The Innocence Project in Print - Summer 2011 (PDF)

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS15I want to see that change made in Japan and all over the world. That’s why I’m here.”Electronically recording interrogations from the reading of the Miranda rights onwardis the best reform available to prevent false confessions from becoming wrongfulconvictions. In the U.S., only 18 states require interrogations to be recorded. (Formore about false confessions, see “In Their Own Words” on p. 16.) In Japan, suspectscan be interrogated for up to 23 days, and interrogations may include physical violenceand sleep deprivation.As one of the only exonerees in his home country, Sugaya enjoyed the opportunityto interact with people from other countries who know what he’s going through.“Everyone is on the same page,” he says. “I feel like I made some friends. I would liketo come again.”TRENA BOZELLA: Wife of Exoneree Dewey BozellaFamily members of the exonerated attended the conference as well, not only toaccompany their husbands, brothers and daughters, but also to connect with otherswho share their experience. As Trena Bozella says, “Anyone who has stuck by aninnocent person in prison has a story to tell.”Trena and Dewey Bozella had been married 14 years by the time of his release andexoneration for a Poughkeepsie, New York, murder that he didn’t commit. Thoseyears of dealing with his wrongful imprisonment were hard, she remembers, but lifesince his exoneration in 2009 has presented its own set of challenges. “The sleeplessnights, the attitudes, the mood swings. I had no tools to deal with it.” She spoke aboutthese challenges on a special panel at the conference titled “Women on the Outside.”The three panelists spoke about the costs, both financial and emotional, of wrongfulconviction from a family member’s perspective.Fellow family members of the exonerated can help prepare each other for a newlyexonerated relatives’ homecoming. Most exonerees, if they have surviving family, goto live with them immediately upon release. By speaking out at the conference, Bozellahopes that she reached others who might learn from her experience: “We go throughyears of visiting them, bringing them packages, we do this and that. We always look likethe strong ones. Sometimes I thought I was losing myself to be there for him.”TRENA AND DEWEY BOZELLADewey Bozella has since become a boxing trainer and a counselor for formerlyincarcerated youth. Trena Bozella says, “After all that Dewey has gone through fightingfor his freedom, he’s finally found a family,” she says, referring to the bond betweenthe exonerated men and women. “It’s brotherhood and sisterhood with the men andwomen who have been wrongfully convicted.” 1982 TO 2009 • FREDDIE PEACOCK 1976 TO 2010 • TED BRADFORD 1996 TO 2010 • ANTHONY CARAVELLA 1986 TO 2010 • FRANK STERLING 1992 TO 2010 • RAYMOND TOWLER 1981 TO 2010 • CURTIS J. MOORE 1978TO 2010 • PATRICK BROWN 2002 TO 2010 • DOUGLAS PACYON 1985 TO 2010 • LARRY DAVIS 1993 TO 2010 • ALAN NORTHROP 1993 TO 2010 • ANTHONY JOHNSON 1986 TO 2010 • WILLIAM AVERY 2004 TO 2010 •MAURICE PATTERSON 2003 TO 2010 • MICHAEL A. GREEN 1983 TO 2010 • JOHN WATKINS 2004 TO 2010 • PHILLIP BIVENS 1980 TO 2010 • BOBBY RAY DIXON 1980 TO 2010 • LARRY RUFFIN 1980 TO 2010 • CORNELIUS