Innocence Blog

Posted: January 30, 2009 6:05 pm

Connecticut exoneree James Tillman, who served 16 years in Connecticut prison for a rape he didn’t commit, told members of a Greenwich church this week that he is “blessed to be alive.”

Also in Connecticut, Pedro Miranda pled not guilty on Tuesday to three murders between 1986 and 1988. Investigators say DNA from the crime scene of at least one of these murders matches Miranda’s profile. Another man, Miguel Roman, served 20 years in Connecticut prison before he was freed based on the same DNA tests. Roman is still awaiting a final decision in his case.

Two arson cases made news this week. Texas officials are investigating whether the state executed Cameron Todd Willingham based on flawed arson science. And investigators in Maryland were able to conduct DNA testing for the first time on evidence left behind at the scene of an arson fire.

With several states considering abolishing the death penalty – and the issue of wrongful convictions a factor in each – Amnesty International considered the question of innocence and the death penalty.

And the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case in which an undercover informant allegedly heard incriminating statements from his cellmate.