New York Can Stand up for the Wrongfully Convicted—and Against Clarence Thomas
By signing the Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act into law, Governor Kathy Hochul can set a model of good policy for other progressive states seeking to serve as a bulwark against the conservative Supreme Court.
Jared Trujillo, Nick Encalada-Malinowski Sep 26, 2023
In Spite of the Consequences: Prison Letters on Exoneration, Abolition, and Freedom
Lacino Hamilton spent 26 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit before being exonerated in 2020 after DNA evidence cleared him.
Lacino Hamilton Jul 12, 2023
‘This Is How Easy It Is For Someone To Be Wrongfully Convicted’
Uriah Courtney was sentenced to life in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. His conviction was overturned due to DNA evidence.
Meg O'Connor May 17, 2023
A New Jersey Woman Claimed Innocence In ‘Shaken Baby’ Death. Now Her Conviction May Get Another Look.
Spurred by an Appeal investigation into Michelle Heale’s controversial 2015 case, a law professor is asking New Jersey’s Conviction Review Unit to “correct an injustice” and set Heale free.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Feb 15, 2022
The State Convicted Him of Child Abuse. A Medical Expert Said It Was Likely Diaper Rash
A man is serving two life sentences for a crime that, according to his legal team, never occurred.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jun 29, 2021
A Manhattan D.A. Candidate Touts Her Leadership of a Conviction Review Unit. Why Did It Exonerate So Few People?
Under Tali Farhadian Weinstein’s leadership, Brooklyn’s unit exonerated just four people—a far lower rate than in previous years.
Sam Mellins May 17, 2021
Her Lawyers Say She Was Coerced To Plead Guilty To A Crime That Never Happened
Accused of shaking a baby to death and facing the death penalty, Amy Wilkerson says she is innocent, but pleaded guilty to spare her life.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 23, 2020
Officers Involved In Notorious Wrongful Conviction Aren’t On Prosecutor’s Do-Not-Call List
A state investigation found that Detroit police officers fabricated evidence that helped convict a 14-year-old boy. A judge threw out his conviction after he spent nine years in prison, but the officers are still on the job and haven’t been flagged as unreliable to testify in court.
Kira Lerner Aug 19, 2020
The Texas Appeals Court Upheld This Man’s Death Sentence Despite New Scientific Evidence
The ruling is a setback for the state’s so-called junk science statute.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Apr 01, 2020
Why Has Jackie Lacey’s Conviction Review Unit Exonerated So Few People?
Critics say there may be systemic problems with how the unit is run within the Los Angeles County DA’s office.
Jessica Pishko Feb 27, 2020
Missouri Attorney General’s Lack Of Courage In Lamar Johnson Case Is A Miscarriage of Justice
Eric Schmitt should follow the lead of a Pennsylvania prosecutor who acknowledged that a man deserved a new trial, even when it meant reversing a murder conviction.
Ben Miller Feb 25, 2020
How Witness Identifications Send Innocent People to Prison
Mistaken identifications have been involved in nearly 70 percent of post-conviction exonerations based on DNA evidence.
Jay Willis Feb 11, 2020
Delaware Lawmakers Push Bill That Could Pay Reparations To The Wrongfully Incarcerated
Elmer Daniels served nearly 40 years in prison before he was exonerated in 2018. He’s one of at least three people who could receive $50,000 for every year spent behind bars.
Lauren Gill Feb 06, 2020
The Appeal Podcast: Re-examining the Science of Shaken Baby Syndrome
With Appeal staff reporter Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg.
Adam H. Johnson Jan 23, 2020
New Lawsuit Is Latest Example Of Residents Seeking Accountability For Wrongful Arrests In New York City
Charges in each of four arrests of a city man were subsequently dropped. Now he has become one of a long line of New York City residents who have filed wrongful arrest lawsuits against the city.
Dawn R. Wolfe Jan 14, 2020
Prosecutors Can Right Past Wrongs—If Only The System Lets Them
More prosecutors are trying to root out wrongful convictions and restore trust in the legal system. They’re meeting opposition on all sides.
Nina Morrison, Somil Trivedi Dec 10, 2019
Philadelphia Man Begins Rebuilding His Life After His Wrongful Conviction
After more than two decades, Terrance Lewis was exonerated and released from prison earlier this year. He is now an advocate for other innocent people caught up in the criminal legal system.
Joshua Vaughn Oct 09, 2019
DNA Testing Could Save This Texas Man’s Life. But Prosecutors Are Opposing It.
Rodney Reed, set to be executed on Nov. 20, is innocent of a rape and murder, his lawyers say, and untested evidence will prove it. But prosecutors have pushed back, arguing the evidence is contaminated.
Lauren Gill Sep 26, 2019
Why Juries Need Expert Help Assessing Jailhouse Informants
Informants are highly motivated to lie. But jurors don’t always have the information or skills to discern the truth.
Alexandra Natapoff Sep 23, 2019
Defending The Conviction Integrity Unit In St. Louis
Forty-three elected local prosecutors filed an amicus brief last week in support of the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office’s Conviction Integrity Unit’s work in the case of Lamar Johnson.
Vaidya Gullapalli Aug 19, 2019
San Francisco Is Paying For Jamal Trulove’s Wrongful Conviction. Will Kamala Harris?
Police and prosecutors framed a father of four in a 2007 murder case with local and national political implications.
Kyle C. Barry Jul 02, 2019
Queens Prosecutor’s Office Failed to Share 911 Tapes in Murder Trial And Then Lost File, Attorneys Say
Carlton Roman has been stuck in prison for nearly 30 years for a murder he has long denied. Now, with a crowded primary for Queens district attorney weeks away, he could finally get a chance to go free.
Aaron Morrison Jun 05, 2019
It’s Time to Make Chicago Police Pay For Their Misdeeds—Out Of Their Own Budget
Chicago hands out millions in settlements and legal fees for police misconduct. Its newly inaugurated mayor should take a dollar from the department’s budget for every dollar the city spends settling with its victims.
Jonathan Ben-Menachem May 29, 2019
Man Exonerated In Murder, But Diagnosed With Terminal Cancer As He Awaited Freedom
William J. Richards was cleared in the death of his wife. But he says he was the victim of medical neglect while he was behind bars, which led to a cancer diagnosis becoming terminal. Now he’s suing.
Erika Stallings Feb 19, 2019
Why Rooting Out Rogue Prosecutors Isn’t Enough
Experts say New York’s Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct is an important first step, but the problem isn’t just misconduct—it’s the way prosecutors wield their discretion every day.
Maura Ewing Aug 28, 2018
Rory Lancman Wants to be the ‘Larry Krasner of Queens’—and Says He Can Prove It
The City Council member now eyeing a run for Queens DA has a record of supporting reform, but some critics aren’t convinced.
Theodore Hamm Aug 07, 2018
Jailhouse Informant In High-Profile Texas Murder Cases Comes Under New Scrutiny
When Steven Shockey was arrested at a San Diego port of entry in December 2011, he knew his luck had run out. The 52-year-old was trying to re-enter the United States after jumping bail and fleeing to Mexico because of an arrest in Williamson County, Texas, for the aggravated assault of his ex-wife. Because of […]
Max Rivlin-Nadler Mar 30, 2018
Do Conviction Integrity Units Work?
In May 1988 on the south side of Chicago, a video store caught fire in the middle of the night. The fire spread quickly, eventually burning down seven other nearby businesses and killing two people. The police determined it was arson, and quickly identified the owner of the video store as the mastermind of a four-person plot. […]
Josie Duffy Rice Mar 22, 2018
New Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner Hits Reset on the Office’s Troubled Conviction Review Unit
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is bringing much-needed change to the city’s notoriously ineffective conviction review unit (CRU). The district attorney’s office confirmed to The Appeal that Patricia Cummings, former head of the Dallas County district attorney’s conviction integrity unit, has joined the Philadelphia DA to lead the the office’s review of old cases for evidence […]
Christopher Moraff Feb 15, 2018
Exoneree Accuses Brooklyn DA’s Office Under Joe Hynes of Prosecutorial Misconduct in Denying his Freedom of Information Request
Letter from Jabbar Collins warns that his case is likely only “the tip of the proverbial iceberg”
Theodore Hamm Jan 11, 2018
Not in Vain: Our Failure to Curb Misconduct Undermines John Thompson’s Legacy
For criminal justice reformers, a surprisingly positive year was stained by the loss of a legend. Early in October, John Thompson, a prominent advocate for holding prosecutors accountable for misconduct, passed away at the age of 55. Mr. Thompson spent 14 years on Louisiana’s death row for a murder he did not commit. Prosecutors had intentionally hid blood evidence that would […]
Bidish Sarma Jan 03, 2018
‘Progressive DA’ Fights to Put Innocent Man Back in Prison
The evidence connecting Wilbert Jones to the 1974 rape for which he spent 46 years in prison was always weak. He was freed shortly before Thanksgiving due to the revelation that East Baton Rouge prosecutors hid evidence pointing to a different suspect entirely. But thanks to the efforts of East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III, […]
Dec 04, 2017
Man Declared “Factually Innocent” of Murder is Granted a Full Pardon
The pardon vote removes any “residual stain” on his record.
Larry Hannan Nov 22, 2017
The Massachusetts Lab Scandals: Confronting the New Normal of Mass Error in Criminal Justice
Last month, Massachusetts criminal defense lawyers filed suit seeking an extraordinary measure of relief: dismissal en masse of thousands of drug convictions, with prejudice — meaning that prosecutors would forever be barred from retrying the defendants. The circumstances giving rise to the request were, at first glance, equally extraordinary. First, there was the revelation in 2013 that Massachusetts state […]
Jennifer Laurin Oct 10, 2017
Indiana man free after misconduct leads to his murder conviction being thrown out
A Madison County man who had his conviction thrown out earlier this year due to misconduct will not be tried a second time. Trondo Humphrey, 38, got out of jail earlier this month after being locked up for 21 years. Prosecutors originally planned to retry him after his original 60-year prison sentence was thrown out, but changed […]
Larry Hannan Oct 02, 2017
Another wrongful conviction — and a chance for Worthy to step up
Jamal Segars and his friend Brian Minner were shot near the Detroit airport in 2004. Thelonious “Shaun” Searcy became the prime suspect, and investigator theorized he had meant to kill someone else and shot Segars and Minner by mistake. Officers from the scene were unable to identify Searcy, but four other random eye-witnesses did. Searcy presented eight […]
Jessica Pishko Sep 18, 2017
Kym Worthy refuses to admit fault, again
In 1996, a 12-year-old girl named Christina Brown was found dead in a Detroit apartment. She had been beaten to death with a toilet tank lid; she’d also been stabbed. Lamarr Monson — who had been living with and dealing drugs with Brown thinking she was older — came home and found her dead. He called for the neighbors to […]
Jessica Pishko Aug 29, 2017
Not quite free at last: Fred Weichel and the inability of prosecutors to fully let go
Norfolk County (Massachusetts) prosecutors announced on Monday that they do not intend to retry Fred Weichel, a South Boston man who spent 36 years behind bars for a murder the existing evidence suggests he did not commit. Yet the district attorney’s office took pains to clarify that the decision not to re-prosecute falls far short […]
Daniel Medwed Aug 09, 2017
Local government leader proposes solution for Brooklyn’s “wrongful convictions crisis”
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is urging the state of New York to create a independent commission to look into what he has called a “wrongful convictions crisis” in Brooklyn. Since 2014, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office’s Conviction Review Unit (CRU) has investigated at least 70 convictions; 23 have been overturned. The CRU, which was started by the […]
Larry Hannan Aug 04, 2017
Illicit affair of Kentucky prosecutor leads to murder conviction being thrown out
A Kentucky murder conviction has unraveled amid allegations that the elected prosecutor was having an affair with the lead detective on the case. The prosecutor’s office is also being accused of failing to disclose critical evidence to the defense. David Wayne Dooley was convicted of the 2012 murder of Michelle Mockbee and sentenced to life in […]
Larry Hannan Aug 01, 2017