Entries by Death Penalty Information Center

Paul Clement (pictured), former Solicitor General under President George W. Bush, along with a group of former Justice Department prosecutors and civil rights officials, is asking the U.S. Supreme Court for time to argue on behalf of a former death row inmate in a case addressing prosecutorial misconduct. Lawyers for John Thompson claimed that the New Orleans district attorney’s office systematically withheld important evidence that would have exonerated Thompson of an armed robbery and murder.

On August 24, U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore Jr. rejected Troy Davis’s petition to overturn his conviction for killing a police officer in 1989 in Georgia. Judge Moore chose a high standard of proof that Davis would have to meet to establish his innocence claim: Davis needed to prove by “clear and convincing evidence that no reasonable juror would have convicted him in light of the new evidence.” Judge Moore did conclude that it would be unconstitutional to execute “those who can…

After an audit of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) conducted by former FBI agents at the request of North Carolina’s attorney general, it was revealed that officials withheld blood evidence affecting 269 defendants. The report listed three death penalty cases that resulted in executions. Although each of the executed defendants confessed to the crimes, such confessions are sometimes suspect and evidence withheld by the state might have at least led to a lesser sentence. Desmond Carter…

A government-ordered audit of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation found that the agency falsely reported blood evidence in dozens of cases, including three that ended in executions. The inquiry, ordered by Attorney General Roy Cooper, found that SBI agents improperly aided prosecutors for over a 16-year period, calling into question convictions in 230 criminal cases. Duane Deaver, a veteran SBI analyst who performed the work in five particularly troubling cases, has been suspended…

Ron McAndrew, a former warden who oversaw executions on Florida’s death row, recently testified at a New Hampshire hearing regarding the trauma prison staff endure during an execution. McAndrew said, “Many colleagues turned to drugs and alcohol from the pain of knowing a man had died at their hands. And I’ve been haunted by the men I was asked to execute in the name of the state of Florida.” The New Hampshire hearing was conducted by a legislative commission studying the effectiveness of the…

In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that his administration plans to borrow over $64 million from the state’s general fund for the construction of a new death row at San Quentin. At the same time, the governor’s lawyers have recently sought approval from the courts to furlough state workers and reduce their pay. Teachers, police officers and firefighters are losing jobs because of the budget crisis. The governor also plans to end safety net services for some of the poorest…