The Innocence Project in Print - Summer 2011 (PDF)

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20IP NEWSTEXAS FORENSIC SCIENCE COMMISSION ISSUES RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ARSON CASESSeven years after Texas executed Cameron Todd Willingham based on outdated andunscientific arson evidence, the Texas Forensic Science Commission released an 893-page report recommending more education and training for fire investigators andimplementing procedures to review old cases.The report was the long-awaited response to the Innocence Project’s 2006 allegation intwo cases – Cameron Todd Willingham and Ernest Willis – arguing that both had beenwrongfully convicted based on the same flawed arson evidence. Though Willinghamwas executed, Willis was exonerated. After years of politically motivated delays andupheavals, the TFSC issued the report with 16 recommendations this April. While theTFSC stopped short of saying that arson investigators were negligent in Willingham’scase, it did concede that the arson evidence used to convict him was outdated. Anopinion is pending from the Texas Attorney General about whether the commissionmay report on the alleged negligence of the arson investigators.HANK SKINNERILLINOIS ABOLISHES THE DEATH PENALTYCiting the risk of wrongful execution and other failings, Illinois Governor Pat Quinnsigned a bill abolishing the state’s death penalty in March. Gov. Quinn also commutedthe sentences of all 15 inmates remaining on Illinois’ death row. From Gov. Quinn’sofficial statement: “Since 1977, Illinois has seen 20 people exonerated from deathrow….That is a record that should trouble us all. To say that this is unacceptable doesnot even begin to express the profound regret and shame we, as a society, must bearfor these failures of justice.”Former Governor George Ryan lead the way by passing a moratorium on executions in2000 in response to a growing concern about the possibility of executing an innocentperson. Five of the 17 people who have been exonerated by DNA testing after servingtime on death row were Illinois’ cases. The state, which once had one of the largerdeath rows in the country, has not executed anyone since 1999. Since the reinstatementof the death penalty in 1977, sixteen states and the District of Columbia have haltedexecutions.SUPREME COURT APPROVES PRISONER’S CLAIM FOR DNA TESTINGTexas Death Row Inmate Hank Skinner was just hours away from execution when theU.S. Supreme Court stayed his execution and granted Skinner’s request to file a civil
IP NEWS21rights claim in federal court for post-conviction DNA testing. The March ruling maybenefit other prisoners whose requests for testing have been unfairly denied by statecourts. Skinner had been seeking DNA testing for 10 years in the murder of his live-ingirlfriend and her two sons. Among the evidence Skinner is seeking to test are knivesfrom the crime scene, hairs from the victim’s hand and a windbreaker possibly worn bythe perpetrator. The Innocence Project, which has assisted Skinner’s attorneys, arguesthat these items could provide proof of his guilt or innocence. Seventeen people havebeen proven innocent and exonerated by DNA testing after serving time on death row.IP’S FIFTH ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF FREEDOM AND JUSTICE A SUCCESSHundreds of Innocence Project supporters and exonerees gathered to celebrate andraise over $950,000 for the organization at the 2011 benefit during which Betty AnneWaters, Governor Jon S. Corzine and the law firm of Schulte Roth & Zabel werehonored. Waters’ story of determination in fighting for her brother’s exonerationthrough DNA testing became a major motion picture in 2010 – “Conviction” starringHilary Swank and Sam Rockwell. Governor Jon S. Corzine led New Jersey in criminaljustice reform, including abolishing the death penalty. The law firm of Schulte Roth& Zabel has provided extensive pro bono work and ongoing support for the InnocenceProject. The gala, held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on May 4, included musicalentertainment from jazz pianist Jonathan Batiste and exoneree musicians WilliamDillon, Antione Day and Raymond Towler.DNA EVIDENCE CLEARS NINE IN CHICAGONew DNA test results prove that four men were convicted of a 1994 rape and murderthey didn’t commit. The DNA results link a convicted murderer to the crime, and thefour men are seeking to be released from prison based on the new evidence. The caseis nearly identical to another in the Chicago area, in which five men convicted of a1991 murder are seeking to overturn their convictions based on DNA evidence that aconvicted rapist committed the crime.BETTY ANNE WATERS WITH EXONEREE ANTIONE DAY AT THE2011 INNOCENCE PROJECT BENEFIT.In both cases, the defendants were teenagers when they were arrested, as young as14, and the principal evidence used against them was their own confessions. (To readabout why young people are more susceptible to false confessions, see “In Their OwnWords” on page 16.) Also in both cases, the defendants were convicted in spite ofpreliminary DNA tests that excluded all nine of them. However, there was noconnection to another possible suspect as there is now. The Innocence Project isworking with the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth (at Northwestern LawSchool), the Exoneration Project (at the University of Chicago Law School) and privateattorneys to overturn all nine convictions and exonerate the men.
Page 1 and 2: James Lee Woodard 9/30/09Jerry Lee
Page 3 and 4: FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR3LOOKING
Page 5 and 6: A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY5Haynesw
Page 7 and 8: A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY7Instead
Page 9 and 10: 9WHO WILL PROSECUTETHE PROSECUTORS?
Page 11 and 12: WHO WILL PROSECUTE THE PROSECUTORS?
Page 13 and 14: STRENGTH IN NUMBERS13the criminal j
Page 15 and 16: STRENGTH IN NUMBERS15I want to see
Page 17 and 18: IN THEIR OWN WORDS17certain educati
Page 19: EXONERATION NATION19Dupree and his
Page 23 and 24: The Innocence Project was founded i

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