Entries tagged with “Junk Science

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Apr 09, 2002

100th DEATH ROW EXONEREE FREED IN ARIZONA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, April 9, 2002 CONTACT: BRENDA BOWSER (202) 2936970 bbowser@​deathpenaltyinfo.​org 100th DEATH ROW EXONEREE FREED IN ARIZONA 

Policy Issues

Intellectual Disability

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Race

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Representation

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Dec 31, 2000

A State of Denial: Texas Justice and the Death Penalty

A State of Denial: Texas Justice and the Death Penalty Texas Defender Service* Executive Summary The nation is embroiled in a debate over the death penal­ty. Each day brings fresh accounts of racial bias, incom­pe­tent coun­sel, an…

Facts & Research

Recent Legislative Activity

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May 28, 2019

Amended Bill to Limit Oregon’s Death Penalty Easily Passes State Senate

An amend­ed bill to nar­row the cir­cum­stances in which the death penal­ty may be imposed in Oregon has eas­i­ly passed the state sen­ate. On May 21, 2019, by a vote of 18 – 9, the Oregon Senate passed SB 1013, whic…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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United States Supreme Court

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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…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Feb 24, 2006

Another Innocent Inmate to be Freed From Death Row

The Florida Supreme Court unan­i­mous­ly over­turned the con­vic­tion of death row inmate John Robert Ballard (pic­tured) and ordered his acquit­tal in the 1999 mur­ders of two of his acquain­tances. The Court con­clud­ed that the evi­dence against Ballard was…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Innocence

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Feb 01, 2007

Another Prisoner Freed After DNA Evidence Leads to Exoneration

After spend­ing 15 years in a New York prison for mur­der, Roy Brown has been exon­er­at­ed through DNA evi­dence and is free. Brown is the eighth per­son in New York to be exon­er­at­ed due to DNA evi­dence in the past 13 months, more than in any oth­er stat…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Innocence

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Clemency

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Nov 12, 2010

Another Texas Execution Thrown in Doubt by New DNA Tests

Recent DNA tests raise seri­ous doubts about the con­vic­tion of a man exe­cut­ed in Texas in 2000. The tests revealed that a strand of hair found at the scene of a liquor-store shoot­ing did not belong to Claude Jones,…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Race

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Oct 22, 2021

Attorneys Present Closing Arguments in Rodney Reed Innocence Hearing

A Bastrop, Texas tri­al court heard clos­ing argu­ments October 18, 2021 on whether Texas death-row pris­on­er Rodney Reed should be grant­ed a new tri­al in the April 1996 mur­der of Stacey Stites. The argu­ment con­clud­ed the adversarial …

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Apr 19, 2005

Attorneys Seek DNA Testing In Case of Executed Texas Man

Attorney Barry Scheck plans to ask Texas Governor Rick Perry to order DNA test­ing in the case of Claude Jones, who main­tained his inno­cence until his exe­cu­tion in December 2000. Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project, says Jones’ con­vic­tion w…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Race

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Sentencing Data

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Executions Overview

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Jun 06, 2020

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of June 12020

NEWS (6/​5/​20) — North Carolina: The North Carolina Supreme Court has struck down the state leg­is­la­ture’s attempt­ed retroac­tive repeal of the state’s Racial Justice Act, restor­ing the rights of approx­i­mate­ly 130 death-row pris­on­ers to seek …

Oct 19, 2004

Chicago Tribune Investigates Forensic Science and Wrongful Convictions

A five-part Chicago Tribune inves­ti­ga­tion of foren­sics in the court­room has revealed that flawed test­ing analy­sis, ques­tion­able sci­ence once con­sid­ered reli­able, and shod­dy crime lab prac­tices can often lead to wrong­ful con­vic­tions. Developments i…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Aug 02, 2005

Convictions Overturned In Pennsylvania and New Jersery through DNA Testing

Thomas Doswell of Pennsylvania and Larry Peterson of New Jersey recent­ly had their con­vic­tions over­turned as a direct result of DNA test­ing. Each defen­dant had serverd 18 years in prison. In Peterson’s case, the pros­e­cu­tion had soug…

Jan 08, 2001

Death Trip: The American Way of Execution (Part I)

THE NATION By ROBERT SHERILL Part 1 of 2 Capital pun­ish­ment is to the rest of all law as sur­re­al­ism is to real­ism. It destroys the log­ic of the pro­fes­sion.” — Norman Mailer, The Executioner’s Song…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Apr 29, 2005

DNA Evidence May Lead to Exoneration in Former Capital Case

Results from DNA test­ing may soon lead to the exon­er­a­tion of Larry Peterson in New Jersey. He would become the first per­son in the state to be cleared of a homi­cide through DNA evi­dence. Peterson was con­vict­ed of a rape and mur­der that occurred in…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Apr 09, 2002

DPIC Press Release: 100th DEATH ROW EXONEREE FREED IN ARIZONA

100th DEATH ROW EXONEREE FREED IN ARIZONA DNA evi­dence vin­di­cates man wrong­ful­ly con­vict­ed of 1991 mur­der WASHINGTON, DC — Ray Krone is the 100th inno­cent per­son con­vict­ed of cap­i­tal mur­der to wal…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Race

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Dec 08, 2016

Experts Say Texas’ Future Dangerousness Concept Is Based on Junk Science

Since 1973, juries in Texas have had to deter­mine whether a defen­dant presents a future dan­ger to soci­ety before impos­ing a death sen­tence. But while they have found that each of the 244 men and women cur­rent­ly on the state’s deat…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Innocence

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Apr 20, 2015

FBI Acknowledges Flawed Forensic Testimony Affected At Least 32 Death Penalty Cases

(Click on image to enlarge). The Federal Bureau of Investigation has for­mal­ly acknowl­edged that exam­in­ers from the FBI Laboratory’s micro­scop­ic hair com­par­i­son unit for decades pro­vid­ed flawed foren­sic tes­ti­mo­ny pur­port­ed­ly match­ing crime scene ha…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Innocence

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Jul 18, 2013

FBI To Examine 27 Death Penalty Cases For Potentially Inaccurate Testimony

A Federal Bureau of Investigation review of more than 21,000 cas­es has revealed 27 death penal­ty cas­es in which the FBI’s foren­sic experts may have exag­ger­at­ed the sci­en­tif­ic con­clu­sions that could be drawn from their tes­ti­mo­ny, m…

Jun 11, 2000

Flawed Trials Lead to Death Chamber

Chicago Tribune By STEVE MILLS, KEN ARMSTRONG and DOUGLAS HOLT Tribune Staff Writers First of two parts. AUSTIN, Texas — Under Gov. George W. Bush, Texas has exe­cut­ed dozens of Death Row inmates whose cas­es were comprom…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Innocence

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Nov 17, 2015

Forensic Pseudoscience and the Death Penalty

In light of the FBI’s acknowl­edge­ment in April that flawed foren­sic tes­ti­mo­ny by its expert hair-com­par­i­son ana­lysts had taint­ed at least 268 cas­es, includ­ing 32 death penal­ty ca…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Dec 05, 2007

INNOCENCE: Another Inmate is Exonerated, After 16 Years on Death Row

On December 5, a Tennessee jury acquit­ted Michael Lee McCormick of the 1985 mur­der of Donna Jean Nichols, a crime for which McCormick spent 16 years on death row. In his first tri­al, the pros­e­cu­tion intro­duced hair evi­dence from Nichols’ car that …

Oct 22, 2003

Judge Throws Out Last Piece of Evidence Against Tennessee Man

Michael Lee McCormick has been on Tennessee’s death row for 17 years, but a recent court deci­sion throw­ing out the remain­ing evi­dence against him could result in his free­dom. Judge Doug Meyer ruled that tapes con­tain­ing con­ver­sa­tions between McCor…

Policy Issues

Juveniles

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Race

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Clemency

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Upcoming Executions

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Federal Death Penalty

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Dec 08, 2020

Jurors and Appellate Prosecutor Say Teen Offender Brandon Bernard Should Not be Executed

As the December 10, 2020 exe­cu­tion date of fed­er­al death-row pris­on­er Brandon Bernard (pic­tured with his fam­i­ly) approached, jurors and a for­mer pros­e­cu­tor in his case came for­ward say­ing that the teen offender’s life should be sp…

Policy Issues

Intellectual Disability

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Mental Illness

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Sentencing Data

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Executions Overview

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Oct 08, 2018

Law Review: Junk Mental Health Science and the Texas Death Penalty

Junk sci­ence is enabling and per­pet­u­at­ing grave mis­car­riages of jus­tice” in Texas death-penal­ty cas­es. So con­cludes Professor James Acker in his arti­cle, Snake Oil With A Bite: The Lethal Veneer of Science an…

Jun 01, 2003

My Nightmare — Greg Wilhoit

by Ira SaletanFriends Committee on Legislation of Californiareprinted from the FCL Newsletter, June 2003 edi­tion FCL Development & Outreach Coordinator Ira Saletan recent­ly met with Greg Wilhoit, who served four ye…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Innocence

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Jul 23, 2007

NEW RESOURCES: Destroyed DNA Evidence Blocks Possible Exonerations

A recent four-part series in the Denver Post about evi­dence in crim­i­nal cas­es detailed how police depart­ments across the U.S. store and dis­pose of cru­cial bio­log­i­cal evi­dence. The Post exam­ined 10 states in which author­i­ties destroyed bio­log­i­cal e…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Aug 18, 2011

NEW RESOURCES: The Causes of Wrongful Convictions

The Innocence Project has launched a new mul­ti­me­dia resource illus­trat­ing the main caus­es of wrong­ful con­vic­tions and the reforms nec­es­sary to pre­vent such mis­takes. This inter­ac­tive t…

Policy Issues

Intellectual Disability

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Upcoming Executions

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Federal Death Penalty

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Aug 02, 2020

NEWS BRIEF — Federal Government, Texas Set New Execution Dates

As July 2020 came to a close, the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment issued two more notices of exe­cu­tion and a coun­ty judge in Texas report­ed­ly issued a new death war­rant for a death-row pris­on­er whose pre­vi­ous­ly sched­uled exe­cu­tion had been stayed.

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Clemency

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Dec 03, 2010

OP-ED: Capital Punishment and Human Fallibility”

A recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by Barry Scheck, co-direc­tor of the Innocence Project, high­lighs flaws in Texas’s death penal­ty sys­tem that led to the exe­cu­tion of Claude Jones …

Policy Issues

Innocence

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New Voices

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Jun 11, 2013

OP-ED: DNA: A Test for Justice”

In a recent op-ed in the Baltimore Sun, for­mer FBI Director William Sessions (pic­tured) under­scored the impor­tance of reli­able FBI foren­sic analy­sis in con­vict­ing the guilty and exon­er­at­ing the inno­cent. Sessions provided…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Innocence

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Sep 16, 2014

POSSIBLE INNOCENCE: Mississippi Inmate Challenges Bite-Mark Evidence

A new appeal filed on behalf of Mississippi death row inmate Eddie Howard, Jr. pre­sent­ed DNA evi­dence that calls into ques­tion bite-mark evi­dence used to con­vict him in 1992. At Howard’s tri­al, Dr. Michael West, a…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Innocence

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Aug 12, 2013

STUDIES: Texas To Re-Examine Previous Convictions for Forensic Errors

The Texas Forensic Science Commission announced it will study pri­or crim­i­nal con­vic­tions to deter­mine whether mis­takes were made using dis­cred­it­ed foren­sic tes­ti­mo­ny. The Commission will employ DNA test­ing to review cas­es in which…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Mental Illness

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Apr 02, 2020

STUDIES — Junk Psychological Science Continues to Infect Death-Penalty Determinations

Courts are fail­ing bad­ly in keep­ing junk psy­cho­log­i­cal sci­ence out of the court­room in crim­i­nal cas­es, per­mit­ting the admis­sion of psy­cho­log­i­cal tests that have nev­er been reviewed for reli­a­bil­i­ty and oth­ers that have been found unre­li­able, a rece…

Policy Issues

Prosecutorial Accountability

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Mar 31, 2020

Texas Appeals Court Rejects Recommendation for New Trial for Death-Row Prisoner

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) has once again reject­ed the find­ings of a tri­al court that a death-row pris­on­er was enti­tled to relief from his con­vic­tion or death sen­tence. Applying a nar­row inter­pre­ta­tion of …

Executions

Aug 15, 2022

Texas Executes Man Whose Conviction Relied on Discredited Forensics

Texas on August 17, 2022 exe­cut­ed Kosoul Chanthakoummane (pic­tured), whose con­vic­tion pros­e­cu­tors obtained with dis­cred­it­ed foren­sic tes­ti­mo­ny. He was the sec­ond defen­dant of col­or in less than a month to be put t…

Executions

Executions Overview

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Oct 13, 2016

Texas Executions Drop to Lowest Level in 20 Years

Texas is poised to have the fewest num­ber of exe­cu­tions in 20 years. As of October, the state has exe­cut­ed sev­en pris­on­ers in 2016, with just one more exe­cu­tion sched­uled this cal­en­dar year. The total would mark the fewest exe­cu­tions in t…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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United States Supreme Court

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Nov 11, 2022

U.S. Supreme Court Asks for Record of Texas Case Where Relief Denied Despite Agreement of Prosecutor and Trial Judge that Death-Row Prisoner Should Get New Trial

The United States Supreme Court has request­ed the pro­duc­tion of the appel­late record of a death penal­ty case in which the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) refused to grant a new tri­al to a death-row pris­on­er despite the agre…

May 13, 2001

When the Evidence Lies

Joyce Gilchrist helped send dozens to death row. The foren­sic sci­en­tist’s errors are putting cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment under the micro­scope By BELINDA LUSCOMBETime MagazinePosted Sunday, May 132001