Barry Scheck on the Execution of Cameron Todd Willingham

Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project, wrote this for the Huffington Post.

Willingham was convicted of murdering his two young children by arson. He spent 12 years on death row in Texas before he was executed. Forensic science that supposedly proved the fire was intentionally set was central to Willingham's conviction was, in fact, completely invalid -- which the experts who testified should have known in 1992. A state forensic science commission in Texas is officially looking into the case and selected a widely respected expert to analyze whether the forensic testimony was valid. Last week the expert filed a report confirming what five other leading arson experts have found -- what passed for arson analysis in the Willingham case had no scientific basis, and the scientific facts in Willingham's case were the same as the case of Ernest Willis. In an entirely separate case, Willis was sent to death row in Texas for an arson murder of family members but, luckily, in his the state recognized the arson analysis was wrong. Willis was fully exonerated just months after Willingham was executed.

The state forensic commission in Texas is still finishing its work on Willingham's case, but David Grann's New Yorker article examines the entire case, including the jailhouse informant who plainly gave false testimony and the circumstantial evidence, flimsy in the first place, that was not what it appeared to be to the jury. After reading Grann's report, fair-minded people will know beyond a reasonable doubt that an innocent person was executed

So what now? Whether our criminal justice system has executed an innocent man should no longer be an open question. We don't know how often it happens, but we know it has happened. Cameron Todd Willingham's case proves that.

The focus turns to how we can stop it from happening again. As long as our system of justice makes mistakes -- including the ultimate mistake -- we cannot continue executing people.

Read the full article: Barry Scheck: Innocent, but Executed

Technorati Tags: execution, innocence, texas, cameron todd willingham, barry scheck, innocence project, wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, arson, crime, law, murder, prison

Prison Book: The Innocence Commission

The Innocence Commission: Preventing Wrongful Convictions and Restoring the Criminal Justice System by Jon Gould. Jon Gould is the chair of the Innocence Commission of Virginia (ICVA) and a professor of justice studies as well as an attorney. He writes about the beginnings if the ICVA and how it was created. The book also covers 12 cases of wrongful conviction, how they happened and how the innocent were freed. He lists lessons to be learned from these cases and suggests changes in the way investigations are conducted in order to minimize cases of wrongful conviction in the future.

John Gould also explains the need for an Innocence Commission in every state to protect the rights of the innocent as well as protect society from the real perpetrators of crime.

This book is of a much higher caliber than anything else I've read on the subject. I don't think the suggestions for change in investigative practices are enough, though. I don't believe these changes will ensure no innocent man is ever executed again. Only one measure can ensure that, and that's the abolition of the death penalty.

To suggest a book to be featured on Genpop, please email me: vlu777@gmail.com

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Technorati Tags: innocence commission, jon gould, icva, innocence commission of virginia, innocence, wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, exonerated, prison, crime, law, book

Danny Brown's Struggle to Reclaim His Name

Victim of Justice: Danny Brown's Struggle To Reclaim His Name

Danny Brown is a 50-year old man who lives in Toledo, OH. He was wrongly convicted in 1982 of the rape-murder of a woman with whom he had a casual acquaintance. Danny served 19 years for a crime he did not commit. Danny maintained his innocence throughout the investigation and trial, even to the point of rejecting a plea-bargain that could have freed him after serving one year in prison.

Throughout the trial, his belief in the ultimate triumph of truth gave him confidence that he would be vindicated. There was no physical evidence connecting Danny to the crimes, and circumstantial evidence was riddled with holes. However, a six-year old boy's inconsistent, often-contradictory testimony was enough to convince a jury to convict Mr. Brown of aggravated murder.

Danny continued to fight for his freedom during the nearly two decades spent behind bars. However, it wasn't until the DNA evidence was analyzed in the year 2000 that Danny was ultimately freed. The semen recovered from the victim was eventually tied to a convicted murderer named Sherman Preston. Ironically, at the time of the DNA identification, Preston was incarcerated for similar murders.

Technorati Tags: danny brown, wrongful conviction, exoneration, wrongfully convicted, innocent, dna testing, crime, law, prison

Featured Prison: Northpoint Training Center, KY

Northpoint Training Center near Danville, Kentucky was originally a mental hospital. It also served as a facility to house German POWs during the second world war as well as a youth center for juvenile offenders. In 1983, it officially became Northpoint Training Center and today has a capacity of 1,256 inmates.

Just a few days ago, on August 21st, a riot broke out at Northpoint Training Center, during which inmates set fire to three separate buildings. It took several riot squads and the prison's own Corrections Emergency Response Team to end the riot. Only minor injuries were reported, however, many buildings are in such disrepair, it is likely they will have to be torn down and rebuilt.

More than half of the prison's inmates will have to be relocated. A smoking ban is in effect since the riot and 4 inmates remain hospitalized.

Kentucky: Department of Corrections - Northpoint Training Center

Northpoint Training Center - Wikipedia

Smoking ban imposed after Ky. prison riot

Northpoint Training Center - Prison Place

Northpoint Training Center focus page on DailyMe

Needing info on Northpoint Training Center - Prison Talk

Does anyone have a loved one at Northpoint? - Prison Talk

Ky DOC Northpoint Training Center

To submit a little known fact about this or any other prison, or to suggest a prison for next week's featured prison, please email me at vlu777@gmail.com

Archive of all Featured Prisons on Genpop.org

Technorati Tags: northpoint training center, kentucky, corrections, prison, prison riot, crime, law

Could Texas Have Executed an Innocent Man?

I just watched At the Death House Door last night, so it's a little odd that this news would pop up today. It's always so bittersweet when you think about cases like this because on one hand, you want this man to be proven innocent so that we're that much closer to ening the death penalty, but on the other hand that means an innocent, grieving father was murdered.

In a withering critique, a nationally known fire scientist has told a state commission on forensics that Texas fire investigators had no basis to rule a deadly house fire was an arson -- a finding that led to the murder conviction and execution of Cameron Todd Willingham.

The finding comes in the first state-sanctioned review of an execution in Texas, home to the country's busiest death chamber. If the commission reaches the same conclusion, it could lead to the first-ever declaration by an official state body that an inmate was wrongly executed.

Indeed, the report concludes there was no evidence to determine that the December 1991 fire was even set, and it leaves open the possibility the blaze that killed three children was an accident and there was no crime at all -- the same findings found in a Chicago Tribune investigation of the case published in December 2004.

Willingham, the father of those children, was executed in February 2004. He protested his innocence to the end.

Cameron Todd Willingham case: Expert says fire for which father was executed was not arson -- chicagotribune.com

Technorati Tags: execution, death penalty, death sentence, capital punishment, death row, inmate, texas, arson, murder, innocence, crime, law, wrongful conviction

The Death Penalty Trump Card

Steve Sheppard wrote this piece (Sharon Keller, Troy Davis, and the Duty of a Death Case Judge) about the danger that the "technical rules will overcome the moral demand of the law", however, I don't like how he continues to support the death penalty:

We—officials and citizens—have a duty to ensure that the protections of the laws are secure, and that we execute only the person guilty of the crime accused. Otherwise we violate the American commitment to freedom, truth, and the rule of law.

I just don't understand how anyone can continue to support an execution when it has been proven that:

- Eyewitnesses have just about as much chance pointing the finger at the wrong person than they do at the right person.
- Confessions can be false.
- Snitches can be snitching for personal gain.
- Many areas of forensic science are faulty.
- Not all law enforcement officials are concerned with the truth.
- Not all lawyers have their clients' best interests at heart.

With all of these things being true, how can we ever be sure we are executing the right person? Put aside the fact that the death penalty is more expensive, forget about the fact that it is and has never been an effective deterrent, and forget the fact that all other Western developed countries have outlawed it. The trump card when it comes to death penalty is: How can any decent human being with any sort of moral compass continue to support state-sanctioned killing when there is really no possible way to ensure you have the right person?

Technorati Tags: death penalty, sharon keller, troy davis, capital punishment, wrongful conviction, execution, prison, crime, law

Connecticut Innocence Project Frees Kenneth Ireland

Cleared Conn. man: Freedom like waking from coma

Kenneth Ireland recently got a good look at himself in a real mirror for the first time in more than 20 years, and realized just how much he had aged in prison.

A Connecticut judge on Wednesday dismissed murder and rape charges against Ireland, after DNA tests showed he could not have committed the crime.

Ireland is the third Connecticut inmate freed from prison in the past three years based on new DNA testing. The Connecticut Innocence Project represented all three men. More than 240 people nationwide have had wrongful convictions overturned by DNA testing, according to the group.

Technorati Tags: wrongful conviction, exoneration, dna evidence, dna testing, kenneth ireland, connecticut, innocence project, crime, law, murder, prison

Prison Book: The Guardians: The True Story of The Saints of Dannemora

The Guardians: The True Story of The Saints of Dannemora by Joseph M. Sauter, Sheldon Abend and Isidore Zimmerman is a true story story about jailhouse lawyers, wrongful conviction and the effects of a life sentence on a human being. I read this a long time ago so I don't remember a lot of the details, and my copy is back home in Canada. This book is also extremely rare and there are no reviews or synopses anywhere on the web (well, after about 30 minutes I stopped trying, I *do* have a dayjob), so if I get a few things wrong, deal with it.

Izzy Zimmerman was convicted in the 1930s of having supplied weapons to a gang of men who later used them to kill a police officer. The single man who accused Zimmerman of this, did so as a way to hide his own involvement. He was sentenced to die by electrocution. A lot of people believe Izzy was innocent and as such, two hours before he was set to be executed, the call came in that his sentence had been commuted to life in prison.

24 years later, the appeals court overturned his conviction after finding that one of the prosecutors had suppressed exculpatory evidence. 21 years after that, Izzy was given a million dollars as compensation and he died 4 months later. His wife died soon after him and with no next of kin, the money went back to the State of New York.

In this book, Izzy spoke about how much he would have rather been executed than spend life in prison. It is an excellent argument against people who claim that the death penalty is the worst possible punishment. Here is an excerpt:

"They couldn't understand. To them, death was the most horrible thing that could happen to a person. "But," Peewee muttered to himself, "Everybody is going to die. Nobody beats death. These 'Guardians' don't really know what it is to do twenty-five or thirty years, forty-five or fifty years in the can until you die."

Once Izzy received his commuted sentence of life in prison, he lost the will to live altogether. He didn't care what he did, or what the outcomes were. He made life a living hell for Corrections Officers and inmates feared him because he did not care about anything. He figured he was going to rot away in his cell until he died.

Eventually Izzy found peace in acting as one of the best jailhouse lawyers in history, helping many people with their cases.

To suggest a book to be featured on Genpop, please email me: vlu777@gmail.com

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Technorati Tags: izzy zimmerman, prison book, books, prison, crime, law, wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, innocent, death penalty, execution, capital punishment

Gitmo rocked by The High Strung

A humorous account of Indie Rock Band, The High Strung playing live shows at Gitmo:

Granted, there’s also that other, infamous purpose for the base. “Our escort, Mike, offered to give us a tour, and our first request was to see the prison camp. Of course, he said no,” Derek said, “but then later he took us to the high point on the island, and he had some binoculars and he showed us Camp X-Ray, and he said that we could see that it was closed down. And we looked at that and we were like, yeah, looks like there’s nobody there. But it was still, like, in the back of our heads the whole time, that there were prisoners there, in other prison camps. It was kind of creepy.” At some point, later in the trip, while they were in a rec building, Flight 93 came on—the movie about the 9/11 plane that went down in Pennsylvania—and everyone they were with noticed, but nobody said a word. “And I was like, the guy who did this is here, right?” Derek asked. “And one of the military guys said, ‘No, this movie wasn’t shot here.’ And I was like, No. Khalil Sheikh Mohammed, the guy who thought up the whole 9/11 plot. He’s here, right? And they were like, Oh, yeah. He’s one of the masterminds. He’s here. And that was that. I wanted to talk about it more, but it was just a really awkward moment.”

Read the rest: The High Strung Rocks Gitmo: Brett Berk | Vanity Fair

Technorati Tags: Guantanamo, Guantanamo bay, gitmo, prison, high strung, rock show

Scalia Thinks It's Ok to Commit Murder

This is an excellent opinion piece on statements Justice Antonin Scalia made in objection to the Supreme Court's decision to order a new hearing for Georgia death row inmate, Troy Davis:

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Scalia's position is that if someone have been found guilty and sentenced to death in a procedurally correct trial, that it is constitutional to execute that person even if it is later discovered that the person convicted did not commit the murder.

He stated in a recent dissent over a recent grant of an original habeas corpus petition by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Troy Davis, in the face of post-trial recantations by almost all of the witnesses against him and a confession of guilt for the murder by someone else who is in prison:

This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is "actually" innocent.

Professor Alan Dershowitz, at Harvard Law School, explains what this means:

Let us be clear precisely what [Scalia's dissent] means. If a defendant were convicted, after a constitutionally unflawed trial, of murdering his wife, and then came to the Supreme Court with his very much alive wife at his side, and sought a new trial based on newly discovered evidence (namely that his wife was alive), these two justices would tell him, in effect: "Look, your wife may be alive as a matter of fact, but as a matter of constitutional law, she's dead, and as for you, Mr. Innocent Defendant, you're dead, too, since there is no constitutional right not to be executed merely because you're innocent."

Scalia: It's OK To Execute Innocent People | Wash Park Prophet

This is also an excellent argument against the death penalty. As the Washington Post states, "Davis has come close to execution several times since he was convicted of the 1989 killing". In the hypothetical scenario above, what if the man's wife returns, alive, after the execution? Can people really be so naive as to think this scenario (or similar)could never happen? Lest we forget, The Dead Alive.

Technorati Tags: troy davis, antonin scalia, supreme court, scotus, death penalty, capital punishment, execution, death row, georgia, crime, law, murder, prison

Featured Prison: Standish Maximum Security Facility, MI

Opened in 1990, the Standish Maximum Security Facility in Standish, Michigan faces closure in October, 2009. In an effort to save the prison and the hundreds of corrections jobs that would be lost in the event of a closure, Michigan's Governor Jennifer Granholm offered to house some of California's excess prison population. California prison officials responded saying it was to expensive and didn't have the medical facilities required.

The other option to save the prison is to house Guantanamo prisoners there, which would still result in a loss of corrections jobs as the military would be running the prison. Many people in Standish have voiced their opposition to the idea, expressing a fear that their town would suddenly become a target for terrorist attacks.

Gov. Granholm is petitioning other states to send their excess prisoners in the meantime.

Standish Maximum Correctional Facility - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

CORRECTIONS - Standish Maximum Correctional Facility (SMF)

Michigan prison still seeks inmates | Detroit Free Press | Freep.com

Michigan Region I - East Prisons and Camps - Prison Talk

To submit a little known fact about this or any other prison, or to suggest a prison for next week's featured prison, please email me at vlu777@gmail.com

Archive of all Featured Prisons on Genpop.org

Technorati Tags: prison, law, crime, inmates, michigan, california, guantanamo, gitmo, jennifer granholm, budget cuts, layoffs, economy

Sotomayor Votes on Death Penalty Case

Sotomayor’s first vote on death penalty | SCOTUSblog

The newest Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, on Monday night cast her first vote in a death penalty case, joining three other members of the Supreme Court in dissent as the Court permitted the execution Tuesday of an Ohio inmate, Jason Getsy, 33. He was scheduled to die in Lucasville, Ohio, at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

The Supreme Court’s order is here. Sotomayor would have granted a stay of execution, along with Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Paul Stevens. Sotomayor’s predecessor, retired Justice David H. Souter, frequently voted to postpone executions.

Technorati Tags: sonia sotomayor, sotomayor, supreme court, scotus, crime, law, prison, death penalty, capital punishment, execution

P.S. Some days it really hits me, the words I'm typing into the Technorati tags field and I think, isn't this 2009? Should the only blog the word "execution" be found on as a tag, be a history blog? Seriously. We are so barbaric.

Great News: Troy Davis Granted a New Hearing

U.S. Supreme Court orders new hearing for Troy Davis | ajc.com

Justice John Paul Stevens, joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer: “The substantial risk of putting an innocent man to death clearly provides an adequate justification for holding an evidentiary hearing. ... Imagine a petitioner in Davis’ situation who possesses new evidence conclusively and definitively proving, beyond any scintilla of doubt, that he is an innocent man. The dissent’s reasoning would allow such a petitioner to be put to death nonetheless.”

Technorati Tags: troy davis, innocence, wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, evidence, death penalty, capital punishment, death row, crime, law, murder

Michael Moore: Make us a Film about Prison, Please!

I have often thought about what a documentary by Michael Moore on the US prison system would be like, and I know without a doubt that I would love it, as I do most of his documentaries. As such, I have signed this petition to request that his next film is about the criminal justice system, and you should too:

We know the Criminal Justice system is unjust. We know thousands of innocent people are in prison. We know there are unspeakable abuses that happen behind the walls of courtrooms and jails. We realize that some people are profiting off of the amount of bodies they hold, not necessarily the services they provide. We are jointly asking Mr. Michael Moore to hear our pleas to document these injustices and make them public.

We the undersigned have witnessed injustice in our system that directly affects our loved ones. We used to believe that one was innocent until proven guilty that is, until we found ourselves victimized by the reality of the our situations.

We realize now that corporations are profiting from those repeated and constant abuses within the criminal justice system and certain individuals are gaining status from our loved ones suffering. We are asking you to use your talents in raising public awareness on the most serious and growing issue of wrongful convictions. Please film this injustice and make it public.

Sign the Petition

Technorati Tags: prison, crime, law, criminal justice, michael moore, film, documentary, movie

Prison Book: Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make it Right

Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make it Right by Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld and Jim Dwyer is a must-read for anyone curious about wrongful convictions. It is a book that takes a look at the work of the Innocence Project, an organization that defends convicted felons with claims of innocence. The Innocence Project's most notable cases are covered and the causes of wrongful conviction in the United States of America are explained. The book talks about police error, prosecutorial misconduct, poor defense lawyers, jailhouses snitches and faulty eyewitness accounts. It is also pointed out that there are many more people out there who are innocent but who are being denied post-trial DNA testing.

The authors are men to be admired. Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld founded the Innocence Project in 1992 and have enabled the exoneration of 241 innocent people in the United States since. Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld are also known for being on the defense team for O.J. Simpson. Jim Dwyer is a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist at the New York Times.

The book is easy to read and very informative. It is depressing. It's scary. It's true and you should read it.

Innocence Project - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Barry Scheck - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peter Neufeld - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jim Dwyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To suggest a book to be featured on Genpop, please email me: vlu777@gmail.com

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Technorati Tags: prison, crime, law, wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, innocence, innocence project, exonerated, dna evidence, dna testing, barry scheck, peter neufeld, jim dwyer, actual innocence

Celebrities Against the Death Penalty

Scott Langley is slowly building a portfolio of portraits which feature famous folk stating their political opposition to execution in the US. More: I Oppose the Death Penalty - Prison Photography

Technorati Tags: death penalty, capital punishment, execution, martin sheen, prison, crime, law

Featured Prison: California Institution for Men, Chino, CA

California Institute for Men (CIM) is a multi-security level complex in Chino, California. It opened in the 1980s and has a capacity of 2778 offenders, but is currently home to, according to statistics found on Insideprison.com, a mind-blowing 6298 men. With that in mind, there is no wonder it was recently in the news for a riot that injured 250 inmates.

This prison's past has been riddled with problems other than overcrowding and riots. A corrections officer was killed in 2005, inspections have found it poorly maintained, inadequately staffed and unsanitary, and there have been escapes (one that resulted in 4 murders). A recent swine flu outbreak has also afflicted the prison.

Almost every article I've read asks the question, "what caused this riot?". Some speculate it was racial tension. A disgustingly over-budget system is now going to spend more money trying to discover the cause of this riot, rather than trying to solve what those of us with our eyes open already know caused it. Overcrowding.

There is racial tension in every prison. The difference, is that this is a grossly overcrowded, understaffed and poorly maintained prison that recently suffered a swine flu outbreak. It seems fairly obvious to me that California could save itself more headaches, more money and more lives if it just stopped being so lock-up happy. Maybe California ought to redefine what a criminal who presents a threat to society and is deserving of lock-up really is. 47% of all state held inmates are in for non-violent offenses. Is this worth the budget problems? The job cuts? The riots? The deaths of corrections officers and inmates alike? Is it really worth it? All of this to keep a few marijuana peddlers off the street? When does the silly become absolutely and morbidly absurd?

The prison remains under lockdown. Because that will solve all of California's needless corrections woes.

CDCR - California Institution for Men (CIM) - Home Page/Mission Statement

Record Poor at Riot-Scarred California Prison, Files Show - NYTimes.com

California Institution for Men - prison stories, prison history, prison conditions, and inmate treatment for California Institution for Men

At Chino, mute evidence speaks of violent riot - Los Angeles Times

To submit a little known fact about this or any other prison, or to suggest a prison for next week's featured prison, please email me at vlu777@gmail.com

Archive of all Featured Prisons on Genpop.org

Technorati Tags: prison, inmates, riot, california institute for men, chino, california, swin flu, overcrowding, budget, corrections officers, layoffs, crime, law, murder

Dear California

Dear California,

I realize budgeting an entire state is a difficult task, especially during this recession. But seriously, how can you get it so wrong? I have a few very serious questions for you, California.

1. How can you justify cutting funding to the education system, while you continue to spend on locking up non-violent offenders? Do you not understand the correlation between poor education and crime? Do you not understand that by cutting funding for education, you are ensuring an increase in all crime in your future?

2. How can you continue to justify spending money on locking up drug offenders? You do realize that your efforts are entirely futile and that no matter how many drug users and drug dealers you lock up, there will still be more. Maybe if you spent less on lockup and more on education, you could lower the numbers of offenders. Maybe if you spent more on drug treatment programs, there would be less drug offenders. Stop locking up people who are only a threat to themselves and pissing away money that could be used for essential services.

3. How can you justify running a death row when you are cutting funding to essential services like education? Does killing a human being mean that much to you, California, that you would sacrifice your child's education, and thus, any shot at a decent life just to do it? Do you not think that perhaps your rage and desire for revenge is getting the better of you and causing you to not see clearly? Do you not realize the massive cost that is involved in having the death penalty as opposed to life in prison?

4. I realize being in close proximity to a half asleep moron eating cheezits and playing Halo can be uncomfortable, but is it so much so that marijuana needs to be illegal? Do you realize the money that could be made off of these completely harmless potheads who almost single-handedly account for 7-11's entire revenue, just by taxing weed? That wouldn't be tough on crime though, would it? Not like locking up 242 innocent men and women while the real perpetrators go free. That's really tough on crime.

In short, California, pull your head out of your proverbial ass. Budgeting an entire state may be hard, but it's nowhere near as hard as you make it out to be.

Sincerely,
Genpop.org

Technorati Tags: california, budget, recession, education, marijuana, crime, prison, law, death row, death penalty

Ernest Sonnier is a Free Man

The Innocence Project - News and Information: Innocence Blog

Innocence Project client Ernest Sonnier is free today after more than two decades in Texas prisons for a rape he didn’t commit. DNA testing has proven Sonnier’s innocence of the 1985 attack and implicated two other men. Sonnier was freed on bond today by a Texas judge while he continues seeking to fully clear his name in the weeks ahead.

His mother, Altha Davis, told reporters that she always knew he was innocent because he was with her when the crime was allegedly committed – on Christmas Eve 1985. “It’s been long for me, so long,” she said. “I’m happy and so sad at the same time.” Watch a video interview with Sonnier’s mother here.

Sonnier will stay with Davis while he adjusts to his newfound freedom. He was joined in court today by family members, Innocence Project Staff Attorney Alba Morales, Social Worker Angela Amel and several people previously exonerated by DNA testing in Texas.

Sonnier’s case is the latest in a string of wrongful convictions caused in part by faulty forensic testing at the Houston Police Department Crime Lab. Although blood-type testing on important crime scene evidence conducted before trial didn’t match Sonnier’s type – and even suggested that he may be innocent – an analysts testified at his trial that he could still be the perpetrator, based on a conclusion not supported by the analyst’s own report.

Technorati Tags: wrongful conviction, ernest sonnier, innocence project, wrongfully convicted, exonerated, dna testing, crime, law, prison, rape

How Naples Deal with Ex-Cons

Street-cons on probation in Naples work as free tour-guides - Boing Boing

But what's most innovative is that they've also given 80 former convicts gigs offering tourists advice on staying safe in the city. The (mostly) men, clad in yellow vests, can now be found escorting tourists attempting to maneuver through dodgy neighborhoods, helping with heavy luggage, and offering suggestions to avoid becoming a target of a petty crime (you really shouldn't be wearing that flashy watch, now should you?). Their services are all free, and tipping is discouraged (let's not even talk about bribes).

Technorati Tags: naples, italy, x-con, probation, prison, crime, law

Prison Book: The Wrong Men

The Wrong Men: America's Epidemic of Wrongful Death Row Convictions by Stanley Cohen is an excellent look into the causes of wrongful convictions. Each of the major causes of wrongful convictions are outlined in their own chapters, with specific cases given as examples of innocent people convicted despite their innocence.

This was another one of the very first books I read related to prison. This is the book that opened my eyes to the wrongful conviction epidemic. I was already reeling from the realization that good people like my friend could be locked up, and this book made me realize that some of those incredible people were actually innocent and science could prove it. My entire worldview was flipped upside down. All I could think was, "Wait a sec, you mean prison isn't filled with bad guys?"

This book includes the stories of 102 wrongful convictions and focuses on those sentenced to death. It was released in 2003. There have been many more exonerated innocent people freed from death row since. In a country where 1000 executions have taken place since 1976, and 241 people have been exonerated with DNA evidence, this book is of the utmost importance and an absolute must read.

As Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center said, "Some day, the number of mistakes in death penalty cases will become intolerable. Thankfully, The Wrong Men brings that day closer."

To suggest a book to be featured on Genpop, please email me: vlu777@gmail.com

Click here for the archive of all prison books.

Technorati Tags: prison book, prison, book, wrongful conviction, death row, death penalty, capital punishment, stanley cohen, richard dieter, the wrong men, crime, law

Innocence Project Artists’ Committee

The Innocence Project

Following are the members of the Innocence Project Artists’ Committee:

* Joan Baez @Joancbaez
* Bob Balaban
* Paris Barclay
* Blue Man Group
* Amy Brenneman @Theamybrenneman
* James Bundy
* Stephen Colbert @stephencolbert
* Judy Collins @thejudycollins
* Zooey Deschanel @Zooeyde
* Dave Eggers @McSweenys
* Eve Ensler @vdayorg
* Nora Ephron
* Jules Feiffer and Jenny Allen
* James Gandolfini
* John Grisham @jgrishamonline
* Charles Grodin
* Taylor Hackford
* Dexter Holland
* Nia Long @nialong_
* Frances McDormand and Joel Coen
* Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky @DJSpooky
* Helen Mirren @HelenMirren
* Matthew Modine @matthewModine
* Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick
* Aidan Quinn
* Trent Reznor
* Susan Sarandon @susan_sarandon
* Taryn Simon
* John Singleton
* Morgan Spurlock @FindMorgan
* Debra Winger and Arliss Howard

Technorati Tags: innocence project, artists committee, wrongful convictions, innocence, prison, crime, law

Norfolk Four Receive Conditional Pardon

Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project » Blog Archive » BREAKING NEWS: Norfolk Four Receive Conditional Pardon

BREAKING NEWS: Norfolk Four Receive Conditional Pardon

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has announced that three of the four sailors known as the Norfolk Four have received a conditional pardon.

Technorati Tags: wrongful conviction, pardon, norfolk four, virginia, tim kaine, prison, law, crime

Innocent Man Freed by DNA in Connecticut

I wonder how many more it will take before everyone realizes the system is flawed.

“You can take the handcuffs off,” Judge Richard Damiani said. And with that, a man who has been in jail for 21 years — and was supposed to spend decades more behind bars — walked away a free man.

DNA set him free.

The dramatic release took place Wednesday morning in Connecticut Superior Court on Church Street.

Kenneth Ireland went to jail in 1988, at the age of 20, convicted of raping and killing a woman named Barbara Pelkey of Wallingford. The sentence: 50 years.

His case was taken up by the Connecticut Innocence Project, which uses DNA evidence from crimes to prove that people have been wrongfully accused. They did that in this case to buttress Ireland’s longstanding claim that someone else, not he, committed Pelkey’s rape and murder. The Project petitioned for a new trial, and the petition was granted.

Read More: New Haven Independent: DNA Frees Accused Killer, Rapist After 21 Years

Technorati Tags: wrongful conviction, connecticut, innocence project, innocence, wrongfully convicted, exonerated, dna testing, prison, crime, law, murder

Corrupt Judge Pleads Guilty

New Orleans-based Innocence Project attorneys overturned the wrongful conviction of Jackson resident Cedric Willis after Willis spent 12 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. DeLaughter, a former Hinds County prosecutor at the time of Willis' conviction, convinced Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Breland Hillburn to toss DNA evidence and witness testimony that would have proved Willis' innocence.

Read more: DeLaughter Pleads Guilty

Technorati Tags: innocence project, bobby delaughter, judge, corruption, law, crime, wrongful conviction, prison

John Waters on Leslie Van Houten

Very interesting first part of a 5 part series on Manson family member serving life for murder, Leslie Van Houten by filmmaker John Waters

In 1976, Leslie's original conviction was thrown out due to "ineffectual counsel" (her original lawyer drowned in the middle of her trial and was replaced) and she was given a new trial in 1977. This time, she was all by herself as a defendant in the courtroom. Remorse had started to creep in soon after she was imprisoned away from Manson. Locked away forever, Leslie, Susan, and Patricia were of no further use to Charlie and he dropped them quickly. The outsider voices of reason from the prison social workers started to seep in and Leslie began to see the holes in Manson's brainwashing. "When I'd be questioned," she later told author Karlene Faith for her very insightful and intelligent but little known book The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten, "I'd go blank and become frustrated like when a machine jams and just sits there making noise. In my head nothing was functioning. I was trying to understand, breaking down stiff little slogans that had been drilled into me." When two other "Manson girls", Mary Brunner and Catherine Shaw, a.k.a. "Gypsy", were sent to jail and placed with Leslie, Susan and Patricia, Leslie grew tired of listening to their Manson talk and confided to Patricia that "I've changed. I'm not into this." "It took three years to understand" and five or six years of therapy to "take responsibility" for the terrible crime she had helped commit.

Leslie finally had a good lawyer for her second trial. Taking the witness stand truthfully for the first time, she tried to explain her state of mind through the Manson madness and his control techniques. And the jury listened, too. After about twenty-five days of deliberation there was a hung jury; seven voted for guilty of first-degree murder, and five for manslaughter due to her cult domination and uncertain mental health at the time of the crime.

Refusing to offer a plea bargain, the prosecutor took her to trial for a third time in 1978 and added a felony robbery motive (clothes, a wallet and a few coins had been taken from the La Bianca home), a crime that now couldn't legally be excused by state of mind. But this time Leslie made bail and was released from prison. She found employment as a law clerk and lived in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles. She was free for six months and lived quietly, unnoticed by the press. When a few of her new neighbors found out who she really was, after they already thought they knew her, all were "supportive" and "protective" of her anonymity.

When Leslie's third trial finally began, she came to court every day on her own. Long gone was the shaved head, and the X on her forehead was covered by bangs. No more trippy little riot-on-Sunset-Strip, satin miniskirt outfits either, like the ones she and her female co-defendants wore to the first trial. This time she was dressed tastefully and looked lovely, something that obviously didn't sit well with Stephen Kay, the prosecutor who had inherited all the Manson-related cases from Vincent Bugliosi. "All dolled up", Mr. Kay cracked to the press, giving Leslie one of her first, but definitely not last, opinionated fashion reviews. When she was finally convicted of first-degree murder at the end of the trial, life imprisonment suddenly became very real.

Read more: John Waters: Leslie Van Houten: A Friendship, Part 1 of 5

Technorati Tags: leslie van houten, charles manson, manson family, sharon tate, tate murders, prison, crime, law, murder

Featured Prison: Halawa Correctional Facility, HI

Halawa Correctional Facility is a medium security and special needs prison in Hawaii. Maximum security inmates, closed custody inmates, inmates who need to be in protective custody, mentally ill inmates and other inmates that cannot be placed in the general population are housed in the special needs unit of Halawa Correctional Facility. The medium security unit is the newest in Hawaii.

In June, 2004 HCF started housing some of it's medium security male offenders in other states in an effort to slow down overcrowding, including Arizona, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

This prison was in the television series Lost, in episodes Live Together, Die Alone and Every Man for Himself.

Recently it was announced that the State of Hawaii would close Kulani Correctional Facility to save money. The inmates from that prison are to be relocated to HCF.

Halawa Correctional Facility — Department of Public Safety

Halawa Correctional Facility - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Halawa Correctional Facility: Lost Virtual Tour Hawaii - Filming Locations

Halawa Correctional Facility (HCF) - Prison Talk

Aleph Institute - Halawa Correctional Facility

State Will Close Big Island's Kulani Prison

To submit a little known fact about this or any other prison, or to suggest a prison for next week's featured prison, please email me at vlu777@gmail.com

Archive of all Featured Prisons on Genpop.org

Technorati Tags: halawa correctional facility, hcf, kulani correctional facility, hawaii, lost, prison, crime, law, inmate

Massive Prisoner Release in California?

U.S. judges on Tuesday told California to prepare to release more than 40,000 of its 150,000 inmates to reduce overcrowding in state prisons, which suffer from massive healthcare problems.

The cash-strapped state already plans to release ailing and short-term inmates for budget issues. That would clear up to 37,000 beds over two years, estimated California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Matthew Cate.

Read more: California told to prepare massive prisoner release | Reuters

Technorati Tags: california, state budget, prison, inmate, release, crime, law

The Affects of Wrongful Convictions on Crime Victims

Timothy Cole spent almost two decades in prison for a rape he did not commit. He died in prison and was later exonerated by DNA evidence. Michelle Mallin, the victim in the rape case, writes about how this affected her:

Later, I learned that I was the fifth victim of a serial rapist on campus. A man named Timothy Cole was convicted of raping me and sentenced to 25 years in prison. I was relieved that he had been apprehended, that he would pay for what he did to me, and that our criminal justice system had gotten him off the streets. But I also knew my life would never be the same again. I spent years in counseling and tried to move on with my life.

Then, last summer, I was forced to relive the entire nightmare — this time with the added tragedy of knowing that Timothy Cole had been innocent and died in prison before he could be exonerated. New DNA testing proved that another man, not Cole, raped me. I was stunned. And I was determined to get answers.

I put my faith in the criminal justice system, and it failed me. I am back in counseling to grapple with the renewed trauma of the rape and the knowledge that I played a role in Cole's wrongful conviction by identifying him as the man who attacked me.

She then goes on to talk about faulty forensics:

One of the most troubling things I've learned is that juries often hear evidence that is not as solid as it sounds.

In case after case, scientists testify that a hair from a crime scene is similar to the defendant's hair, or that markings on a bullet match a particular gun. These and other forms of forensic science can be persuasive to a jury, but nobody knows how accurate the science is (including the forensic analyst who conducted the tests).

Michelle also talks about the real rapist and how he spent the time he remained on the streets because the wrong man was serving time for his crimes:

One of the most troubling things I've learned is that juries often hear evidence that is not as solid as it sounds.

In case after case, scientists testify that a hair from a crime scene is similar to the defendant's hair, or that markings on a bullet match a particular gun. These and other forms of forensic science can be persuasive to a jury, but nobody knows how accurate the science is (including the forensic analyst who conducted the tests).

Read More: Forensic science institute could spare future victims

Yet another case where wrongful convictions, prosecutorial misconduct and false eyewitness identification caused two other human beings, one a teenaged girl, to become victims of violent crimes.

Technorati Tags: wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, innocence, exonerated, dna evidence, forensics, timothy cole, michelle mallin, crime, law, rape, prison

Amnesty on The Death Penalty

Technorati Tags: death penalty, capital punishment, execution, abolition, amnesty international, colin firth