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Friday Roundup
Posted: December 26, 2008 1:23 pm
As 2008 winds to a close, more than 20 people are spending the holidays at home for the first time in years after their wrongful convictions were overturned by DNA testing. Some of them have been officially exonerated while others are still waiting in limbo for pardons, new trials or further hearings.
We want to wish a happy New Year to the Innocence Project's online community - thank you for all of your support this year. The blog will be quiet for a few days; we'll be back a week from today on Friday, January 2. There's plenty of wrongful conviction news to review in the meantime - take a look below for some of the top stories from this week, or visit our links page for the personal sites of exonerees and more in-depth coverage of DNA testing, forensic science and the causes of wrongful conviction.
Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to the Innocence Project - all gifts by midnight on December 31 will be matched dollar for dollar.
Here's the news:
William Dillon, who was freed last month in south Florida after 26 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, is the 226th person exonerated by DNA testing nationwide. He is spending the holidays with his family, who said they didn't know if this day would ever come:
"This is something we didn't expect. It's such happiness. It's unbelievable," his father, Joe Dillon, said at his Satellite Beach home. "This is everyone's present. We don't need any other presents."James Anderson, a client of the Innocence Project Northwest, spent his fifth straight Christmas in prison yesterday, but he is expected to be released soon. Investigators from IPNW have shown that he was in California at the time he allegedly committed an armed robbery in Washington. A winter storm delayed his release.
One of the biggest wrongful conviction stories of 2008 was the exoneration of Innocence Project clients Kennedy Brewer and Levon Brooks. The two men were sent to prison in Mississippi for murders they didn't commit, based in part on false testimony from medical examiner Steven Hayne. After evidence of Hayne's forensic conduct surfaced, Mississippi officials stopped using him to conduct state autopsies. A story in today's Jackson Clarion-Ledger says state officials are getting closer to hiring a state medical examiner to oversee and standardize autopsies in Mississippi.
In February, a documentary about the wrongful drug convictions in Tulia, Texas, will air on PBS. Expected in March is "American Violet," a ficitonalized film based on the events in Tulia. Take a look at the Innocence Project's reading list for Nate Blakeslee's book about Tulia and a dozen other great reads on wrongful convictions.
In other Hollywood news, filiming is expected to begin next month in Michigan on a film about Betty Anne Waters, who put herself through college and law school to help exonerate her brother, Kenneth Waters.
Thanks for reading this year - we'll see you in a week.
Tags: William Dillon
Friday Roundup: Fighting for Freedom
Posted: March 6, 2009 6:00 pm
News from around the country that we didn't get to on the Innocence Blog this week:
An Ohio man could be freed as early as Tuesday, nearly 25 years after being convicted of a rape DNA now proves he didn’t commit. A joint project between the Ohio Innocence Project and the Columbus Dispatch led to DNA testing in the case of Joseph R. Fears, Jr., who was convicted of an Ohio rape in 1984. A judge today called for a hearing in his case Tuesday. Stayed tuned to the Innocence Blog for developments.
Innocence Project Staff Attorney Craig Cooley argued this week in a Pennsylvania court for DNA testing in the case of client Robert Conway.
A federal judge in California said Bruce Lisker was wrongfully convicted of stabbing his mother in 1983 and should be set free or retried.The systemic failures that caused many of these wrongful convictions are still present today and continuing to cause injustice. Exonerees, organizations and lawmakers were working this week to fix the system:
The Innocence Project of Florida is seeking a new trial on behalf of Billy Joe Holton after DNA results in the case excluded him as a possible contributor of evidence at the crime scene.
And a Detroit man who has spent 36 years in prison for a murder he says he didn’t commit is seeking a new trial with the help of Proving Innocence and the Association in Defense of the Wrongly Convicted.
An editorial in Colorado called on lawmakers to protect the advances they made last year on the preservation of DNA evidence.
The Pennsylvania Innocence Project has officially opened its doors at Temple University School of Law – filling a crucial need in planning to handle wrongful conviction cases in the state.
Just 16 days after he was released from prison, Joshua Kezer told an audience at the University of Missouri about his wrongful conviction and release. He was joined by exoneree Dennis Fritz.
Recent exoneree William Dillon will speak tomorrow in Florida.
New York DNA Exoneree Steven Barnes began this week working for Oneida County Workforce Development, helping released prisoners find work and housing. He told WKTV that “to come out into the community and try to get out on the right foot sometimes...you need assistance and help."
Tags: William Dillon, Dennis Fritz, Evidence Preservation
Friday Roundup: Cases from Florida to Ontario
Posted: March 13, 2009 5:39 pm
We wrote this week about the exoneration of Joseph Fears, Jr., in Ohio. Fears, a client of the Ohio Innocence Project, was reunited with his family after a quarter-century and became the 234th person exonerated by DNA testing in the United States. Meanwhile, other wrongful convictions and arrests were being overturned from Florida to Ontario.
In Tampa, bank robbery charges were dropped against Kenneth Robinson after he spent four months in jail awaiting a trial for a crime spree that DNA now proves he wasn’t involved in. Defense attorneys said his case shows how easily the wrong person can be accused – and the danger of wrongful conviction, especially since experts say only 5-10% of criminal cases involve DNA evidence.Exonerated individuals continued speaking around the country this week in support of reforms to prevent the injustice they suffered from happening to anyone else.
Tammy Marquardt was freed from a Canadian prison after serving 14 years for the murder of her child, a crime she has always said she didn’t commit. Marquardt was convicted based in part on the testimony of Dr. Charles Smith, a pediatric forensic pathologist whose testimony contributed to several convictions that were later overturned based on evidence of innocence.
A federal court threw out the Alabama murder conviction of Earl Jerome McGahee because of an “astonishing pattern” of discrimination that led to an all-white jury at the 1986 trial of McGahee, who is black. Of 66 possible jurors, 24 were black. All 24 were eliminated during jury selection.
Lawyers are seeking a new trial for Davontae Sanford, a developmentally disabled 16-year-old boy who lawyers say was coerced into confessing to four murders he didn’t commit. Another man has taken responsibility for the murders.
Harris County (Texas) District Attorney Pat Lykos released a report this week on the wrongful conviction and exoneration of Ricardo Rachell, which she said was caused by a “cascading, system-wide breakdown.”
New York exoneree Jeffrey Deskovic spoke to students at Fulton-Montgomery Community College about his case and his advocacy efforts. Deskovic will speak at a free public event in Brooklyn, New York, on March 23.
Two people exonerated from Illinois death row spoke at a rally yesterday gainst capital punishment inside the state capitol. The rally marked 10 years since the last time a person was executed in Illinois. Gov. George Ryan declared a moratorium on executions in Illinois in 2000.
Florida exoneree William Dillon, who served 26 years for a murder he didn’t commit, gave his first public speech since being released and exonerated in November.
Tags: Jeff Deskovic, William Dillon
Friday Roundup: Compensation and Crime Lab Woes
Posted: June 5, 2009 5:00 pm
William Dillon of Florida was denied compensation from the state on Tuesday as a result of a "clean hands" law, which prevents exonerees with unrelated prior convictions from receiving compensation. The Innocence Project of Florida is pursuing measures to exempt Dillon from the statute, which would allow Dillon to receive $1.3 million in compensation for his wrongful conviction, but requires finding a sponsor in the state legislature, filing the claims bill and having it pass.
Two states are facing budget cuts that may put their crime labs at risk. In Wisconsin, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen is trying to convince the state Justice Department to restore funds that were cut by the state legislature. Hollen says the budget cuts would force him to lay off staff and would result in increased backlogs.
The North Carolina legislature is considering closing the Greensboro crime lab, less than a year after it opened, to reduce state spending. The state has a $4 billion budget shortfall. Crime lab supporters argue that keeping the lab open could actually save the state more money in the long run.
According to Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes, the lab not only takes on work that would otherwise have to be done in Raleigh, but it also saves local departments travel time. If getting a particular result is urgent, Barnes said, officers can wait for evidence to be processed on-site rather than having to drive back and forth twice.
“That has value you just can’t imagine or put a price on,” he said.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will hear arguments in the case of a Mississippi man requesting DNA testing to prove his innocence. Steve Michael Fasono and his attorneys argue that Fasono was not involved in the 2002 robbery of a bank, and that DNA testing of clothing used during the crime can conclusively prove he was not involved with the crime.
Meanwhile, Tim Kennedy is awaiting retrial with his family in Colorado while on bond after DNA tests proved not only that another man was present and left the tested samples at the scene of a murder, but that Kennedy’s DNA was not found on any of the evidence collected. Having spent 14 years in prison for the murder of a Colorado Springs couple, Kennedy’s retrial is scheduled for Sept. 21.
Kennedy’s case, along with various others, is posted on the Just Science Coalition’s news page – you can visit Just-Science.org for weekly updates on forensic news.
Tags: North Carolina, Colorado, Florida, Mississippi, Wisconsin, William Dillon
Growing Calls to Reopen Florida Cases
Posted: June 23, 2009 1:45 pm
Florida exonerees William Dillon and Wilton Dedge were both convicted based, in part, on the testimony of John Preston, a now-discredited dog handler. The Innocence Project of Florida is now working on another case involving Preston, and calls are increasing for officials to reexamine any possible wrongful convictions from the early 1980s – especially those involving Preston.
An editorial on Saturday in Florida Today listed some of the evidence of prosecutorial misconduct in Brevard County in the 1980s and called on Governor Charlie Crist to launch an official investigation into questionable convictions from the county.
-- Titusville attorney and former Brevard prosecutor Sam Bardwell, who encountered Preston in a 1981 rape case, says then-State Attorney Doug Cheshire … as well as the Brevard Sheriff’s Office and most law enforcement officers at the time knew Preston was a charlatan.
“I left the State Attorney’s Office because I could not abide by the fabrication of evidence,” Bardwell says.
-- Retired 18th Circuit and appellate Judge Gil Goshorn confirmed Cheshire relied heavily on Preston in a number of cases, along with questionable jailhouse snitches.
“Cheshire’s office often relied on such evidence of dubious reliability,” Goshorn said in a sworn affadavit in 2008.Dedge, an Innocence Project client, was exonerated in 2004. Dillon, represented by the Innocence Project of Florida, was cleared last year. The Innocence Project of Florida is now working on the case of Gary Bennett, who was convicted of murder based in part on Preston’s testimony. Preston, who testified in 60 cases in Brevard County and many more elsewhere in the U.S., is now deceased.
Read more about Bennett’s case on the Innocence Project of Florida website. And set your DVR for a special report on Dillon’s case from CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 – scheduled to air tomorrow (Wednesday) night at 10 p.m. ET.
Read the Florida Today investigative article and editorial.
Tags: Florida, Wilton Dedge, William Dillon
Scent Lineups and Unvalidated Science
Posted: June 30, 2009 5:16 pm
Dog scent evidence has contributed to at least three wrongful convictions later overturned by DNA testing, and two new lawsuits in Texas allege that three police dogs working with the Fort Bend County’s Sheriff’s Department implicated innocent people in failed “scent lineups.” Both men have been cleared, but the controversy over the validity of dog scent evidence continues. A new USA Today article examines the Texas lawsuits and the controversy over whether dog scent evidence should be allowed in criminal trials:
The legal challenges are "a first for us," says Randall Morse, an assistant county attorney who is representing (dog handler Keith) Pikett. He says the hounds have worked about 2,000 cases across the country, including the search for Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph.Unvalidated forensic science such as dog scent evidence has been involved in about half of the 240 wrongful convictions overturned to date in the United States. A National Academy of Sciences report released this year calls for the creation of a federal agency to support and oversee forensics to prevent wrongful convictions and ensure public safety .
Defense lawyers say the (scent lineup) technique smacks of forensic voodoo and casts further suspicion on the broader use of scent dog evidence.
"It's a fraud on so many levels," says Jeffrey Weiner, former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Read the full story here. (USA Today, 06/30/09)
The Innocence Project supports the creation of a federal Office of Forensic Science Improvement and Support
and thousands of people have joined the campaign by signing the Just Science Coalition’s petition calling for federal forensic oversight. Add your name now.
Read more about the three men who were wrongfully convicted based in part on dog scent evidence and then exonerated by DNA testing:
Wilton Dedge, Florida
William Dillon, Florida
James Ochoa, California
Tags: Wilton Dedge, William Dillon, James Ochoa, Unvalidated/Improper Forensics
Jailhouse Snitch Recants in Florida Case
Posted: November 2, 2009 5:30 pm
A Florida man said today at a legislative hearing that he was coerced into testifying falsely against William Dillon 28 years ago, contributing to Dillon’s wrongful conviction for a murder he didn’t commit. The hearing was focused on state compensation for Dillon, who spent 27 years in prison before DNA testing obtained by the Innocence Project of Florida proved his innocence and led to his release one year ago this month.
Roger Dale Chapman, who was in jail on a drug charge when Dillon was arrested, said at the hearing that Brevard County law enforcement officers offered to set him free in exchange for his coached testimony against Dillon. Two officers sat with him during a recorded interview and wrote answers in a notebook for him to read on tape, he said. Chapman apologized to Dillon today for his role in the injustice, and Dillon forgave him, saying: "I know you were used. I know they pressured you."
Another Brevard County exoneree, Innocence Project client Wilton Dedge, was convicted based in part on the testimony of a notorious jailhouse snitch, who testified that Dedge confessed to him while the two men were in jail. Informant or snitch testimony has played a role in at least 15% of the 245 wrongful convictions overturned through DNA testing to date.
Dillon is seeking $1.35 million in compensation for the 27 years he spent in prison.
Read the full story here. (Florida Today, 11/2/09)
Read more about Dillon’s case.
Read more about Dedge’s case.
Visit the Innocence Project of Florida website.
Tags: Wilton Dedge, William Dillon, Informants/Snitches
One Year Free, New Questions Raised
Posted: December 10, 2009 6:13 pm
One year ago today, William Dillon was exonerated from a Florida prison after serving 27 years for a murder DNA proves he didn’t commit. Dillon was convicted in 1981 based in part on a dog-scent lineup conducted by a now-discredited dog handler.
On August 17, 1981, James Dvorak was found beaten to death in a wooded area near Canova Beach, FL. That same morning a driver picked up a hitchhiker near the beach wearing a bloody yellow T-shirt. Police recovered the T-shirt from a trash can and collected other evidence from the driver's truck.
John Preston, a purported expert in handling scent-tracking dogs, was hired for the investigation. Preston said his dog, “Harrass II,” linked a T-shirt allegedly worn by the perpetrator to the crime scene and to Dillon. Dillon was arrested and charged with the murder. At Dillon’s trial, a former girlfriend claimed to have seen him wearing the blood-stained shirt as he stood over the body and a jailhouse snitch testified that Dillon had confessed to the crime. With this evidence added to the testimony of the dog handler, Dillon was convicted and sentenced to life.
In 2007, after years of attempts at an appeal, Dillon was helped by public defenders and attorneys at the Innocence Project of Florida. Dillon’s advocates obtained access to DNA testing on the bloody shirt, which had been preserved. The results proved Dillon’s innocence and he was freed on November 18, 2008. His exoneration became official when charges were dropped three weeks later, on December 10.
Since Dillon's exoneration the use of dog-scent lineups and scent-tracking dogs to make identifications has come under intense questioning across the country. Two men are suing a Texas deputy because his dogs played a role in their wrongful arrests. Other states are reexamining the practice.
Preston also played a role in the case of Innocence Project client Wilton Dedge, who was exonerated in 2004 after 22 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Preston’s work was challenged as early as the 1980s when his dog failed an accuracy test conducted by a Brevard County judge. The Arizona Supreme Court later called him a “charlatan.” In 2008, a Brevard County judge said Preston was used by prosecutors “to confirm the state’s preconceived notions.”
Other Anniversaries This Week:
Dewey Davis, West Virginia (Served 7 years, Exonerated 12/7/1995)
Alejandro Hernandez, Illinois (Served 10.5 years, Exonerated 12/8/1995)
Marlon Pendleton, Illinois (Served 10 years, Exonerated 12/8/2006)
Robert Clark, Georgia (Served 23.5 years, Exonerated 12/8/2005)
Nicholas Yarris, Pennsylvania (Served 21.5 years, Exonerated 12/9/2003)
Timothy Durham, Oklahoma (Served 3.5 years, Exonerated 12/9/1997)
John Jerome White, Georgia (Served 22.5 years, Exonerated 12/10/2007)
Tags: Wilton Dedge, William Dillon
Florida Exonerees Celebrate Freedom
Posted: December 28, 2009 4:10 pm
Two recent Florida exonerees are celebrating their freedom this holiday season after marking too many New Year’s Days behind bars.
Jamie Bain was freed December 17 after spending 35 years in Florida prisons for a crime DNA now proves he didn’t commit. He served more time for his wrongful conviction than any other DNA exoneree in U.S. history. He spent Christmas at home this year for the first time in 35 years, and said it was a dream come true.
The entire time he was in prison, Bain said he dreamed he could spend a Christmas with his mother.
"Wishing and hoping I was with her throughout the years, just wishing and hoping," he said. "Hoping one day I could get out and be with her."William Dillon spent his second Christmas at home this year, and a new video documentary and interactive web feature on Florida Today digs into the details of his wrongful conviction. Dillon served 26 years in prison for a 1981 murder he didn’t commit before he was freed last November. Both Bain and Dillon were exonerated through the work of the Innocence Project of Florida, a member of the Innocence Network.
Tags: James Bain, William Dillon
Exoneree William Michael Dillon Launches Music Career
Posted: May 23, 2011 2:37 am
Tags: William Dillon
New Suspects Named Three Decades After Wrongful Conviction
Posted: June 20, 2011 4:59 pm
Results from DNA testing proved that Dillon’s DNA was not found on a key piece of evidence, a yellow T-shirt that prosecutors all along claimed was connected to the real perpetrator.
Blood on the T-shirt matched the DNA profile of the victim and biological material of another man was discovered on the collar and armpit of the T-shirt, indicating sweat or skin cells from the man who wore the shirt. The DNA profile developed from these areas of the shirt excluded both the victim and Dillon.
Investigators have now concluded the same yellow shirt that helped convict Dillon was actually worn by one of the newly named suspects, whose DNA matched sweat stains found on the shirt’s collar.
The Sheriff’s office revealed the names of the alleged suspects in an attempt to generate information that could assist the investigation.
Read the full article.
Read more about William Dillon’s case.
Tags: William Dillon
Florida Exoneree Gets Help from Veteran Music Producer
Posted: October 19, 2011 11:09 pm
Tullio learned that Dillon was wrongfully convicted in 1981 based on a questionable eyewitness identification, unreliable testimony from the handler of a scent-tracking dog and testimony from a jailhouse informant. Dillon was sentenced to life and moved to Florida State Prison.
"I thought if anybody needs a break in this world, this is the guy," Tullio said.
Tullio finally tracked down Dillon and offered to fly him to Chicago to record an album at no cost. It was exactly what Dillon had been hoping for – to finally record the songs he’d written in prison that he’d written out on toilet paper.
Dillon performed and wrote with Tullio during a two-week visit this past summer. The songs they recorded address his experience being wrongfully convicted and also look toward the future.
"Ultimately what he wants is to be recognized as an artist, like anybody, not just a guy that spent 27 years in prison," Tullio said. "I want a fan out there to go, 'Wow, I can't wait to hear William Dillon's next record,' like they would say about Van Morrison or anyone. I never want Bill to lose the fact that this is really quality stuff. It's not pity coming from anybody."
Dillon plans to return to Evanston later this month to finish work on his album.
Read the full article.
Watch Dillon perform with Justified Freedom in New York City, May 2011.
Visit Dillon’s website to buy his CD and learn more about his story.
Tags: William Dillon