by TChris

Add this to the growing list of editorialists and commentators who hope Wilton Dedge wins his lawsuit against Florida.

The state of Florida cast Dedge into a hellish existence that wiped out 22 years of his life. For that, at the barest minimum, he deserves substantial compensation.

TalkLeft's coverage of Dedge's wrongful conviction, eventual release, and attempt to obtain redress for his lost freedom is collected here.

by TChris

Beth LaBatte, who was convicted of murdering two sisters, may benefit from DNA tests that suggest her innocence.

"The DNA excludes the person they convicted," said Keith Findley of the Wisconsin Innocence Project. "It shows that her DNA was not on the murder weapon, or on the pair of socks she used to wipe up blood."

DNA from an unidentified person was detected during the testing.

True to form, the prosecutors who handled the case don't want to admit the possibility of error. They claim the strongest evidence consists of admissions LaBatte allegedly made to other prison inmates. It's amazing that prosecutors view prisoners as unimpeachable witnesses whenever they testify for the prosecution. When they testify for the defense, of course, they're criminals who are unworthy of belief.

Update 5/24: 5 of the jurors who convicted Bruce Lisker now say they would not have convicted him had they known about the possible involvement of a second person:

"I feel that I made a mistake," juror Linda R. Kelly, a retiree living in San Diego County, told the Los Angeles Times for an article published Tuesday. "Hopefully, he will get a new trial and he can have the rest of his life."

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original post: 5/21/05

22 years ago, a teenager named Bruce Lisker called 911 screaming:

It was 11:26 a.m. on March 10, 1983. "My mom — she's been stabbed!" Bruce Lisker cried into the phone. "She's been stabbed.

Later, when the officers arrived,

"Do you believe in God?" a tearful Lisker asked one of the officers. "Will you pray for my mother?"

by TChris

Kylleen Hargrave-Thomas had a moment of hope. A federal district judge decided that Kylleen was the victim of inadequate representation. The court ordered a new trial that might have saved Kylleen from an unjust sentence of life imprisonment.

U.S. District Judge Paul Gadola, who ordered a new trial for Hargrave-Thomas, called the case a travesty and said she is likely innocent of the murder. Gadola said Hargrave-Thomas' attorney failed to investigate, interview or call witnesses, or present evidence. Nevertheless, she is on her way back to prison because a federal appeals court disagreed with Gadola. The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review the case.

A Detroit Free Press editorial calls upon the prosecutor to agree to give Kylleen a new trial. The prosecutor, of course, has opted instead to ask for Kyllen's return to prison.

by TChris

Florida is the place to be if you want your politicians to interfere with personal decisions about life and death, or to prevent citizens with ancient felonies from voting, or to hinder the right to have an abortion. It's not such a good place to be if you need mental health care that you can't afford, and it's a terrible place to be if you're wrongly convicted of a crime. Just ask Wilton Dedge. (TalkLeft background here).

DNA evidence showed that Wilton Dedge spent 22 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit. Even the people who prosecuted him had apologized and said Dedge deserved to be compensated for those lost years. But when the state Legislature ended its session May 6, Dedge walked away with nothing.

Dedge's lawyer, a former president of Florida State University who is acting pro bono, plans to file a lawsuit for Dedge. He shouldn't have to go that far. Florida took Dedge's freedom for 22 years. An apology doesn't correct that injustice. Florida owes it to Dedge to give him fair compensation for his loss.

Update: At the press conference, De Kalb police chief Louis Graham said he will reopen the six murder cases occurring in that county attributed to Wayne Williams during the Atlanta Child Murders of 1979 to 1981. Williams was convicted of two murders in another county, and De Kalb County then closed its files on the six cases, believing Williams to have committed them. Williams has maintained his innocence, and Graham says he never believed Williams was the killer. Now that he's police chief, he says he can finally reopen the investigations.

CNN has more, including a link to TChris' earlier post, in their "What people are saying" box.

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Original Post:

There will be a press conference today in Atlanta on whether the police will reopen the Wayne Williams case.

by TChris

It's tempting for police detectives to "clear" an unsolved case by blaming it on a person who was convicted of a similar crime. Even if unsupported by evidence, placing blame improves their "cases closed" and "crimes solved" statistics without requiring any further work by the detectives. That may have happened in Atlanta, where 29 children were killed between 1979 and 1981.

Wayne Williams, 47, is serving a life sentence for the murders of two young men. After his conviction, authorities blamed him for 22 of the other slayings but never charged him.

The evidence of Williams' commission of the two charged murders was sketchy. Fibers found on the victims' bodies were similar to fibers found on rugs and fabrics in the home and car of Williams' parents. The new police chief of Dekalb County thinks Williams is innocent.

"After Wayne Williams was arrested, there was this decision by some people to close the cases, and I have never been one to espouse that kind of investigation or paint that kind of broad brush," [Police Chief Louis] Graham told The Associated Press. "I have never believed that he did anything."

Williams' prosecutor, of course, refuses to acknowledge the possibility of mistake. Kudos to Graham for reopening the investigation.

by TChris

It's tough to be the victim of an arrest that occurs because the police can't get their facts straight. The owner of a grocery store told the police that a former employee named Roy Hines stole lottery tickets and cashed them in at stores across Memphis. The Memphis police didn't bother to check Hines' date of birth or other identifying information, so a warrant was issued for a different Roy Hines. The Sheriff's Department then executed by warrant by arresting Hines at his home.

When the deputies entered his Whitehaven home, his 2-year old daughter was in his arms. "Now my little girl, when I drop her off, she's like asking me am I coming back home," said Hines.

To their credit, the Memphis police apologized to Hines for their blunder.

But for Hines, rectifying his image with neighbors could be even harder. "They don't know if they're living next to a murderer."

by TChris

Anthony Woods was behind bars for 18 years. Add his name to the growing list of innocent defendants who were convicted and sentenced on the basis of a mistaken identification.

A DNA test this week proved that Woods was "actually innocent" and "did not perpetrate the crimes for which he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years," according to an order clearing Woods that was signed Thursday by St. Louis Circuit Judge Donald McCullin.

Woods was paroled from the rape sentence in 2002, so the belated recognition of his innocence won't lead to his release from prison. It does release him from parole conditions and the possibility of further incarceration for parole violations. And it clears his name, which has value. But is that enough?

[H]is former public defender asks, "How do you make up for 20-some years? How do you make up for that?"

The Texas legislature is holding hearings today on the establishment of an Innocence Commission. Barry Scheck, Co-director of the Innocence Project, will testify. He will ask Governor Rick Perry for DNA testing in the case of Claude Jones, who was executed five years ago while George Bush was Governor, because of information that has surfaced indicating that Bush knew about a request for DNA testing of a hair sample used to convict Jones and didn't acknowledge it.

Barry Scheck, co-founder of Benjamin Cardozo School of Law's Innocence Project, is scheduled to make the request before the Texas Senate's Criminal Justice Committee, which is holding a hearing on whether to establish a state innocence commission.

.... Scheck is requesting DNA testing on a single strand of hair in the case of Claude Jones, who was executed in December 2000 for armed robbery and murder. According to prosecutors, Jones shot and killed Allen Hilzendager while robbing his liquor store in Point Blank, Texas, in November 1989.

by TChris

Is Ronald Bell another innocent man on death row? A week after a jewelry store robbery that left the manager dead, Ronald's brother was found in possession of a ring from the store. Ronald resembled his brother, explaining why witnesses might have mistakenly identified Ronald as the killer. The brother had an alibi, conveniently supplied by his girlfriend, but they weren't in church together during the robbery:

The two had spent the afternoon and evening together, she claimed, shooting cocaine at the lovely Sea Horse Motel, which rents rooms by the hour.

The first jury hung, and the second was barely able to return a verdict. The California Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, "although Justice Stanley Mosk issued a blistering dissent in which he blamed prosecutorial misconduct for tipping the case against the accused."

It's not necessary for there to be a body in order to convict someone of murder, but maybe one should be required. Even if the suspect confesses. For those who don't believe that someone would confess to a murder they didn't commit, read on. I bet this isn't the only case:

A Chinese man jailed and badly beaten for his wife's murder has been freed after she turned up not only alive but with another husband, domestic media said on Monday, revealing a brutal arbitrariness to China's legal system.

She Xianglin's wife, Zhang Zaiyu, disappeared after a domestic dispute in 1994 and when a woman's body was found in a local reservoir, She was detained on suspicion of killing his wife, the China Daily said.