Entries tagged with “Prosecutorial misconduct

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Mar 23, 2020

Alabama Judge Denies New Trial for Toforest Johnson

A Birmingham judge has denied a new tri­al to Alabama death-row pris­on­er Toforest Johnson (pic­tured, cen­ter), say­ing he had not proven his claim that his con­vic­tion and death sen­tence for the killing of a sheriff’s deputy in 1995 were the prod­uct o…

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 …

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Intellectual Disability

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Representation

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Federal Death Penalty

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May 18, 2020

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of May 182020

NEWS (5/​22/​2020) — Washington, D.C.: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has stayed the issuance of its man­date in the fed­er­al exe­cu­tion-pro­to­col lawsuit 

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Intellectual Disability

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Representation

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Sentencing Alternatives

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Jun 07, 2021

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of May 312021

NEWS (6/​4/​21) — Arizona: The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2016 deci­sion in Lynch v. Arizona, which struck down the state’s uncon­sti­tu­tion­al refusal to instruct cap­i­tal-sen­tenc­ing juries that defend…

Policy Issues

Prosecutorial Accountability

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Dec 15, 2021

Citing Vindictive Prosecution, El Paso Judge Dismisses Capital Murder Case

A Texas tri­al judge has dis­missed all charges against an El Paso mur­der defen­dant, say­ing that the deci­sion to seek the death penal­ty against him was a prod­uct of pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al vin­dic­tive­ness.” In an or…

Policy Issues

Prosecutorial Accountability

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Clemency

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Upcoming Executions

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May 21, 2021

Court Halts Execution of Terminally Ill Idaho Death-Row Prisoner

An Idaho tri­al court has stayed the sched­uled June 2, 2021 exe­cu­tion of Gerald Pizzuto, Jr. (pic­tured), halt­ing state pros­e­cu­tors’ efforts to put the hos­pice-bound ter­mi­nal­ly ill pris­on­er to death before his stage…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Race

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Sep 08, 2020

Curtis Flowers Exonerated in Mississippi After Attorney General Drops All Charges

After six tri­als marred by pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct and racial prej­u­dice, draw­ing a scathing rebuke from the U.S. Supreme Court, for­mer Mississippi death-row pris­on­er Curtis Flowers (pic­tured with the ankle monito…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Representation

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Jul 29, 2015

Delaware Prosecutor Suspended for Misconduct in Capital Trial

The Supreme Court of Delaware vot­ed unan­i­mous­ly on July 27 to sus­pend for­mer Deputy Attorney General R. David Favata as a result of his mis…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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May 16, 2022

Federal Appeals Court Rules that Louisiana Prosecutor and Police Officer Who Fabricated Evidence are Not Immune from Civil Rights Lawsuit by Former Death-Row Prisoner

A pros­e­cu­tor and police offi­cer who fab­ri­cat­ed evi­dence to wrong­ful­ly con­vict a for­mer Louisiana death-row pris­on­er are not enti­tled to immu­ni­ty in a law­suit alleg­ing they know­ing­ly and delib­er­ate­ly fab­ri­cat­ed” that tes­ti­mo­ny, th…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Foreign Nationals

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Jan 02, 2018

Former Death-Row Prisoner Exonerated in Illinois, Seized by ICE

Former Illinois death-row pris­on­er Gabriel Solache (pic­tured), a Mexican nation­al whose death sen­tence was one of 157 com­mut­ed by Governor George Ryan in Jan…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Dec 28, 2021

Georgia Man Exonerated 23 Years After Wrongful Capital Murder Conviction

Devonia Inman, sen­tenced to life in a cap­i­tal mur­der tri­al in which Georgia pros­e­cu­tors hid excul­pa­to­ry evi­dence, has been exon­er­at­ed 23 years after his wrong­ful con­vic­tion. On December 20, 2021, one mont…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Women

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Mar 19, 2015

INNOCENCE: Debra Milke Exonerated from Arizona Death Row

UPDATE: On March 23, 2015, Judge Rosa Mroz offi­cial­ly dis­missed the charges against Milke. Milke has been added to DPIC’s exon­er­a­tion list. 

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Oct 05, 2017

John Thompson, Death-Row Exoneree and Social Justice Activist, Has Died

Death-row exoneree John Thompson (pic­tured), described by Innocence Project New Orleans direc­tor Emily Maw, as an amaz­ing force in the world” and a nation­al leg­end,” died October 3 at a New Orleans

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Aug 30, 2021

Jurors who Voted to Convict Toforest Johnson Now Support New Trial

Three mem­bers of the jury who vot­ed to con­vict and sen­tence Toforest Johnson (pic­tured, cen­ter) to death in his cap­i­tal tri­al in Birmingham in 1998 are now urg­ing Alabama’s courts to grant him a n…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Jul 06, 2020

Kareem Johnson Becomes Nation’s 170th Death-Row Exoneree Since 1973

Former Pennsylvania death-row pris­on­er Kareem Johnson has been exon­er­at­ed, thir­teen years after being wrong­ful­ly con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death by a Philadelphia jury. On July 1, 2020, the Phila…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Oct 23, 2019

Louisiana Man Freed 42 Years After Wrongful Conviction in Death-Penalty Trial

A Louisiana pris­on­er wrong­ful­ly pros­e­cut­ed for cap­i­tal mur­der has agreed to a plea deal that secures his free­dom after spend­ing 42 years in prison for a crime he says he did not com­mit. With the assis­tance of the …

Jun 26, 2003

NEW RESOURCE: Report Reviews Prosecutorial Misconduct

Harmful Error,” a new report released by the The Center for Public Integrity, is the end prod­uct of an exten­sive two-year review of pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct around the nation. The report notes that while many local pros­e­cu­tors per­form their diffi…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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New Voices

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Jun 05, 2015

North Carolina Governor Formally Pardons Two Death Row Exonerees

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory grant­ed par­dons to Leon Brown (l.) and Henry McCollum (cen­ter, r.), allow­ing the two men to receive com­pen­sa­tion for their wrong­ful con­vic­tions. Brown and McCollum are half-brot…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Representation

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Oct 20, 2016

OUTLIER COUNTIES: Former Death Penalty Capital Shows Signs of Change

Harris County, Texas, the coun­ty that leads the nation in exe­cu­tions, has served as a bell­wether in recent years of the nation­wide decline of the death penal­ty. Although the 10 new death sen­tences imposed in Harris County since 20

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Race

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Dec 28, 2016

OUTLIER COUNTIES: Orange County, California Plagued by Misconduct Scandals

Orange County, California imposed nine death sen­tences between 2010 and 2015, more than 99.8% of American coun­ties, and rank­ing it among the 6 most pro­lif­ic death-sen­tenc­ing coun­ties in the coun­try dur­ing that peri­od. Over …

Policy Issues

Prosecutorial Accountability

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Jul 17, 2017

Report Finds High Levels of Misconduct in Four Top Death Sentencing Counties

Four coun­ties that rank among the most aggres­sive users of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in the United States have pro­longed pat­terns of pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct, accord­ing to a new report by the Harvard-based Fair Punishment Project. The report, The Recidi…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Innocence

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Oct 29, 2013

STUDIES: Prosecutorial Misconduct in Death Penalty Cases

In a four-part series on the con­duct of pros­e­cu­tors in cap­i­tal cas­es, The Arizona Republic exam­ined alle­ga­tions by appel­late attor­neys that pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct occurred in near­ly half of the state’s cap­i­tal cas­es since 2002

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 …

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Jun 09, 2020

Walter Ogrod Exonerated After 23 Years on Pennsylvania’s Death Row

Twenty-eight years after Philadelphia pros­e­cu­tors first sought to take his life for the mur­der of four-year-old Barbara Jean Horn, Walter Ogrod (pic­tured, sec­ond from right, with mem­bers of his defense team) has b…