DNA Exoneration of Pa. Death Row Prisoner Prompts Renewed Calls for Study and Moratorium

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AVAILABLE FOR FURTHER COMMENT July 28, 2003 Jeff Garis, Executive Director, Pa. Abolitionists - 215-724-6120 and 267-251-2818
Ray Krone, York Co. native/resident sentenced to death in Arizona in 1992;
exonerated through DNA evidence in 2002; the 100th death row exoneration in the U.S. - 602-309-9494
Larry Frankel, Legislative Director, ACLU of Pa. - 215-592-1513 x 118

DNA Exoneration of Pa. Death Row Prisoner Prompts Renewed Calls for Study and Moratorium

    Today's Federal Court filing of DNA test results exonerating Nicholas Yarris, a Delaware County man on death row for the past 21 years, is prompting renewed calls for a moratorium on executions and a thorough review of the Pennsylvania's death penalty system. The tests, conducted by Dr. Edward Blake, a nationally recognized expert in the field, excluded Yarris in the 1981 rape and murder of Linda Craig.

    This is the 1st DNA exoneration of a death row prisoner in Pennsylvania history; it is the 5th exoneration of a death row prisoner since the Commonwealth reinstated capital punishment in 1978.

    More than 250 organizations in Pennsylvania have issued moratorium resolutions in recent years, including the Pa. Bar Association, the Pa. Catholic Conference of Bishops, and the City Councils of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie, and 6 other municipalities. On March 4, 2003, the Pa. Supreme Court Committee on Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System released a report recommending an immediate moratorium on executions citing evidence of racial bias and the failure of the Commonwealth to ensure competent representation for indigent defendants. The Supreme Court committee called upon the governor, the legislature, and the courts to immediately halt the execution process. Gov. Rendell responded by dismissing the moratorium recommendation, stating that he has not seen "compelling evidence" to warrant such action.

    "The death sentencing of an individual for a crime he didn't convict is one of the greatest nightmares facing a democratic society intent on clinging to the death penalty," stated Jeff Garis, Executive Director of Pa. Abolitionists, an 8,000-member organization with chapters across the state.  "It is perhaps a central reason why there are virtually no other democratic nations still in the business of executing their citizens. The fact that after 21 years Yarris was 'lucky' enough to have this evidence discovered is by no means proof of 'the system working.' The true killer has escaped justice, a young man's life was destroyed, and the limitations of our justice system have been exposed.

    Since DNA evidence is available in only a small number of homicide cases - approximately 15% -- this exoneration should cause us to consider the fact that 85% of death penalty cases can never be 'scientifically verified.'  An erroneous conviction of this magnitude is ample evidence of a problem. The vast majority of reasonable people - both for and against the death penalty - can agree that no executions should take place until we can be certain that there aren't other innocent people on death row."

    Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the United States in 1976, there have been 108 people convicted of capital crimes, sentenced to death, and later exonerated after spending on average more than 8 years in prison.  Of these, only 12 cases involved DNA evidence. During the same time period, 869 prisoners were executed, 3 of them in Pa. There are currently 239 people on the state's death row, the 4th highest number in the U.S.