The Houston Chronicle has an interesting article related on DNA as related to the Skinner case. It discusses that the United States Supreme Court (USSC) must consider if inmates’ requests for DNA testing can be handled as civil rights claims — a question that has split the nation’s top federal courts. The USSC on Thursday […]
Wrongful Convictions
Zeigler, Part III
The Unusual Crime Scene, Zeigler (part 3): Despite that this large, dark furniture store was a crime scene with multiple bodies inside, police did not hesitate to enter it several times. Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputies and other officers violated basic rules of procedure by entering a dark crime scene knowing they will disturb evidence. […]
Execution halted for Hank Skinner!
The U.S. Supreme Court stopped the Hank Skinner execution about an hour before he could have been taken to the Texas death chamber. The brief order grants him the delay but does not ensure he will get such testing. The court order came as relatives of Busby were climbing the steps of the Huntsville prison […]
Tommy Zeigler, Part II
Tommy Zeigler is a quiet man, in control of his emotions, not wearing his heart on his sleeve and to most, he comes across as reserved. Very reserved. He used to be politically active behind the scenes in his hometown of Winter Garden, Florida. He had once led a successful drive to unseat a longtime […]
DNA lab offers help in Hank Skinner case
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals may be indifferent to the truth in the Hank Skinner case (focusing only on procedural questions), but Chromosomal Laboratories in Phoenix, Arizona, isn’t. In response to a plea by the Innocence Project, Chromosomal Laboratories in Phoenix, Arizona has offered its accredited DNA testing services to help pursue justice. The […]
Zeigler, Part I
Zeigler, Part I: there is a man on death row in the United States of America, in Florida to be precise. On July 24th, he will be celebrating his 65th birthday. It will be a sober one. Death row does not throw great parties. He knows. He has been there since 1976. His full name […]
Too many wrongful convictions
Today, Innocence Project’s client Freddie Peacock became the 250th person exonerated through DNA evidence in the United States of America. Peacock was convicted in New York in 1976 of a rape he didn’t commit based on an eyewitness misidentification and a false confession that police claimed he made during an interrogation. Peacock, who has severe […]
No government bodies regulate forensic labs
No government bodies regulate forensic labs, that should make you wonder. If DNA plays such a huge role in criminal court, why is it that there is no federal oversight? Even the best labs can make mistakes. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology landed at the center of the high-profile case of Cynthia Sommer, a […]
Arson Case Not on Agenda
Arson Case Not on Agenda as Texas Panel Reconvenes: the Innocence Project Online reports that after a long hiatus and months of national controversy, the Texas Forensic Science Commission will meet on Friday January 29, but the controversial case of Cameron Todd Willingham is not on the agenda. New commission chair John Bradley said he […]
Interview with Sean Hodgson
Sean Hodgson was interviewed about life after wrongful imprisonment in an article published by the BBC. “A man who spent 27 years in jail for a murder he did not commit has accused the police of lying and forcing a confession out of him.” Sean Hodgson expresses his anger with police and tells how after a […]