The Osborne Case: A Misguided Decision and the Path Forward

Posted: June 24, 2009 4:43 pm

In a guest post today on the American Constitution Society blog, Innocence Project Staff Attorney Nina Morrison analyzes last week's Supreme Court decision on DNA access and how it will affect efforts to obtain DNA testing for prisoners seeking to overturn wrongful convictions. She writes:

In an already much-criticized decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 last week that Innocence Project client William Osborne could not use the federal civil rights law to obtain DNA testing for the purpose of proving his innocence of the rape for which he was convicted and sent to prison in 1994. The decision was disappointing and surprising given the broad national consensus about DNA testing's unprecedented capabilities to exonerate the innocent. But the court ultimately decided that principles of finality and deference to state law trumped fundamental fairness, even where scientific proof of actual innocence is concerned.

Read the full post at the ACS Blog.

Tags: William Osborne

 

Thirteen Years and Counting

Posted: June 24, 2009 4:05 pm

Thirteen years ago today, Verneal Jimerson was exonerated of all charges surrounding his alleged involvement in what has become known as The Ford Heights Four Case. In 1985, Jimerson had been found guilty of committing a rape and double murder in Ford Heights, Illinois. He served nearly 11 years on death row before his release.

Five defendants spent a combined 75 years in prison for the murders before DNA testing proved their innocence. Several of the most prominent causes of wrongful conviction were involved: including false confessions, unvalidated forensic science, bad lawyering and more. The group was finally freed in 1996. Read a summary of the cases here.

One of Jimerson’s first stops as a free man was to visit the graves of his parents, both of whom had died while he was in prison. Moreover, because he had been in jail so long, Jimerson hardly knew his three grown daughters and had never met his five grandchildren. When asked how he felt about the time he had lost with members of family, Jimerson told the Chicago Tribune “Sure it hurts. It hurts a lot. But I've got to move on. Because by the grace of God I'm not going to let anger just eat me out." Upon his release, Jimerson was happy to be able to reconnect with some of his relatives and told the Chicago Sun-Times that he was determined to find a job and get a driver’s license.

In 1999, Jimerson received about $9 million as part of a wrongful prosecution settlement between Cook County and the Ford Heights Four. At the time, it was the largest civil rights settlement in U.S. history.

Other Exoneration Anniversaries This Week:

Monday: David Gray, Illinois (Served 20Years, Exonerated 6/22/99)

Tags: Verneal Jimerson

 

A New Trial in Ohio

Posted: June 24, 2009 11:35 am

An Ohio appeals court has granted a new trial for Innocence Project client Thomas Siller, who has been convicted twice by juries based in part on false forensic testimony.

Siller and another man were convicted of a 1997 murder based in part on testimony from forensic analyst Joseph Serowik, whose false testimony also contributed to the wrongful conviction of Anthony Michael Green, who was exonerated by DNA testing in 2001. DNA testing in Siller’s case now implicates a man who testified against him at trial.

Cuyahoga County prosecutors said they would appeal the decision to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Read the full story here.

And read more on the Siller case in a 2007 Innocence Project press release.

 

Growing Calls to Reopen Florida Cases

Posted: June 23, 2009 1:45 pm

Florida exonerees William Dillon and Wilton Dedge were both convicted based, in part, on the testimony of John Preston, a now-discredited dog handler. The Innocence Project of Florida is now working on another case involving Preston, and calls are increasing for officials to reexamine any possible wrongful convictions from the early 1980s – especially those involving Preston.

An editorial on Saturday in Florida Today listed some of the evidence of prosecutorial misconduct in Brevard County in the 1980s and called on Governor Charlie Crist to launch an official investigation into questionable convictions from the county.

— Titusville attorney and former Brevard prosecutor Sam Bardwell, who encountered Preston in a 1981 rape case, says then-State Attorney Doug Cheshire … as well as the Brevard Sheriff’s Office and most law enforcement officers at the time knew Preston was a charlatan.

“I left the State Attorney’s Office because I could not abide by the fabrication of evidence,” Bardwell says.

— Retired 18th Circuit and appellate Judge Gil Goshorn confirmed Cheshire relied heavily on Preston in a number of cases, along with questionable jailhouse snitches.

“Cheshire’s office often relied on such evidence of dubious reliability,” Goshorn said in a sworn affadavit in 2008.

Dedge, an Innocence Project client, was exonerated in 2004. Dillon, represented by the Innocence Project of Florida, was cleared last year. The Innocence Project of Florida is now working on the case of Gary Bennett, who was convicted of murder based in part on Preston’s testimony. Preston, who testified in 60 cases in Brevard County and many more elsewhere in the U.S., is now deceased.

Read more about Bennett’s case on the Innocence Project of Florida website. And set your DVR for a special report on Dillon’s case from CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 – scheduled to air tomorrow (Wednesday) night at 10 p.m. ET.

Read the Florida Today investigative article and editorial.

Tags: Florida, Wilton Dedge, William Dillon

 

A Strong Response to the Supreme Court

Posted: June 22, 2009 3:35 pm

In a 5-4 decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court denied DNA testing access to Innocence Project client William Osborne, ruling that the finality of a conviction is more important than making sure the right person was convicted.

The disagreement from the press and the public was swift and strong. The New York Times called the ruling “appalling.” The Washington Post said “access to DNA evidence should not be based on the luck of the draw.”

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram called the decision a “devastating setback for prisoners.” The Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger added: “In its ruling the court made clear it cares more about procedure than making certain the right person has been convicted.”

Political strategist Robert Creamer wrote today on the Huffington Post that “in the view of the majority of the court, justice and due process are irrelevant.”

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder issued a statement separating the decision from the interest of fair justice. “Today’s decision is limited: the Court merely spoke about what is constitutional, not what is good policy,” Holder said. “This administration believes that defendants should be permitted access to DNA evidence in a range of circumstances.”

Discussion boards and social networks have been active with discussion of the decision, as well. Several commenters on the Innocence Project Facebook Page expressed dismay with the decision, and hundreds of people have criticized the decision on twitter.

The Innocence Project is now more determined than ever to pass DNA access laws in the three states that lack them (Alaska, Massachusetts and Oklahoma). DNA access statutes in other states, like Alabama and Kentucky, are in desperate need of improvement. Join our call for fair justice today by signing the petition for DNA access.

Tags: William Osborne

 

Friday Roundup: The Struggle for DNA Access

Posted: June 19, 2009 12:00 pm

The big news in the innocence movement this week came from Washington, D.C., yesterday, where the U.S. Supreme Court denied Innocence Project client William Osborne access to the DNA testing that could prove his innocence. (The Innocence Project’s comment on the case is here and the full Supreme Court opinion is here).

The impact of yesterday’s decision will be limited, however, because most prisoners obtain access to DNA testing at the state level. Osborne’s case is an example of one in which DNA access at the state level is difficult, and Kenneth Reed’s is another.

A prestigious group of DNA and legal experts filed a brief this week in a Louisiana appeals court backing a judge’s decision to grant DNA testing in Reed’s case. Reed, an Innocence Project client, was sentenced to life for a 1991 Louisiana rape he says he didn’t commit and he is seeking DNA testing that could prove his innocence.

The Ohio Supreme Court will hear the case of a former Ohio police officer seeking DNA testing to prove his innocence.

A Missouri man convicted of a 2005 murder he says he didn’t commit was denied a new trial this week.

The family of Texas exoneree Timothy Cole is hoping state legislators will return for a special session to review a bill allowing Gov. Rick Perry to issue Cole a posthumous pardon.

The Dallas Morning News crime blog ran a Q&A this week with public defender Michelle Moore, who has represented seven of 20 people cleared through DNA testing in Dallas.

A man who spent 17 years in prison in Japan for a murder evidence shows he didn’t commit visited his hometown this week and received an apology from the police chief.

‘‘I apologize from the bottom of my heart for imposing on you this hardship for such a long time,’’ the chief told 62-year-old Toshikazu Sugaya.

Tags: Access to DNA Testing, William Osborne

 

A Disappointing Decision and a Renewed Call for Reform

Posted: June 18, 2009 5:45 pm

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 today to deny DNA testing in the case of Innocence Project client William Osborne, who is seeking tests that could prove his innocence of a 1993 Alaska rape. The court ultimately ruled that the finality of a conviction is more important than making sure the right person was convicted.

Today’s decision is deeply disappointing and flawed, but it will have a limited impact because most cases are resolved at the local or state level. One effect of the decision will be to bring new urgency to the movement to ensure that all prisoners in all states with valid claims of innocence have access to DNA testing that can prove their innocence.

Please take action today and sign the Innocence Project petition for DNA testing access.

Download the full Supreme Court brief and other materials from the Osborne case here, and read a sample of today’s media coverage below.

New York Times: Justices Rule Inmates Don’t Have Right to DNA Tests

CBS News Court Watch: Court Content to Follow, Not Lead, On DNA Testing

NPR: Court Rules Convicts Have No Right To DNA Tests

Associated Press: High Court Says Convicted Lack Right to DNA Testing

Tags: William Osborne

 

New York Exonerees Call for Reform

Posted: June 18, 2009 4:25 pm

A group of New York exonerees and their families sent letters today to elected state officials urging them to take action this session to address the causes of wrongful conviction. A group of 13 exonerees sent a joint letter to lawmakers, writing:

Each one of us was convicted of serious felonies before DNA testing finally proved our innocence. We are from every part of New York State, and we served a combined 163.5 years – approximately 59,677 days – in prison before we were exonerated.

We are living, breathing proof that New York’s criminal justice system has failed again and again. Our cases show how the system is falling short and how it can be fixed.

The injustice we endured is compounded by knowing that reforms have not been adopted to prevent this from happening to other people. You can change that. A series of common-sense reforms would make our justice system more fair, accurate and reliable. These reforms would help law enforcement identify and apprehend true perpetrators of crime, while protecting other innocent people from wrongful convictions.

Read the letters here.

Also this week, New York State Bar Association President Michael E. Getnick urged state lawmakers to establish a commission on the provision of quality defense services in the state.

Tags: Bad Lawyering

 

Former Mississippi Justice Rethinks Death Penalty

Posted: June 17, 2009 5:08 pm

Looking back over his record on Mississippi’s Supreme Court, former Justice Oliver Diaz says he has some regrets. His first vote, for example, was “to kill an innocent man.”

He was voting against overturning the death sentence of Kennedy Brewer, who was exonerated last year when DNA testing obtained by the Innocence Project proved his innocence of a 1992 murder.

“Reflecting on my votes at the Supreme Court, I realized that there is just so much error involved in these cases that it's not worth carrying out the death penalty,” Diaz told WAPT in Jackson. “We have innocent people in Mississippi who have been sitting on death row for years.”

Read the full story and watch a video interview with Diaz. (WAPT, 6/17/09)

Read more about Brewer’s case here.

Read the Innocence Project's policy on the death penalty and learn about the 17 people exonerated after serving time on death row for crimes they didn’t commit.

Tags: Kennedy Brewer, Death Penalty

 

Help Free the Innocent and Send a Father’s Day E-Card

Posted: June 17, 2009 4:35 pm

Father’s Day is just four days away. This year, instead of a gadget or a pair of socks, give dad a gift that has an impact. Please donate to the Innocence Project today in the name of a special dad in your life, and you’ll have the chance to send or print a custom e-card. You can send a meaningful Father’s Day gift and help to reunite an innocent prisoner with his family – and it will take less than five minutes.

Please click here to donate and send an e-card.

Today, La’Keisha Butts wrote to Innocence Project email subscribers about reuniting with her dad, Rickie Johnson, after he had served 25 years in prison. She wrote:

My father is my hero and an inspiration to so many people he met over the years. Not only did he survive a quarter-century in prison, he did it with a positive outlook on life. When he would tell me years ago that he was sure he’d be free someday, I would admire his optimism but take it with a grain of my own realism, knowing the odds were against him. Now I know that the truth can overcome the odds any time. Whenever I feel down about anything, I think about my dad’s strength and his triumph.

This Father’s Day, I’ll be celebrating my dad’s freedom and thinking of all of those other families who aren’t so lucky. Please give to the Innocence Project today to help free the innocent from prison and grant a Father’s Day wish for a daughter like myself.

Tags: Rickey Johnson