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 … […]
Wrongful Convictions
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 […]
Update Hank Skinner
From the Sceptical Juror comes an update about the Skinner case: “The Supreme Court has handed down its rulings for May 17, 2010. There is no mention of Hank’s petition for a writ of certiorari. The next time the court will announce its rulings is next Monday, 24 May.” Mr. Skinner has asked for DNA testing of seven items: […]
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 […]
Lapointe hearing May 3, 2010
Superior Court Judge John J. Nazzaro began hearing evidence on Monday. The first witness was Michael Ludlow, a retired Manchester police detective who led the investigation into the killing of Bernice Martin. Martin, the grandmother of Lapointe’s wife, was raped and strangled in her apartment on North Main Street in Manchester the evening of March […]
Zeigler, Part VII: The Thompson Report
Vicki Harley Holland has a website about Tommy Zeigler. It is called “Prayers for Tommy.” She commented on my previous posting “This post will be written by you.” In it, she refers to “Fatal Flaw” by Phillip Finch, the book I also recommend. In the middle of her website, near the top, you see “Letters […]
Riley Fox: still unsolved
An appeals court agreed with a federal jury’s 2007 finding that Will County Police framed Kevin Fox for the rape and murder of his 3-year-old daughter Riley Fox, but reduced the damages awarded to Fox and his wife from $12.2 million to $8 million. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals chastised the investigators on the […]
Zeigler, Part V
Zeigler, Part V: The Bodies Mr. Charlie Mays was savagely beaten, his face disfigured with blood coming through his skull, and he had been shot twice in the abdomen (once from the front and once from the back). Judging from the blood splatters, Mays had been beaten to death where he was found. The killer […]
Zeigler, Part IV
On March 12, 1976, Robert Eagan, then state attorney, wrote to Mayor Marvin Peele, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and the Orange County Court House, that he is very concerned about the way the evidence in the Zeigler case is being handled. The entire letter is here: In Dec 1975, a quadruple murder took place […]