Wrongful Convictions Sharpen Focus on Death Penalty System, november 13th
For people wrongly convicted and sent to prison for crimes they did not commit, the opportunities for justice are few and far between.
“There have been no consequences for the prosecutor in my case,” said Anthony Graves, a Texas man who was exonerated three years ago after serving more than a decade on death row for a murder he did not commit. Read more
South Carolina - Was executed 14-year old innocent?
The youngest person in recorded history (South Carolina) - Read more
Missouri - Missouri's culture of conviction november 9th
This week, a state appeals court in Missouri vacated the conviction of 29-year-old Ryan Ferguson. Read more
Public's Changing Attitudes on Capital Punishment, November 7th
Too much risk of killing the innocents! - Huffington post article here
Texas, October 7th
Dallas Morning News Calls for Investigation of Posthumous Pardon Application
An editorial in Saturday’s Dallas Morning News supported the Innocence Project’s request for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to conduct an investigation into the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was convicted and sentenced to death for killing his three young children in a house fire in 1991. While the newspaper admits that Willingham’s relatives may not get the results they are after, the questions surrounding his conviction and execution aren’t going away and deserve further examination. Read more
Ohio, September 19th
Possible innocence - Court dismisses charges and bars retrial of former death row inmate
On September 19 the Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court's dismissal of all charges against Thomas Keenan, a former death row inmate sentenced to death for a 1988 murder. The appeals court also barred the state from retrying Keenan. His co-defendant, Joseph D'Ambrosio, was fully exonerated in 2012 based on similar state misconduct to that found in Keenan's trial. Keenan's conviction was overturned by a U.S. District Court in 2012 because the state had withheld vital evidence from the defense. After spending nearly 20 years on death row, Keenan was released, but the state said it intended to retry him. However, the trial court found the state's misconduct so offensive that it precluded any further prosecution, noting that "in the interest of justice and fairness, the harm done to defendant Keenan has been so egregious that this is the extraordinary case where the court has no other option but to grant the motion to dismiss." In upholding that decision, the Court of Appeals said, "The degradation of this case began 25 years ago, when the desire to obtain a conviction overwhelmed the state's responsibility to seek the fullest truth of that day in September 1988."
Florida, September 2013
Senator wants DNA testing required for death row inmates
In Florida, 24 death row inmates have already been found innocent thanks to DNA testing -
Read more
For people wrongly convicted and sent to prison for crimes they did not commit, the opportunities for justice are few and far between.
“There have been no consequences for the prosecutor in my case,” said Anthony Graves, a Texas man who was exonerated three years ago after serving more than a decade on death row for a murder he did not commit. Read more
South Carolina - Was executed 14-year old innocent?
The youngest person in recorded history (South Carolina) - Read more
Missouri - Missouri's culture of conviction november 9th
This week, a state appeals court in Missouri vacated the conviction of 29-year-old Ryan Ferguson. Read more
Public's Changing Attitudes on Capital Punishment, November 7th
Too much risk of killing the innocents! - Huffington post article here
Texas, October 7th
Dallas Morning News Calls for Investigation of Posthumous Pardon Application
An editorial in Saturday’s Dallas Morning News supported the Innocence Project’s request for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to conduct an investigation into the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was convicted and sentenced to death for killing his three young children in a house fire in 1991. While the newspaper admits that Willingham’s relatives may not get the results they are after, the questions surrounding his conviction and execution aren’t going away and deserve further examination. Read more
Ohio, September 19th
Possible innocence - Court dismisses charges and bars retrial of former death row inmate
On September 19 the Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court's dismissal of all charges against Thomas Keenan, a former death row inmate sentenced to death for a 1988 murder. The appeals court also barred the state from retrying Keenan. His co-defendant, Joseph D'Ambrosio, was fully exonerated in 2012 based on similar state misconduct to that found in Keenan's trial. Keenan's conviction was overturned by a U.S. District Court in 2012 because the state had withheld vital evidence from the defense. After spending nearly 20 years on death row, Keenan was released, but the state said it intended to retry him. However, the trial court found the state's misconduct so offensive that it precluded any further prosecution, noting that "in the interest of justice and fairness, the harm done to defendant Keenan has been so egregious that this is the extraordinary case where the court has no other option but to grant the motion to dismiss." In upholding that decision, the Court of Appeals said, "The degradation of this case began 25 years ago, when the desire to obtain a conviction overwhelmed the state's responsibility to seek the fullest truth of that day in September 1988."
Florida, September 2013
Senator wants DNA testing required for death row inmates
In Florida, 24 death row inmates have already been found innocent thanks to DNA testing -
Read more
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