Still Seeking Freedom After 27 Years

Send Thomas Haynesworth a Message of Support in Prison

DNA testing and other evidence prove that Thomas Haynesworth has served 27 years in prison for a series of crimes he didn’t commit, but he remains behind bars today, awaiting a decision from a Virginia appeals court.

Earlier this month, the Innocence Project joined with local and state prosecutors and other organizations in filing a motion for Haynesworth’s release with the Commonwealth Appeals Court. While Haynesworth awaits a decision from the court, he has been encouraged by an outpouring of support from the Innocence Project’s community of supporters around the world. Send Haynesworth a message of support in prison today.

Haynesworth was 18 and had no criminal record when he was charged with committing five rapes or attempted rapes in the Richmond area in 1984. Prosecutors dismissed one of the cases, but he was ultimately convicted of three of the crimes and acquitted of one. After his conviction, however, similar attacks continued in the area. Eventually, another man, who described himself to his attackers as the "Black Ninja," was convicted of committing several crimes bearing striking resemblance to the crimes for which Haynesworth was convicted. Haynesworth proclaimed his innocence from prison and asked for his case to be reopened, but his pleas went unheeded for more than two decades.

In 2005, a statewide evidence review led to DNA testing in one of Haynesworth’s cases. The results pointed to the "Black Ninja," clearing Haynesworth. The Innocence Project and Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project sought further testing, and DNA tests also cleared Haynesworth in the crime for which he was acquitted. Although there is no biological evidence available in Haynesworth’s other two convictions, two local prosecutors conducted a careful review of the evidence and now agree that Haynesworth is innocent of these as well.

In an op-ed on Sunday, the Washington Post called for Haynesworth to be freed, writing "Mr. Haynesworth can never get his years back, and as long as he remains in prison, justice is disserved."

Read more about Haynesworth’s case and send him a message of support in prison today.

Smart on Crime

Report Calls for Federal Reform

Last week, the Innocence Project joined other leading criminal justice reform organizations in releasing a new report entitled "Smart on Crime," which outlines problems and proposes reforms for our criminal justice system. The report serves as both an informative resource and a clear call for Congress and the Obama administration to act on these issues. Read the full report and watch a video with expert commentary.

Also last week, Virginia Senator Jim Webb reintroduced legislation to create a national criminal justice commission, which is one of the report’s most vital recommendations. The Commission would be tasked with performing a comprehensive review of federal, state, local, and tribal criminal justice systems and making reform recommendations to Congress and the administration. Innocence Project supporters have called on Congress for months to form the Commission.

Read more about Smart on Crime and Webb’s proposal to create a national criminal justice task force.

Prosecutors Raise Hurdles to Exoneration

DNA Tests Challenged in Illinois and Pennsylvania

In many Innocence Project cases, prosecutors join us in seeking post-conviction DNA tests that can prove guilt or innocence and in calling for exoneration when those tests prove a prisoner’s innocence. In other cases, however, prosecutors employ every legal avenue to block testing and exoneration. Two pending cases illustrate these hurdles sometimes faced by our clients.

Innocence Project client Robert Conway has spent more than two decades in Pennsylvania prisons for a murder he has always said he didn’t commit. He has long sought DNA testing on evidence collected from the crime scene that could prove the identity of the real killer. Finally last month, a Pennsylvania appeals court reversed a lower court’s decision and granted him access to the tests. Now, prosecutors are appealing the decision and are asking courts to deny tests again. They say the evidence could be contaminated and wouldn’t prove innocence or guilt.

"What’s the harm in testing? If he did it, this may confirm that he did it, and if he didn’t do it, let’s find out who did and let Robert Conway go. Who could argue with any of that?" Pennsylvania attorney Steven Fairlie, who is working with the Innocence Project, told MontgomeryNews.com recently.

Meanwhile, in Illinois, Innocence Project client Bennie Starks (above) has been free for five years after DNA testing on evidence clearly left by the perpetrator led to a 1986 sexual assault conviction being tossed out. But prosecutors are planning to retry him in May, claiming that the DNA evidence could have come from another source. The Innocence Project is working with a team of local attorneys on the case to have charges against Starks dismissed. Read more about his case.

While cases like these present unique challenges, they are somewhat rare. In more than 80% of Innocence Project cases, prosecutors agree to join with the Innocence Project in seeking DNA tests.

Why I Give: A Donor Profile

Catherine Eloranto
Assoc. Professor, Criminal Justice
Clinton Community College, Plattsburgh, NY

Over the course of my career, I’ve seen the criminal justice system from many perspectives. I have worked as a prosecutor in Arizona and New York and as a criminal court judge. Today I teach criminal procedure and other courses at Clinton Community College in Plattsburgh, New York.

I have known for a long time that our criminal justice system is flawed — it’s a human system and only as good as the people at the reins in a given courtroom on a given day. But even my knowledge of the system didn’t prepare me for Kirk Bloodsworth’s book, which I read several years ago. I was simply astounded at how bad the system can be; it was frightening to learn that an innocent man could be sentenced to death despite such strong evidence of his innocence.

After reading the book I followed the work of the Innocence Project closely, receiving email updates and watching as the number of exonerations steadily grew larger. When an email came last year asking for support, I clicked and made a donation. It’s a worthy cause and one in which I believe deeply.

The Innocence Project is an effective nonprofit because it lays out a clear plan for reform based on the lessons learned from wrongful convictions. We can always point to horrible things that happen, but unless there’s a plan to fix things, the criminal justice system will just go back to its old ways. I teach my students each semester about wrongful convictions and I see how it changes their view of the system and its flaws. Through these lessons, I aim to show them that the system isn’t always fair. It relies on each of us to make it fair. The Innocence Project’s work is going a long way across the country to make the system fair, but there’s more work to be done.

Help free the innocent. Make an online donation today.