Entries tagged with “DNA Testing”

Jan 10, 2023

47 Years After His Death Sentence, Florida Court Orders DNA Testing for Tommy Zeigler

Nearly 47 years after being con­vict­ed of a quadru­ple mur­der, Florida death-row pris­on­er Tommy Zeigler has final­ly been per­mit­ted to inde­pen­dent­ly con­duct new DNA test­ing on evi­dence he claims will prove his inno­cence. Circuit Court Judge …

Mar 30, 2020

After Unanimous House Passage, Florida Senate Fails to Enact DNA Reforms

After receiv­ing unan­i­mous sup­port in the Florida House of Representatives, a bill that would have expand­ed access to post­con­vic­tion DNA test­ing failed in the Florida Senate when the leg­isla­tive body adjourned its 2020 leg­isla­tive ses­sion with­out t…

Aug 03, 2022

Amicus Groups Ask Supreme Court to Overturn Texas Appeals Court Refusal to Grant New Trial to Death-Row Prisoner Convicted Based on DNA Testimony Prosecutor and Trial Court Agree Was False

Three groups of fair jus­tice advo­cates have filed friend-of-the-court briefs ask­ing the U.S. Supreme Court to review and over­turn a Texas appeals court rul­ing that denied a new tri­al to a death-row pris­on­er who pros­e­cu­tors and the…

Jun 25, 2018

Board Appointed By Resigned Missouri Governor to Review Death-Row Prisoner’s Case

A Board of Inquiry appoint­ed by for­mer Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens will con­vene on August 22, 2018 to con­sid­er the fate of Marcel…

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 dea…

Apr 26, 2021

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of April 19, 2021

NEWS (4/​21 – 4/​23/​21) — Texas: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled against Texas death-row pris­on­ers in three sep­a­rate cap­i­tal appeals. On April 23, a split pan­el of the court …

Mar 01, 2021

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of February 22, 2021

NEWS (2/​25/​21) — Alabama: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11^th Circuit has denied habeas relief for Alabama death-row pris­on­er Charles Clark, who the tri­al court had sen­tenced to death based upon a non‑u…

Jun 19, 2020

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of June 15, 2020

NEWS (6/​19/​20) — California: In one of the few cap­i­tal tri­als to move for­ward dur­ing the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic, a San Jose jury acquit­ted Manuel Anthony Lopez of charges that he had raped and mur­dered his girlfriend’s two-year-old son.

May 17, 2021

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of May 10, 2021

NEWS (5/​14/​21) — North Carolina: A Rowan County tri­al judge has resen­tenced William Barnes to con­sec­u­tive life sen­tences for the mur­ders of an elder­ly North Carolina cou­ple in 1992, after the coun­ty dis­trict attorney’s office 

Sep 21, 2020

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of September 14, 2020

NEWS (9/​17/​20) — Florida: The Florida Supreme Court has denied post-con­vic­tion relief to Ken Lott, retroactiv…

Nov 09, 2020

Citing COVID-19, Governor Grants Reprieve to Tennessee Death-Row Prisoner Pervis Payne

Citing the coro­n­avirus pan­dem­ic, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has grant­ed a tem­po­rary reprieve to death-row pris­on­er Pervis Payne, halt­ing his sched­uled December 3, 2020 exe­cu­tion. The exe­cu­tion was the last schedu…

Apr 02, 2021

Clemency Efforts for Pervis Payne Gain Widespread Support as Execution Reprieve Set to Expire

Clemency efforts on behalf of Tennessee death-row pris­on­er Pervis Payne (pic­tured) are surg­ing, as a peti­tion on his behalf by The Innocence Project had col­lect­ed more than 600,000 sig­na­tures by M…

Oct 06, 2021

Death-Row Exoneree Kirk Bloodsworth Receives Supplemental Compensation Under New Maryland Wrongful Imprisonment Statute

Sep 28, 2021

Death-Row Exonerees in Ohio, Oklahoma Receive Million Dollar Payments for Their Wrongful Convictions

Two men exon­er­at­ed from death row, one in Ohio and one in Oklahoma, have received mil­lion ‑dol­lar pay­outs for their wrong­ful con­vic­tions and death sen­tences. Both were tried and con­vict­ed in coun­ties with long his…

Jan 22, 2021

Defense Lawyers Say DNA Tests Point to ​‘Unknown Male’ as Likely Killer in Tennessee Death-Row Prisoner Pervis Payne’s Case

Lawyers for Tennessee death-row pris­on­er Pervis Payne say DNA test­ing in his 30-year-old case points to an ​“unknown male” and excludes Payne as the per­son who stabbed to death Charisse Christopher and her 2‑yea…

Jul 24, 2020

Defense Seeks DNA Testing for Pervis Payne, Alleging Racism, Hidden Evidence, and Intellectual Disability Led to Wrongful Conviction

The Innocence Project and fed­er­al defend­ers have filed a motion in a Shelby County, Tennessee tri­al court seek­ing DNA test­ing of phys­i­cal evi­dence hid­den by pros­e­cu­tors for 30 years that they believe will exon­er­ate death-row priso…

Jul 29, 2021

DNA Exonerates Georgia Man Who Had Waived His Appeals to Avoid Wrongful Execution

When Dennis Perry stood with his defense team on the steps of the Brunswick, Georgia cour­t­house (pic­tured) after a tri­al judge dis­missed all charges against him, he was a free man, exon­er­at­ed of the racial­ly motiv…

Feb 18, 2021

DPIC Adds Eleven Cases to Innocence List, Bringing National Death-Row Exoneration Total to 185

New research by the Death Penalty Information Center has found 11 pre­vi­ous­ly unrecord­ed death-row exon­er­a­tions, bring­ing the total num­ber of peo­ple exon­er­at­ed after being wrong­ful­ly con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death to 185. The data now show that f…

Feb 17, 2020

Exoneree Ryan Matthews Calls for Ending Louisiana’s Death Penalty: ​“I Know Capital Punishment Doesn’t Work”

DNA exon­er­at­ed Ryan Matthews in 2004, after he had spent five years on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for a mur­der he did not com­mit. In December 2019, he received his col­lege degree. ​“I’m…

Apr 05, 2021

Federal Court Approves DNA Testing for Man Who Was Spared Execution by Texas’s Refusal to Allow Religious Adviser in Execution Chamber

A fed­er­al dis­trict court has ruled that Texas uncon­sti­tu­tion­al­ly denied DNA test­ing to a death-row pris­on­er who is alive today only because of a last-minute stay of exe­cu­tion grant­ed because the state refused to allow his reli­gious advis­er to acco…

Jun 28, 2023

First Death Row Exoneration Involving DNA Evidence Happened 30 Years Ago

June 28, 2023 marks the 30^th anniver­sary of the exon­er­a­tion of Kirk Bloodsworth (pic­tured), the first per­son exon­er­at­ed from death row with DNA evi­dence. In the three decades since he was exon­er­at­ed from Maryland’s death row, Mr. Bloods…

Nov 05, 2021

Florida Attorney General Appeals Ruling Allowing DNA Testing for Prisoners Who Have Been on Death Row More than 40 Years

The Florida Attorney General’s office has tak­en steps to block DNA test­ing agreed to by local pros­e­cu­tors and approved by the tri­al court for two Florida death-row pris­on­ers who have pro­fessed their inno­cence for more than four decades. A…

Jun 09, 2021

Florida Attorney General Fights to Block DNA Testing that Local Prosecutor Approved for Two Prisoners Who Have Been on Death Row More Than Four Decades

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (pic­tured) has filed motions in a Florida tri­al court seek­ing to block DNA test­ing that the local elect­ed State Attorney had agreed to and a judge had grant­ed in two 45-year-old Orange County…

Jul 07, 2022

Florida Supreme Court Rejects State Attorney General’s Attempt to Block DNA Testing in 46-Year-Old Death Penalty Case

The Florida Supreme Court has reject­ed an attempt by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to pre­vent DNA test­ing and fin­ger­print analy­sis of evi­dence lawyers for Henry Sireci (pic­tured) say could prove him innoce…

Oct 31, 2022

Florida Trial Court Conditionally Approves DNA Testing for Tommy Ziegler in 46-Year-Old Death Penalty Case

In what the Tampa Bay Times described as ​“an epic turn­around” in a 46-year-old cap­i­tal case, a Florida tri­al judge is poised to order DNA test­ing of evi­dence death-row pris­on­er Tommy Zeigler has long asse…

May 11, 2021

Forensic Testing Casts New Doubt on Guilt of Ledell Lee, Executed in Arkansas in 2017

Posthumous foren­sic test­ing of evi­dence in the case of Ledell Lee (pic­tured), who was exe­cut­ed in Arkansas in 2017, has found DNA from an uniden­ti­fied male on a bloody club used to kill Debra Reese 29 years ago an…

May 22, 2020

Former Georgia Death-Row Prisoner Reaches Deal Securing His Release After Serving 43 Years for a Murder He Says He Did Not Commit

Johnny Lee Gates (pic­tured) is free, 43 years after being sen­tenced to death in Georgia for a mur­der he has stead­fast­ly main­tained he did not com­mit. On May 15, 2020, Gates entered a so-called ​“Alford…

Jan 29, 2020

Georgia Executes Donnie Lance Over Protests of Victim’s Children After Denying DNA Testing

Georgia exe­cut­ed Donnie Lance on January 29, 2020 after his requests for DNA test­ing and a plea for clemen­cy sup­port­ed by the chil­dren he and mur­der vic­tim Joy Lance shared were denied. Lance was convicted …

Jan 13, 2020

Georgia Set to Execute Man Jurors Would Have Sentenced to Life Without Parole

On January 16, Georgia plans to exe­cute Jimmy Meders (pic­tured in his National Guard uni­form), a man whom jurors say they would have sen­tenced to l…

Mar 16, 2020

Georgia Supreme Court Votes 9 – 0 for New Trial for Former Death-Row Prisoner Johnny Gates

More than forty years after he was con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death by an all-white Columbus, Georgia jury for the rape and mur­der of a 19-year-old white woman, Johnny Lee Gates (pic­tured) will be get­ting a new tri­al. On March 13,…

Jan 29, 2020

Lawsuit Seeks DNA and Fingerprint Testing that Could Show Arkansas Executed an Innocent Man

In its unprece­dent­ed rush to exe­cute eight pris­on­ers over an eleven-day peri­od in April 2017, Arka…

Jul 15, 2022

Mississippi Supreme Court Denies Additional DNA Testing to Death-Row Prisoner

The Mississippi Supreme Court has denied addi­tion­al DNA test­ing to death-row pris­on­er Willie Manning (pic­tured). Manning, who was sen­tenced to death in Oktibbeha County in 1994 and in 1996 for two sep­a­rate crimes,…

Aug 16, 2017

Missouri Court Denies Condemned Prisoner Stay of Execution, Review of Case Despite Exonerating DNA Evidence

After hav­ing pre­vi­ous­ly grant­ed Marcellus Williams (pic­tured) a stay of exe­cu­tion in 2015 to per­mit DNA test­ing in his case, the Missouri Supreme Court on August 1…

Aug 31, 2022

Missouri Governor Silent on Marcellus Williams’ Case 5 Years After Execution Halted for Board of Inquiry Innocence Review

Five years after for­mer Gov. Eric Greitens issued an exe­cu­tion-day reprieve for a Board of Inquiry to address ques­tions of inno­cence, Marcellus Williams remains on Missouri’s death row. Though the…

Aug 22, 2017

Missouri Governor Stays Execution of Marcellus Williams to Consider Evidence of Innocence

Calling a sen­tence of death ​“the ulti­mate, per­ma­nent pun­ish­ment,” Missouri Governor Eric Greitens (pic­tured) has stayed the exe­cu­tion of Marcellus Williams ​“in light of new infor­ma­tion” that Willi…

Mar 10, 2020

Paul Hildwin Released from Florida Prison 34 Years After Being Sentenced to Death

Paul Hildwin, whose death sen­tence was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1989 in…

Sep 30, 2021

Sherwood Brown Exonerated in Mississippi, 186^th Death-Row Exoneration Since 1973

Sherwood Brown has been exon­er­at­ed of the charges that sent him to death row in Mississippi in 1995 for a triple mur­der he did not com­mit. On August 24, 2021, DeSoto County Circuit Court Judge Jim…

Feb 07, 2020

States Continue to Oppose DNA Testing in Death Penalty Appeals, Attorneys Ask Why Don’t They Want to Learn the Truth?

The last three men sched­uled for exe­cu­tion in Georgia said they did not com­mit the killing and that DNA test­ing that was not avail­able at the time of tri­al could prove it. In two of the cas­es, vic­tim fam­i­ly mem­bers sup­port­ed the r…

Oct 25, 2016

Supported by New DNA Evidence, Man Sentenced to Death in Virginia in 1970 Files Innocence Claim

Sherman Brown (pic­tured), a man who was sen­tenced to death in Virginia in 1970 for the mur­der of a 4‑year-old boy, has filed a writ of actu­al inno­cence with the Virginia Supreme Court say­ing that DNA test­ing on re…

Apr 20, 2023

Supreme Court (6 – 3) Allows Death Row Prisoner’s Bid for DNA Testing to Proceed

On April 19, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (6 – 3) in Reed v. Goertz that a Texas death row pris­on­er could con­tin­ue his pur­suit of DNA test­ing that a low­er court had blocked. The Court held that Rodney Reed’s (pic­tured) civ­il rights…

May 05, 2022

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case of Texas Death Row Prisoner Rodney Reed

In a case legal experts say could redress a mis­car­riage of jus­tice or insti­tu­tion­al­ize it, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the Texas fed­er­al courts’ refusal to per­mit DNA test­ing of crime-scene evidenc…

Oct 12, 2022

Supreme Court Hears Argument on Deadline for Texas Death-Row Prisoner to Challenge State Court’s Denial of DNA Testing

The U.S. Supreme Court heard argu­ment on October 11, 2022 on whether a Texas death-row pris­on­er was time-barred from obtain­ing fed­er­al review of the state’s refusal to grant him DNA test­ing that could prove his inno­cence because h…

Jan 13, 2023

Supreme Court Reverses Texas Court Decision Based on Prosecutor’s Admission About Flawed Forensic Evidence

The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed the denial of relief to a Texas death-row pris­on­er whose request for new tri­al is sup­port­ed by local pros­e­cu­tors. In a two-sen­tence deci­sion, the Court grant­ed cer­tio­rari to Areli Escoba…

Feb 05, 2021

Tennessee Criminal Appeals Court Hears Appeal for Posthumous DNA Testing in Sedley Alley Case

Lawyers for the daugh­ter of a man exe­cut­ed by Tennessee have asked a state appeals court to per­mit DNA test­ing that could prove his inno­cence. In a vir­tu­al hear­ing before the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals on February 3, 2021 (see

Apr 13, 2022

Tennessee Trial Court Denies Motion to Halt Upcoming Execution Based on New DNA Evidence

A Nashville tri­al judge has denied a Tennessee death-row prisoner’s motion to reopen his case and halt his sched­uled April 21, 2022 exe­cu­tion in light of new DNA evi­dence. In a motion filed April 4, 2022,…