Cameron Todd Willingham was put to death for killing his girls, by setting the house on fire purposely in Corsicana, Texas. The arson inspector’s findings were that the house was purposely set on fire due to lab tests and burn patterns. Willingham was put to death at the Texas State Penitentiary in February 2009. The Texas Forensic Science Commission determined that the local and state arson investigators used “flawed science” when the fire was labeled as arson. Experts stated that the findings were careless (Ryan 261-313). Willingham’s cousins were in shock and disbelief about the case, so they inquired that another arson investigator, Dr. Gerald Hurst, to investigate the evidence again. Even though there was new evidence in the case, it spread uncertainty on Willingham’s guilt. However, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles refused to give him mercy on February 13, 2004. The Innocence Project did not make themselves aware of Dr. Hurt’s reports. According to Megan J. Ryan, the Innocence Project stated: [T]his lack of action indicates that in the days and hours before Willingham was executed, the Governor’s Office and the Board of Pardons and Paroles ignored critical expert analysis – new scientific information – that casts serious doubt on whether the …show more content…
Furthermore, it was not clear when this problem would be determined; because Judge Baird, the judge presiding over the case had since retired in 2010. Judge Karen Sage took the case, and on December 9, 2011, and January 9, 2012, everyone involved in the party were to give the Judge reports concerning the case. Cameron Willingham’s wrongful death may be in progress. If the Court of Inquiry decides that Cameron Willingham is not guilty of killing his daughters, this will be the first case in America in which a person put to death would be cleared (Ryan 261-313). His case is ongoing at this
On the 10th of December 1998 the High Court dismissed Heathers appeal against her conviction of murder. David was originally tried with his mother but the jury struggle to return a unanimous verdict; he was then re-tried on his own and was acquitted of the murder charge Five or the seven high court judges
Even when Michael’s new defense team, through the innocence project, found a crime that was eerily similar to the method of murder and subsequent events to the one that Michael was convicted of, the new prosecutor in Williamson County fought hard to keep DNA testing from taking place, even stating that they objected to the testing now because the defense hadn’t requested it before (Morton, 2014). There was further evidence of ineffectiveness in that the coroner who’d changed his estimated time of death between the autopsy and trial, had come under scrutiny for his findings in this case, as well as several others, with claims of gross errors “including one case where he came to the conclusion that a man who’d been stabbed in the back had committed suicide” (Morton, 2014). This was only one of the many injustices that were committed against Michael Morton throughout his trial. In August of 2006, the defense was finally granted permission to perform DNA testing on the items that had been taken from his wife’s body (Morton, 2014). Although this testing did not reveal any information about the guilty party, it did at least give Michael the knowledge that Chris was not sexually violated before or after her death (Morton,
Cameron Todd Willingham is not guilty of arson and therefore not responsible for the deaths of his three daughters. Todd is not guilty of arson and the death of his 3 daughters. In the documentary, experts say there is no proof of arson. Since it wasn't clear how the fire started, an arson expert came to investigate and said that there
Christopher Simmons was a seventeen year old juvenile from Missouri whom in 1993 along with two of his friends, Charles Benjamin and John Tessmer, planned to rob and murder Shirley Crook in her home (Roper v. Simmons, 2004). On the night the crime was to be committed, Tessmer pulled out of the plan, and Simmons and Benjamin would continue on as planned. The two broke into the Ms. Crook’s home, robbed her, tied her up, covered up her eyes, then drove her to a state park and threw her off a bridge. During the trial, evidence, videotaped reenactment and testimony outlining the premeditated plan, allowed for the jury to easily convict Simmons of the crime. Even though Simmons had no previous criminal record and was a minor at the time the crime was committed,
The trial began in 2006, evidence upon evidence was brought in to support the 27 counts of murder. The defense brought into question the legitimacy of
Georgie Milton did something not many people have the guts to do, he took the life of his best friend to save him from the torture that awaited him, but, he took the life of another man and he took this life with the intention of murder. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, there is no difference between euthanasia and murder; and to this indictment, George Milton has pleaded not guilty. If I am to prove him otherwise, you must find him so. Lennie Small has been described to us as a caring giant. He had no bad intentions; and it is fair to say that our witnesses have provided us with sufficient evidence to support my argument.
According to JK Rowling in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, “Killing is not so easy as the innocent believe.” On January 13, 1999 Hae Min Lee, a senior at Woodlawn High School, Baltimore, Maryland disappeared. Almost a month later, on February 9, 1999, her body was found lifeless in Leakin Park. Moreover, the results of the autopsy stated that the victim died of manual strangulation. In the most unfortunate cases, the crime was blamed on her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, who got convicted of first degree murder serving a life sentence in jail.
Issue The question before us is whether the medical examiner found a match between Kelbel and Kailyn Montgomery’s bodily conditions. Facts • On December 4, 2000, Kailyn Montgomery died under the supervision of appellant Kyle John Kelbel.
Since the founding of our judicial system there have always been individuals claiming innocence to a crime that they have been found guilty of, traditionally, after their sentencing no matter how innocent they may or may not be would have to serve, live and possibly die by the decision of their peers. The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck alongside Peter J. Neufeld faces this issue by challenging the sentencing of convicted individuals who claim their innocence and have factual ground to stand upon. The Innocence Project uses the recent advances in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing to prove their client’s innocence by using methods that were not available, too primitive or not provided to their clients during their investigation,
Cameron Clokie is a surgeon, scientist, and CEO of Induce Biologics Inc. For thirty years, Clokie was involved with educational dentistry and related fields. In 1998, he was the Head of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and later a professor at the University of Toronto. In the early and mid-2000s, Clokie developed a procedure to restructure the jaw 's skeletal clock similar to when babies first develop their jaws.
Brandon L. Garrett used a lot of evidence to support his claims in Convicting The Innocent. Garrett used many facts to support the claims he made and represented his findings with many charts, graphs, and percentages. He reviewed police reports, interrogation transcripts and recordings, prosecution files, trial transcripts, and court opinions. Just like Garrett 's Convicting the Innocent, William Stuntz 's, The Collapse of American Criminal Justice, he talks about how prosecutors now decide whom to punish and how severely they will be punished. Garrett wrote about this in his book about how the judge and jury believed the prosecutors even though before the trial they recalled a different image of their attacker then the image they have of them during
Along with the dead bodies of the couple, a 9mm handgun was also found at the scene. The following morning, Andrew Kyle Hulsey, 23, was charged with capital murder in connection with his adoptive parents’ death. He has been detained at the Morgan County jail. The motive for the killing has yet to be determined.
Throughout the whole investigation of the Gail Miller rape and murder case there were many wrongs committed leading up to the false conviction of David Milgaard. The authorities were pressured by the public and other groups to convict someone of this heinous crime and in doing so this action of theirs put an innocent man behind bars for twenty-three years. Right from the start of the investigation there were faults and incorrect procedures perpetrated by the police. The events that took place leading up to the conviction of Mr. Milgaard demonstrate just how sloppy the investigation took a turn when the police became lax in their investigational procedures.
“ Those who have been exonerated each spent an average of 14 years in prison, and some even up to 35 or more years...but they also usually have to wait a few more years if and before they are exonerated (Innocence Project).” This Explains that to be able to become free you have to still be in for years . The perpetrators and or suspects who were caught, “148: True suspects and/or perpetrators identified. Those actual perpetrators went on to be convicted of 146 additional violent crimes, including 77 sexual assaults, 34 murders, and 35 other violent crimes while the innocent sat behind bars for their earlier offenses(Innocence Project).” DNA statistics, and no evidence that showed he
Roy Brown Through the Innocence Project The Innocence Project frees people from jail that were wrongly convicted of a crime. That is what happened to Roy Brown. Through the help of the Innocence Project, he was released from jail. Brown was convicted of a horrific crime that included murder, even though the evidence that was provided was analyzed and presented wrongly.