Anthony Graves was wrongly convicted and sent to death row in 1994 based largely on the testimony of an alleged accomplice in the fiery murders of six people. The accomplice, while on the execution gurney, admitted he was the lone killer. Ten years later, in 2010, Graves was exonerated.
Like Graves, Muneer Deeb, Michael Toney and Robert Springsteen were sentenced to death after trials that …
[Read more...]
Bill Would Restrict Informant Testimony in Death Cases
November 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A mother fights in the war on wrongful convictions BY MARY MITCHELL
November 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
BY MARY MITCHELL
I don’t know where black mothers get their strength.
During slavery, young black mothers had to watch their children being sold off to distant plantations never to be heard from again.
Today, too many young black mothers are seeing their sons get killed in the street, while others are watching black youth get locked away for the rest of their lives for pulling the …
[Read more...]
NY woman gets $2.7M for wrongful conviction in daughter’s murder; she spent 13 years in prison
November 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
By Associated Press, Published: November 13
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A New York woman who spent more than 13 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of killing her teenage daughter has reached a $2.7 million settlement with the state, her attorney said Tuesday.
Lynn DeJac Peters, whose conviction was overturned in 2007 on the basis of DNA evidence, initially sought more than $10 million in …
[Read more...]
AP Interview: Wrongfully convicted Texas man wants harsher penalties for prosecutor misconduct
March 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
AUSTIN, Texas - A Texas father who spent nearly 25 years behind bars for a murder he didn't commit is pressing for tougher penalties targeting prosecutors who withhold evidence, saying he wants to prevent other innocent people from falling victim to overzealous authorities.
"This isn't about me because my case is finished," Michael Morton said during an interview Thursday with The Associated …
[Read more...]
Asheville and Georgia cases ignite death penalty debate
September 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
One execution, two exonerations raise questions of justice
ASHEVILLE — Fifteen hours stood between the execution of Troy Davis amid questions over his true guilt and the sunny afternoon two Asheville men exonerated in another murder case walked free.
But the cases stand out for reasons other than just timing. Though each held significant differences from the other, they both have reignited …
[Read more...]
Beyond Bars
September 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
He received a life sentence in 1984, charged with raping two women - one in Lowell and one in Ayer - and sexually assaulting a third woman in Lowell. Maher, who fit the assailant’s description and was identified as the attacker by all three victims, spent the next 19 years in prison. In April 2003, after conclusive DNA testing proved Maher’s innocence in both rape cases, prosecutors agreed to …
[Read more...]
Freed, They face new obstacles
September 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
MEBANE Ronald Cotton gently lifts his right arm with his left and rests it in his lap, scowling as he remembers the limb is useless to him.
His right leg is no good now. Cotton's face droops as he talks, yet he tells one story after another, every 10th word or so incomprehensible. They are the burdens left by a massive stroke in July.
It has been 16 years since Cotton, 49, walked out of …
[Read more...]
Shooting victim who recanted testimony charged with perjury
September 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Some exoneration attorneys predict chilling effect on recantations
Willie Johnson had been shot nine times and was hospitalized near death in 1992 when he identified two rival gang members as the gunmen who wounded him and killed two of his friends on Chicago's West Side.
Johnson survived, and two years later, under oath at trial, he again identified Cedric Cal and Albert Kirkman as the …
[Read more...]
Rumblings: Man spreads awareness of wrongful conviction by acting; Investigators found not to blame in wrongful conviction; attorney argues mother did not murder her child
February 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
After serving almost 28 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Gregory Bright now shares his experience and raises awareness of wrongful convictions by performing a one-man play. The Daily Utah Chronicle
Douglas Warney is asking the top court of New York to reinstate his damages case against the state. He served nine years and is claiming that his confession to police was coerced. Wall …
[Read more...]
Denied: Judge says police didn’t know ‘reckless investigation’ was unconstitutional
April 21, 2010 By 2 Comments
By Faith Cotter
inn_inst@pointpark.edu
Four years after being released from almost 19 years of wrongful imprisonment, a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Drew Whitley, stating that while the probe that resulted in his murder conviction was substandard, the lawmen involved are covered by prosecutors immunity because they did not commit a crime during the faulty investigation.
In …
[Read more...]