Innocence

Louisiana Must Pay $14 Million to Man Exonerated From Death Row

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a $14 million award to John Thompson, a former death row inmate in Louisiana who was exonerated after withheld evidence was revealed.  Thompson spent 18 years in prison, including 14 years in the solitary confinement of death row in Angola Prison.  He came within one month of being executed in 1999 when his attorneys discovered blood evidence that should have been turned over to the defense years ago.  The new evidence cleared Thompson of an armed robbery conviction, which in turn had influenced his trial for an unrelated murder.  At his re-trial on the capital murder charge, Thompson was acquitted in thirty-five minutes by a jury in 2003.  Thompson sued the District Attorney's Office of Orleans Parish in 2003 and won a jury verdict in 2007.  The jury also awarded $1 million for attorneys' fees.

Federal Appeals Court Considers Sufficiency of Evidence in Troy Davis Case

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta heard arguments in the Troy Davis case on December 9.  The judges weighed whether Davis' new evidence was sufficient to merit a more extensive hearing and perhaps a new trial.  One of the judges, Rosemary Barkett, said she would like to see the innocence claims fleshed out in a further hearing.

 

 

STUDIES: Coping with Innocence After Death Row

Professsors Saundra Westervelt and Kimberly Cook of the University of North Carolina recently published a study entitled “Coping with Innocence After Death Row.” The study appeared in "Contexts" published by the American Sociological Association. The authors studied the lives of 18 innocent men and women exonerated from death row.

STUDIES: Eyewitness Identification Procedure in Texas

A new study concerning criminal justice procedures in Texas has been released by the Justice Project. Their research found that only 12% of Texas law enforcement agencies have any written policies or guidelines for the conduct of photo or live lineup procedures. Furthermore, they discovered that the few existing written procedures are often vague and incomplete.

Federal Appeals Court to Hear Arguments in Troy Davis' Appeal

Attorneys for Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis will have the opportunity to argue before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on December 9 in Atlanta. The Court will hear arguments on whether Davis can file a second federal challenge to his conviction based on new evidence of his innocence. The Court stayed Davis' execution shortly before he was to receive a lethal injection so that it could review the constitutional issues in his case.

NEW VOICES: 30 FBI Agents Call for Pardon in VA Case with Death Penalty Implications

On November 10 in Richmond, Virginia, thirty former FBI agents held a press conference calling for the pardon of four sailors, known as the Norfolk Four, who were convicted of rape and murder. Their convictions were based mainly on their own confessions, which were apparently made out of fear that they might otherwise receive the death penalty.

EDITORIAL: Death Penalty Distorts the Criminal Justice Process

A recent editorial in The Journal Star (Lincoln, Nebraska) expressed the paper's shock at how the death penalty distorted a state criminal investigation to the extent that six innocent people were convicted of a murder they did not commit. Defendants were pressured to offer erroneous testimony through the threat of facing the death penalty. “The wrongful convictions show how the death penalty can distort the search for justice,” the editorial stated. “Investigators supplied suspects suggestions on what could have happened. They showed photos of the crime scene.

Maryland Commission Recommends Abolition of Death Penalty

The Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment voted on November 12 to recommend the abolitiion of the death penalty in the state. In a 13-7 vote, the Commission cited the possibility that an innocent person could be mistakenly executed, as well as geographical and racial disparities in how it is used.

Florida Inmate Facing Imminent Execution Despite Evidence of Witness Tampering by Prosecution

A Florida inmate faces execution despite new revelations that the state prompted a trial witness to lie. Inmate Wayne Tompkins was to be executed in Florida on October 28, 2008, but was granted a stay of execution to allow time for the state Supreme Court to review his case.

U.S. Supreme Court to Consider Constitutional Right to DNA Testing

On November 3, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear a non-capital case from Alaska in which the defendant asserts that the constitution requires the state to allow DNA testing on evidence from his trial so that he can prove his innocence. In District Attorney's Office v Osborne (No 08-6), the Court will initially consider whether William Osborne may bring a civil rights claim (under 42 USC 1983) demonstrating that the state has violated his constitutional right to due process by refusing to turn over the evidence for testing.

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