotlight
Eight years ago today, Kenneth Waters walked out of a Massachusetts prison a free man after serving 18 years for a crime he didn’t commit. He was wrongfully convicted in 1983 based in part on false testimony from informants. Although fingerprints collected from the victim’s house did not match Waters, police did not share this information with prosecutors or defense attorneys. Waters was sentenced to life in prison and would serve nearly two decades before DNA proved his innocence. Sadly, he died in an accident just six months after his release.

It has been eight years since Waters was freed, but his case is about to get a new wave of attention. A film about his wrongful conviction and his sister Betty Anne Waters’ fight to free him is currently in production. Starring two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank as Betty Anne, the film will tell the incredible story of her struggle and dedication to free her wrongfully imprisoned brother.

After Kenneth lost all of his appeals, Betty Anne, a single mother of two, decided to take action. Convinced of her brother’s innocence and desperate to challenge the conviction, she began what would be a 12-year process of putting herself through college and law school. In 1998, she graduated from the Roger Williams University School of Law and began to work tirelessly on her brother’s case. By the time she contacted the Innocence Project, she had already located the biological evidence and was trying to have it subjected to DNA testing. Finally, the Innocence Project helped secure DNA testing that conclusively excluded Waters as the perpetrator and he was freed in 2001.

The movie, which has just begun shooting in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will be directed by Tony Goldwyn. Other cast members include Sam Rockwell, who will play Kenneth Waters, Minnie Driver, Juliette Lewis, Melissa Leo and Peter Gallagher.

Other anniversaries this week:

Tuesday: Arthur Mumphrey, Texas (Served 17 years, exonerated 3/17/06)

Wednesday: Wiley Fountain, Texas (Served 16 years, Exonerated 3/18/03)

Thursday: Edward Green, District of Columbia (Served 1 year, Exonerated 3/19/90)

Julius Ruffin, Virginia (Served 20 years, Exonerated 3/19/03)

Tags: legal, Innocence Project, injustice

posted by Justice on Mar 19

It’s been a good week for DNA testing access. Yesterday, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour signed a new law granting DNA testing access to prisoners when it can definitively prove innocence or guilt.

Four to Go

It’s been a good week for DNA testing access. Yesterday, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour signed a new law granting DNA testing access to prisoners when it can definitively prove innocence or guilt. Mississippi’s law comes on the heels of the new DNA access law passed last week in South Dakota. When the Innocence Project started doing this work 15 years ago, not a single state had a DNA testing access law. Now there are just four states to go: Alabama, Alaska, Massachusetts and Oklahoma.

The Mississippi law also requires that law enforcement agencies preserve biological evidence collected as long as a case is unsolved or a convicted defendant is under state supervision in connection with the case. About half of the states now have laws requiring evidence preservation.

Click here for more on these two landmark laws, and for an interactive map on the reforms in place in your state.

Tags: law, Innocence Project, Layla D’monte