Entries tagged with “Kevin Cooper”

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Jan 30, 2023

Attorneys for Kevin Cooper Respond to Special Counsel Report

Kevin Cooper (pic­tured) is a death-row pris­on­er in California who was con­vict­ed of mur­der­ing four peo­ple in 1985. He has main­tained his inno­cence of the offense. On January 13, 2023, a spe­cial coun­sel appoint­ed by Governor Gavin Newsom to con­duct an inde­pen­dent inves­ti­ga­tion of Cooper’s case released a report dis­miss­ing his claims of inno­cence, stat­ing, ​“The evi­dence of Cooper’s guilt is exten­sive and…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Jun 01, 2021

California Gov. Gavin Newsom Orders Investigation into Kevin Cooper Capital Murder Conviction

California Governor Gavin Newsom has ordered an inde­pen­dent inves­ti­ga­tion into the case of Kevin Cooper, who has con­sis­tent­ly main­tained his inno­cence in the 1983 quadru­ple-mur­der for which he was sen­tenced to death. Newsom’s May 28, 2021 exec­u­tive order appoints the law firm Morrison and Foerster, LLP as Special Counsel to the California Board of Parole Hearings and directs the firm to ​“con­duct a full review of the tri­al and appel­late records in [Cooper’s]…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Nov 12, 2019

New Podcast: ​“Unrequited Innocence” with Rob Warden and John Seasly

At least 166 wrong­ful­ly con­vict­ed death-row pris­on­ers have been exon­er­at­ed since the death penal­ty was rein­sti­tut­ed in the United States in 1973. That num­ber, how­ev­er, may only scratch the sur­face in assess­ing the degree to which inno­cent men and women are being sent to U.S. death…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Nov 12, 2019

“Unrequited Innocence” with Rob Warden and John Seasly

Rob Warden and John Seasly speak with Anne Holsinger about their law review arti­cle and pro­file series, ​“Unrequited Innocence,” which exam­ine death-penal­ty cas­es in which pris­on­ers have not been exon­er­at­ed, despite strong evi­dence of inno­cence. Warden, the Executive Director Emeritus of the Center on Wrongful Convictions and a co-founder of both the National Registry of Exonerations and Injustice Watch, and Seasly, a reporter at Injustice Watch, pro­filed 24 cas­es involv­ing 25 defen­dants with…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Race

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May 29, 2018

New Podcast: Columnist Nicholas Kristof on ​“The Framing of Kevin Cooper”

In his May 20 col­umn in the Sunday New York Times, Pulitzer Prize win­ning colum­nist Nicholas Kristof (pic­tured, left) focused nation­al atten­tion on the trou­bling case of California death-row pris­on­er, Kevin Cooper (pic­tured, right) and the dis­turb­ing evi­dence sug­gest­ing that San Bernardino police plant­ed blood and oth­er evi­dence to frame him for mur­der. Kristof joined DPIC Executive Director Robert Dunham for a…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Race

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May 29, 2018

Columnist Nicholas Kristof on The Framing of Kevin Cooper

New York Times Pulitzer Prize win­ning colum­nist Nicholas Kristof used the pow­er of his pen to focus nation­al atten­tion on the trou­bling case of California death-row pris­on­er, Kevin Cooper and to urge Governor Jerry Brown to autho­rize DNA test­ing that could resolve out­stand­ing issues of Cooper’s guilt or inno­cence. Kristof’s May 20 col­umn in the Sunday Times asked: Was Kevin Cooper Framed for Murder? Mr. Kristof joins DPIC Executive Director Robert Dunham to answer that ques­tion and to discuss…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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May 18, 2018

New York Times Columnist Says Kevin Cooper May Have Been Framed, Urges DNA Testing That Could Prove His Innocence

Citing exten­sive evi­dence that California death-row pris­on­er Kevin Cooper (pic­tured) may have been framed, New York Times Pulitzer Prize-win­ning colum­nist Nicholas Kristof has urged Governor Jerry Brown to per­mit advanced DNA test­ing of evi­dence that could poten­tial­ly prove Cooper’s inno­cence. In a col­umn elec­tron­i­cal­ly post­ed by the Times on May 17, 2018 and sched­uled to appear in the paper’s May 20 Sunday print edition,…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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New Voices

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Jul 12, 2016

NEW VOICES: Former FBI Agent Now Opposes Death Penalty, Seeks Exoneration of California Death Row Prisoner Kevin Cooper

During his 45 years in law enforce­ment, includ­ing 24 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, homi­cide inves­ti­ga­tor Tom Parker (pic­tured) changed his view on the death penal­ty. ​“There were times dur­ing my career when I would glad­ly have pushed the but­ton on a mur­der­er,” he said. ​“Today, my posi­tion would be, life with­out parole.” Parker says that see­ing cor­rupt homi­cide inves­ti­ga­tions con­vinced him that inno­cent peo­ple could be exe­cut­ed. As result, he now opposes…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Apr 18, 2016

California Death Row Prisoner With Innocence Claim Describes Preparations for His Near Execution

California death row pris­on­er Kevin Cooper (pic­tured), whose inno­cence claims recent­ly spurred the American Bar Association to call for a reprieve, recent­ly authored an arti­cle describ­ing what is was like for him to expe­ri­ence near­ly being exe­cut­ed on February 10, 2004. Cooper described the days lead­ing up to his sched­uled exe­cu­tion, which includ­ed round-the-clock mon­i­tor­ing, med­ical exams, and meet­ings with his attorneys.

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Race

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Mar 23, 2016

American Bar Association Urges Reprieve to Allow Full Investigation of Kevin Cooper’s Innocence Claims

American Bar Association President Paulette Brown has sent a let­ter to California Govenor Jerry Brown urg­ing him to grant a reprieve to death row inmate Kevin Cooper to per­mit a full inves­ti­ga­tion of Cooper’s pos­si­ble inno­cence. The ABA President wrote: ​“Mr. Cooper’s arrest, pros­e­cu­tion, and con­vic­tion are marred by evi­dence of racial bias, police mis­con­duct, evi­dence tam­per­ing, sup­pres­sion of excul­pa­to­ry infor­ma­tion, lack of qual­i­ty defense coun­sel, and a…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Feb 05, 2016

California Inmate Raises Innocence Claims As State Seeks to Resume Executions

As California’s new lethal injec­tion pro­to­col moves the state towards resum­ing exe­cu­tions, Kevin Cooper (pic­tured, left) is seek­ing clemen­cy from Gov. Jerry Brown on the grounds that he is inno­cent. Cooper — one of 18 death-row pris­on­ers who have exhaust­ed their court appeals and face exe­cu­tion — was sen­tenced to death for the 1983 mur­ders of a mar­ried cou­ple, their 10-year-old daugh­ter, and the daugh­ter’s 11-year-old friend. However, evi­dence that was sup­pressed as a result of police and…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Dec 29, 2010

EDITORIALS: ​“Governor, Save Inmate’s Life”

In an edi­to­r­i­al, the Los Angeles Times has called on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California to com­mute Kevin Cooper​’s death sen­tence before leav­ing office in ear­ly January 2011. The Times not­ed that con­sid­er­able doubt has been cast upon the evi­dence used to con­vict Cooper of four mur­ders that occurred in San Bernadino County in 1983. In par­tic­u­lar, they cite the analy­sis offered by fed­er­al Judge William Fletcher of the…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Innocence

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New Voices

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Dec 09, 2010

Possible Case of Innocence on California’s Death Row

A recent op-ed by Pulitzer Prize-win­ning colum­nist Nicholas Kristof (pic­tured) of the New York Times focus­es on the pos­si­ble inno­cence of Kevin Cooper, a black defen­dant on California​’s death row. Kristof writes, ​“This case is a trav­es­ty. It under­scores the cen­tral pit­fall of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment: no sys­tem is fail-safe. How can we be about to exe­cute a man when even some of America’s lead­ing judges believe he has been framed?” Cooper…