Tag Archives: Brian Banks

As reported yesterday by USA Today (here), Brian Banks was one of ten players cut from the roster of the Atlanta Falcons on Friday. Legions of fans—football followers or not—were cheering Banks on in his uphill bid to play with the NFL, an effort delayed ten years by a false accusation, wrongful conviction, prison, and his eventual exoneration when his accuser admitted the sexual assault never happened. USA Today called his determined effort the “summer feel-good story.” Continue reading →

New Study: Significant Risk of Wrongful Conviction in Plea Bargaining

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Nancy Petro | 17 comments

The nation has been enthralled by the story of Brian Banks. A former blue-chip high school football athlete, Banks served five years in prison after a rape conviction, wore an ankle location bracelet, and was labeled a sex offender for five more years, before his victim admitted the rape never happened. When NFL teams lined up to give him a second chance, the nation reveled in the comeback story but also faced troublesome questions. Why would an innocent person take a plea deal that would send him to prison and label him a sexual offender? How often does this happen? A new study suggests many are vulnerable to taking a deal even when innocent.

Lucien E. Dervan and Vanessa Edkins report here that over half of the participants in a research study were willing to falsely admit guilt in exchange for Continue reading →

17 Comments

Posted in Editorials/Opinion, False confessions

Tagged Brian Banks, Plea bargains

Banks Story Highlights Other Innocence Efforts

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Kana Sasakura | 2 comments

With the amazing story of Brian Banks‘s exoneration by the California Innocence Project and his numerous tryouts with NFL teams, there are many stories on the media about innocence efforts. It is great that all the sports fans will get to know what the innocence work is all about.

Brian Banks’s tryout with the Seattle Seahawks was a huge news in local media as well. It also highlighted local innocence efforts. Several news featured the work of the Innocence Project Northwest, located at the Univestiy of Washington School of Law.

Here is a story by KIRO FM News.

And here is a brief story by King 5 News.

Excerpt from the King 5 News: Media attention this week on aspiring Seahawks team member Brian Banks is shining light on the Innocence Project, a national effort to free and exhonorate wrongly convicted people from prison…

In Seattle, the Innocence Project Northwest operates out of the University of Washington School of Law, where students, faculty and volunteer legal experts have helped secure freedom for at least 16 people in Washington prisons since 1997. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Exonerations, Project Spotlights

Tagged Alan Northrop, Brian Banks, innocence project northwest

Brian Banks’s Redemption Offers Hope for Justice

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Nancy Petro | 3 comments

Brian Banks lived one of life’s worst nightmares. Now he’s tasting his biggest dream. Recently, he’s been contacted by the Washington Redskins, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Miami Dolphins. Banks spent five years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit and five more labeled a rapist. Now these teams want to see what he’s got. The 2002 blue chipper is getting a second chance.

Banks’s rape and kidnapping convictions were overturned by a California judge last week after the key witness and victim recanted. She admitted in a taped interview that the crimes never happened. His life changed dramatically as the truth was revealed.

Many say you can’t come back to NFL skills after 10 years. As Rick Reilly of ESPN Continue reading →