Week 9

Hey guys! SRP is nearing its end and so I had to grab my chance to talk to Kinda Helferich, one of the full time attorneys at the Justice Project who also manages federal grants. The Justice Project helps provide exonerations to those who are wrongfully convicted. The Justice Project is specific to Arizona and it was the 5th one in the U.S. that was created. I was able to ask her many questions that related directly to my topic. I learned that the whole exoneration process takes anywhere from 3-12 years, the Innocence Project is the father and the smaller projects are specific to each of the states, and that this particular one based in Arizona takes on all sorts of exonerations.

Things I learned:

• DNA exonerations are the majority of exonerations but non- DNA ones include: false confessions, eyewitness misidentification, witness recantations and advancements in science (junk science)
• Justice Project provides post-conviction help, once the inmate has exhausted all appeals
• One of the causes of wrongful convictions involve the victim identifying the wrong assailant; solution: during the pretrial lawyers can ask for victim testimony to be thrown out
• Lots of states have DNA testing statutes which have guidelines: 1) is DNA available to test? 2)Has it been tested before? 3) How is the DNA going to change the result of the case?
• Prosecutorial Misconduct: rarely uncovered; sometimes they don't turn over material- this is called Brady material (from the case Brady v Maryland)
• Police do condone false confessions but this stems from two things 1) how they are trained;police training always involves: "get the bad guy, get the bad guy" (sometimes even without thinking "is this really the bad guy?") 2) Police have their own agenda- some are in it just to get power and so they exercise it through long interrogations without taking into account age, mental health or IQ of the supposed perpetrator) or not even reading Miranda rights
• Majority of exonerees are minorities 
• One of the board members is an exoneree himself who served 17 years in prison for murder conspiracy (which wasn't true, clearly)

Story of the Day: In 1970 the Pioneer Hotel was supposedly set on fire. Convicted of arson, Louis Taylor spent FORTY-TWO years in prison for a crime that turned out to not even be arson. After re-opening the case, the Justice Project lawyers showed that the snitch testimony provided for this case was false, and that the fire occurred because of natural causes, not arson! In 2013 Louis Taylor became a free man. 

The Justice Project has amazing stories of those who were exonerated. Be sure to check them out on this link:    http://azjusticeproject.org/

Week 8

Hi everyone! The SRP weeks are winding down and thus research is getting less and the writing is becoming more. Nonetheless new facts are to be uncovered every day. This week's blog I am just going to go over some facts that may come as a surprise to you, and others that might not. Next week I hope to meet with the Justice Project representative who can provide insight into this amazing organization.

Some facts:

• Defense attorneys can't talk to the victim at all! This is called the Victim's Bill of Rights.
• Most exonerations are sexual assault crimes- thus more men than women are exonerated
• Majority of exonerees are minorities
• Prosecutorial misconduct is rarely ever uncovered and when it is, it never rises to the level that it is harmful to the case. So basically prosecutors get off unscathed even though they are a big part of a wrongful conviction.
• There are more men than women in prison

Story of the Day: The shaken baby syndrome is something that can occur if someone shakes a newly born baby causing three major inward signs such as hemorrhaging. In 2002 Drayton Witt was convicted of second degree murder because everyone thought that he had "shaken" his baby till the baby died. The Phoenix Children's Hospital insisted the cause of death was shaken baby syndrome. However, in 2008 this case was taken up by some awesome lawyers in Arizona through the Justice Project who provided sworn testimony after reviewing the case that the baby died because of natural causes, proving Drayton Witt innocent. :)