A state judge has ordered East Texas prosecutors to hand over key evidence from a 1989 murder case to the Innocence Project and The Texas Observer for DNA testing—analysis that may prove for the first time that Texas executed an innocent man. The Innocence Project and the Observer filed suit in 2007 to obtain a […]
Miscarriage of Justice
The Skinner jury: what we know now…
If they knew then what we know now…read about the thoughts and feelings of the original Skinner jury! “In light of new developments that have surfaced in the 15 years since Skinner’s trial, several of the original jurors are no longer sure of his guilt. Five say they might have had reasonable doubt at the […]
Finland: DNA v. Fingerprint Analysis
The crime laboratory of the National Bureau of Investigation in Finland is examining DNA samples about twice as often as it resorts to fingerprint analysis. Last year the NBI crime laboratory examined 6,000 DNA samples. In the same period of time, the laboratory analysed 3,000 fingerprints. Finland is actively sharing its database with neighbouring countries […]
Zeigler, Part X
By request, the DNA report that exonerates Zeigler. In Dec 1975, a quadruple murder took place in the Zeigler Furniture Store (Winter Garden, Florida). The victims were Charles Mays, Virginia and Perry Edwards, and their daughter Eunice Edwards-Zeigler. The fifth victim, William Thomas Zeigler, became the sole suspect because he survived. The case is riddled […]
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 […]
A Chinese Wrongful Conviction
Reuters reports about a Chinese case where a man who was supposedly hacked to death in a fight has reappeared in his hometown after 10 years, raising questions about police torture to extract a confession from the alleged killer. Zhao Zuohai, the supposed killer, was acquitted of the crime and released by a Henan court May 8, […]
Zeigler, Part VIII
To completely understand the dynamics in the Zeigler case, I think we should make it more visual, to clarify what we are talking about. If you look into the right margin you will see that under “Last Modified Post” some of the older Zeigler posts show up again. I have added photographs for clarity. These […]
Lapointe hearing May 7, 2010
The defense lawyers trying to clear Richard Lapointe of the horrendous 1987 murder of Mrs. Bernice Martin began an attack in court last Friday on a detective who they said secured the mentally disabled man’s questionable confession after a series of suggestive and, at times, threatening interrogations. Much of the testimony Friday focused on a […]
Lapointe hearing May 6, 2010
Karen Lapointe-Martin stands by her ex-husband. She was called to testify yesterday. “Do you recall the day your grandmother died?” Casteleiro asked. “Yes, I do, it was a Sunday,” she responded. She recounted her family’s Sunday routine — go to church, visit with her 88-year-old grandmother, Bernice Martin, then go home for Sunday dinner. That […]
Lapointe hearing May 5, 2010
The hearing before Judge John J. Nazzaro is focusing on evidence that Lapointe’s lawyers argue was previously overlooked, including the length of time that Martin’s apartment was burning until the first firefighter came through the front door, a pair of gloves found at the crime scene that contained the DNA of someone other than Richard, […]