This Week in Innocence News

01.13.17 By Innocence Staff

This Week in Innocence News

Here are some of this week’s news highlights:

Kentucky Innocence Project client exonerated
A judge dropped the murder charges against Kentucky Innocence Project client William Virgil last Friday. Virgil served 28 years in prison for a 1987 murder before DNA testing excluded him as a perpetrator last year and his conviction was overturned. WDRB

Rodney Ellis retires from Texas Senate
Innocence Project Board Chair Rodney Ellis has retired from the Texas Senate after 26 years. Ellis will go on to be the Commissioner for Harris County, Texas. The Texas Tribune

U.S. Supreme Court hears why Colorado should refund court fees and restitution to exonerees
In Colorado, exonerees must file a civil suit in order to reclaim court fees and restitution charged to them after their wrongful convictions. Attorneys for two Colorado exonerees told the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday that this violates their clients’ constitutional rights. The Washington Post

New DNA testing could exonerate Virginia man
New DNA testing could exclude Sherman Brown from the murder for which he has served nearly 40 years in prison. The Richmond Times-Dispatch

Man sues Peoria police for coerced confession
Johnnie Lee Savory, who was pardoned of his double-murder conviction in 2015 by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, filed a lawsuit against the city of Peoria and its police department for allegedly coercing his confession to the murders when he was only 14 years old. The Associated Press

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