Search Term(s):
Blog Tags:
Order by: Date Relevancy
Your search returned 2 entries.
Five years of freedom
Posted: July 30, 2007 7:00 am
Five years ago today, Innocence Project client Larry Johnson walked out of a Missouri prison a free man for the first time in 18 years. In the early 1980s, he had been misidentified and wrongfully convicted of rape. Johnson’s appeals failed for years, but finally, in 2001, Missouri passed a law allowing prisoners to seek DNA testing on the grounds of innocence. Testing in 2002 proved that Johnson could not have committed the crime and he was released. The Innocence Project congratulates Johnson on five years of freedom.
Other exoneree anniversaries this week:
Tuesday: Jerry Watkins, Indiana (Exonerated 7/31/2000)
Wednesday: Thomas Doswell, Pennsylvania (Exonerated 08/01/2005)
Friday: Luis Diaz, Florida (Exonerated 08/03/05)
Saturday: Eric Sarsfield, Massachusetts (Exonerated 08/03/2000)
Tags: Luis Diaz, Thomas Doswell, Larry Johnson, Eric Sarsfield, Jerry Watkins
George Garfinkle, 72, used DNA evidence to free Massachusetts man
Posted: August 31, 2007 12:54 pm
George Garfinkle, the attorney whose tireless efforts led to Eric Sarsfield’s exoneration in Massachusetts, died on Monday in his home. He was 72.
Garfinkle, an architect and civil engineer before he became a lawyer in his 50s, took on Sarsfield’s appeal pro bono in the 1990s.
When he first took the appeal, he initially thought it was a routine motion that would take an afternoon to write. Then he saw the signs of Sarsfield’s innocence. Several years later, Garfinkle located the DNA evidence that would lead to his client’s exoneration and he called to tell him the news.
"It's a life very well lived, “ Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck told the Boston Globe. “To do all those different things, how could you not admire that?"Read more about Sarsfield’s case.
Read the obituary here. (Boston Globe, 08/31/2007)
Tags: Eric Sarsfield