Author Archives: Nancy Petro

Innocence Network Conference Convenes in Charlotte, North Carolina

Posted on April 18, 2013 | 2 comments
More than 500 attendees from around the world, including at least 100 exonerees, are arriving in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the 2013 annual Innocence Network Conference, which will begin Friday, April 19, at 7:00 a.m. EST with opening remarks at 8:00 a.m. from Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck, co-founders of the Innocence Project, a model that has been emulated throughout the United States and internationally.  The sell-out conference will conclude at 5:00 pm on Saturday, April 20. Exonerees will gather at a preliminary reception Thursday evening. Continue reading →

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Posted in Reforming/Improving the system, Scholarship, Victims and victim issues

Texas Legislature is Addressing Wrongful Conviction

Posted on April 13, 2013 | 7 comments

An opinion (here) in The Stateman (Austin) yesterday commended the Texas legislature for pending legislation aimed at reducing wrongful conviction. After some challenge by district attorneys and a resulting amendment that protects witnesses and victims, the Texas Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 1611, known as the Michael Morton bill, which would create a uniform “open file” policy in the state, thus requiring the prosecution to share all files with defense attorneys.

According to the opinion piece, the Senate has also passed a bill “that would give exonerated Texans four years from the date of their release from prison to Continue reading →

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Posted in Editorials/Opinion, Prosecutorial conduct (good and bad), Reforming/Improving the system

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Settlement Costs from Wrongful Convictions: $250+ Million and Climbing in Illinois

Posted on April 9, 2013 | 5 comments

In 2011 the Better Government Association in Illinois reported that wrongful convictions had cost taxpayers $214 million in settlements. An update (here) indicates that, since the 2011 investigation—which was done with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law—government agencies have agreed to pay another nearly $39 million to settle lawsuits resulting from persons wrongfully convicted, primarily of murder and other serious felonies.  And according to an ABC7 report (here), at least ten cases are currently pending in Illinois courts, which could soon move the cost of wrongful convictions to $300 million or more in the state of Illinois alone.

Of course, the settlement costs do not include the cost of incarcerating 85 innocent people for a total of 926 years since 1989, nor the human costs of wrongful incarceration, nor the costs of crimes committed by the real perpetrators who escaped apprehension while innocent persons languished in prison. Continue reading →

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Posted in Compensation/Exoneree compensation, Editorials/Opinion, False confessions, Police conduct (good and bad), Reforming/Improving the system

Four Years After Report Decrying Forensic Sciences, a Sign of Progress

Posted on April 5, 2013 | 4 comments

Chemical & Engineering News has published an update of forensic science reform efforts entitled, “First Steps Toward Forensics Reform – New forensics commission to recommend guidelines, design policies.” The article provides a history of efforts taken thus far in response to the 2009 report by the National Research Council, which alerted the nation to many shortcomings in the reliability of the forensic sciences and their use in the courtroom.

According to the article (here) by Andrea Widener:

“Four years after the NRC report was released—and nearly as long as the White House has been studying it—the federal government has taken its first official steps to address the problem. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) have joined forces to create a National Commission on Forensic Science. That body will recommend guidelines for federal, state, and local forensics laboratories, as well as design policy on ethics, training, and certification for forensics professionals. Continue reading →

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Posted in Editorials/Opinion, Forensic controls, Reforming/Improving the system

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National Registry Reports Today: Police, Prosecutors’ Aid in Exonerations Soared in 2012

Posted on April 3, 2013 | 4 comments

According to a report released today by the National Registry of Exonerations, for the first time, in 2012 police and prosecutors cooperated or assisted in more than half of the nation’s exonerations (criminal cases in which a person was wrongfully convicted and later cleared of all charges). Of 63 known exonerations last year, law enforcement initiated or cooperated in 54 percent (34 cases), which reflects a sharp increase in historic official support. The National Registry stressed this new record, among other significant emerging trends, in its official update for 2012. Continue reading →

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Posted in Uncategorized

Calculating Bad Math’s Contribution to Wrongful Conviction

Posted on March 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

This is my second stab at responding to an opinion piece (here) in the New York Times written by Leila Schneps, a mathematician and mystery writer, and her daughter Coralie Colmez, who have co-authored “Math on Trial: How Numbers Get Used and Abused in the Courtroom.” (I deleted yesterday’s post to give this more thought and expand on the issues raised in the op-ed piece.) I’ll first briefly address the authors’ troubling and rather contrived tie-in to the Italian High Court’s overturning of the acquittal of Amanda Knox. The NY Times piece otherwise makes a point worth stressing. Continue reading →

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Posted in Editorials/Opinion, Forensic controls, Junk science

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Recently Freed Man in Stabilized Condition Following Heart Attack

Posted on March 25, 2013 | 3 comments

David Ranta, released from prison last Thursday after serving 23 years in prison in a high-profile wrongful murder conviction, suffered a heart attack Friday night. According to this CNN report (here), as of Sunday night, Ranta’s conditioned was stabilized. He is being treated in cardiac intensive care unit at a New York hospital. Continue reading →

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Posted in Exonerations, Eyewitness identification, Police conduct (good and bad)

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Re-examination of Arson Convictions to Begin in Texas

Posted on March 22, 2013 | 2 comments

Nine years ago Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in Texas after being convicted of killing his three children in a fire. Whether or not the tragic fire was a crime or an accident has been a haunting question in light of alternative explanations for the burn patterns once believed to be proof of the use of an accelerant. According to an Associated Press press in the Baylor Lariat (here), next month an ongoing collaboration of the Texas state fire marshall and the Innocence Project of Texas will proceed to it’s next task: reviewing the first six cases of arson conviction that have been identified as potentially problematic due to their dependance on questionable science. Continue reading →

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Posted in Editorials/Opinion, Forensic controls, Junk science, Reforming/Improving the system

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Brooklyn D.A. Expected to Ask For Prisoner’s Release in High Profile 1990 Murder Case

Posted on March 20, 2013 | 2 comments

After more than two decades in prison, David Ranta—convicted of killing Rabbi Chaskel Werzberger in New York City in 1990—appears now to be a victim himself of alleged official misconduct, false witnesses, lying snitches, and a rush to judgement. He is most likely innocent of the crime and may be released as early as this Thursday, according to a report today in the New York Times (here). Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, who created a special unit to look into questionable convictions, plans to ask a state judge to release the prisoner, according to the New York Times article.

The Daily News also has a report on the emerging story (here).

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Posted in Uncategorized

Trial of Man Accused of Killing Christine Morton Begins, After Husband’s Exoneration

Posted on March 20, 2013 | 1 comment

The Houston Chronicle reported yesterday (here) that in opening statements in the trial of Mark Alan Norwood, on trial for the 1986 bludgeoning death of Christine Morton, prosecutor Lisa Tanner told jurors that the state will present new evidence connecting Norwood to the crime. Tanner, representing the Texas Attorney General’s Office, said that a .45 Colt pistol that was missing from the Morton home after the murder was located by prosecutors.  Norwood allegedly sold the gun, registered to Christine’s husband Michael Morton, to a man who had hired Norwood to work on a home remodeling project. Continue reading →

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Posted in Editorials/Opinion, Exonerations, Prosecutorial conduct (good and bad), Uncategorized

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Breaking: U.S. Magistrate Expected to Grant Release of Innocent Man Today

Posted on March 19, 2013 | 1 comment

The Los Angeles Times editorial of August 24, 2012, (here) called Daniel Larsen a “victim of a continuing injustice.” According to The Daily Transcript (San Diego) report (here), “U.S. Magistrate Judge Suzanne H. Segal is expected to grant Larsen’s immediate release (from prison) at 2 p.m.” today. This will not fully end his injustice, but it will at least provide Larsen his freedom while the appeals process continues. Continue reading →

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Posted in Editorials/Opinion, Exonerations

Police, Prosecutors: Costs Are High When Misconduct Contributes to Wrongful Conviction

Posted on March 18, 2013 | 6 comments

According to a report in the Coloradoan (here), on Saturday Lt. Jim Broderick, 56, resigned from the Fort Collins (Colorado) Police Services where he had worked for 33 years. His career had a dramatic reversal when he was indicted on charges of felony perjury in June 2010 in connection with the grand jury indictment and trial of Tim Masters. Masters, who was fifteen at the time of the 1987 murder of Peggy Hettrick, was convicted and spent ten years in prison before DNA testing of crime scene evidence prompted the vacation of his murder conviction. Broderick had been the investigator in the case. Continue reading →

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Posted in Editorials/Opinion, Exonerations, Police conduct (good and bad), Prosecutorial conduct (good and bad)

Multi-Million Dollar Wrongful Conviction Awards Should Be Taxpayers’ Call to Action

Posted on March 13, 2013 | 4 comments

Last Friday a federal jury awarded $13.2 million in compensation to David Ayers, who served 13 years of a life-without-parole prison sentence for a murder that DNA eventually proved he didn’t commit. This should certainly get the attention of Cleveland and Ohio taxpayers if the horror of an innocent person languishing in prison while the true murderer escapes justice is not troubling enough. It should also motivate voters to signal zero tolerance for official misconduct (a recurring contributor to wrongful convictions) and to require implementation of known best practices in criminal justice procedure.

As reported earlier on this blog and (here), and (here), former Cuyahoga County Housing Authority police officer, David Ayers was convicted on December 11, 2000, of Continue reading →

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Posted in Editorials/Opinion, Exonerations, Police conduct (good and bad), Uncategorized

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Michael Morton Marries in Texas

Posted on March 10, 2013 | 1 comment

Congratulations and best wishes to Cynthia May Chessman and Michael Morton, who were married Saturday at the First Baptist Church in Liberty City, Texas.  The couple has asked that in lieu of wedding gifts, contributions be made to the Innocence Project, the non-profit legal clinic that assisted Morton’s lawyers in proving his innocence after he was wrongfully convicted in the murder of his wife, Christine. Continue reading →

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Posted in Uncategorized

Justice System Should Heed Victim’s Views in False Accusation Case

Posted on March 5, 2013 | 4 comments

The past five years have been an unthinkable nightmare for Johnathon Montgomery and his family. Montgomery was sentenced to 60 years in prison after a young woman in her late teens accused him of sexual assault, which she said occurred years earlier when Montgomery was 14 and she was 10 years old. Montgomery spent four years in a Virginia prison before the woman recanted and admitted the crime never happened.  False accusation and false witness are not new to those who have studied DNA-proven wrongful convictions, but how our system responds to one who recants such a damaging lie deserves thoughtful consideration. Continue reading →

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Posted in Editorials/Opinion, Exonerations

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Coerced Confessions Obscure Justice

Posted on February 26, 2013 | 2 comments

Yesterday, Nicole Harris left the Dwight Correctional Center after serving seven years of a thirty year sentence. Her conviction in the death of her son, Jaquari, was overturned by a federal appeals court last October and earlier this month the 7th Court of Appeals ordered Harris’s release. Continue reading →

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Posted in Editorials/Opinion, False confessions, Uncategorized

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Court of Appeals Orders Release of Imprisoned Chicago Mother

Posted on February 22, 2013 | 4 comments

As reported (here) in the Chicago Tribune, Nicole Harris will be freed no later than noon on Monday from Dwight Correctional Center as a result of two court actions. She’s served seven years of a 30-year sentence after being convicted of murder in the death of her four-year-old son, Jaquari.  As reported on this blog and the Chicago Tribune (here), last October a federal appeals court, ruling that Jaquari’s older brother, Dante—five at the time—should have been permitted to testify, reversed Nicole’s conviction. On Wednesday, the 7th Court of Appeals ordered Harris’s release from prison. Continue reading →

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Posted in Editorials/Opinion, False confessions

State’s Attorney’s Blind Eye to False Confession Raises Question of Conviction Integrity Sincerity

Posted on February 13, 2013 | 2 comments

Center of Wrongful Convictions attorneys Karen Daniel and Judith Royal filed a petition for post-conviction relief (here) two weeks ago in the continuing saga of Daniel Taylor, imprisoned since 1992 for a double murder. The inconvenient conundrum is that Taylor and his lawyers have insisted that his confession was coerced, and official records support Taylor’s claim that he was in a police lockup at the time of the crime. That’s a particularly strong alibi, but thus far, it’s not been enough for Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. Continue reading →

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Posted in Editorials/Opinion, False confessions, Police conduct (good and bad), Prosecutorial conduct (good and bad), Uncategorized

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Texas Inquiry Could Challenge Doctrine of Absolute Prosecutorial Immunity

Posted on February 7, 2013 | 3 comments

A very rare court of inquiry underway in Texas will determine if Ken Anderson, who prosecuted and won a conviction of the innocent Michael Morton in the murder of his wife Christine, committed criminal acts in doing so. Anderson, now a district judge, is accused of failing to turn over to the defense substantial evidence of Michael Morton’s innocence as required by Brady vs. Maryland. Failure to do so can be reversible error in a case, but rarely has a prosecutor suffered personal liability for alleged violations.

If any case can focus public attention on the proper scope of prosecutorial immunity, it is this one. Morton spent 25 years in prison before DNA testing of a Continue reading →

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Posted in Uncategorized

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When Prosecutors Defend a Wrongful Conviction, Who Prosecutes the Real Perp?

Posted on February 4, 2013 | 15 comments

Clarence Elkins, who spent seven and a half  years incarcerated for crimes DNA proved he did not commit, is having a sickening sense of déjà vu.  His letter to the editor published in the Akron Beacon Journal (here) draws parallels between his wrongful conviction and the case of former Akron police captain Douglas Prade.

In both cases the Summit County Prosecutor resisted considering a wrongful conviction even after DNA testing of crucial crime scene evidence did not match the convicted men. Continue reading →

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Posted in Editorials/Opinion, Prosecutorial conduct (good and bad), Uncategorized