The Innocence Institute of Point Park University
An investigative reporting organization that probes allegations of wrongful convictions.
"Because the evidence of record does not support certain of the juvenile
court’s crucial factual findings, we vacate the dispositional order and remand
the case to the juvenile court for further proceedings consistent with this
Opinion."
Appeal from the Order May 18, 2012,
Court of Common Pleas, Lawrence County,
Criminal Division at No. 113 of 2011, JUV
Read more of the Court …
[Read more...]
A Judge is considering whether Greg Brown deserves a new trial in the Bricelyn Street fire.
The city’s most famous fire has been studied nationwide for years because it represents precisely how not to fight a fire.
Updates follow this original reporting
Published December 2010
By Amanda Gillooly
When the frenzied cries for help and hushed prayers to God fell silent, Edward J. Wyland …
[Read more...]
Jordan Brown was found delinquent today in a juvenile proceeding for killing his father's pregnant fiancee with a shotgun in February 2009 when he was just 11 years old.
Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge John Hodge adjudicated the boy delinquent of two counts of homicide for killing 26-year-old Kenzie Houk and her unborn child. She was eight months pregnant.
Read more: Pittsburgh …
[Read more...]
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
"In the latest twist in a case being watched by juvenile justice experts nationwide, Superior Court Judges Judith Ference Olson and Cheryl Lynn Allen on Friday formed a majority, agreeing with defense arguments that Jordan, who claims innocence, cannot lose his bid to be tried as a juvenile for not saying he is remorseful. The judges vacated the lower court …
[Read more...]
Jordan Brown's legal situation is one of the more complicated criminal cases to be heard in Pennsylvania... well, ever. And things will continue to get interesting today.
As the Associated Press noted this morning: "A Superior Court panel in Pittsburgh must decide whether a boy who was 11 at the time should be tried as an adult in the slaying of his father's pregnant fiancee."
Which deserves …
[Read more...]
January 6, 2011
inn_inst@pointpark.edu
In Justice magazine volume 2, the Innocence Institute published a short story about juvenile lifer Victor Scott that we have since found contains errors.
On Dec. 28, 2010, we received a letter from Scott stating that our story about his case included factual inaccuracies.
The first, he said, involved our failure to mention that he was 16-years-old …
[Read more...]
When Stacey Torrance was 14, he was sentenced to life in prison for the shooting death of an acquaintance. But he didn't pull the trigger.
By Matt Stroud
inn_inst@pointpark.edu
Published December 2010
---------
Stacey Torrance was 14 years old and knew exactly what he was doing when he and his 23-year-old cousin plotted to rob Alexander Porter in North Central Philadelphia. But Torrance …
[Read more...]
Dorian Lamore and Phillip Foxx were both 16 years old when they murdered a pizza delivery man on Pittsburgh’s North Side. The ruthlessness of the crime became a metaphor for the terrifying wave of juvenile crime that swept across Pennsylvania in the ‘90s.
by Lucy Leitner and Faith Cotter
inn_inst@pointpark.edu
Published December 2010
---------
Read Phillip Foxx's response to this story …
[Read more...]
He was sentenced to die in prison as a murder accomplice at 16 -- until a Venango County prosecutor and judge reconsidered.
By Marie Dorego
inn_inst@pointpark.edu
Published December 2010
---------
David Pennewell was an aimless 16-year-old in 1998 when he involved himself in a spree of mayhem with adults led by a psychotic criminal. It ended in a revenge murder.
Despite his age in …
[Read more...]
As Pa. courts wrangle over whether to try an 11-year-old as an adult for murder, Jordan Brown claims innocence in the death of his father's pregnant fiancee.
By Matt Stroud
inn_inst@pointpark.edu
Published December 2010
---------
Charged with murdering his father's pregnant fiance, 11-year-old Jordan Brown could be the youngest person in United States history to face life in prison without …
[Read more...]