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Louisiana inmate finally secures access to DNA test
Posted: August 23, 2007 12:49 pm
After repeatedly requesting a DNA test to prove his innocence over the last 11 years, Innocence Project client Archie Williams was finally granted testing this week by a Louisiana appeals court. Williams, who is serving life in prison for a 1983 rape he says he didn’t commit, was identified by the victim in the case after she had viewed 17 photo lineups – the last three of which included him. (Williams’s was the only photo to appear in more than one photo array shown to the victim, which is improper.)
East Baton Rouge prosecutors said they would appeal Monday’s circuit court decision because they believed the identification in the case was valid and that DNA couldn’t prove innocence. Prosecutors have argued that the sperm cells in rape kit evidence in the case must have come from the victim’s husband, but the Innocence Project has countered in legal papers that DNA testing can identify and distinguish between the perpetrator and the husband.
Read more about the case in yesterday’s press release.
Read media coverage of the case in today’s Baton Rouge Advocate.
Tags: Archie Williams
Exonerees demand statewide DNA testing at press conference today in Louisiana
Posted: January 15, 2008 12:27 pm
Today at 1 p.m. in Baton Rouge, Rickey Johnson – who was freed yesterday after serving 25 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit – will speak out for inmate access to DNA testing. Johnson would not be free today if he weren’t from Sabine Parish, where District Attorney Don Burkett worked with the Innocence Project to secure testing in the case and has now said he will help Johnson push for compensation for the injustice he suffered.
Defendants convicted in other parts of Louisiana have not met with such cooperation. Two Innocence Project clients – Archie Williams and Kenneth Reed – are seeking DNA testing that can prove their innocence. Both men were convicted in East Baton Rouge, and local district attorney Doug Moreau has fought to prevent them from receiving the tests. Williams, who spent time with Johnson at Louisiana’s state prison at Angola, has filed 10 motions over the last 13 years seeking DNA testing. Moreau has fought every one. In August, a state appeals court finally granted DNA testing in Williams’ case, but Moreau appealed that decision to the Louisiana Supreme Court, which has not decided whether to hear the appeal.
“Rickey left Archie Williams behind at Angola, where he continues waiting for the DNA tests that can prove his innocence or confirm his guilt,” Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck said yesterday. “Rickey Johnson wants to look Doug Moreau in the eye and share his profound personal experience with DNA testing. We will ask Mr. Moreau to immediately drop his state Supreme Court appeal and consent to DNA testing in Archie Williams’ case.”
Read the Innocence Project press release here for more details on today’s press conference and the cases of Archie Williams and Rickey Johnson.Press coverage of Rickey Johnson’s exoneration:
Shreveport Times: Louisiana man is “free at last”
Johnson exonerated after serving 26 years of life sentence
Tags: Rickey Johnson, Archie Williams
Louisiana editorial calls for DNA testing access and exoneree compensation
Posted: January 22, 2008 9:22 am
Innocence Project client Rickey Johnson, who was exonerated last week after serving 25 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit, is eligible for $150,000 in state compensation. But the process for receiving the compensation is cumbersome, and only two of the 10 Louisiana exonerees have been compensated.
An editorial in Sunday's Shreveport Times calls for Louisiana lawmakers to increase exoneree compensation to the federal standard of $50,000 per year served and to streamline the process so needy exonerees aren't denied state funds. The editorial also praises District Attorney Don Burkett, who supported Johnson's appeal for testing and is helping him apply for compensation.
But not all innocent inmates live in Burkett's jurisdiction. Other Innocence Project clients in Louisiana have sought DNA testing for years (13 years for Archie Williams in East Baton Rouge), only to meet with resistance at every turn. The editorial calls for access to DNA testing for inmates when it can prove their innocence.
Read the full editorial here.
Tags: Alabama, Rickey Johnson, Archie Williams