Father’s Day

Ileejah Hutchinson — June 14, 2013 @ 1:06 PM — Comments (1)

As the son of a single mother, Father’s Day is different for me. It is also different for the children of the wrongfully imprisoned. Like most Father’s Days I will be presenting my mom with a card that reads “Happy Father’s Day,” and a bouquet of flowers that express the love and appreciation I have for her. It, however, is not for the reasons you may think. My father passed away when I was one year old and my mother raised me to be the man that I am today.

A situation like mine has no one to blame because the circumstances leading up to my father’s death were completely out of human control.  But what about the children whose lives are impacted every day by the yearning for a father who has been imprisoned for a crime he did not commit?

This Sunday as we wake and celebrate Father’s Day with elaborate gifts, great food, and the men who have been father figures in our lives, take a moment to reflect on the countless children who will not being able to wish their daddy a happy Father’s Day or the men whose chance to have children of their own was stolen.

Think of men like William Dillon, a man who spent 27.5 years in prison before his exoneration, who had the opportunity to start a family of his own ripped away from him due to a eyewitness misidentification and jailhouse snitch among other things. This Father’s Day, think of men like Luis Diaz, who while serving a life sentenced missed the chance to create memories with his three children for 26 long years. This Father’s Day we should think of the innocent men serving time for crimes they did not commit, but we should also think of the innocent children who are missing out at a chance to wish their dad a Happy Father’s Day.

 

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Post Exoneration: The Rarity of Success after Freedom

Ileejah Hutchinson — June 13, 2013 @ 11:53 AM — Comments (1)

In the U.S., more than 1,000 people have been exonerated for crimes they did not commit, 308 of those have been through postconviction DNA testing. These individuals, who on average spent 13.6 years in prison, are released into a society after their exoneration. Some find success in the ever changing world we live in, but many can not shake the demons linked to the wrongful conviction.

Not all DNA exonerees are as lucky as Jeffrey Deskovic, a New York man who spent 16 years in prison for rape and murder, who is now celebrating a turning-point in his life after returning to school and acquiring a master’s degree in criminal justice.

Deskovic says that despite nonexistent DNA evidence linking him to the murder, the police got him to confess after a seven-and-a-half-hour interrogation with no attorney present, his parents unaware of his whereabouts and no food. Deskovic, who was 16 at the time, maintained his innocence after his conviction and fought for his freedom with the help of the Innocence Project. Deskovic was released in 2006 and used a portion of his $8 million settlement to establish the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice.

Exoneration and wrongful conviction stories are heavily publicized in the news, but not many cover the success and hardships of said individuals after their exoneration and after the cameras have stopped rolling and the buzz of the latest story has died down. Brian Banks, a man who was convicted of rape at age 16, and spent five years in prison and five years on probation before being exonerated, is getting a second chance at his dream of being an NFL professional football player. His story will forever be immortalized throughout the Innocence Network and throughout the world.

With the help of the California Innocence Project, Banks, whose accuser admitted on tape countless times that she fabricated the rape allegation against Banks, was able to get his conviction overturned and now will get a chance to win a coveted roster spot and maybe even a starting nod as linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons.

But graduate degrees and NFL dreams come true are a rarity when discussing victims of wrongful conviction and incarceration, and many are incapable of getting a house, a car and even a job years after their release.

Virginia LeFever, an Ohio women who was convicted of killing her husband in 1990, found it easier to re-enroll in college than it was for her to obtain a job. One would think that since LeFever was exonerated and her record was sealed  that it would be quite easy for her to acquire a proper job seeing as she was qualified, but that was not the case.

LeFever suffered great difficulty trying to find work due to her criminal record showing up every time a potential employer performed a background check. She also had to overcome difficulties getting her nursing license fully reinstated, but now that she has her degree and license she hopes to find a decent job that will provide her financial security. Like most wrongfully convicted exonerees the wait has been a long one.

One would hope that after exoneration the lives of these victims would return to normal. However, a study performed by the Life After Exoneration Program found that:

  • Half of exonerees are living with family
  • 2 in 3 are not financially independent
  • 1 in 3 lose custody of their children
  • 1 out of 4 suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

All formerly incarcerated people face similar barriers. Most of the world treats exonerees like anyone else with a criminal record:

  • Both groups are chronically underemployed.
  • Both groups have difficulty accessing routine government services.
  • Both groups are routinely denied the right to vote, live in public housing, get food stamps, or access college loans.

After being wrongfully convicted, and for some spending over a decade in prison, exonerees are looking for compensation as they rightfully should. However, statutes providing compensation for these innocent people are only in place in 27 states, including Washington D.C. and the majority of the these laws undercompensate for the trauma endured by the exoneree.

Roughly about one-third of the people exonerated after proving their innocence have not been compensated. In the states where there are no compensation laws, individuals must file civil lawsuits or wait for the legislature to consider a private bill on their behalf. After completing one strenuous court battle, exonerees are forced into another as they try and obtain the funding necessary to re-establish themselves in society.

Florida exoneree, William Dillon, who spent 27.5 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, is one of the few Florida exonerees who has been compensated.  In early 2012, Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill that paid Dillon $1.35 million, while also providing him a public apology on behalf of the State of Florida, finally shutting the door on a case that has been going on for more than 30 years.

Unlike LeFever and countless others, Dillon has been blessed and has managed to forge a successful music career for himself after being exonerated. He has managed to turn his horrific story into heart wrenching songs about the struggles of his wrongful conviction. He also serves on the board of directors for the Innocence Project of Florida. He is truly one of the lucky ones.

Now that we are cognizant of the great success of a few exonerees, we must also keep the innocents who are struggling to stay afloat in our thoughts. Now that the truth about post exoneration struggles is apparent and the rose-colored glasses are off, we must do our part to ensure that innocent people who were wrongfully convicted are set free, compensated for their time spent in prison, and given the proper chance to secure a steady financial future.

 

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The Too-High Cost of Wrongful Convictions

Anna Fitzpatrick — June 12, 2013 @ 9:14 AM — Comments (3)

About once a year, Florida makes national headlines for righting a wrongful conviction. In recent years alone, more than a dozen men have been exonerated, most serving decades behind bars for crimes they didn’t commit. Florida also leads America in the number of people sentenced to death, only to later be exonerated – 24 people in the past three decades.

Florida may not be a leader in many things, but we are when it comes to stealing lives. We must do better; we must reform our systems.

There is a cost to reformation, but the cost of wrongful conviction is much, much higher. Millions of dollars are spent on holding and caring for innocent inmates, as well as the restitution paid once innocence is proved. There is the mental anguish the wrongfully incarcerated suffer, not to mention that their earnings and social interactions will forever be impaired – it almost like being thrown into a time warp. Scarier still is the fact that wrongful convictions mean the true criminal remains at large.

As Circuit Judge Belvin Perry says, “the consequence of inaction is injustice.” Perry chaired the Florida Innocence Commission, which spent two years studying the issue. The group of experts made concrete suggestions for improving justice:

  • Record suspect interviews so there is no question about technique used to solicit confessions.
  • Get neutral parties to conduct photographic lineups to avoid investigators encouraging witnesses to choose certain suspect, subconsciously or otherwise.
  • Implement stronger guidelines for relying on jailhouse snitches.

The reasons for fixing this are obvious and plentiful, yet politicians have dragged their feet. The wrongfully convicted, you see, are not a powerful lobby. They don’t cut campaign checks, and their stories rarely win votes. But this issue is important, both financially and morally. Encourage your legislator to follow the recommendations of the Innocence Commission.

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Jerry Lee Jenkins Exonerated in Maryland

Anna Fitzpatrick — @ 9:11 AM — Comments (1)

After serving more than ten years in prison and spending time on the sex offender registry, the Charles County Circuit Court vacated Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP) client Jerry Lee Jenkins of his 1986 rape conviction and dismissed all charges against him! DNA testing both proved he was innocent of the crime and that another man, Norman Bruce Derr, was the real perpetrator.

Jenkins was convicted despite the victim testifying at trial that he only looked like her attacker and that she could not be positive that it was him. Furthermore, he had been excluded as the perpetrator of an eerily similar 1984 rape that both the Charles County Police and FBI believed to have been committed by the same person as the 1986 rape.

DNA testing being in its infancy at the time of the trial, the testing done at that time was unable to obtain a result. When Jenkins requested a re-test in the mid-1990′s, he was told the evidence did not exist – something he would continue to be told for the next fifteen years.

In 2006, he learned that Derr had been convicted of the 1984 rape based on a DNA cold hit. It was then that Jenkins wrote to the MAIP, which took him on as a non-DNA case. In 2010, before filing a non-DNA innocence claim based on the Derr evidence, MAIP attempted one last search for DNA evidence. Miraculously, Charles County police were able to locate a box of physical evidence containing a hair. Subsequent testing confirmed the semen in the 1986 case belonged to Derr.

Jenkins had been previously released from prison, but he’s elated to be off the sex offender registry and have the stigma of the rape removed from his record.

Congratulations to Mr. Jenkins, the MAIP, and everyone involved in the case!

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All 50 States Now Provide Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing

Anna Fitzpatrick — June 7, 2013 @ 11:00 AM — Comments (0)

On May 24th, Oklahoma became the 50th and final state to pass a post-conviction DNA testing law. 307 people who were wrongfully convicted of crimes have been exonerated by DNA evidence in the United States since DNA testing first became available as a forensic tool in 1989.

Laws like the one passed in Oklahoma give many wrongfully convicted individuals the opportunity to gain access to DNA testing. Without such laws, innocent prisoners do not have a statutory right to testing and are required to rely on judges and prosecutors to grant access to DNA testing. Larry Peterson is one example of the harm done without these laws – Peterson spent sixteen years in prison in New Jersey, struggling to have evidence tested until a DNA testing law was passed in his state.

Oklahoma’s testing law is one of the most comprehensive in the nation, but some laws in other states have limitations which can be significant; several states specifically exclude those who pled guilty or confessed, even though more than a third of the 307 people exonerated by DNA testing either falsely confessed or pled guilty.

Check out this DNA testing law infographic put together by the Innocence Project in New York, as well as what the DNA testing law is in your state.

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Supreme Court Opens Exceptions to Harsh Deadlines

Anna Fitzpatrick — June 5, 2013 @ 10:13 AM — Comments (1)

Last week the Supreme Court ruled on two cases of defendants fighting for the chance to present evidence that could call into question their convictions, even though they have both missed deadlines to make their claims.

Under the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, defendants are required to ask the courts to review their case within a year of discovering new evidence. One defendant, Floyd Perkins, failed to file for a federal court review until nearly eight years after three new witnesses provided testimony that incriminated an acquaintance of his; the other defendant, Carlos Trevino, claims his lawyer failed to represent him adequately during trial – a failure that may mean the difference between life and death. While the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit held that Trevino missed his opportunity to make this claim during his appeal, his new lawyer has argued that the new evidence should be reviewed by courts since his trial attorney failed to investigate thoroughly.

The Supreme Court ruled, 5-4 in both cases, to widen what it called the “gateway” to reviewing claims actual innocence that are made after the one-year deadline, though that claim of innocence must meet high standards for the gateway to open. It also allowed for new claims to be raised in federal reviews that were unable to be made during the state appeals process.

While these rulings are a victory for protecting the innocent, they do raise questions about the necessity and validity of these deadlines. No rational person would believe that someone innocent should be locked up, or even sent to their death, because the courts made a rash ruling or ignored new evidence that was submitted “too late.” Although in 2009, Justice Scalia wrote that

“this court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is ‘actually’ innocent.”

These chilling words point perhaps to too strong of faith in a flawed justice system wrought with corruption and misconduct. Allowing a “gateway” past the deadline is not an attempt to create opportunities for the guilty to squirm through the fingers of justice, but rather a much needed path to redemption for the wrongly imprisoned.

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One Year of the National Registry of Exonerations

Anna Fitzpatrick — May 29, 2013 @ 9:49 AM — Comments (0)

This month the National Registry of Exonerations celebrates its first anniversary, having launched the site on May 21, 2012. At the time, the site listed 891 exonerations. Since then, they’ve added 232 more cases to their database. The Registry is a joint project between the University of Michigan Law School and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law and is the only comprehensive database containing all known exonerations since 1989.

Compiling all exoneration cases in one place has allowed the students and staff of these organizations not only to organize exonerations by geography and contributing factors but also to conduct studies intended to identify patterns within wrongful conviction cases and to seek reforms to eliminate these patterns. Their first study, which covered post-conviction witness recantations, can be found on their site and is the first systematic study of recantations ever conducted.

Congratulations to everyone at the registry and to those who worked tirelessly conducted the recantation study. Keep up the hard work!

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The Deep Roots of Prosecutorial Misconduct

Anna Fitzpatrick — May 24, 2013 @ 2:17 PM — Comments (0)

Fifty years ago, in the landmark Brady v. Maryland case, the U.S. Supreme Court established a fundamental principle about the duty of prosecutors – to seek justice fairly, not merely win convictions by any means. This meant that due process required prosecutors to disclose any exculpatory evidence that was likely to affect a conviction or sentence. Known as the Brady Rule, the case was meant to lead to more transparency and equity in criminal proceedings; however, its power has been restricted by subsequent rulings of the court and severely weakened by a near complete lack of punishment for prosecutors who skirt around the rule.

It is impossible to know how often prosecutors violate Brady since this type of misconduct, by definition, involves concealment. But there is good reason to believe that violations are widespread. The National Registry of Exonerations has compiled detailed data for about 1,100 exonerations for the period 1989-2012. Of those cases, a whopping 42% were caused by what has been deemed “official misconduct.” Allowing for a 50-50 split between police and prosecutorial misconduct, the number still hovers around 21%, and when one considers that prosecutors are meant to seek justice rather than convictions, that is a rather alarming rate. The court has long agreed that individual prosecutors should be protected from civil liability so that they may freely pursue criminals; unfortunately, that allows for almost complete unaccountability for wrong-doings in judicial proceedings.

Recently the “Michael Morton Act” was passed in Texas, a law meant to decrease the amount of wrongful convictions within the state. The bill’s namesake spent 25 years in prison for the murder of his wife before DNA evidence finally exonerated him in 2011. The prosecutor in his case has been accused of deliberately withholding a substantial amount of evidence that would have led to an acquittal, including an account from the defendants three-year-old son who witnessed the murder and explained that “Daddy wasn’t home” at the time, neighbor testimonials who saw a man park a green van outside the house the morning of the murder, and a police officer in San Antonio who stated he could identify a woman who had used the victim’s stolen Visa card in a jewelry store – all of which were withheld from the defense.

The case of John Thompson represents another example of atrocious prosecutorial misconduct and the Supreme Court’s refusal to hold the prosecutor accountable. Mr. Thompson spent 14 years on death row before he was exonerated following the discovery that lawyers in the New Orleans district attorney’s office had kept more than a dozen pieces of evidence secret, even destroying some. Yet the Supreme Court overturned a $14 million jury award to Mr. Thompson, ruling that the prosecutor’s office had not shown a pattern of “deliberate indifference” to constitutional rights.

One root of the epidemic of misconduct may stem from prosecutors positions as pseudo-politicians. The position of “prosecutor” is imbedded with an incredible level of power, and as Lord Acton wrote 126 years ago, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Not only do prosecutors have power, but they are essentially free from accountability. The outrageous breaches of due process discussed here are merely illustrative of a deep-rooted indifference towards the assurance of justice.

But what can be done? One example of a better approach that has been adopted in North Carolina and now Ohio is to adopt an open-files reform to make criminal cases more efficient and fair. The state statute require prosecutors in felony cases, before trial, to make available to the defense “the complete files of all law enforcement agencies, investigatory agencies and prosecutors’ offices involved in the investigation of the crimes committed or the prosecution of the defendant.” The Justice Department insists that is has solved the problem by tightening requirements for disclosure, but numerous misconduct scandals show that is not sufficient. The best way to fulfill the promise of Brady is with open-files reform, which addresses the need for full disclosure of evidence that could show a defendant’s innocence.

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Memorial Day

Ileejah Hutchinson — @ 2:09 PM — Comments (0)

Memorial Day – the final Monday in May – provides the opportunity for everyone to remember the men and women who have died in the United States Armed Forces. This year IPF asks that while we remember this nation’s great heroes, who have fought extremely hard to preserve the freedoms of this country, that we allow ourselves adequate time to reflect on the individuals who have lost their lives in the state corrections system due to wrongful convictions.

Florida Death Row inmate, Frank Lee Smith, who was sentenced to death in 1986, spent 14 years in prison due to an eyewitness misidentification and ultimately died of cancer before his exoneration in December 2000. This man deserves our thoughts during this time of remembrance. Smith, who suffered from mental illness, spent most of his life in poverty, dealt with abandonment, neglect, abuse and ultimately wrongful incarceration before his passing on January 30, 2000.

This Memorial Day we encourage you to celebrate the lives of the brave soldiers who have fought for our nation, and make it possible for us to live our lives as freely and as selfishly as we desire, and also take the time to remember men like Smith, whose life was stolen because of a death sentence for a crime he did not commit.

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Court Orders Review of 50+ Brooklyn Murder Cases

Anna Fitzpatrick — May 23, 2013 @ 9:55 AM — Comments (0)

Often times, wrongful convictions stem from shady police and detective practices, such as contaminated confessions and false eyewitness identification. Such practices are difficult to reform, especially when the public turns a blind eye to such corruptions.

These issues have reached a boil for acclaimed New York City homicide detective Louis Scarcella, an officer who handled some of Brooklyn’s most notorious crimes during the 1980s and 90s. Following the New York Times’ discovery of disturbing patterns in about a dozen of his cases, the Brooklyn district attorney’s office has ordered a review of more than 50 murder cases assigned to Scarcella, an acknowledgment of mounting questions about the officer’s tactics and the legitimacy of the convictions.

One particularly alarming pattern is the use of a single eyewitness, Ms. Teresa Gomez, a drug addict born in Trinidad, for several separate murders. In the late 1980s Ms. Gomez testified that she saw drug dealer Robert Hill commit two separate murders. Both times, she was the only eyewitness. Despite admitting outright that she lied during the first trial, Mr. Hill was still convicted. Ms. Gomez resurfaced for the trial of Mr. Hill’s stepbrothers, Darryl Austin and Alvena Jennette, a trial that also ended in conviction. According to Scarcella, she has testified in at least six cases and he has nothing but praise for her.

Scarcella may also have engaged in questionable tactics to elicit information from witnesses or suspects, or even completely fabricate testimonies. This was the case with Shabaka Shakur, who was convicted based on an incriminating statement Scarcella claims to have obtained during his interrogation, although the underlying interrogation notes were missing. Witnesses and suspects alike have come forward to claim that they were threatened and coerced into testifying how Scarcella coached them.

The incongruities in his cases shed a light on gaping flaws in the criminal justice system. The fact the the cases are under review suggests a much-needed move towards reformation. Improving fairness and accuracy in the criminal justice system benefits all segments of society. Victims and their families can see justice; prosecutors and police can have the tools to do their jobs well; the public can have more confidence in the system; and innocent people and their families can avoid the tragedy of wrongful convictions.

Read the full article here.

 

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