New evidence should overturn New Jersey murder conviction
Two days to execution in Alabama, still no DNA test
Helping rebuild stolen lives
Why We Give: A Donor Profile
News from the innocence movement around the United States
Detroit exoneree gets hero’s welcome in Ireland
Innocence Project client Walter Swift returned to Michigan last week after a three-week tour of Ireland, where he met with leading government officials and attorneys and appeared several times in the national media.
Swift, who served 26 years in Michigan prison before he was exonerated in May,was freed partly thanks to the tireless efforts of Niamh Gunn, an Irish businesswoman who first worked on his case during a summer internship at the Innocence Project in 2003.
Gunn continued to work on Swift’s case after leaving the Innocence Project, and her investigations led to the discovery of much of the evidence that exonerated him. As a result of publicity about his case in Ireland, Swift became well-known there and received a hero’s welcome over the last three weeks.
Watch a video of Swift, Gunn and Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck on Irish national television.
Prosecutors’ group honors Innocence Project
On July 14, the National Black Prosecutors Association gave its annual Thurgood Marshall Award to the Innocence Project for pursuing justice. Milton Hirsch, a Florida criminal defense attorney who has worked in partnership with the Innocence Project on several exonerations, accepted the award at the NBPA’s annual conference.
"It is, I think, a coming of age for the Innocence Project that a national organization of prosecutors honors us with its Thurgood Marshall award. It is a recognition of the tautology that all lawyers have a shared interest in seeing the truth unearthed and justice done,” Hirsch wrote in a blog post about accepting the award. Read his full post here.
"The most important thing"
Three recently exonerated men spoke on July 19 in Texas about the need for reforms to prevent future injustice there, as well as measures to help the wrongfully convicted adjust to their freedom after release. Billy James Smith, who served 19 years for a rape he didn’t commit, talked about the difficulties exonerees face.
"The most difficult thing is when I have to tell people I was in prison and what happened to me. And then the next difficult thing is when they ask me if I'm getting compensation, like if that was the most important thing," Smith said. "The most important thing is to be stable and to be able to function."
Read more about the event and Smith’s case
Tankleff speaks out
Eight months after his release, but finally cleared of all charges last week, New Yorker Marty Tankleff told a group of law students and attorneys this week that reforms requiring the recording of interrogations would prevent wrongful convictions like his.
"For 20 years, in my case, there have been two competing versions of what took place in the interrogation room," Tankleff told the audience, going on to speak about the importance of videotaping complete interrogations so juries can see the facts for themselves.
Read more here..
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Darrell Edwards has been behind bars in New Jersey for nearly a decade for a murder he has always said he didn’t commit, and Innocence Project attorneys will argue at a hearing this afternoon that new DNA test results and other substantial evidence should lead to a new trial in his case.Edwards (above) was convicted and sentenced to life in prison based mainly on faulty eyewitness identification. One key witness who testified at Edwards’ trial that she saw him from 271 feet away, at night, without wearing her glasses has recanted her identification, saying she was “just guessing” and that police influenced her choice. New scientific evidence presented today by the Innocence Project also shows that identifying a person from 271 feet — even an acquaintance — is impossible. Another eyewitness to the shooting told police that he saw the killer from 20 feet away and that it wasn’t Edwards. Police tried to influence this witness to identify Edwards, then labeled him a hostile witness when he refused to cooperate.
It took three years for Edwards’ case to go to trial, and it would take four trials to convict him. Now, the Innocence Project is fighting to overturn his conviction based on the wide array of newly discovered evidence. New DNA tests show that biological evidence on the gun used in the murder and a sweatshirt worn by the assailant exclude Edwards. At a hearing this afternoon in Newark, Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck and Staff Attorney Vanessa Potkin will tell a state judge that they believe Edwards is innocent and that the law says he is at least entitled to a new trial. Cardozo School of Law clinic students have worked on the case at the Innocence Project and will attend today’s hearing.
“In recent years, New Jersey has become a leader in reforming police lineups and photo arrays to decrease eyewitness misidentifications. Darrell Edwards was convicted before these reforms were in place, and before scientific experts shed new light on just how impossible it is to accurately identify someone from this distance,” Scheck said.
Read more about Edwards’ case in today’s Innocence Project press release. Prosecutors are opposing the Innocence Project’s motion for a new trial, and the judge is expected to rule at a later date. Check the Innocence Blog for updates.
Two days to execution in Alabama, still no DNA test
For nearly 25 years, Tommy Arthur has sat on Alabama’s death row. His appeals have been repeatedly denied, and he is now scheduled to die on Thursday night, July 31, despite the fact that critical evidence in his case has still not been subjected to DNA testing. The evidence could help show whether Arthur is guilty or innocent, and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley (above) has the authority to order the tests, but he has refused to do so.
In recent weeks, thousands of Innocence Project supporters have sent emails directly to Riley, urging him to order DNA testing in the case. Last year, Riley’s aides insisted that state governors couldn’t order DNA tests, but George W. Bush ordered testing for a death row inmate when he was the governor of Texas and several other governors have done the same. Nationwide, 16 people who served time on death row for crimes they didn’t commit have been exonerated by DNA evidence. Send an email to Riley today urging him to do the right thing before he carries out a sentence he can't reverse.
Compensation and social services to help the exonerated build new lives
Last week, North Carolina lawmakers approved a bill to increase the compensation paid to people who serve time in prison for crimes they didn’t commit to $50,000 per year, from the previous amount of $20,000. The bill also provides the exonerated with critical services, including a year of job training and free tuition at a state college or university. If signed into law by Gov. Mike Easley, this bill would bring North Carolina in line with the federal government’s standard of $50,000 per year. Unlike the federal law, however, North Carolina’s bill has a cap of $750,000.
And a key California legislative committee is considering a similar bill this week, increasing the compensation California pays to the exonerated from $36,500 to $50,000 per year and providing access to a case worker to connect the wrongfully convicted with support services. Hundreds of Innocence Project supporters in California have sent emails to the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee urging them to support this bill. You can help us spread the word; please forward this campaign to your friends in California today.
Half of the states in the nation have a law compensating the exonerated upon their release, but many fall far short of the federal standard. What’s your state’s law? Find out here.
Why We Give: Risa and Benjamin Chalfin
Students; Metuchen, New Jersey
This spring, Risa Chalfin graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and her brother, Benjamin, graduated from Wardlaw Hartridge High School in New Jersey. When their parents started planning a graduation party for Risa, 21, and Benjamin, 19, they asked guests to make a donation to the Innocence Project instead of bringing a gift. Their selfless idea helped raise money to free the innocent, but it also raised awareness about wrongful convictions. The Innocence Project interviewed Risa and Benjamin recently about their creative fundraising approach and the role of young people in reforming the system.
IP: This is an incredibly generous way of supporting the Innocence Project. How did you come up with the idea?
Benjamin: Overturning wrongful convictions is something we’re both very interested in. Our dad is a lawyer and an Innocence Project supporter, and he first told us about this work a few years ago. As soon as I starting hearing stories about people who have spent time in prison for crimes they didn’t commit, I knew I wanted to help out. We’re fortunate enough that we were able to do this, and it seemed like a good idea to help free innocent inmates rather than to get gifts for ourselves.
IP: How did the guests respond?
Risa: People were really excited. Many of them made generous donations to the Innocence Project, but they were also eager to learn more about the work of the Innocence Project. Some people hadn’t heard about wrongful convictions, and it can be pretty eye-opening when you first hear about the injustices that people suffer.
Raising money is vital to this work, but raising awareness issues is equally important. We asked the Innocence Project for some publications to share at the party, so we gave people newsletters and brochures so they could learn more. A lot of people have told us that they’ve visited the website and will continue to learn about this issue now.
IP: We’re inspired to see people your age taking the initiative to spread the word about wrongful convictions. Are people at your schools aware of these issues? Are they taking action?
Benjamin: When we talked about the criminal justice system in my law and government class, I told people about the Innocence Project, and the teacher pulled up the website to show everybody the flaws in the system — especially eyewitness misidentification and the flaws in human memory. The teacher showed a video to half the class, and then showed how everyone remembered the details differently. There wasn’t much activity on this issue outside of class, but it was good to see people studying it.
Risa: There are lots of socially-conscious students at Penn, and Philadelphia has more than its share of wrongful convictions, but I heard surprisingly little about this cause on campus. I think it would be great to have more events around the country where students can hear first-hand from an exoneree or an attorney about wrongful convictions and all the ways they can involved. College students are ready to get involved in causes like this, we just have to reach out to them.
IP: You both just graduated. What’s next?
Risa: I’m going to law school in the fall, and planning to go into public interest law. There are so many groups like the Innocence Project that work to provide legal services to people who can’t afford them, and I’m excited to get involved.
Benjamin: I’m planning to attend Quinnipiac University in the fall to study media production. When we were growing up, our parents always encouraged both of us to get involved with the community, and I plan to keep doing that as much as I can.
Please support the Innocence Project today by making an online donation or planning your own house party or fundraiser.
