Author Archives: Nancy Petro

Two Judges Fault Queens Prosecutor’s Pre-Arraignment Interviews

Posted on September 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

Acting Supreme Court Justice Joel Blumenfeld (NY) ruled last April that Queens District Attorney Richard Brown’s program of interviewing suspects before arraignment violates New York State’s Rules of Professional Conduct. According to an article by Daniel Wise in the New York Law Journal (here), in People v. Perez, Judge Blumenfeld provided a sanction for the violation in ruling that the D.A.’s office could not use a statement given by Elisaul Perez in a pre-arraignment interview in its case stemming from Perez’s 2009 arrest for assault and robbery of an iPod and cash.

Judge Bloomenfeld found that the script used in interviews preliminary to arraignment gave suspects a “false sense of urgency” to speak up “now or never” Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Prosecutorial conduct (good and bad)

Jeffrey MacDonald Case: Fatal Vision or Tunnel Vision?

Posted on September 18, 2012 | 2 comments

The case of Jeffrey MacDonald, 68, the former Green Beret captain and medical doctor who was convicted of the 1970 murders of his wife and daughters, is getting some important second looks.

See earlier references to the case on the wrongful convictions blog by Martin Yant (here) and Phil Locke (here).

MacDonald, who has now served 30 years in prison, has always claimed innocence. Many know the case through Joe McGinness’s book “Fatal Vision.” A new Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Book recommendations/discussion, Editorials/Opinion

Tagged , , ,

LAPD Chief’s Opposition to Line-up Reform Should Prompt Public Pressure

Posted on September 17, 2012 | 1 comment

The Los Angeles Times published an opinion today by Barry Scheck, co-director, and Karen A. Newirth, litigation fellow, of the Innocence Project, that underscores why L.A. Police Chief Charlie Beck is wrong in opposing adoption of the best practice of blind administration in police lineups.

The misidentification of an innocent person as the perpetrator has contributed in nearly 75 percent of DNA-proven wrongful convictions. Brandon Garrett notes in his book Convicting the Innocent – Where Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong a less-known, revealing statistic: Among DNA-proven wrongful convictions in which misidentification was a factor, 36 percent of those misidentified were fingered by more than one witness. This supports what Continue reading →

1 Comment

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

Tagged ,

Englewood Four are Officially Innocent

Posted on September 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

On Friday afternoon, Sept. 14, 2012, Judge Paul Biebel, chief judge of the Criminal Division of the Cook County (IL) Circuit Court, granted certificates of innocence to four men—Vincent Thames, Terrill Swift, Harold Richardson, and Michael Saunders—who became known as the Englewood Four after their conviction of the 1994 rape and murder of a South Chicago alleged prostitute.

Ranging in ages from 15 to 18 at the time, the four teens confessed during interrogation by Chicago police. No physical evidence connected them to the Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Exonerations, False confessions, Uncategorized

Tagged , ,

Wrongfully Imprisoned Man Waits For Missouri to Step Up

Posted on September 8, 2012 | 5 comments

Johnny Briscoe spent 23 years in prison for a 1982 rape he didn’t commit, but, so far, according to the Innocence Project here, he hasn’t collected a dime in compensation from the state of Missouri. He claimed innocence and had an alibi, but the jury believed the victim who had a long look at her attacker in good lighting. She identified Briscoe with confidence within hours of the crime. A forensic expert also made the highly questionable claim that Briscoe’s hair was consistent with a hair found at the scene. Briscoe was convicted at age 29 and sentenced to 45 years.

Large settlements to the wrongfully convicted make headlines. Stories like Johnny Briscoe’s are seldom reported. Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Compensation/Exoneree compensation, Editorials/Opinion

Convictions Vacated, Sentences Reduced in North Carolina

Posted on September 7, 2012 | Leave a comment

An unfairly long sentence, inappropriate for the crime, is a form of wrongful incarceration. Earlier this month U.S. District Judge Terrance Boyle vacated the convictions of two North Carolina men and reduced the sentences of three other federal inmates after a 2011 U.S. Court of Appeals decision resulted in a  redefinition of who should be considered a felon.

As reported here, the Appeals Court ruling prompted appeals from inmates and accompanying opposition from prosecutors, until the U.S. Department of Justice Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged

New York to Pay $3.5 Million Settlement for Prosecutorial Misconduct

Posted on August 29, 2012 | 2 comments

Outraged by the lack of disciplinary action against prosecutorial misconduct that cost 13 years of his life, Shih-Wei Su sued, and New York State will now pay him  $3.5 million.

At age 17, Su was convicted of attempted murder and related charges and sentenced to 16 to 50 years in a weak case based on conflicting eyewitness Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Compensation/Exoneree compensation, Exonerations, Prosecutorial conduct (good and bad)

Tagged ,

Prosecutor’s Viewpoint Shouldn’t Obscure: We Can Do Better

Posted on August 28, 2012 | Leave a comment
Yesterday, Mark Godsey posted on a commentary written by Erie County (NY) District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III and published here in the BuffaloNews.com. It has drawn considerable commentary from those who read this blog. However, for persons uneducated on the subject of wrongful conviction, the prosecutor’s viewpoint might serve to downplay concerns about miscarriages of justice and discourage the public from supporting criminal justice reforms. That would be a shame.

Mr. Sedita’s commentary plays on the universal fear of crime and criminals. The tide of public concern has been turning, however, Continue reading →

Leave a comment

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

Texas Man Not Bitter After Two Decades of Wrongful Imprisonment

Posted on August 25, 2012 | 1 comment

After serving 23 years in prison for a rape DNA proved he didn’t commit, David Lee Wiggins, 48, walked out of prison and into freedom via courthouse doors in Fort Worth, Texas, yesterday with his brother, his sister, and Innocence Project attorney Nina Morrison. As has been the case with many other exonerees, he expressed no bitterness after his long ordeal.

As reported here on Monday, the Wiggins case was one of misidentification, a contributor in about 75 percent of DNA-proven wrongful convictions. He was Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Editorials/Opinion, Exonerations, Eyewitness identification

Mother Released from Prison Pending State’s Decision on New Trial

Posted on August 24, 2012 | 2 comments

After serving 16 years in prison, Kristine Bunch, 38, was freed Wednesday, following the Indiana Court of Appeals March ruling that granted her a new trial in the state-alleged arson murder of her young son in a mobile home fire.

The Appeals court found that the forensic evidence used to convict Bunch was outdated and discredited and that prosecutors withheld from the defense a lab Continue reading →

2 Comments

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

Long Ordeal of Son’s Wrongful Conviction is Over for Hash Family

Posted on August 23, 2012 | 1 comment

Earlier this week murder charges against Michael Hash, 31, were dismissed 12 years after he had been convicted of the murder of Thelma B. Scroggins, 74, in Virginia. Hash was 15 at the time of the crime, 19 when accused. He was convicted and sentenced to life without parole. Last February, citing numerous examples of police and prosecutorial misconduct, U.S. District Judges James Turk tossed out Continue reading →

1 Comment

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

Prosecutors Agree: Imprisoned Man is Innocent; Should be Freed

Posted on August 21, 2012 | 3 comments

Steve Conder, the prosecutor in charge of post-conviction DNA motions for Tarrant County (TX), filed a motion yesterday that will put David Lee Wiggins, 48, a giant step closer to freedom. Wiggins was convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl in 1988. He has always claimed innocence. Wiggins is expected to be freed on bail this Friday.

The Innocence Project worked on the case for years. Testing of partial sperm cell Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in Editorials/Opinion, Exonerations

Early DNA Testing Could Prevent Nightmare of Wrongful Charges

Posted on August 20, 2012 | 3 comments

The Innocence Project reports that DNA has proven the innocence of nearly 300 people who spent 13 years on average in prison for crimes they didn’t commit. K’vaughn Hines, 19, is not one of them because multiple charges—including first-degree murder and rape—were dropped before trial and conviction. DNA testing eventually excluded him and Sheldon Sneed, 19, from a violent gang rape committed in a Metro station in Maryland. As reported in the Maryland Gazette.net here, Hines, who did not have as much as a traffic ticket prior to this charge, spent four months in jail without bond and a month on house arrest before the charges were dropped. It was a life-changing experience.

A witness at the Metro station spotted Hines and Sneed at the station and said they had committed the crimes, but they were not identified at the scene of the crime. What followed rarely makes headlines, but it was a nightmare for Hines Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in Editorials/Opinion, Eyewitness identification

Tagged

Two Courts Agree: Murder Conviction Should be Tossed Out

Posted on August 18, 2012 | 1 comment

Two courts have now indicated that death row inmate Justin Michael Wolfe’s conviction of hiring the murder of drug dealer Daniel Petrole, Jr. should be overturned. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson’s ruling to toss out the conviction because prosecutors withheld evidence that would have discredited key testimony from the trigger man, Owen Barber IV, namely that Barber was told by a detective he could avoid the death penalty if he fingered Wolfe. Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Exonerations, Prosecutorial conduct (good and bad)

Texas District Judge Recommends New Trial; Incriminating Statements “illegally obtained”

Posted on August 17, 2012 | 1 comment

“For our justice system to work it must make two important promises to its citizens: A fundamentally fair trial and an accurate result. If either of these two promises are not kept, our system loses its credibility, our citizens lose their faith and confidence in our court system and eventually our decisions and laws become meaningless. Just as it is important to keep jury decisions intact, judges have a duty to set things right. It is this court’s recommendation to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that the applicant Daniel Villegas’s request for a new trial should be granted.”

With these words from Texas District Court Judge Sam Medrano Jr., supporters of Daniel Villegas, 35, cheered yesterday and he wiped away tears. Medrano’s 78-page opinion strongly criticized the evidence used to convict Villegas, imprisoned Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in False confessions, Prosecutorial conduct (good and bad)

Tagged , ,

Sign of Progress: Newspaper Urges Criminal Justice Reforms

Posted on August 16, 2012 | 4 comments

“Another day, another wrongful conviction uncovered,” begins The Buffalo News editorial chastising the New York Senate for failing to follow the Assembly in passing a bill earlier this year that would have required best practices in criminal justice procedures. It comes in the wake of evidence of another wrongful conviction—as  reported by The New York Times here  and here and this blog Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged

Alabama says “No” to DNA Testing as Execution Day Approaches

Posted on August 15, 2012 | 2 comments

Oprah’s “Our America” episode “Innocent Behind Bars” features Ohio Innocence Project Director Mark Godsey, editor of this blog and international expert on the topic, in this video clip published yesterday. Godsey is speaking here about the execution of Thomas Arthur, scheduled soon in Alabama. Arthur was convicted of the 1982 murder of Troy Wicker. On death row for more than 20 years, he’s always claimed innocence. Godsey freely admits that he doesn’t know if Arthur is guilty or not. He’s not alone in that stance, which is why he’s Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Capital punishment, Editorials/Opinion, Uncategorized

Tagged , ,

Re Wrongful Conviction: Katie Monroe Seeks Policy, Cultural Change

Posted on August 14, 2012 | 1 comment

“What we would like to see is change in the culture in the way government officials respond to wrongful convictions,” says Katie Monroe. “We’d like it to grow to a place where government officials realize that correcting mistakes is good for all of us and not just the person in prison.” Monroe, longtime leader of the Rocky Mountain Innocence Project (RMIP), is leaving her RMIP post, as reported here,  to become the Innocence Project’s first person in Washington, D.C. dedicated to working with prosecutor and police groups to shape policy that can reduce wrongful conviction.

She takes helpful experience to the challenge. The RMIC authored with the Utah Attorney General’s office Utah’s 2008 non-DNA factual innocence statute, which Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Editorials/Opinion, Reforming/Improving the system

Tagged

The Buffalo News urges New York to Compensate for Wrongful Conviction

Posted on August 13, 2012 | 1 comment

DeJac Peters, who was convicted of second degree murder in the strangulation death of her 13-year-old daughter in 1993, is listed in the National Registry of Exonerations compiled by Northwestern Law’s Center on Wrongful Convictions and Michigan Law. Maurice Possley’s Registry report provides details of the case that resulted in Peters’ 14 years of wrongful imprisonment and her ongoing pursuit of state compensation in New York.

Peters was convicted on the testimony of a friend who was facing a potential life sentence in another crime and Dennis Donahue, a man she had dated, who was an early suspect in the case. When, in late 2007, testing revealed male DNA in a blood Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Compensation/Exoneree compensation, Editorials/Opinion, Exonerations

Tagged , , ,

Federal Grant will Target Wrongful Conviction Cases with No DNA

Posted on August 11, 2012 | 6 comments

The vast majority of criminal cases—some estimate up to 90 percent—do not have DNA evidence to help settle claims of wrongful conviction. Yet, there is no reason to believe that wrongful conviction is less frequent in non-DNA cases. Criminal defense attorney Glenn Garber was introduced to a wrongful conviction and helped win an exoneration. He became concerned about innocence claims in cases without DNA evidence and decided to dedicate himself to assisting in these challenging cases. In 2009 he founded the Exoneration Initiative, a free legal assistance program dedicated to exonerating the wrongfully convicted, the actually innocent. It’s good news that this Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,