Entries tagged with “Christopher Tapp”
Issues
Jun 24, 2022
Idaho Falls Will Pay $11.7 Million to Exoneree Coerced Into False Confession by Threat of the Death Penalty
The city of Idaho Falls, Idaho has agreed to a settlement of $11.7 million with an exoneree who spent 20 years in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit. Christopher Tapp (pictured, center, with Stacy Tapp and Idaho Innocence Project Director Greg Hampikian at the Idaho Senate Chambers as they unanimously supported the Compensation for Wrongful Conviction Bill) was convicted in 1998 of the rape and murder of Angie Dodge based upon a false confession coerced by police who threatened him…
Issues
Federal Death Penalty
,Jan 07, 2022
“Random and Unjust,” “Barbaric” and “Ineffective”: Editorials Call for End to Death Penalty
As 2021 came to a close, editorial writers in four death penalty states called for legislative and executive action to end capital punishment or further limit its use. Editorial boards for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and the Idaho Statesman took note that as the death penalty declines in usage and public support, it remains arbitrary and inhumane in its application and continues to place innocent lives at risk. Additionally, recently retired Los Angeles Times…
Issues
Apr 03, 2020
2019 Exoneration Report: Official Misconduct and Perjury Remain Leading Causes of Wrongful Homicide Convictions
Official misconduct and perjury or false accusation continue to be the main reasons innocent men and women are wrongfully convicted in America, according to the 2019 annual report by the National Registry of Exonerations. That misconduct, the report indicates, is most prevalent in cases involving the most serious criminal charges. The registry reported on March 31, 2020 that 143 men and women were exonerated in 2019 following wrongful convictions across the United States. More than half (76)…
Issues
Jan 10, 2020
Exonerees in Florida, Idaho Murder Cases Initiate Lawsuits for Wrongful Prosecution
In two cases in which the death penalty played a central role, recent exonerees in Florida and Idaho have initiated legal proceedings against government officials, alleging that they were wrongfully prosecuted and convicted. On January 7, 2020, Florida death-row exoneree Clemente Aguirre-Jarquin (pictured with his lawyers), filed suit in federal court against Seminole County, the county sheriff’s office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) alleging that he had been wrongfully…