On April 15, 2011, Marie McFadden Deans died in Charlottesville, Virginia. For three decades, Deans sought justice for death row inmates who had no other recourse and who had been poorly represented. Professor Todd Peppers of Roanoke College wrote in an op-ed about her life that she brought "basic conditions of decency to the men who inhabited Virginia’s death row,... refin[ed] the use of mitigation evidence in death penalty trials, [and] struggl[ed] to exonerate factually innocent men." Deans's commitment to repealing the death penalty was sparked after the murder of her mother-in-law, Penny Deans, by an escaped convict. Marie founded Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation, an organization, designed to give those who opposed the death penalty “a safe place from which they could speak out.” She was a self-taught mitigation expert, and, largely because of her efforts, only two of the 200 men that she helped defend during their sentencing hearings were ultimately given the death penalty. Perhaps her greatest triumph was the exoneration of Virginia death row inmate Earl Washington, Jr., a man with intellectual disabilities, whose false confession was the product of police coercion and manipulation. Washington was awarded almost $2 million dollars in damages "for the imprisonment that resulted from the fabrication of evidence against him and would become one of the compelling stories cited in the steady rise of death row exonerations across the country."
Recent legislation passed in Texas indicates bipartisan support for criminal justice reform in the state. Legislators recently passed an eyewitness-identification bill intended to cut down on the number of victims and witnesses who make mistakes in in-person and photographic line-ups. This new law will require police agencies to adopt procedures and use techniques that help lessen the number of false confessions. Another bill passed recently will make it easier for convicted persons to have DNA materials tested if the testing was not done before the trial or if updated testing techniques might reveal information that is more accurate than previous results. Finally, the legislature also passed a bill that would allow compensation for the wrongfully accused even if orders of release do not specifically include the terms "actual innocence." The bill allows affidavits by a district attorney in the crime's jurisdiction or a special prosecutor who officially investigated the case to provide verification of innocence.
A new declaration issued by Catherine Ashton, the European Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, expressed deep concerns about the possible execution of Troy Anthony Davis, a death row inmate in Georgia. Evidence that emerged after his trial has thrown doubt about his conviction. The High Representative, writing on behalf of the EU, stated, "The EU has repeatedly intervened on behalf of Mr. Davis and notes that serious and compelling doubts regarding his culpability continue to persist. The EU therefore calls for a commutation of his death sentence.”
On June 8, Ohio Governor John Kasich (pictured) granted clemency to Shawn Hawkins, commuting his death sentence to life without parole because of doubts about his role in a double murder. Hawkins was scheduled for execution on June 14. In May, the Ohio Parole Board unanimously recommended to spare Hawkins’ life, citing conflicting statements by the sole eyewitness and possible involvement of other individuals who had not been fully investigated. Republicans Ken Blackwell, a former Ohio Secretary of State and 2006 gubernatorial candidate, former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro, and state Sen. Bill Seitz all wrote letters to Gov. John Kasich or to the Parole Board on behalf of Hawkins. Sen. Seitz stated, "[T]here is no reason to end Mr. Hawkins' life on something so utterly flimsy as mishandled and inconclusive fingerprints and the testimony of a witness with every motive to lie. . . ." Hawkins is the first death row inmate to receive clemency from Governor Kasich since he took office in January, and the seventh to be spared since Ohio resumed executions in 1999.
A number of prominent conservatives in Ohio are lending their voices in support of clemency for Shawn Hawkins (pictured), who is facing execution on June 14. Republicans Ken Blackwell, a former Secretary of State and 2006 gubernatorial candidate, former Attorney General Jim Petro, and state Sen. Bill Seitz have all written letters to Gov. John Kasich or to the Parole Board on behalf of Hawkins. Blackwell wrote, "I have been a public advocate for the death penalty and remain so today. Furthermore, in the 30-plus years of my public life, I have only written two letters requesting clemency for an individual. I have reviewed the facts and circumstances of this case with a number of sources. Shawn Hawkins does not deserve to die. . . I urge you to spare him from the death penalty." Sen. Seitz added, "[T]here is no reason to end Mr. Hawkins' life on something so utterly flimsy as mishandled and inconclusive fingerprints and the testimony of a witness with every motive to lie. . ." The sentence of life without the possibility of parole was not an option in 1989 when Hawkins was sentenced. The chief witness against Hawkins, Henry Brown, was also charged with murder and robbery as a co-conspirator in the same crime, but was given immunity in exchange for testimony against Hawkins. Brown changed his statement at least five times and failed two lie-detector tests.
George Gascon (pictured), San Francisco's District Attorney and a former chief of police, recently discussed his concerns about California's death penalty. He wrote, "Despite saying that I wouldn't rule out the death penalty as district attorney, I want to make clear that I have serious misgivings concerning the potential for wrongful convictions and the disproportionate impact of the application of the death penalty on racial minorities. Moreover, victims' families are subjected to an emotional roller coaster as they wait decades for justice and closure. I am also concerned about the increasing financial impact that death penalty prosecutions have on our already overburdened criminal justice system." Gascon particularly pointed to the problem of mistake: "Given the irreversibility of the death penalty, the possibility of a wrongful conviction can never be overstated." Read his full op-ed below.
On April 15, the Texas Forensic Science Commission recommended more education and training for fire investigators following its review of the controversial case of Cameron Todd Willingham (pictured), who was executed in 2004 for setting the fire that killed his three daughters. The Commission made 16 recommendations for investigators, lawyers and lawmakers. It did not, however, decide whether arson investigators in Willingham’s case were negligent or guilty of professional misconduct, and was not empowered to decide whether Willingham was likely innocent of the crime. The panel recommended establishing a code of ethics for investigators and procedures for involving the state fire marshal's office in fatal home fires. Another recommendation urged the fire marshal to adhere to standards established by the National Fire Protection Association and to become a model for local fire investigators in Texas. Willingham maintained his innocence until his execution, claiming that the fire could have been accidentally started by his two-year-old daughter who died in the fire. Since the original 1991 investigation, several arson experts have reviewed the evidence in the case and concluded that the fire was of undetermined cause or accidental, but likely not arson. 