|
Clarence Harrison
Clarence Harrison (born 1959) was wrongly convicted in 1987 for the kidnapping, rape and robbery of a 25-year-old-woman in Decatur, Georgia. He is the first person exonerated through the work of the Georgia Innocence Project. In the pre-dawn hours of October 25, 1986, a woman was attacked as she walked in the rain to a bus stop in Decatur, Georgia. The assailant hit her, dragged her to an embankment and raped her three times before she was able to get away and notify the police. During the incident, the assailant also stole her watch. Harrison became a suspect because he lived near the site of the abduction and a tip that someone at his house was trying to sell a watch, although the victim's watch was never found. Both the rape victim and the person providing the tip picked Harrison from a photo lineup. It was largely on this identification that Harrison was convicted on March 18, 1987, and sentenced to life in prison. In February 2003, Harrison sent a hand-written letter to the ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decatur, Georgia
Decatur is a city in, and the county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, which is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 census, the municipality is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple ZIP Codes in unincorporated DeKalb County bear Decatur as the address. The city is served by three MARTA rail stations ( Decatur, East Lake, and Avondale). The city is located approximately northeast of Downtown Atlanta and shares its western border with both the city of Atlanta (the Kirkwood and Lake Claire neighborhoods) and unincorporated DeKalb County. The Druid Hills neighborhood is to the northwest of Decatur. The unofficial motto of Decatur used by some residents is "Everything is Greater in Decatur." History Early history Prior to European settlement, the Decatur area was largely forested (a remnant of old-growth forest near Decatur is preserved as Fernbank Forest). Decatur was established at the intersection of two Native American trails: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Innocence Project
Innocence Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal organization that is committed to exonerating individuals who have been wrongly convicted, through the use of DNA testing and working to reform the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. The group cites various studies estimating that in the United States between 2.3% and 10% of all prisoners are innocent. The Innocence Project was founded in 1992 by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld who gained national attention in the mid-1990s as part of the "Dream Team" of lawyers who formed part of the defense in the O. J. Simpson murder case. , the Innocence Project has helped to successfully overturn over 300 convictions through DNA-based exonerations. In 2021, Innocence Project received the biennial Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty by Cato Institute, awarded in recognition and gratitude for its work to ensure liberty and justice for all. In March 2022, The Innocence Project won two Webby Awards for its ''Happi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Exonerated Death Row Inmates
This list contains names of people who were found guilty of capital crimes and placed on death row but later found to be wrongly convicted. Many of these exonerees' sentences were overturned by acquittal or pardon, but some of those listed were exonerated posthumously. The state listed is that in which the conviction occurred, the year is that of release and the case is that which overturned the conviction. This list does not include: # Posthumous pardons for individuals executed before 1950. # Inmates who were given life sentences when their country, province or state abolished the death penalty. # People who were threatened with death and never jailed. # People who were jailed by extralegal groups or courts, for example, as often occurs in cases of sentences of stoning. List by country Japan 1983 * Sakae Menda was forced to confess to the murders of a Buddhist priest and his wife in 1948 and was convicted on two counts of murder and robbery in 1949. In a 1983 retrial, he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capital Punishment Debate In The United States
The debate over capital punishment in the United States existed as early as the colonial period. As of April 2022, it remains a legal penalty within 27 states, the federal government, and military criminal justice systems. The states of Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Washington abolished the death penalty within the last decade alone. Gallup, Inc. has monitored support for the death penalty in the United States since 1937 by asking "Are you in favor of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder?" Opposition to the death penalty peaked in 1966, with 47% of Americans opposing it; by comparison, 42% supported the death penalty and 11% had "no opinion." The death penalty increased in popularity throughout the 1970s and 1980s, when crime went up and politicians campaigned on fighting crime and drugs; in 1994, the opposition rate was less than 20%, less than in any other year. Since then, the crime rate has fallen and opposition to the death ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Overturned Convictions In The United States
This is a list of notable overturned convictions in the United States. Alabama Blount County * Bill Wilson was convicted of the 1912 murder of his wife and child and sentenced to life in prison. He was exonerated in 1918 when they were both found living in Indiana. Jackson County * The Scottsboro Boys were nine black juveniles convicted of an alleged 1931 rape of a white girl, eight of whom were initially sentenced to die by the electric chair. All were later either pardoned or had their convictions overturned. Jefferson County * Anthony Ray Hinton was wrongfully convicted in 1985 of the murder of two men in Birmingham and sentenced to death. The Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that his defence was inadequate and he was exonerated in 2015 by a Jefferson Court judge after spending nearly 30 years in prison. Arizona Maricopa County * Ray Krone was sentenced to death for the 1991 murder of a bar manager. Bite marks found on the victim were said to match Krone's teeth. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
False Confession
A false confession is an admission of guilt for a crime which the individual did not commit. Although such confessions seem counterintuitive, they can be made voluntarily, perhaps to protect a third party, or induced through coercive interrogation techniques. When some degree of coercion is involved, studies have found that subjects with highly sophisticated intelligence or manipulated by their so called "friends" are more likely to make such confessions. Young people are particularly vulnerable to confessing, especially when stressed, tired, or traumatized, and have a significantly higher rate of false confessions than adults. Hundreds of innocent people have been convicted, imprisoned, and sometimes sentenced to death after confessing to crimes they did not commit—but years later, have been exonerated. It was not until several shocking false confession cases were publicized in the late 1980s, combined with the introduction of DNA evidence, that the extent of wrongful convicti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miscarriage Of Justice
A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal procedure, criminal or civil procedure, civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they actual innocence, did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Innocent people have sometimes ended up in prison for years before their conviction has eventually been overturned. They may be exonerated if new evidence comes to light or it is determined that the police or prosecutor committed some kind of misconduct at the original trial. In some jurisdictions this leads to the payment of compensation. Academic studies have found that the main factors contributing to miscarriages of justice are: eyewitness identification, eyewitness misidentification; faulty forensic analysis; false confessions by vulnerable suspects; perjury and lies stated by witnesses; police misconduct, misconduct by police, prosecutorial misconduct, prosecutors or judicial miscondu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Innocent Prisoner's Dilemma
The innocent prisoner's dilemma, or parole deal, is a detrimental effect of a legal system in which admission of guilt can result in reduced sentences or early parole. When an innocent person is wrongly convicted of a crime, legal systems which need the individual to admit guilt — as, for example, a prerequisite step leading to parole — punish an innocent person for their integrity, and reward a person lacking in integrity. There have been cases where innocent prisoners were given the choice between freedom, in exchange for claiming guilt, and remaining imprisoned and telling the truth. Individuals have died in prison rather than admit to crimes that they did not commit. United States law professor Daniel Medwed says convicts who go before a parole board maintaining their innocence are caught in a catch-22 that he calls "the innocent prisoner’s dilemma". A false admission of guilt and remorse by an innocent person at a parole hearing may prevent a later investigation provi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Miscarriage Of Justice Cases
This is a list of miscarriage of justice cases. This list includes cases where a convicted individual was later cleared of the crime and either has received an official exoneration, or a consensus exists that the individual was unjustly punished or where a conviction has been quashed and no retrial has taken place, so that the accused is legally assumed innocent. This list is not exhaustive. Crime descriptions with an asterisk indicate that the events were later determined not to be criminal acts. List of cases Argentina Armenia Australia Brazil Canada China Finland France Germany Greece Iceland Iran Ireland Israel Italy Japan Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Norway Poland Romania South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Uganda United Kingdom United States Due to the high number of documented notable wrongful conviction entries for the United States, the li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exculpatory Evidence
Exculpatory evidence is evidence favorable to the defendant in a criminal trial that exonerates or tends to exonerate the defendant of guilt. It is the opposite of inculpatory evidence, which tends to present guilt. In many countries, including the United States, police and prosecutors are required to disclose to the defendant exculpatory evidence they possess before the defendant enters a plea (guilty or not guilty). In some countries such as Germany, the prosecutor has to actively search for both exculpatory and inculpatory circumstances and evidence before filing of action. Per the ''Brady v. Maryland'' decision, prosecutors in the United States have a duty to disclose exculpatory evidence even if not requested to do so. While the prosecution is not required to search for exculpatory evidence and must disclose only the evidence in its possession, custody, or control, the prosecution's duty is to disclose all information known to any member of its team, e.g., police, investig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georgia Innocence Project
The Georgia Innocence Project is a non-profit corporation based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Its mission "is to free the wrongly prosecuted through DNA testing, to advance practices that minimize the chances that others suffer the same fate, to educate the public that wrongful convictions are not rare or isolated events, and to help the exonerated rebuild their lives." It was founded in August 2002 by September Guy and Jill Polster, and was headed by Executive Director Aimee Maxwell. Georgia Innocence Project is now headed by Executive Director Clare Gilbert. Cases that are accepted are assigned to a team of a volunteer lawyer and two interns. Thirteen people have been exonerated by the organization's efforts, the first two being Clarence Harrison in August 2004, and Robert Clark in December 2005. On January 22, 2007, a third Georgia Innocence Project client, Pete Williams, was freed after spending 21 years in prison. In 1985, a jury convicted Williams for the rape of a S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prosecutorial Misconduct
In jurisprudence, prosecutorial misconduct or prosecutorial overreach is "an illegal act or failing to act, on the part of a prosecutor, especially an attempt to sway the jury to wrongly convict a defendant or to impose a harsher than appropriate punishment." It is similar to selective prosecution. Prosecutors are bound by a sets of rules which outline fair and dispassionate conduct. Types of misconduct * Failure to disclose exculpatory evidence * False confession * Falsified evidence * Malicious prosecution * Prosecutorial corruption * Retaliatory prosecution * Selective prosecution * Subornation of perjury Examples and remedies In late 1993, the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that John Demjanjuk had been a victim of prosecutorial misconduct during a 1986 trial in which federal prosecutors withheld evidence. Demjanjuk's sentence was overturned, but he lost when his case was retried. In the 1995 murder trial of O. J. Simpson, the defense argued that Los Angele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Capital Punishment Debate In The United States")
