wrongful conviction

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Man Wrongly Imprisoned for 39 Years Now Free

Ricky Jackson, 2 others convicted in 1975 based on coerced confession

(Newser) - After nearly 40 years in prison, a man convicted in a 1975 Cleveland slaying has walked out of the county jail as a free man. Ricky Jackson, 57, was dismissed from the Cuyahoga County Jail and walked out of the adjoining courthouse this morning about an hour after a judge...

Now Those Claiming Innocence Get Parole, Too

Wrongful convictions, DNA evidence bring change to tradition

(Newser) - For years, a prisoner's best shot at parole was to admit guilt, because to claim innocence meant denial. But as wrongful conviction cases stack up, the New York Times reports things are starting to change. "You can justify a release now," says a former New York parole...

Lubbock, Texas, Makes Sure It Remembers Its Mistake

Statue unveiled for Tim Cole, who was wrongly jailed for rape

(Newser) - In 1986, a Texas Tech student was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the rape of 20-year-old Michele Mallin. Tim Cole endured his incarceration with optimism and faith, encouraging his sister to finish law school and donating to charity with money from his GI Bill from prison—an especially...

Exonerated NC Pair Finally Walk Free

'They took 30 years away from me ... but I don't hate them,' says McCollum

(Newser) - A day after a judge declared Leon Brown and Henry McCollum innocent and ordered their release after 30 years behind bars for a rape and murder they didn't commit, the half-brothers finally walked out of prisons in North Carolina yesterday. McCollum, 50 embraced his parents as soon as he...

Half-Brothers Cleared of Murder After 30 Years

DNA evidence reveals wrongful conviction of NC teens

(Newser) - Two mentally disabled half-brothers in North Carolina have spent the last 30 years locked up for a murder they didn't commit, DNA evidence has revealed. Leon Brown and Henry McCollum were 15 and 19 years old, respectively, in 1983 when they were arrested for the rape and murder of...

24 Years Later, Science Overturns Arson Conviction

Han Tak Lee imprisoned for allegedly murdering daughter

(Newser) - In 1990, Han Tak Lee was convicted of murdering his daughter. Now, almost a quarter-century later, a judge says the 79-year-old's conviction rested on a scientific inaccuracy—and the former New York businessman is finally out of prison, the AP reports. According to a review of his case finished...

Millionaire Murder Convict: Pablo Escobar Framed Me

Kris Maharaj will have chance to demonstrate his innocence

(Newser) - After 27 years in prison, Krishna "Kris" Maharaj may finally get a chance to prove what he's been claiming for years: that he was framed for a pair of murders actually ordered by infamous Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. CNN has a profile on Maharaj's case detailing...

Wrongly Convicted Central Park 5 to Get $40M

NYC settlement adds up to $1 million per year in jail

(Newser) - Five New York City men wrongly convicted in their teens for the rape and beating of a jogger in Central Park are to receive around $1 million per year of imprisonment. The black and Hispanic "Central Park Five"—who were aged 14 to 16 when they were caught...

Mass. Still Has 'Gargantuan' Cleanup Over Crooked Lab

Investigation looks at fallout over chemist Annie Dookhan's fraud

(Newser) - It was, a judge said, "nothing short of catastrophic" when a former Massachusetts police chemist pleaded guilty in 2012 to tampering with evidence, misleading investigators, and a host of other crimes. Annie Dookhan lied about credentials, forged colleagues' initials, and guessed at results. She had touched some 40,000...

4.1% of Those Sentenced to Die Are Innocent
4.1% of Those Sentenced
to Die Are Innocent
STUDY SAYS
Apr 29, 2014 12:03 AM CDT

4.1% of Those Sentenced to Die Are Innocent

Most end up serving life, 'forgotten'

(Newser) - At least 4.1% of people sentenced to death in the US are innocent, a new report warns—and most of them end up neither executed nor exonerated, but serving life behind bars. Researchers say that at a conservative estimate, one in 25 of the thousands of people condemned to...

'Long-Buried Evidence' Wins Inmate His Freedom

Jonathan Fleming long maintained he was out of state when 1989 murder occurred

(Newser) - Jonathan Fleming has spent 24 years in prison for a murder that took place in New York on August 15, 1989—even though Fleming offered quite a bit of proof he was at Disney World in Florida with his family that day. The assistant district attorney handling the 1990 court...

Death Row's Longest Serving Inmate Goes Free

All-white jury convicted Glenn Ford of murder in 1984

(Newser) - In 1984, Glenn Ford, who is black, was wrongfully convicted by an all-white jury in the murder of an elderly white man in Louisiana. He spent the next three decades on death row—but yesterday afternoon, he was finally set free, the Atlantic reports. During the case, Ford had cooperated...

Wrongfully Imprisoned Man Goes After Prosecutor

Files complaint against prosecutor who got him convicted of murder

(Newser) - In 1994, Anthony Graves was convicted of the grisly killings two years earlier of a woman, her daughter, and her four grandchildren in a tiny Texas town. Graves was implicated in the crime by Robert Carter, who was also charged and ultimately convicted and put to death in 2000. But...

Exonerations Hit All-Time High

 Exonerations Hit All-Time High 
new study
Feb 4, 2014 7:35 AM CST

Exonerations Hit All-Time High

Prosecutors more willing to revisit cases, study says

(Newser) - More wrongfully convicted people were exonerated last year than ever before in the US, a study by two law schools behind the National Registry of Exonerations finds. Some 87 people were found to have been wrongfully convicted, compared to 83 in 2009, the study's previous high, per the New ...

Case Against Brooklyn 'Killer' Falls Apart 23 Years Later

David Ranta expected to be set free this week

(Newser) - David Ranta has been in prison since 1991 for the murder of a Brooklyn rabbi in a high-profile city slaying. Ranta is now packing up his cell, however, because prosecutors plan to ask a judge this week to set him free, reports the New York Times . No physical evidence tied...

Woman on Death Row Has Conviction Overturned

Detective in case has history of perjury

(Newser) - Debra Milke has spent 22 years on death row for orchestrating the murder of her 4-year-old son, but the Arizona woman may be on the verge of freedom, after a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judge overturned her conviction yesterday. Milke's roommate and a friend shot Milke's son...

4 Accused Killers Freed After Convictions Overturned

3 of the men were behind bars for 17 years, another for 23

(Newser) - Four New York men saw their murder convictions overturned and were released from prison yesterday in two unrelated cases, notes Daily Intel .
  • Michael Cosme, Devon Ayers, and Carlos Perez were behind bars for 17 years after being convicted of two murders in 1995. They had already been exonerated of killing
...

Judge Tosses 'Bewildering' Murder Conviction

Frees defendant after 23 years in prison

(Newser) - A federal judge yesterday overturned the decades-old murder conviction of a Brooklyn man, lambasting the trial judge's decisions as "incomprehensible," the jury's conclusion as "bewildering," the man's lawyers as "indolent and ill prepared," and the prosecutors as "overzealous and deceitful....

17 Years Later, 2 Wrongfully Convicted Finally Free

Eric Glisson's, Cathy Watkins' convictions overturned in 10 minutes

(Newser) - Finally, Eric Glisson and Cathy Watkins are truly free. Convicted of the 1995 murder of a taxi driver, Glisson and Watkins spent more than 17 years in jail. They were released last month while the district attorney looked into their claims of innocence (two gang members ultimately confessed to the...

Forensics From 10K Criminal Cases to Get New Review

Cases as far back as 1985 to get a second look by Justice Dept, FBI

(Newser) - The Justice Department and FBI have launched the FBI's biggest-ever post-conviction review, taking a second look at thousands of cases to determine whether defendants were wrongly convicted because of faulty forensic analysis. The review will examine all cases involving FBI Laboratory hair and fiber examiners going back to at...

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