Blog Editor
Mark Godsey
Daniel P. & Judith L. Carmichael Professor of Law, University of Cincinnati College of Law; Director, Center for the Global Study of Wrongful Conviction; Director, Rosenthal Institute for Justice/Ohio Innocence ProjectOrder Here
Contributing Editors
Justin Brooks
Professor, California Western School of Law; Director, California Innocence ProjectOrder his book Wrongful Convictions Cases & Materials 2d ed. hereCheah Wui Ling
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, National University of SingaporeLiza Dietrich
Research and Writing Specialist & Outreach Program Coordinator for the Ohio Innocence ProjectDaniel Ehighalua
Nigerian BarristerJessica S. Henry
Associate Professor of Justice Studies, Montclair UniversityC Ronald Huff
Professor of Criminology, Law & Society and Sociology, University of California-IrvinePhil Locke
Science and Technology Advisor, Ohio Innocence Project and Duke Law Wrongful Convictions ClinicDr. Carole McCartney
Reader in Law, Faculty of Business and Law, Northumbria UniversityNancy Petro
Author and Advocate Order her book False Justice hereKana Sasakura
Professor, Faculty of Law, Konan University Innocence Project JapanDr. Robert Schehr
Professor, Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Northern Arizona University; Executive Director, Arizona Innocence ProjectShiyuan Huang
Associate Professor, Shandong University Law School; Visiting Scholar, University of Cincinnati College of LawUlf Stridbeck
Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, NorwayMartin Yant
Author and Private Investigator Order his book Presumed Guilty here
Category Archives: New Evidence
One-Word Law Change Factors in Court’s Decision to Vacate Conviction
Words matter: A one-word change of “could” to “would” in Virginia’s writ of actual innocence law enacted in 2013 was cited in the Virginia Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion last week that vacated the 40-year-old rape conviction of Roy L. Watford III. 58, of Chesapeake. The state high court ruled no jury “would” have found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the light of new evidence.
The language prior to the 2013 change was “could” have found him guilty…
From this article:
“Writing the unanimous opinion last Thursday, Justice Cleo E. Powell noted that the burden is still a heavy one for someone trying to win a writ of actual innocence.
But, Powell added that while the “could” standard required proof of innocence beyond any reasonable doubt, the “would” standard requires the court to consider if the new evidence, versus evidence of guilt, establishes such a high probability of acquittal that no rational person would have found guilt.”
Conviction Vacated: New California Law, New Evidence, and Advocacy Prevail
After twenty-seven years of wearing the label “sex offender,” Darwin Crabtree was relieved of his child molestation conviction yesterday, January 17, by a Butte County Superior Court. Northern California Innocence Project Attorney (NCIP) Paige Kaneb made the motion to vacate Crabtree’s conviction based on new evidence of innocence and bolstered by a newly enacted California law.
The law (Penal Code section 1473.7) allows persons no longer convicted or restrained to pursue a motion to vacate their convictions and stipulates the state’s response: When Continue reading
Posted in Exonerations, Legislation, New Evidence, wrongful conviction
Two Travesties of Justice and Not a Single Apology in Sight
Anyone interested in criminal justice knows that our system is broken. Two recent cases out of Louisiana highlight just how broken our system really is.
The first case is about a now-senior citizen named Wilbert Jones, who was released last week from prison after serving 45 years for a rape he didn’t commit. Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton (twice), Bush (twice), Obama (twice) came and went, while this innocent man languished in prison waiting for a miracle to occur.
Mr. Jones was a poor, black teenager in 1972 when he was arrested. He was convicted of abducting a white nurse from a hospital parking lot and raping her, and was sentenced to life without parole. The case against him was weak, resting solely on the nurse’s questionable identification of Mr. Jones made nearly three long months after the rape had occurred.
The prosecutor involved in the case appears to have withheld crucial evidence from the defense, including the identity of another man, accused of a rape in a difference case who better matched the nurse’s description of the suspect. This apparently was not uncommon: the prosecutor in Mr. Jones’ case had a reputation of routinely violating his constitutional obligations to turn over exculpatory evidence to the defense.
It took the Innocence Project New Orleans nearly 15 years to gain Mr. Jones’ freedom. And here’s the kicker. Even though the prosecution has said they will not seek to re-try Mr. Jones, they nonetheless requested that bail be set at $2,000. Even more outrageously, the judge granted the bail motion. Let me repeat: a judge set bail for a 65-year-old man who spent 45 years in prison for a crime he did not commit in a case where the prosecution is not planning to re-try him.
Seriously?
Keeping with the theme of outrageous, last week Kevin Smith was released from a New Orleans jail, after serving nearly eight years without ever having been convicted of a crime. In 2010, Mr. Smith was arrested for a non-violent drug offense and placed in the county jail, where he sat, and sat, and sat some more, awaiting his day in court. His case was delayed because of a hurricane, because of a competency hearing, because of motions and who-knows-what else as lawyers for both sides hemmed and hawed about moving forward with the case. In the meantime, Mr. Smith rejected a plea offer of 10 years, which would have ended his sentence in 2015, and finally filed his own motion to be released, arguing that his constitutional right to a speedy trial had been violated. After his lawyers joined his motion, a judge set Mr. Smith free. He earned the dubious honor of having spent the most time in pre-trial detention for a non-violent offense.
Louisiana has the highest rate of incarceration in the country. It is rife with allegations of corruption and misconduct. It disparately impacts poor people of color. The system is simply not working, and it is time for places like Louisiana to do something about it.
Mr. Jones and Mr. Smith are owed far more than an apology by Louisiana. In the meantime, a mea culpa by the State would be a good start.
This piece also appeared in the Huffington Post.
Friday’s Quick Clicks
- This is weird. Bill pending in Tennessee would allow inmates cleared by DNA testing to bypass the governor and be exonerated by the legislature. Articles suggest currently governor is only options for such inmates. A quick look at the Tennessee rules seems to suggest that such a motion could only be brought in the court system if it were made within 30 days of sentencing. WTH? That’s awful. Tennessee needs an innocence organization to fix that situation and get a real “motion for new trial” rule passed in that state.
- ‘Global epidemic’ of US-style plea bargaining prompts miscarriage warning
- Oklahoma Commission Issues Report Findings: ‘It is undeniable that innocent people have been sentenced to death in Oklahoma’
- Exoneree Marty Tankleff passes the NY bar exam!!!
Monday’s Quick Clicks…
- Spotlight on Oregon Innocence Project
- Wyoming Attorney General an obstacle to new bill that would allow exonerations to occur in non-DNA cases
- Innocence Project New Orleans spars with Baton Rouge DA over missing evidence in rape case
- New book on the science of false memories
- Musician John Legend teams with U of Penn on criminal justice reform
- Massachusetts lab scandal results in 20,000 drug convictions tossed
- Poem by Darrell Grayson, who was executed by the State of Alabama despite his pleas for DNA testing
- Exoneree Keith Harward travels country to educate about bad forensics and wrongful convictions
- How we are wired to produce false memories
- Most forensic science isn’t real science
Exoneration and Freedom for Evin King in Ohio
Today, prosecutors in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) vacated the conviction of long-time Ohio Innocence Project client Evin King. King was convicted in 1995 of murdering his girlfriend despite no direct evidence of guilt (eyewitness or forensic). He always maintained his innocence, from arrest and trial and then throughout his 23 years of incarceration.
When he is released, which will hopefully be later this week, King will be the 25th person the OIP has freed on grounds of innocence since its founding in 2003. Together the 25 innocent Ohioans spent more than 470 years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit.

Evin King prison photo
DNA testing confirmed that the semen found in the victim’s vaginal cavity after the attacked matched male skin cells found under her fingernails (a hand-to-hand struggle appeared to have taken place during the attack, as the victim was strangled). This male DNA in both locations did NOT match Evin King, but rather, an unknown male.
[Watch this moving video of Assistant Clinical Professor Jennifer Bergeron informing Evin King, in prison, that he is about to regain his freedom after 23 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit…]
Prosecutors had for years failed to respond to King’s motions for relief, even after the exclusionary DNA test results were obtained. And the trial court sat on King’s post-conviction motions for nearly a year-and-a-half before denying relief. Fortunately, the 8th District Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s decision last year and sent the case back to the trial court for a hearing, while specifically observing that the DNA evidence supports King’s innocence claim. On Friday, the OIP learned that after newly-elected prosecutor Michael O’Malley took office in January, he put new prosecutors on the case to look into it with a fresh eye. When O’Malley was later informed of the details of King’s case from these prosecutors, he ordered that King’s conviction be overturned and that he be released.
OIP Assistant Clinical Professor Jennifer Bergeron has represented King for many years, as did OIP staff attorney and Ohio Public Defender attorney Carrie Wood (now at the Cincinnati Public Defender’s Office). OIP student fellows on the case include Taylor Freed, Katie Wilkin, Mallorie Thomas, Joe Wambaugh, Bryant Stayer, Steve Kelly, Morgan Keilholz, Jon Walker, Scott Leaman, Thomas Styslinger, John Markus, and Julie Payne. The Ohio Public Defenders Office, particularly Kris Haines, worked on King’s case as well for many years. King’s case is another example of the importance of determination and perseverance, as Bergeron, Wood, Haines, and the students never gave up even though at times King’s prospects appeared bleak given the initial stiff resistance of the trial court and the prosecutors.
OIP co-founder and director Mark Godsey said, “While the initial delay in obtaining justice for Mr. King is disturbing, Michael O’Malley and the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office deserve credit for turning this case around and correcting an injustice. As we have seen in other counties with other cases, prosecutors far too often fight back hard against an exoneration even when the evidence of innocence is strong. But in several past cases in Cuyahoga County, and today with Evin King’s case, the prosecutors in Cleveland put justice above winning. O’Malley’s involvement in the case since his recent election, along with his decision to put new prosecutors on the case, may have been the pivotal factor that secured freedom for an innocent man, and we are thankful for his heroic intervention.”
Thursday’s Quick Clicks…
- Maine law makers consider expanding timeframe for inmates to bring innocence petitions with new evidence beyond current one-year limit; prosecutors oppose.
- New study suggests that when indigent defendants get to choose their public defender, the system works better
- A new bill under consideration in Montana would require prosecutors to tell defendants that they plan to use an incentivized witness and the terms of the deal made in exchange for testimony. It also would allow defense counsel to request a pre-trial hearing where a judge can weigh the credibility of the testimony and if there is enough other evidence to corroborate the witness’ story. The judge could then choose to bar the testimony as inadmissible or issue a jury instruction, similar to how courts currently review the credibility of some scientific witnesses before a trial starts.
- Dallas’ exonerees mission to free the wrongfully convicted is the focus of a new film
Monday’s Quick Clicks…
- How courts correct mistakes in the criminal justice system depends on where you live…
- Former LA City Attorney Carmen Trutanich Charged With Misconduct In Death Penalty Case…
- Wrongfully convicted: The science and law behind exonerations: Podcast…
- Colorado: Legislative Round-up: Paying lump sum to exonerated passes second reading…
- Florida: Bill filed — again — to exonerate Groveland Four…
- Idaho Innocence Project Employs New Forensics Technique to Exonerate Two Men…
- East Baton Rouge District Attorney argues against overturning rape conviction for Innocence Project New Orleans client…
- Lawyers for convicted killer Kirstin Lobato want DA to take a fresh look at evidence…
Posted in Access to DNA testing, Compensation/Exoneree compensation, forensic science, Junk science, New Evidence, Uncategorized
Tagged compensation, compensation bill, Criminal Justice Reform, forensic science, Groveland Four, Idaho Innocence Project, Innocence Project New Orleans, kirstin Lobato, official misconduct, wrongful conviction
Wednesday’s Quick Clicks…
- National Review: Koch Network Making Another Push for Criminal-Justice Reform…
- FIU News (video): TEDxFIU: What leads to juvenile false confessions?…
- Woman exonerated in murder loses appeal over fingerprint errors: The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals declined to allow Lana Canen to seek money damages against an Elkhart County detective who incorrectly identified latent fingerprints resulting in to her 2002 murder conviction…
- The Washington Times: Judge acquits 2 men of perjury in inmate’s exoneration…
- The Tennessean: Bill would exonerate Wilson County’s Lawrence McKinney…
- The Washington Post (opinion by Radley Balko): Incredibly, prosecutors are still defending bite mark evidence…
- University of Virginia: The Eyes Sometimes Lie: Study to Focus on Perils of Eyewitness Identification
- Chicago Tribune: Controversial ex-forensic lab analyst focus of another inmate’s appeal…
- The Gazette: Iowa looking into potential wrongful convictions…
- Lamarr Monson’s murder conviction overturned after 20 years…
- Akron Beacon Journal: Death row inmate Tyrone Noling appeals denial of DNA testing to Ohio Supreme Court…
Posted in Compensation/Exoneree compensation, Eyewitness identification, Junk science, New Evidence, Reforming/Improving the system, Uncategorized, wrongful conviction
Tagged Bite-Mark Evidence, Carrie Wood, compensation, Criminal Justice Reform, eyewitness identification, Lamarr Monson, Lana Canen, Lawrence McKinney, Ohio Innocence Project, Ohio Public Defender, Perjury, Tyrone Noling, wrongful conviction
Wednesday’s Quick Clicks…
- The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus to pay $20,000 after loss in police public-records case…
- Florida (audio): New Bill Would Change Lineup, Eyewitness Interview Procedures To Reduce Wrong IDs…
- Boston Globe: How far should state leaders go in reforming justice?…
- Providence Journal: Second chance for criminal justice reform bills in Rhode Island Assembly…
- Richmond Times-Dispatch: Bill seeks $1.45 million for man wrongly imprisoned 33 years for 1982 rape and murder…
- Taipei times: Wrongful polygraph conviction cases to be reinvestigated…
- Illinois News Network: State budget impasse means no payments for wrongly convicted inmates…
- Daily Mail: Wilbert Jones, who is now seeking a new trial in 1971 rape case, claims state hid evidence…
- Daily News: New York City to pay $2.9M in legal fees to lawyers of man wrongfully convicted of sex assault in 1985…
- Cleveland Plain Dealer (photo slide show): Ohio’s 33 wrongfully convicted prisoners who served 10 years or more…
Posted in Compensation/Exoneree compensation, New Evidence, Post-conviction relief, Reforming/Improving the system, Uncategorized
Tagged Access to public records, Caster, compensation legislation, Criminal Justice Reform, exoneree compensation, Ohio, Ohio Innocence Project, Public Records, Public Records Act, Public Records Act Law, Wilbert Jones, wrongful conviction, wrongful conviction compensation
Jeffrey MacDonald actual innocence appeal
Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, the former Green Beret surgeon who was first cleared in the murders of his pregnant wife and two daughters and then convicted in 1970, will have what may be his final chance at overturning his conviction after spending the past 36 years in prison for a crime that many experts now believe he did not commit. Oral arguments before a federal appeals court will commence on January 26. The crime took place prior to the use of DNA analysis and new DNA evidence and a lot of other evidence, including evidence of prosecutorial misconduct, flawed forensic testimony, and botched crime scene analysis, provides powerful support for his story that intruders killed his family in what was in some ways similar to the “Manson family” murders in that same era. People Magazine investigative reports will culminate in its major cover story, available on newsstands on Friday, January 20. Here is a link to the People Magazine digital story today that precedes the cover story:
Monday’s Quick Clicks…
- The Davis Vanguard: Appellate Court Draws Line on Prosecutorial Misconduct in Blistering Ruling in OC Case…
- Chicago Tribune: Lawyers ask for outside review of corrupt cop’s cases…
- Herald & Review: Charles B. Palmer freed after wrongful murder conviction…
- Madison-St. Clair Record: Michael Burgund, facing life in prison over child sexual abuse conviction, to get new trial; Judge improperly excluded defense witnesses, ruling says…
- The New York Times: Citing Ex-Detective’s ‘Malfeasance,’ Judge Overturns Conviction in ’91 Brooklyn Murder…
- The New York Times: Ken Thompson’s Successor: A ‘Pure District Attorney’ Working Under the Radar…
- Houston Press: The Problem With Jailhouse Snitches…
- The Salt Lake Tribune: Yearlong wait for DNA testing results frustrates Utah judge, who threatens to put a crime lab employee in jail…
Posted in Compensation/Exoneree compensation, Exonerations, New Evidence, Police conduct (good and bad), Post-conviction relief, Prosecutorial conduct (good and bad), Uncategorized, wrongful conviction
Tagged Charles B. Palmer, Conviction Integrity Unit, DNA testing, jailhouse snitch, jailhouse snitches, Ken Thompson, Michael Burgund, overturned conviction, wrongful conviction
Monday’s Quick Clicks…
- The Huffington Post: For The Wrongfully Convicted, Time Runs Short To Get Tax Relief…
- CNN: Sessions: Case of Central Park 5, later exonerated, shows Trump’s dedication to ‘law and order’…
- The San Diego Union-Tribune: Exonerated inmate’s fate still lies with immigration…
- Pacific Legal Foundation (blog by Ethan Blevins): Still presumed guilty after exoneration…
- Florida Times-Union: Under Melissa Nelson, Jacksonville’s prosecutors could search for wrongful convictions…
- Mississippi: Review set for compensation after wrongful conviction…
- CBS New York: Woman Says She’s Served 25 Years In Prison For Crime She Didn’t Commit…
- The Blade (editorial): Forensics’ weak convictions…
- Statesman Journal: Oregon Innocence Project requests new DNA tests for Salem man on death row…
- The Inquirer: Justice on hold: To Philly DA’s Conviction Review Unit, no one is innocent…
- Forensic Magazine (Houston Forensic Science Center press release): In a National First, HFSC Begins Blind Testing in DNA, Latent Prints…
- Austin American-Statesman: Was the conviction of a Central Texas man built on bad science, lies?…
- The Salt Lake Tribune: Exonerated Arizona man shows Utah lawmakers the human face of death row mistakes…
Posted in Compensation/Exoneree compensation, Conviction Integrity Units, Editorials/Opinion, Exonerations, forensic science, Junk science, New Evidence, Police conduct (good and bad), Post-conviction relief, Prosecutorial conduct (good and bad), Reforming/Improving the system, Uncategorized, wrongful conviction
Tagged compensation, Conviction Integrity Unit, DNA testing, forensic science, wrongful conviction
Wednesday’s Quick Clicks…
- Righting a Wrong: How Oneida County, New York reviews convictions…
- Murder Charges Dismissed Against Wrongfully Convicted Bronx Man, Richard Rosario…
- “The Innocent Convicts”: The Wrongful Conviction of Mike Hansen…
- False witness: Judge tackles mistaken identifications…
- Needle-in-a-haystack hunt for evidence in old Virginia murder case required endurance, luck…
- Pennsylvania ponders compensation for exonerated prisoners…
- Death row exonoree Anthony Ray Hinton campaigns against capital punishment…
- Brendan Dassey of Netflix’s Making a Murderer to be released from prison…
Could Jerry Sandusky be innocent?
What if Jerry Sandusky didn’t do it? Hard to believe, right? The evidence against him seemed to be overwhelming. But was it really?
Author Mark Pendergrast argues that much of the sensational 2012 child-abuse case against the notorious former Penn State assistant football coach hinges on flawed repressed-memory theory. In a commentary for The Crime Report here, Pendergrast says it is relatively easy to generate false memories of abuse and documents how that may have occurred in this case.
Tuesday’s Quick Clicks…
- Lawrence Rubin Montoya sues Denver, claims he was coerced into false confession…
- Detectives to Be Focus of Forced-Confession Claim…
- The Nationalist Party has presented a private members Bill that would allow the criminal slate of a man who was falsely accused of paedophilia to be wiped clean…
- Inquest into 1974 Birmingham Pub Bombings to be Reopened…
- Darryl Howard will get a chance in August to argue his claims of innocence…
- Freedom denied for Missouri man convicted in woman’s killing…
- Innocence Project Praises U.S. Senate for Passing Justice for All Reauthorization Act…
- Mother’s Fight to Exonerate Executed Son Highlights Gaping Holes in Justice System…
- New hearing set as James Biela seeks to overturn his conviction…
- Exonerees Share Their Favorite Family Photos for Father’s Day…
Monday’s Quick Clicks…
- Seventeen years after he was sentenced to life in prison for killing a teenage girl Malcolm Bryant freed from Maryland prison…
- Wrongly convicted of murder and arson, Chen Man, who served 23 years behind bars, was awarded compensation of 2.75 million yuan ($429,000 dollars) on Friday…
- William Amor gets hearing to dispute conviction in 1995 fatal arson…
- 2016 Innocence Project Gala Honors Board Chair Rodney Ellis and Many Others…
- Nun Nora Wall, wrongfully convicted of rape, wins six-year legal battle…
- Frederick Renee Daye, first DNA exoneree from California saved from life sentence…
- After Allen Harward exoneration, Virginia proceeds with review of 200 old blood-typing cases…
- Kansas Gov. Brownback Signs Law to Prevent Witness Misidentification, Top Contributor to Wrongful Conviction…
Posted in Compensation/Exoneree compensation, Exonerations, Eyewitness identification, Junk science, New Evidence, Post-conviction relief, Reforming/Improving the system, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, wrongful conviction, Wrongfully Convicted Women
Tagged Arson, arson forensic science, compensation, DNA, exoneration, exoneree compensation, eyewitness identification, eyewitness reliability, Japan, miscarriage of justice, reform legislation, wrongful conviction
Comment on the Nature and State of the (US) Justice System
While writing the latest post about Jack McCullough‘s exoneration, and while reading Courtney Bisbee‘s latest filing with the US District Court for Arizona, I got to reflecting on my experiences with the justice system over the past eight years, and I thought I would share some of my (unvarnished) observations. Clearly, this will be very editorial. It will probably help to understand my comments to know that I am not an attorney. I am an engineer by training, and that’s what I did for my entire working career – until I started doing innocence work pro bono. So I see the justice system with the naivete’ of someone who is an “outsider” and is not a functionary of the system; but I do see the system as someone who has spent his entire life founded in objective truth and logic and fact. Again, this article will be editorial in nature, and represents my views and only my views. It will also be pretty bleak; however, I see no viable path to fixing the monster we’ve created over the course of multiple decades of politics and the frailties of human nature. This has been bottled up inside me for some time, and the cork has finally popped. And just for reference, my definition of the justice system includes the law, legislators, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the police.
Wednesday’s Quick Clicks…
- Lawyers from the Innocence Project at the University of Virginia challenge evidence of shaken baby syndrome in Trudy Munoz case…
- Keith Allen Harward adjusts to freedom, family, technology after spending 33 years in prison…
- Darryl Pinkins Released From Prison After DNA Clears Him Of 1989 Rape…
- More than 30 march to demand attorney general join efforts to free Kalvin Smith…
- Steven Avery case puts focus on innocence projects…
- Exclusive: Can a short Central Park Five video stop wrongful convictions? Why advocates say yes…
- Judge dismisses ‘outrageous’ claim by Orleans DA’s office in Jerome Morgan murder case…
- Testimony resumes in new trial hearing for David R. Faulkner and Jonathan David Smith…
- Lawyers for day care worker, Melissa Calusinski, back in court seeking to undo murder verdict…
Posted in Exonerations, New Evidence, Uncategorized
Tagged DNA, DNA testing, false confession, forensic science, new evidence, new trial, wrongful conviction
Jack McCullough Exoneration – The Continuing Update
We’ve been posting here about the exoneration of Jack McCullough in the 1957 abduction and murder of then 7-year-old Maria Ridulph in Sycamore, IL. The current DeKalb County prosecutor, Richard Schmack, felt ethically compelled to review the case, and determined that evidence proved Jack could not be guilty. Consequently, he filed a motion with the court to dismiss charges with prejudice; meaning that Jack could not be charged and tried for the crime again. For previous posts, please see here, here, here, and here.
Judge William Brady did dismiss the charges, but declined to do so “with prejudice.” This now leaves Jack vulnerable to being re-charged and re-tried. See the latest CNN story here.
And so grinds the justice system. And now with the decision by the judge not to dismiss with prejudice, there is a petition going around Sycamore, IL calling for the appointment of a “special prosecutor.” Despite facts, logic, and reason, people will just not give up their biases, beliefs, and prejudices. And just as an aside, prosecutor Schmack can probably ‘kiss goodbye’ to any chance of being re-elected – all because he did the right thing. Such is politics, and such is the justice system. And we can only speculate about how politics in this ultra-high-profile case may have influenced the decision of the judge.