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NEWS ABOUT: wrongful conviction

Va. Clears Innocent Man of Rapes After 27 Years

Thomas Haynesworth never stopped fighting

(Newser) - For 27 years, Thomas Haynesworth sat in prison, learning auto mechanics, welding, and masonry … and fighting to clear his name. That fight paid off yesterday, when a Virginia appeals court declared him innocent, acknowledging that he did not commit the three rapes of which he was convicted in 1984.... More »

Boxer, 52, Wins Debut After Years Wrongly Jailed

Dewey Bozella wins his 'first and last fight'

(Newser) - After 26 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, a 52-year-old boxer finally got his chance to go pro—and won his first fight. "I used to lay in my cell and dream about this happening," says Dewey Bozella. "It was all worth it.... More »

Troy Davis: I Want to Take a Polygraph Test

In effort to save him, Georgia Democrats urge prison strike

(Newser) - Troy Davis is hours from death, but he’s not giving up. The Georgia death row inmate, who claims he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer in 1989, wants to take a polygraph test. "Mr. Davis believes he is innocent and he wants to show it,"... More »

Guy Wrongly Sent to Death Row Loses $14M Award

DA not liable for mistakes of prosecutors, rules Supreme Court

(Newser) - John Thompson spent 14 years on death row after New Orleans prosecutors hid evidence that would have cleared him—but yesterday, a divided Supreme Court tossed out the $14 million in damages Thompson won in a civil suit against the DA. Clarence Thomas read the 5-4 decision, which found that... More »

DNA Clears Texan Jailed for 30 Years

Cornelius Dupree Jr. wrongfully convicted of 1979 rape, robbery

(Newser) - A Texas man who spent 30 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit was cleared by a DNA test, and a Dallas County court is expected to exonerate him today. Cornelius Dupree Jr., 51, was 20 years old when he was jailed in connection with a 1979 rape... More »

Doggedly Playing Lawyer, Inmate Overturns Conviction

New Yorker imprisoned for murder spends 15 years fighting case

(Newser) - A New York man was jailed for a decade and a half for a murder he maintained he didn’t commit—and finally, after years of legal work behind bars, he was vindicated. The Wall Street Journal tells the story of a feat “so unbelievably hard…that it's almost... More »

Did Students Famed for Freeing Inmates Commit a Crime?

David Protess, his Medill Innocence Project and its methods, under fire

(Newser) - Fame has followed Northwestern Professor David Protess for more than a decade: His Medill Innocence Project—which has eager students using their investigative journalism skills to help free the wrongfully convicted—has significantly altered Illinois' legal history, helping push then-Gov. George Ryan to halt executions. But the golden-child project has... More »

Sorry, CSI Fans: Real Crime Labs Suck

Corruption, incompetence widespread

(Newser) - CSI and its endless spinoffs paint crime labs as magical places where brilliant scientists use cutting-edge science to solve impossible cases. But “that image is quite far from reality,” writes Professor Douglas Starr in the Boston Globe . Real-life crime labs are “wildly inconsistent: many labs have poorly... More »

Condemned Man Spared During Last Meal

Murder convict Hank Skinner granted last-minute reprieve

(Newser) - A death row inmate in Texas was spared Wednesday just as he was finishing his last meal on earth—chicken, a bacon cheeseburger, fries, catfish, onion rings, and a salad. Hank Skinner, who had been on death row since 1995, was convicted of bludgeoning to death his live-in girlfriend and... More »

Innocent Man Free After 35 Years

DNA evidence clears him of rape charges

(Newser) - James Bain left prison today after serving 35 years for a crime he didn’t commit. The 54-year-old Florida man, cleared by DNA evidence of the 1974 rape of a 9-year-old boy, appeared relieved as he left the courthouse after a judge signed the order vacating his conviction. A bit... More »

Student Journos in Court Over Murder Investigation

Northwestern's acclaimed Innocence Project under fire

(Newser) - A group of Illinois journalism students found themselves in court yesterday, accused of flirting with and paying off sources during a 2003-2006 investigation for the Medill Innocence Project. The Northwestern students claim to have uncovered evidence exonerating Anthony McKinney, convicted in 1982 of murdering a security guard. Both sides went... More »

Lawsuits Raise Stink Over Police Dogs' 'Scent Evidence'

(Newser) - Recent lawsuits are bringing the reliability of police dogs’ noses into question, USA Today reports. Since 2004, three men have been released after wrongful convictions based partially on scent evidence, and two current federal suits target a well-known Texas deputy who works with his dogs across the nation. “It’... More »

Texas Could See First-Ever Posthumous Exoneration

DNA evidence vindicates dead convict

(Newser) - A hearing this week could result in Texas’ first-ever posthumous exoneration based on DNA evidence, the AP reports. Tim Cole, who died of a heart attack in prison in 1999, was convicted in the 1985 rape of a Texas Tech student. But an imprisoned rapist’s recent admission of guilt,... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

Wronged Ex-Cons: Why Some Get Payday, Some Don't

(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... More »

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