For Florida pris­on­ers, includ­ing death row inmates, who were con­vict­ed before DNA evi­dence was rou­tine­ly test­ed, the state-imposed October 1 dead­line to sub­mit new claims is fast approach­ing. After that date, evi­dence may be destroyed and the chance for an exon­er­a­tion extin­guished. Yet the sys­tem is seri­ous­ly back­logged and under-resourced. Noting that Governor Jeb Bush recent­ly stat­ed that any court in Florida or else­where would ​“imme­di­ate­ly” review a pris­on­er’s claim of DNA evi­dence exon­er­at­ing him, the St. Petersburg Times called for the pas­sage of leg­is­la­tion to ensure relief for the wrong­ly con­vict­ed by extend­ing the dead­line:

If only it were so.

The gov­er­nor must be unaware of the laws and recent his­to­ry of his own state. Prisoners con­vict­ed before DNA was rou­tine­ly test­ed have only until Oct. 1 to sub­mit their claims. Those who plead­ed guilty or no con­test, as even inno­cent peo­ple some­times do, are inel­i­gi­ble. There is no mon­ey to pay lawyers to file DNA peti­tions. Nearly 700 appli­ca­tions are backed up and will like­ly run afoul of the dead­line. The gov­er­nor’s office is lob­by­ing the Legislature for a con­sti­tu­tion­al amend­ment that, among oth­er things, would pre­vent the Supreme Court from reopen­ing the win­dow of opportunity.

“There is only one vehi­cle, and it’s dying,” warns Jennifer Greenberg, the sole lawyer for the Florida Innocence Initiative at Tallahassee, which appealed to Bush to sup­port leg­is­la­tion (HB 247) extend­ing the dead­line and broadening eligibility.

…

More than sim­ple jus­tice depends on pas­sage of the DNA leg­is­la­tion that Rep. Phillip J. Brutus, D‑North Miami, is spon­sor­ing. Legislation that President Bush signed last year pro­vides fed­er­al aid to states with effec­tive post-con­vic­tion DNA statutes. But Florida has yet to do what the pres­i­dent urged, which is to ​“make dou­bly sure no per­son is held to account for a crime he or she did not commit.”

(St. Petersburg Times, March 25, 2005). See DPIC’s Innocence. For more infor­ma­tion see the Innocence Project.

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