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Texas Man Expected to Walk Free Tomorrow
Posted: August 6, 2009 5:50 pm
Innocence Project client Ernest Sonnier has been in Texas prisons for 23 years for a rape DNA now shows he didn’t commit. He is expected to be freed tomorrow following a hearing at the Harris County Court.
“We fully expect Ernest Sonnier to be home with his family on Friday night for the first time in more than 23 years,” said Alba Morales, the Innocence Project Staff Attorney handling the case. “This is a complicated case, but the bottom line is simple: Ernest Sonnier is innocent, and his long nightmare is coming to an end. We have conducted nine rounds of DNA testing on multiple pieces of evidence for the last 18 months. Not a shred of evidence ties Ernest to this crime, but DNA testing has identified the two apparent perpetrators.”
Read today’s press release in the case here.
Sonnier was convicted in 1986 based in part on a questionable eyewitness identification and forensic evidence that was improperly tested and presented. His is the latest in a string of cases where faulty forensics in the Houston Police Department Crime Lab contributed to the wrongful conviction. A comprehensive audit of cases in the lab found in 2007 that serology testing there from 1980 to 1992 was “generally unreliable.” Read more and download the full audit report here.
But the problem isn’t isolated in Houston. Among the nation’s 241 DNA exonerations to date, approximately 50% involved unvalidated or improper forensic science. Earlier this year, an unprecedented report from the National Academy of Sciences found serious deficiencies in forensic science and called for the creation of a National Institute of Forensic Sciences. Learn more and join the call for federal oversight and support of forensics at the Just Science Coalition website.
Tags: Ernest Sonnier
Houston Man Free After 23 Years
Posted: August 7, 2009 2:46 pm
Innocence Project client Ernest Sonnier is free today after more than two decades in Texas prisons for a rape he didn’t commit. DNA testing has proven Sonnier’s innocence of the 1985 attack and implicated two other men. Sonnier was freed on bond today by a Texas judge while he continues seeking to fully clear his name in the weeks ahead.
His mother, Altha Davis, told reporters that she always knew he was innocent because he was with her when the crime was allegedly committed – on Christmas Eve 1985. “It’s been long for me, so long,” she said. “I’m happy and so sad at the same time.” Watch a video interview with Sonnier’s mother here.
Sonnier will stay with Davis while he adjusts to his newfound freedom. He was joined in court today by family members, Innocence Project Staff Attorney Alba Morales, Social Worker Angela Amel and several people previously exonerated by DNA testing in Texas. Click here to send him a personal message welcoming him home after 23 long years of wrongful incarceration.
Sonnier’s case is the latest in a string of wrongful convictions caused in part by faulty forensic testing at the Houston Police Department Crime Lab. Although blood-type testing on important crime scene evidence conducted before trial didn’t match Sonnier’s type – and even suggested that he may be innocent – an analysts testified at his trial that he could still be the perpetrator, based on a conclusion not supported by the analyst’s own report.
Houston has been an epicenter of forensic problems – but faulty forensic testing is a national problem and must be addressed in order to prevent more wrongful convictions. Earlier this year, the National Academies of Sciences called for the creation of a National Institute of Forensic Science to provide research, support and oversight in forensic disciplines to prevent wrongful convictions and help law enforcement identify the perpetrators of crime.
Read more about troubles in the Houston crime lab, and sign a petition supporting the creation of an independent, science-based federal forensic entity.
News coverage of today’s hearing:
Houston Chronicle: Houston Judge Orders Release of Man Convicted of Rape
KHOU: Ernest Sonnier's Mom Said She Always Knew He Was Innocent
Innocence Project Press Release
Tags: Ernest Sonnier
Ernest Sonnier’s First Days of Freedom
Posted: August 10, 2009 12:30 pm
Ernest Sonnier spent the weekend with his family for the first time in 23 years after he was freed from prison Friday based on evidence of his innocence. The Innocence Project will continue working to fully clear Sonnier’s name, as DNA testing has implicated the two real perpetrators of the crime for which Sonnier was convicted. The facts of the case are here.
More than 17 relatives – encompassing five generations and ranging in age from 18 months to 94 years – joined Sonnier at the Harris County Courthouse Friday as he was freed on bond pending further proceedings. Two other men proven innocent by DNA testing – James Giles and James Waller – were also on hand to congratulate and support Sonnier and his family.
Hundreds of Innocence Project supporters sent personal messages to Sonnier this weekend welcoming him home. Send yours here.
Here’s a sampling of media coverage of Sonnier’s release over the weekend:
Houston Chronicle: A Time for Hugs and Happiness (with video)
KHOU: Man Who Spent 23 Years in Jail Released on Bond After DNA Testing (with video)
KBMT: Man Freed After 23 Years in Prison Due to DNA Evidence (with video)
New York Times: Man Held for 23 Years Is Set Free by DNA Tests
AFP: DNA Tests Clear US Man After 23 Years in Prison
Associated Press: Texas Man Convicted of Rape Freed After DNA Tests
Grits for Breakfast: 'Nuther Exoneration Implicates Houston PD Crime Lab
Talk Left: DNA Frees Another TX Man – This One After 23 Years
Washington Post: Photo of James Giles and Ernest Sonnier
Tags: James Giles, James Waller, Ernest Sonnier