From the Texas Moratorium Network: On October 13, 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Skinner v. Switzer to determine whether Hank Skinner‘s request for DNA testing can be considered as a civil rights claim rather than as part of his death penalty appeal. Skinner has always maintained his innocence. Mr. Skinner has asked for […]
Capital Punishment
Florida moves to protect innocent people from wrongful convictions
Some of the most important movers and shakers in Florida’s criminal justice system huddled in Tallahassee today with a simple, yet critical mission: protect innocent people from wrongful conviction. The Florida Innocence Commission held its first meeting in what will be a two-year examination of how the state administers justice. There are clear problems. A […]
Zeigler, Part XIII the crime scene
Zeigler, Part XIII WARNING: this post contains graphic crime scene photography. They are not included to sensationalize the case but because they tell a story. View at your own risk. ________________________________________________________________ Zeigler’s first trial attorney Ralph “Terry” Hadley III had suggested that the motive for these murders was not robbery or insurance money as the […]
Daniel Dougherty and Forensic Arson Detection
Daniel Dougherty was found guilty of deliberately igniting fires in his home that killed his two sons, Danny(4) and Johnny(3) in 1985. Police arrested Dougherty 14 years later, when his estranged wife came forward and claimed he confessed. A jury found him guilty on capital murder charges in 2000. He is awaiting his execution. His case […]
Why deny DNA testing?
“I can think of no good argument why anyone would be denied DNA testing” Prosecutors have opposed testing, and judges have refused it, but Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and Attorney General Richard Cordray wrote today to prosecutors in seven criminal cases urging them to allow DNA testing that could confirm guilt or prove innocence. The […]
Political meddling and apathy in Willingham case
Political meddling and apathy in Willingham case has me despondent. A Texas state board said last Friday that arson investigators in the Willingham case used flawed science but were not negligent in an investigation that led to a controversial 2004 execution. The panel also said that investigators did not commit misconduct. Cameron Todd Willingham was […]
The 2004 Willingham execution
Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004 for a fire that killed his three daughters. Prosecutors argued that Willingham deliberately set the 1991 blaze — but three reviews of the evidence by outside experts have found the fire should not have been ruled arson. The last of those reports was ordered by the Texas Forensic […]
False Confessions
Lisa Black and Steve Mills of the Chicago Tribune have written an excellent piece about false confessions. False confessions are not so uncommon as you would think. Why would a parent confess to raping their own three-year old or murdering their own grandmother? If you really are not guilty, nothing in the world could make you […]
The 1980 Tim Hack and Kelly Drew murders
Edward Edwards, of Louisville, Ky., was arrested after DNA connected him to the unsolved murders of Tim Hack and Kelly Drew, who disappeared from a Wisconsin wedding reception in August 1980. Their bodies were found weeks later in the woods. Investigators believe Hack was stabbed and Drew strangled. Authorities said the state crime lab matched Edwards’ DNA to […]
Zeigler, Part XI
Zeigler, Part XI: On Juror Intimidation and Judicial Override You can debate all you want but I have made up my mind; Zeigler is guilty! That was what jury foreman Charles Ashley announced right after he had been elected foreman. According to other jurors, he had made up his mind about two weeks prior … […]