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 […]
Expert Testimony
Jackie Johns trial update
Jackie Johns trial update: in 2007, investigators said that DNA analysis of blood in Jackie Johns’ abandoned car linked Gerald Carnahan to the crime scene, and he was charged with first-degree murder. He’s now on trial in St. Louis County Circuit Court, Missouri. Two former crime scene investigators took the stand. Both Dwight McNiel, a former […]
The 1985 Cold Case of Jackie Johns finally goes to trial
The 1985 Cold Case of Jackie Johns finally goes to trial. One of the most anticipated murder trial in the Ozarks of the past quarter century is underway in St. Louis County after a judge ordered a change-of-venue for a story well-known in southwestern Missouri. For 25 years, Gerald Carnahan has been the chief suspect in the rape and […]
Update 1979 Julius Schnoll case
Darrell Kastel, facing a first-degree murder charge, entered a plea this morning, bringing relief to the people who were present during the 1979 shooting of a supermarket supervisor in Farmington, MI. Kastel, 56, pleaded no contest to an added charge of second-degree murder as part of a plea agreement. The first-degree felony murder charge against him […]
Michael Green freed by DNA after 27 years!
Michael Green was convicted of rape in 1983 and sentenced to 75 years in prison. But last Wednesday, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Texas announced that new DNA testing proved that Green was not involved in the assault. Green said he can’t help but be angry about the time that he lost. The process Green […]
Michael VonAllmen: Cleared after 30 years
Cleared after 30 years in Louisville, KY: After 11 years in prison before being paroled in 1994 for being convicted of rape and other charges in 1982, Michael VonAllmen’s record is now clear. On July 15, 2010, a judge finally ruled to dismiss all charges with prejudice, which means the charges can never be brought back. […]
Lapointe hearing July 6, 2010
During direct examination on Tuesday, Lapointe’s attorney, Paul Casteleiro, suggested that in his quest for a confession, Detective Morrissey overlooked inconsistencies in Richard’s admission to Morrissey and failed to ask important questions. In his confession, Richard said he had strangled 88-year-old Bernice Martin with his hands, but the medical examiner determined she had been strangled […]
Conviction in 1987 Nancy Eileen Converse murder
A man who strangled Nancy Eileen Converse to death 23 years ago was sentenced to two decades in prison, after Portland’s Cold Case Unit dug into the case and matched his DNA to the crime scene. James Samuel Owens (67) plead no contest to first-degree manslaughter in the death of Nancy Eileen Converse (42). She was […]
Zeigler, Part IX
Zeigler, Part IX: Let’s talk blood. Pictured here on the website you see the t-shirt Tommy wore underneath a red dress shirt, the night he was shot and, was supposed to die. On the front of the t-shirt you see a big blood stain underneath the left armpit, right? And on the back of the […]
Alaska Enacts DNA Access Law
Alaska is the 48th U.S. state to enact a law granting post-conviction DNA access to prisoners seeking to overturn wrongful convictions. After passing the state’s House and Senate with unanimous support, the measure was signed into law by Gov. Sean Parnell on May 14, 2010. Only Massachusetts and Oklahoma now lack DNA access laws in […]