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December 2, 2008 4:04:18 AM CST


wrongful conviction

wrongful conviction news stories

4 Stories

Dallas DA Makes Waves by Overturning Convictions

DA makes waves with quest to root out wrongful convictions

(Newser) - Craig Watkins is becoming famous for something rather unusual for a district attorney: getting people out of jail, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dallas County prosecutor is painstakingly going through hundreds of convictions secured by his predecessors, using DNA evidence to overturn wrongful convictions. His Conviction Integrity Unit has freed six convicts in the last year alone. One had served 27 years for a murder he didn't commit. More »

More about:  Texas DNA evidence Dallas district attorney justice wrongful conviction exonerate innocence Craig Watkins

Man Granted Retrial After
26 Years Behind Bars

Confession of actual gunman finally released after his death

(Newser) - Alton Logan tasted freedom yesterday for the first time in 26 years after being granted a new trial, reports the Chicago Tribune . The Illinois man was locked up in 1982 for killing a security guard. Another man confessed to the killings but his attorneys, prevented from coming forward by attorney-client privilege, did not reveal the confession until the man died last year. More »

More about:  Chicago prison attorney prisoner wrongful conviction

FBI Pays Out
$101M in
Mob Suit

Record award for four men wrongfully sent to prison for 1965 murder

(Newser) - A federal judge ordered the government to pay $101.7M after the FBI withheld evidence related to a 1965 murder in Boston that sent four men to prison for three decades. "This case is about intentional misconduct, suborning of perjury" and "the framing of innocent men," said the judge today at the close of the 22-day trial. More »

More about:  murder FBI prison Boston perjury Mafia mob hitman wrongful conviction

(Newser) - How much is a year of jail time worth if you're falsely convicted? The potential awards vary widely, the American Prospect reports. Some states fix rates, with exonerated Wisconsinites claiming $5,000 per year in the clink while those from Alabama get $50,000. Twenty-two states have no laws guaranteeing redress; in those states the fight is on. More »

More about:  prison conviction prison system wrongful conviction exonerate

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