Innocence Project Bournemouth

posted by Justice on Apr 13

Today in Virginia, Innocence Project Co-Directors Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck will be awarded the prestigious Thomas Jefferson Medal from the University of Virginia for their decades of service to public interest law and the impact of their work on the criminal justice system. They will discuss “innocence, science and due process” at the law school in Charlottesville, Virginia, at 4:15 p.m. ET

Events This Week in New York and Virginia
Today in Virginia, Innocence Project Co-Directors Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck will be awarded the prestigious Thomas Jefferson Medal from the University of Virginia for their decades of service to public interest law and the impact of their work on the criminal justice system. They will discuss “innocence, science and due process” at the law school in Charlottesville, Virginia, at 4:15 p.m. ET. The event is free and open to the public. Get directions here.

And at noon this Thursday, April 16, Innocence Project Staff Attorney Vanessa Potkin and exoneree Alan Newton will speak at New York University in New York City. They will discuss Newton’s case, proposed reforms to prevent wrongful convictions and Newton’s new organization to support the exonerated after release.

Alan Newton was imprisoned for 21 years in New York. His repeated requests over many years for DNA testing on biological evidence from his case were denied because the evidence was not located and believed to have been destroyed. When Newton became a client of the Innocence Project, the involvement and the persistence of the chief prosecutor of sex crimes in the Bronx, Elisa Koenderman, resulted in a successful search for the rape kit. DNA testing in 2006 showed that Alan Newton was not the rapist. He was released and exonerated of the rape, assault and robbery charges against him.

Since his release, Alan completed his bachelor’s degree and is now planning to attend law school. He is a co-founder of A.F.T.E.R. , Advocates for Freedom, Transformation, and Exoneree Rights, Inc., which provides services and a support network for exonerees.

Join them this Thursday, April 16th, from 12-2 p.m. in Kimmel 905 at New York University. To RSVP for the event, please email Bindi Patel at bindi.patel@nyu.edu today.

Tags: Innocence Project, legal, Miscarriage of Justice

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, injustice, Innocence Project