Recent News & Updates
August 6, 2013: Why the Italian Judicial Circus Won’t Let Go of Amanda Knox
It seemed that Italy’s nonsensical persecution of Seattle native Amanda Knox and her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, was over when the two were exonerated and released from prison by an appellate court jury in October of 2011. Not so. Continue reading →
July 8, 2013: The Amanda Knox Case: The Italian Supreme Court Faces Renewed International Scrutiny
Last week the Italian Supreme Court released a 74 page document outlining its reasons for overturning the appellate acquittal of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the 2007 murder of British exchange student Meredith Kercher. Continue reading →
June 28, 2013: Death row exoneree Kirk Bloodsworth celebrates 20 years of freedom
June 28, 2013, marked the twenty year anniversary of Kirk Bloodworth’s release from prison as the result of post-conviction DNA testing that proved his innocence. Bloodsworth served nine years in prison, including two years on death row, for the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl named Dawn Hamilton. Continue reading →
June 28, 2013: Judge that acquitted Amanda Knox claims Italian Supreme Court violated the law when ruling on case
Appeals court Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann, is speaking out once again about the Italian Supreme Court’s decision to overturn his ruling in 2011 that declared Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito innocent for the murder of Meredith Kercher in 2007. Continue reading →
June 4, 2013: Overzealous Detectives and Ineffective Counsel to Blame for Wrongful Conviction of Jamie Snow
Jamie Snow has proclaimed his innocence from day one. He told police he was nowhere near the scene of the crime at the time of Little’s murder. According to Snow, he was across town having dinner with his children. In the years following Snow’s conviction, new information has come to light that strongly suggests the wrong man was sent to prison for Little’s murder, as a result of police misconduct and bad lawyering. Continue reading →
May 23, 2013: Death Row Exoneree Kirk Bloodsworth Joins Fight To Free Kirstin Lobato
Death row exoneree Kirk Bloodsworth made a stop in Las Vegas this past weekend to show his support for Kirstin Blaise Lobato. Bloodsworth strongly supports a petition asking Las Vegas District Attorney Steven B. Wolfson to stop blocking DNA testing in the Kirstin Lobato case. Continue reading →
May 20, 2013: Amanda Knox: Stop Making Sense
It is human nature to try to make sense of nonsense. In this day and age, every time we hear of another bizarre crime, our minds go to work trying to figure out how such things happen. How could a family man imprison three women for ten years in the middle of Cleveland, Ohio? We try to find the reasons. We engae in counterfactual thinking, consoling ourselves that the unforeseeable was foreseeable. If only the girls had not climbed into the kidnapper’s truck… If only the kidnapper’s friends had been more suspicious… If only the police had acted on the previous 911 calls… We don’t know that the horror could have been prevented, but we wish.
March 20, 2013: Debra Milke: Arizona's Illegal Political Hostage
Debra Milke: Arizona's Illegal Political Hostage (or: How Tom Horne puts the people of Arizona in an untenable position) Continue reading →
March 14, 2013: Death Row Inmate Debra Jean Milke Has Convictions Overturned
The convictions of Arizona death row inmate Debra Jean Milke were overturned Thursday by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Milke has spent the past 22 years on death row for the 1989 murder of her 4-year-old son Christopher. Continue reading →
February 28, 2013: The Ryan Ferguson Case Highlights The Difficulty Of Correcting A Wrongful Conviction
Ryan Ferguson was wrongfully convicted in 2001 of second-degree murder of Columbia Tribune Sports Editor Kent Heitholt, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Ferguson is one of roughly 2.3 million people currently housed in America’s prison system. The United States incarcerates more people than any civilized nation on earth. Continue reading →
February 17, 2013: The David Camm Case: An American Miscarriage of Justice By Joseph Bishop
This August, former Indiana State Trooper David Camm will go on trial for the third time in the murder of his wife and two young children, Jill, age five, and Brad, age seven. His two previous convictions have been overturned on appeal. David Camm is completely innocent. Continue reading →
February 8, 2013: Jeffrey Havard Faces Execution In Mississippi Despite Proof Of Faulty Evidence By Bruce Fischer
Support for death row inmate Jeffrey Havard continues to grow as his federal appeal awaits a decision from United States District Judge Keith Starrett. Jeffrey Havard currently sits wrongfully convicted on death row in Mississippi for the sexual assault and murder of his girlfriend’s six-month-old daughter, Chloe Britt. Chloe’s death was a tragic accident, not a murder. Jeffrey accidentally dropped Chloe after giving her a bath. According to Jeffrey, Chloe slipped out of his hands and hit her head on the toilet. The evidence in the case supports his claims. Continue reading →
January 15, 2013: Agent 86 and the murder of Sarah Scazzi By RoseMontague
I think most of you know by now that the justice system in Italy has two sets of rules, one they are supposed to operate by, and a different one well, that they actually operate by. In this article I will talk about how this relates to the prosecution of Sabrina and Cosima Misseri for the Murder of Sarah Scazzi. Continue reading →
October 1, 2012: Raffaele Sollecito’s Book Detailing His Journey With Amanda Knox Hits NY Times Best Seller List By Bruce Fischer
Raffaele Sollecito should be feeling pretty good about the success of his new book Honor Bound: My Journey to Hell and Back with Amanda Knox, as he recently returned home to Italy after a successful book tour in the United States. His book is currently listed on the New York Times Best Seller List for e-books in the nonfiction category. Continue reading →
July 17, 2012: The Jeffrey Havard Case Will Undermine Support for Capital Punishment By Philip J. Mause
Jeffrey Havard was convicted of murdering an infant in Mississippi and is now on death row. His conviction depends in part upon a finding of a sexual assault and rests heavily upon the forensic testimony of Dr. Hayne, who performed the autopsy on the infant. Hayne's testimony alleged that the baby died due to shaken baby syndrome and that there was an unexplained small anal contusion. This, and the testimony of hospital personnel that the baby's anus was diluted, became the basis for Havard's conviction. There was no forensic testimony presented by the defense.
July 9, 2012: The Unbearable Thoughtlessness of Guilt By Roteoctober
It has been a game for many people for four years to play: Amanda and Raffaele guilty or innocent? It was a game that was played on TV, in the newspapers, on the Internet, and above all in Court. Because starting in Court and continuing outside by many means the lives and personalities of two decent human beings were nullified and substituted by puppets played by Masters who never cared a damn for them as human beings. Continue reading →
July 8, 2012: Texas Shame ...Morton's Honor By Randy N
He bashed her head in with some sort of wooden club...perhaps a baseball bat. Blood was spattered on the walls and the ceiling. Then he did something odd...as if killing the mother of your 3 year old child was not strange enough...he now piled items on top of the body of his wife...a suitcase, a clothes hamper. This is a strange murderer indeed. Continue reading →
June 29, 2012: What you see isn’t always what you get – The fallacy of eyewitness testimony By Matthew Douglas
We’ve all experienced this scene in theaters, in a book, or on TV: A packed courtroom, a nervous defendant, on trial for murder. The prosecution team sits confidently, convinced they have effectively made their case. As the tension builds, Perry Mason (or fill in your favorite fictional attorney), calls one last witness for the defense. Mason starts speaking to the witness in a friendly tone, but the questions get more and more pointed:
So, Mrs. Higgenbotham, you were there in the house that night, weren’t you? And you saw who killed Mr. Snodgrass, didn’t you?!!
Through sobs, the witness screams out, “Yes! Yes! It was HIM!! He did it!” She points to a man in the back of the courtroom. The man’s eyes grow wide, as he realizes all eyes are suddenly on him. He bolts for the door, but is grabbed by the cops who sit at the back of the courtroom. It’s pandemonium as the man is dragged off to jail, since everyone now knows who is actually guilty, and everyone lives happily ever after. Continue reading →
June 20, 2012: 100,000 Call For DA To Allow DNA Testing In Kirstin Lobato Case By Bruce Fischer
Over 100,000 people have signed a Change.org petition in support of a powerful campaign to free Kirstin "Blaise" Lobato. Lobato was wrongfully convicted in 2006 for the murder of Duran Bailey, which occurred in Las Vegas in July 2001. Lobato came to the attention of the police because of statements she made regarding a traumatic incident in which she had to fight off a man attempting to rape her. This incident occurred in May 2001, one month earlier and several miles away from the location of Bailey’s murder.
June 18, 2012: From Lindy Chamberlain to Amanda Knox, Vilification to Exoneration By JBerryhill
There are warning signs to look out for: an astounding story, a confession after hours of interrogation, the mention of satanic rituals, shady activities by the authorities involved. The next sensational crime story is likely around the corner; watch for signs of vilification and hold back judgment. Ask the press hard questions and the next time, for victims like Lindy Chamberlain, it may take a lot less than thirty two years to find the truth. Continue reading →
June 16, 2012: Why Should Americans Care About Jason Puracal or Amanda Knox By Karen Pruett
Americans by nature are a curious people; we travel extensively all over the planet and peek into every corner. Most of the time we come home with fabulous stories of the wonderful people we have met and the interesting places we have visited. But not always. Sometimes we end up in a foreign prison through no fault of our own, sometimes we are the hapless victims of corrupt officials seeking money, fame or revenge on the US. When we serve such purposes and find ourselves trapped in an unforgiving legal system these are the times that we turn to our countrymen and our government for help.
June 14, 2012: The Free Press/Fair Trial Dilemma: Core Values in Conflict By Philip J. Mause
I start this article with a confession. I am a free speech extremist. When I was a law professor, I was a staunch advocate of the Hugo Black/William O. Douglas position - "Free Speech means free speech" and somewhat of a 1st Amendment absolutist. I firmly believe that the most essential check on an abusive government is free speech and a free press than can turn the public's attention to government abuses of power; if the press is shackled, there is really little or no chance that the public will find out about government malfeasance and corruption and abuse of power will spin out of control. Continue reading →
June 7, 2012: The Damage Caused By Wrongful Convictions Is Not Repaired By Exoneration Alone By Bruce Fischer
Research shockingly shows that ex-convicts have many more options for seeking assistance in the United States than exonerees have. Many programs set up to help exonerees are often run by fellow exonerees. Why are these people who have been subjected to undeserved severe hardship at the hands of our justice system being left to fend for themselves? The current situation that exonerees face is an embarrassment to the United States. Continue reading →
May 31, 2012: The Hope Diamond Of Wrongful Convictions: The Kirstin Lobato Case By Philip J. Mause
Every so often (actually more often than I am comfortable with), however, the legal system serves up a fat pitch, a gopher ball, a hanging curve ball which is every pitcher's nightmare - an easy case, a no-brainer. There is an expression in law - "hard cases make bad law" - as courts wrestle with the law and twist it to deal with a difficult set of facts. Well, there are also easy cases. Kirstin "Blaise" Lobato's is one of those easy cases and the rationale for her continued incarceration is stranger than the parting of the Red Sea." Continue reading →
May 28, 2012: Is Rudy Guede's 16-year sentence justice for Meredith Kercher? By Rose Montague
Rudy Guede’s sentencing history is outlined in the Supreme Court Motivation concerning his case. Sixteen years is the maximum he will serve but it is my understanding Italy has a possible reduction for good behavior. One year for every 3 served, meaning that 16 could go as low as 12 years. Not only that but Italy also has this deal that those in prison can also be eligible for work release even earlier. Most of the articles I have seen on this use 2014 as the year he could become eligible for work release. That is 2 years away. Is this justice? Sexual assault and murder and this killer will be out on work release in just a couple of years. Continue reading →
May 24, 2012: The Kirstin Lobato Case: An American Miscarriage of Justice
By Joseph Bishop
Last week marked ten years since Kirstin “Blaise” Lobato was initially found guilty in the killing of Duran Bailey, a 44 year-old homeless man who had been stabbed and sexually mutilated in Las Vegas in July 2001. Despite substantial evidence affirming her innocence and clear reversible error by the presiding judge, Ms. Lobato remains in the same Nevada prison where she has spent most of the last decade. Her case is now emerging as one of the foremost unjust convictions in the United States today. Continue reading →
May 20, 2012: Mississippi Death Row Inmate Jeffrey Havard Is A Victim Of Wrongful Conviction By Bruce Fischer
Jeffrey Havard currently sits wrongfully convicted on death row in Mississippi for the sexual assault and murder of his girlfriend’s six-month-old daughter, Chloe Britt. Chloe’s death was a tragic accident, not a murder. Continue reading →
May 9, 2012: Amanda Knox Case and The Norfolk Four Highlight Irreparable Damage Caused By Wrongful Convictions By Bruce Fischer
n both cases, the families of the victims were left to struggle with the phenomenon of false confessions. It is a subject that many have difficulty believing. How could anyone possibly incriminate themselves if they were innocent? It's a valid question, and one that has been written about extensively by experts like Richard Leo in the Norfolk case and and Saul Kassin in the Knox case. Continue reading →
May 2, 2012: Lobato Case Gives Nevada Supreme Court A Chance To Do The Right Thing - Finally By Philip J. Mause
Americans were rightly concerned when Amanda Knox was convicted in Italy in 2009 based upon questionable evidence and a bizarre and improbable theory of the crime. But the Italian system permits an appeal and a new court took a fresh look at the case in 2011, acquitting Amanda Knox and correcting the mistake made in 2009. The American "justice" system is often not as willing to correct its mistakes. If American protestations about human rights abuses in other countries are to be credible we have to begin addressing the manifest inadequacies in our own legal system. The Kirstin Lobato case would be an excellent place to start. Continue reading →
April 24, 2012: Support Continues To Grow For Jason Puracal, An American Wrongfully Imprisoned In Nicaragua By Bruce Fischer
On August 29, 2011, U.S. citizen Jason Puracal was wrongfully convicted in Nicaragua of international money laundering, drug trafficking, and organized crime despite conclusive evidence of his innocence. Jason has been sentenced to twenty two years in La Modelo maximum-security prison located outside of Nicaragua's capital city of Managua. Continue reading →
April 16, 2012: Ryan Ferguson seeks new trial to prove innocence
By Bruce Fischer
On December 5, 2005, Ryan Ferguson was found guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree robbery of Kent Heitholt, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Ryan was convicted based on the accepted testimony of two people, Chuck Erickson and Jerry Trump. Both Erickson and Trump have since given sworn affidavits stating that they were lying. Continue reading →
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