Zeigler, Part XV: “Just testify that you were Zeigler’s homosexual lover and we’ll help you out!” A Florida, Orange County woman in her 80’s, reads an affidavit that she signed alleging that the state tried to get her son to testify that he was William Thomas Zeigler’s homosexual lover. As you know, the state went through great […]
Wrongful Convictions
Zeigler gets a new DNA hearing!
Zeigler gets a new DNA hearing! The Orlando Sentinel reports that an Orange Circuit Judge has granted long-time death row inmate Tommy Zeigler an evidentiary hearing more than a year after the man convicted of killing his in-laws, his wife, and another man on Christmas Eve 1975 filed a Petition_and_Proposed_Order[1] in his case. The order granting […]
“It’s not about the conviction or the sentence.”
Sundeep Bhatia’s observation is one I agree with: “But the request to test the DNA evidence is not really about the conviction or sentence. It’s about the evidence and the possibility that it may shed some light on who the real killer is. Skinner hopes it is exculpatory. But it may be inculpatory. Skinner doesn’t know. And that’s […]
Willingham court of inquiry postponed until Oct 14, 2010
The district attorney of Navarro County sought the recusal of state District Judge Charlie Baird in a high-profile court of inquiry that was set to start today to determine whether Cameron Todd Willingham was wrongfully executed by the state of Texas for the deaths of his three daughters. The motion raised the possibility that the two-day hearing […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]