Archive for March, 2010


Innocence Commission – The Ball is in the Florida Supreme’s Court

Seth — March 31, 2010 @ 8:50 AM — Comments (1)

We have had some new news on the Florida Actual Innocence Commission front.  We had previously discussed this idea on Plain Error a few months back here and here.  The Innocence Commission got some mixed news last week.

On March 22, 2009,  Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Peggy Quince sent Senator Mike Haridopolos, the next Senate President, a letter stating:

The court is very much interested in looking at the cases of actual innocence and is considering the establishment of a commission or task force to study this issue and to make recommendations.  We are most appreciative of your interest in and support of this effort, and hope that we can additionally count on the support of the Legislature during this session.

Justice Quince noted that the budget for the Gender Bias Study Commission over a three year period was $321,589, peaking at about $146,000 in fiscal year 1988. The Racial and Ethnic Bias Study Commission had a $378,350 budget over five years, with the highest yearly appropriation at $278,350 in fiscal year 1991.  Of course, Justiece Quince noted, that these figures needed to be adjusted for the passage of time.  This was a very positive letter.

In response to Sandy D’Alemberte’s petition to the Florida Supreme Court to create the Commission by rule, Chief Justice Quince sent Mr. D’Alemberte a separate letter stating that they were denying our petition to create the commission, BUT:

The Court, however, is very much interested in looking at the cases of actual innocence, and is considering the establishment of a commission or task force by Administrative Order,” she wrote. “As we explore the best avenue to make inquiries on this subject, we welcome any input you or your colleagues may have concerning funding sources, etc.

Since the letters, both the Daytona Beach News Journal and Jesse Diner, President of the Florida Bar have made impassioned pleas for the Supreme Court to create this Commission.

So it seems that either the court was blowing smoke or they are completely serious about  implementing the Innocence Commission if they can just find the money in these tough economic times.

Well, as of this morning, we are likely going to find out the Court’s real intentions.  Florida Today is reporting that Senator Mike Haridopolos is seeking to include $200,000 in THIS YEAR’s budget for the establishment of the Innocence Commission.  That funding, as well as his pledge of staff support, should be enough to get this thing off the ground:

“This is really a two-way street,” Haridopolos said. “It will protect accused people who are innocent of crimes, but also give people the confidence to know that the people in prison are guilty.”

Politics is a funny business.  I think it would be fair to say that Senator Haridopolos and I would agree on little in terms of the big public policy issues of the day.  But he has been one of the strongest leaders on innocence issues in his time in the Senate, beginning with his sponsoring of the Dedge compensation bill, continuing with the sponsorship of the Dillon claims bill, and now his pursuit of an Innocence Commission.

Let’s give credit where it is due.  If you get a chance, drop the good Senator a line and thank him for his leadership and commitment to this issue:

District Office:        (321) 752-3131
Tallahassee Office:  (850) 487-5056
haridopolos.mike.web@flsenate.gov

Innocence Project of Florida, Uncategorized, policy, , , , , , , , , ,


Caravella Follow-Up

Seth — March 30, 2010 @ 3:50 PM — Comments (0)

Paula MacMahon of the Sun Sentinel has a good follow-up story that touches on Anthony Caravella’s options for redress and some of the misconduct in hsi case.  Anthony was exonerated of a 1982 rape/murder last week after the state’s own DNA testing confirmed exonerative DNA results release in September 2009.

On getting redress for his wrongful conviction and incarceration, the article states:

Caravella has three options but none of them guarantee he will receive any money. He could file a civil suit against law enforcement or he could ask the state Legislature to give him restitution. Or he may qualify, under the state’s Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act, for $50,000 per year that he was locked up – about $1.3 million.Caravella’s public defender, Diane Cuddihy said her client should be compensated for what happened to him. “He went in as a child and he came out as a 41-year-old man; I think society owes him a great deal,” Cuddihy said.

Dianne is obviously right.  Anthony had his life stolen from him at sucha  young age.  he deserves fair redress.  As the article points out, though, there are several options, none of them are guaranteed and they all have different risks.

If Anthony wants to go through the Wrongful Incarceration Compensation law, he would have to elect to do so within the very short time period of 90 days from his exoneration.  It is not even clear that he would be eligible under the law.  But if he is, considering the State agreed to his exoneration, he would likely prevail and get roughly $1.3 million, which is $50,000 per year of wrongful incarceration.

If he doesn’t qualify, he could get a legislator from both houses of the Florida Legislature to file a claims bill by August 1, 2010 for consideration in the 2011 legislative session.  he would probably be limited to the same amount as he could receive under the compensation statute and passage would clearly depend  financial and political climate that exists at the time of consideration.

A lawsuit may be a real option in this case, especially considering some of the clear misconduct:

The problems include the alleged mishandling of the case by Miramar police officers, now retired, and the key role played by a former Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Fantigrassi, who was involved in other cases that resulted in exonerations, according to court records.

Fantigrassi testified that Caravella made his first self-incriminating statement during an unrecorded interview when the two were alone. The interview was the second of five statements Caravella gave. The other four were taped by Miramar police detectives and include several inconsistencies between what Caravella said and what the physical evidence showed.

Fantigrassi also was a key player in (Jerry Frank) Townsend’s conviction in the 1970s. He testified that Townsend led detectives to the murder scenes and provided details that only the killer would know. DNA later proved that another man committed those crimes.

A federal judge ruled that Fantigrassi’s testimony and theories were “implausible” in 2002 when he testified to try to uphold Tim Brown’s conviction for the 1990 murder of Deputy Patrick Behan. The judge ruled, on several grounds, that Brown was “actually innocent” of the crime and threw out the conviction.

Fantigrassi, who retired as a major in 2005 during the faked crime statistics scandal at the Sheriff’s Office, did not respond to messages left at his business Friday.

Cuddihy said she is “very concerned about what went on in that interview room between a 15-year-old mentally challenged child [Caravella] and Fantigrassi.”

Townsend, a mentally challenged man who spent 22 years in prison for several murders before DNA exonerated him,  won $4.2 million in settlements from the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the city of Miami for Fantigrassi and others using Townsend to close unsolved murder cases.

The prosecutor and cops in Caravella’s case had a pattern of helping to wrongfully convict innocent individuals.  Hopefully, someone (an Innocence Commission maybe) willfully uncover this pattern and hold these folks responsible.

exoneration, , , , , , , , ,


IPF’s New Promotional Video

Seth — March 26, 2010 @ 3:16 PM — Comments (1)

Over the next weeks and months, there will be some changes to our website.  We plan to roll out our new logo.  In anticipation of that, we wanted to give you all a “first-look” at our awesome, new logo in our new promotional video, entitled “Unlock the Truth”.  Enjoy!

If you like it, please share it with your friends, families and colleagues. You can also help our efforts by donating to our case by clicking here.  Thank you to Gary Yordan at Governance, Inc. for making this a reality.

Innocence Project of Florida, Uncategorized, , , , , , ,


26 Years Taken Away, But A Whole Life Ahead

Seth — March 25, 2010 @ 2:39 PM — Comments (0)
Anthony caravella Hugging his Lawyer Dianne Cuddihy after being Officially Exonerated on March 25, 2010

Anthony caravella Hugging his Lawyer Dianne Cuddihy after being Officially Exonerated on March 25, 2010

Wrongful conviction vacated; charges dropped; Anthony Caravella’s nightmare officially over; the first day of the rest of his life:

A judge apologized to Anthony Caravella in court Thursday morning and threw out his conviction for rape and murder and the life sentence imposed for those crimes.

Caravella, 41, served more than half his life in prison before being exonerated by DNA testing.

“May I take this opportunity to apologize to you on behalf of the state of Florida,” Broward Circuit Judge Thomas Lynch told Caravella as he tossed out the conviction.

The courtroom burst into spontaneous applause.

‘I wish you luck,” the judge told him.

exoneration, , , , , , ,


Anthony Caravella Officially Exonerated!!!!

Seth — March 25, 2010 @ 9:18 AM — Comments (1)

Anthony caravella Walking out of Court in September 2009 (on right)

Anthony caravella Walking out of Court in September 2009 (on right)

Broward prosecutors will step into court this morning with Anthony Caravella and his lawyer Dianne Cuddihy to ask that Caravella’s conviction and life sentence be thrown out (with video):

Final DNA results released Wednesday completely exonerate a Broward County man who served 26 years in prison — more than half his life — for a rape and murder, his defense attorney said. Broward prosecutors will ask a judge Thursday to throw out his conviction and life sentence, freeing him of restrictions imposed since he was temporarily released from prison on Sept. 10.

“I never had any doubt that Anthony was innocent,” said Diane Cuddihy, the public defender who worked for nine years to free him. “The shocking thing is that an innocent man can be convicted like this.”
. . .

“It’s over,” Caravella told the Sun Sentinel in a phone call minutes after he learned of the DNA results. “I’m OK now.”

Anthony was convicted for the 1983rape and murder of a 58 year-old-woman in Miramar, FL.  Anthony had an IQ of 67 and was prone to falsely confessing to crimes he didn’t commit (he had been used by law enforcement to close unsolved burglary cases).  this time they chose to use him to close this murder case.  He gave several inconsistent statements that were treated as confessions and used against him in court even though there was no physical evidence to connect him to the crime.  He was convicted and received a life sentence after the prosecutor, Robert Carney, sought the death penalty.

In 2001, Dianne Cuddihy from the Broward Public Defender took on his case and got him DNA testing at the Broward Seriff’s office wlab which did not achieve a result.  New DNA testing in 2009 at a Forensic Science Associates, a private laboratory in Richmond, California obtained the result that showed semen and sperm left on the victim during the rape/murder on the victim was not from Caravella.

Prosecutors released Anthony conditionally in September 2009 pending their own confirmatory testing.  That testing was finished yesterday and confirmed that Anthony is actually innocent and spent 26 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

You can read more on Anthony’s case by clicking here.

Just so there is no confusion, IPF played the most minor of roles in this case (assisting Caravella’s attorney with some issues surrounding the DNA testing and assisting with some pleadings).  IPF wishes to congratulate Anthony and his family, and his attorney,  Dianne Cuddihy who has been fighting to achieve this moment for Anthony for the last 9 years.

IPF has been assisting Anthony Caravella to transition well into free society since he was released in September 2009.  If you would like to contribute to our Emergency Exoneree Fund, which helps Anthony and other exonerees who have not yet been compensated, you can kindly do so by clicking here.

exoneration, , , , , , ,


U.S. Supreme Court Delays Execution

Scott — March 25, 2010 @ 12:47 AM — Comments (0)

Early Wednesday evening, the United Stated Supreme Court issued an order delaying the execution of Henry W. Skinner, a death row inmate in Texas pending a decision on Skinner’s Petition for Certiorari. The execution will be delayed at least until the Court decides his Petition stemming from his pursuit of a federal civil rights claim which asserts he was denied a chance to obtain DNA testing of evidence to prove his innocence of a triple murder for which he was convicted more than 16 years ago. His execution was originally scheduled for Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. EST.

According to the website SCOTUSblog:

Skinner is seeking to raise an issue that the Justices had agreed to review last Term in District Attorney’s Office v. Osborne (08-6).  The Court decided the Osborne case on June 18, but left unresolved that specific issue.  The question is whether a state inmate seeking access to and testing of DNA evidence may pursue that claim under civil rights law (Section 1983), rather than in a federal habeas challenge.  Skinner’s lawyers contend that he has tried unsuccessfully to use Texas state procedures for DNA testing, so his only remaining chance to get it is through a civil rights claim.

Read the full story and find the link to the Court’s order HERE.

Constitution, judicial, , ,


Florida Agency Expands Subjective ID Methods

Seth — March 15, 2010 @ 9:32 AM — Comments (0)

Last week, we saw an article in the Daytona Beach News Journal that exemplifies the problem with how the method of identifying owners of fingerprints is described to the public by law enforcement.  For example:

A new, $7.4 million computer system has the software capability of storing and examining palm prints and larger areas of the finger lifted from crime scenes. In addition, the new program — called the Biometric Identification System — for the first time is able to retain suspects’ mug shots, as well as images of a crook’s tattoos and other identifying marks, said Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime analyst Stacy Colton-Clark.

. . .

Crime analysts have a “hit” when the finger or palm print of an unidentified suspect matches with prints already stored in the computer system. Anytime an individual is arrested, his or her fingerprints — and now their palm prints — are taken by the arresting agency. Those prints are stored in the state’s Automated Fingerprint Identification System, commonly known as AFIS.

First, the reporter over simplifies the process by which fingerprints in the database are matched to suspects.  A fingerprint is never a “match” per se.  Rather, when an unknown print is entered into AFIS or this new system, it may produce a “hit” which means that the computer think there are enough consistencies between the unknown print and the hit.  However, that isn’t the end of the story.  Then a fingerprint analyst at the law enforcement agency will then have to do a side-by-side comparison and subjectively determine whether the prints are consistent enough with each other to verify the hit.

So there is a not a computer-driven scientific certainty involved here.  In fact, this method is burdened by the same subjective (and often unreliable) methods as other forensic “matching” methods.

The article also judges the dividends of spending $7.4 million on this program by how many more hits are achieved but does not investigate whether those hits were accurate or the reliability of the method.

See this is the problem with fingerprints (and many other individualizing forensic assays)–they are based on a number of assumptions:

1) that every person has a unique fingerprint design (which has never been studied or proven);

2) that mere experience at performing subjective fingerprint comparisons guarantees reliability (it doesn’t–proficiency testing has demonstrated that when the same comparison was performed by multiple analysts, different results were achieved and that the error rate in some cases has been as high as 50%);

3) there is no bias involved (this obviously isn’t true–the comparisons are being performed by a law enforcement agency whose job it is to get a “match,” and by an analyst who knows that the known print they are comparing to just was spit out as a “hit” by a computer system.  There is no way this is an unbiased process).

It can’t be that we judge the success of any forensic method on how many “hits” we get or whether the person is eventually convicted because that is a self-fulfilling prophesy.

I would submit that instead of spending many millions of dollars expanding the system in place, that money would be better spent, as the National Academy of Sciences Report suggests doing, on coming up with a new method of examining prints that diminishes human observer bias and increases reliability.

Science, policy, , , , ,

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