http://theadvocate.posterous.com The online presence of the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy journal posterous.com Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:33:00 -0700 Justice Department to review forensic evidence used in thousands of cases - Washington Post http://theadvocate.posterous.com/justice-department-to-review-forensic-evidenc http://theadvocate.posterous.com/justice-department-to-review-forensic-evidenc

The Justice Department and the FBI have launched a review of thousands of criminal cases to determine whether any defendants were wrongly convicted or deserve a new trial because of flawed forensic evidence, officials said Tuesday.

The undertaking is the largest post-conviction review ever done by the FBI. It will include cases conducted by all FBI Laboratory hair and fiber examiners since at least 1985 and may reach earlier if records are available, people familiar with the process said. Such FBI examinations have taken place in federal and local cases across the country, often in violent crimes, such as rape, murder and robbery.

The review comes after The Washington Post reported in April that Justice Department officials had known for years that flawed forensic work might have led to the convictions of potentially innocent people but had not performed a thorough review of the cases. In addition, prosecutors did not notify defendants or their attorneys even in many cases they knew were troubled.

Read the complete story

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Mon, 21 May 2012 05:30:00 -0700 New National Registry of Exonerations http://theadvocate.posterous.com/new-national-registry-of-exonerations http://theadvocate.posterous.com/new-national-registry-of-exonerations

The Center on Wrongful Convictions and University Michigan Law School tonight launched the National Registry of Exonerations—a comprehensive database containing extensive searchable information on the cases of nearly 900 men and women who have been exonerated in the U.S. since 1989 after being convicted of felonies they did not commit.

exonerationregistry.org 

In addition to the cases in the registry, more than 1,100 defendants have been exonerated following convictions stemming from 13 separate police corruption scandals (such as the drug task force scandal in Tulia, Texas, and the Rampart scandal in Los Angeles). Thus, the total number of defendants exonerated during the 23-year period totals roughly 2,000—an average of about one a week.

Below are the Kentucky cases listed -

DNAUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window). Open Menu
*Use SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window). Open Menu
Contributing Factors Open Menu







Chandler Edwin Kentucky 1995 2009

Mistaken Witness ID, False Confession
Gregory William Kentucky 1993 2000 Y
Mistaken Witness ID, False or Misleading Forensic Evidence, Official Misconduct
Kiper Ben Kentucky 2000 2006

Perjury or False Accusation
Porter Kerry Kentucky 1998 2011 Y * Mistaken Witness ID, Perjury or False Accusation
Smith Timothy Kentucky 2001 2006

Perjury or False Accusation, Inadequate Legal Defense
VonAllmen Michael Kentucky 1982 2010

Mistaken Witness ID

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Mon, 27 Feb 2012 06:04:00 -0800 Preventing False Confessions - NY Times Op-Ed http://theadvocate.posterous.com/preventing-false-confessions-ny-times-op-ed http://theadvocate.posterous.com/preventing-false-confessions-ny-times-op-ed

Why Do Innocent People Confess?

If you have never been tortured, or locked up and verbally threatened, you may find it hard to believe that anyone would confess to something he had not done. Intuition holds that the innocent do not make false confessions. What on earth could be the motive? To stop the abuse? To curry favor with the interrogator? To follow some fragile thread of imaginary hope that cooperation will bring freedom?

Yes, all of the above. Psychological studies of confessions that have proved false show an overrepresentation of children, the mentally ill and mentally retarded, and suspects who are drunk or high. They are susceptible to suggestion, eager to please authority figures, disconnected from reality or unable to defer gratification. Children often think, as Felix did, that they will be jailed if they keep up their denials and will get to go home if they go along with interrogators. Mature adults of normal intelligence have also confessed falsely after being manipulated.

False confessions have figured in 24 percent of the approximately 289 convictions reversed by DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project. Considering that DNA is available in just a fraction of all crimes, a much larger universe of erroneous convictions — and false confessions — surely exists.

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Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:03:00 -0800 Op-Ed about DNA Bill http://theadvocate.posterous.com/op-ed-about-dna-bill http://theadvocate.posterous.com/op-ed-about-dna-bill

Allow more DNA testing - Lexington Herald-Leader

It's telling that the prosecutor who oversees more criminal cases than anyone in Kentucky recently testified in favor of expanding the availability of post-conviction DNA testing.

We don't usually expect prosecutors to help convicts get out of jail. But when the wrong person is locked up, the individual who actually committed a violent crime is not held accountable and our system of justice has failed.

Everyone has a stake in getting it right, which is why Jefferson Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Stengel of Louisville urged the approval of House Bill 178.

HB 178

 

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Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:15:00 -0800 Kerry Porter - Kentucky Innocence Project Client Exonerated and Released http://theadvocate.posterous.com/kerry-porter-kentucky-innocence-project-clien http://theadvocate.posterous.com/kerry-porter-kentucky-innocence-project-clien

Kerry Porter, imprisoned for murder, is exonerated, freed after 14 years - Louisville Courier Journal 

After serving 14 years behind bars for a 
murder he insisted he didn’t commit, a 
stunned Kerry Porter learned Monday that 
he was exonerated and hours later was 
released from prison.

“He was virtually speechless,” said Melanie 
Lowe, who won Porter’s exoneration after a 
five-year battle.

“He said it was a lot to take in … and that 
he was a little nervous” about returning to 
the real world, she said. “He’s never held a 
cell phone or seen a flat-screen TV.”

Jefferson Circuit Judge Irv Maze signed an 
order dismissing Porter’s conviction and 
ordering him released “immediately and 
without delay” in the 1996 murder of 
Tyrone Camp.


 

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Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:28:00 -0700 Spark of Truth: Can Science Bring Justice to Arson Trials? - Discover Magazine http://theadvocate.posterous.com/spark-of-truth-can-science-bring-justice-to-a http://theadvocate.posterous.com/spark-of-truth-can-science-bring-justice-to-a

Gregory Gorbett/Eastern Kentucky University

Also see the related article, "Seven Myths About Arson."

On a rainy spring morning in eastern Kentucky, Greg Gorbett prepares to commit arson. His target is a tidy but cheerless one-bedroom apartment with the kind of mauve-colored carpet, couches, tables, and lamps you would find in a cheap motel. Gorbett is not the only one eager to see the place burn. A handful of other fire scientists and grad students from Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) are checking equipment in the test room as well. They have gathered at the EKU fire lab, a concrete structure in an open meadow as close to nowhere as possible, to document in exacting detail the life cycle of a blaze.

Gorbett scans the setup one last time. A foil-covered wire studded with metal probes—a thermocouple array—crosses the ceiling and hangs down the center of the space; it will measure the temperature at one-foot intervals every two seconds. A radiometer shaped like a soup can will detect changes in radiant energy. Bundles of yellow wires will carry the data to a computer-equipped truck sitting out back. There is also a man lying on the floor: James Pharr, a former fire investigator from Charlotte, North Carolina, wearing a fire-resistant suit and oxygen mask, who will record the event with a thermal-
imaging camera.

read the rest of the article

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Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:33:00 -0700 WAVE TV story on Kentucky Innocence Project client Kerry Porter http://theadvocate.posterous.com/wave-tv-story-on-kentucky-innocence-project-c http://theadvocate.posterous.com/wave-tv-story-on-kentucky-innocence-project-c

LMPD detective looks into inmate's innocence claims

Porter will tell anyone who will listen that he's "actually innocent," which doesn't make him any different from most inmates at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional complex except that since 2006, Porter has the Kentucky Innocence Project working his case.

"They believed in me pretty much from the very beginning," Porter said. "You can kind of see when people believe in you and support what you're saying."

The Innocence Project and the Department of Public Advocacy have a pretty good working relationship with Louisville Metro Police Department detective, Sergeant Denny Butler.

"Their credibility is sort of on the line too," Butler said. "They're not going to call us every day saying, 'Hey we've got another person claiming they're innocent.'"

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Wed, 07 Sep 2011 04:03:00 -0700 Lexington Herald Leader - Reform Urgent to Protect Innocent http://theadvocate.posterous.com/lexington-herald-leader-reform-urgent-to-prot http://theadvocate.posterous.com/lexington-herald-leader-reform-urgent-to-prot

Miscarriage of Justice

We hope that by the time you read this, Kerry R. Porter will be a free man, after serving 14 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.

....

Porter's story is the nightmare of a society that values liberty and justice. There are steps lawmakers and courts must take to avert more such nightmares.

The editorial explains reforms needed to eyewitness identification, eligibility for DNA testing, disclosure of new evidence and compensation to those wrongfully convicted.  Kerry Porter is represented by the DPA's Kentucky Innocence Project.

 

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Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:06:00 -0700 "Getting it Right" Videos from The Innocence Project http://theadvocate.posterous.com/getting-it-right-videos-from-the-innocence-pr http://theadvocate.posterous.com/getting-it-right-videos-from-the-innocence-pr

The Innocence Project today launched a new multimedia resource on the central causes of wrongful convictions and proven reforms to prevent injustice.  "Getting it Right"  features videos, case studies and in-depth research on forensics, false confessions, eyewitness identification, informant testimony, defense representation and conduct by police and prosecutors.

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