Bermudez Exoneration Brings Hope for the Factually Innocent

Justice John Cataldo of the New York State Supreme Court recognized a judicial basis for claims of actual innocence this month when he overturned Fernando Bermudez' conviction. The decision, rendered on November 12, moves the state of New York closer to recognizing actual innocence as grounds for appeal. Justice Cataldo wrote, “I find the due process clause of our state Constitution requires a procedural mechanism be provided for an incarcerated defendant to bring a post-conviction motion upon a claim of actual innocence.”

Bermudez was convicted in 1992 of fatally shooting a sixteen-year-old in Greenwich Village. Five witnesses spoke against him at trial. No physical evidence tied him to the crime. In 1993, all five witnesses recanted their testimony, claiming that they were manipulated by prosecutors and police. They have stuck to their recantation ever since, and Bermudez has been petitioning to have the state court re-evaluate the evidence in his case since that time, but to no avail. The justice system seems to view recantations as inherently untrustworthy. A 1995 judge called the five who recanted in Bermudez' case simply too many to believe. Bermudez has stuck to his original story all along-- he did not know the victim, he had no motive to kill him, and he was elsewhere with friends at the time of the murder. Two friends spoke to his alibi, and have consistently maintained their testimony.

Legislation has also recently been brought in the state of New York that would amend the criminal procedure law to include a definition of actual innocence and the grounds by which a judge could vacate a sentence due to actual innocence.

The New York Times, November 22, 2009: Hope for the Wrongfully Convicted
The New York Times, April 13, 2007: Accusers Recant, but Hopes Still Fade in Sing Sing
New York State Senate: Actual Innocence Justice Act of 2009
State of NY v. Fernando Bermudez: Decision and Order, November 12, 2009

Dog "Scent Line Ups" Unreliable and Misused

The New York Times today reported on the phenomenon of dog "scent line ups", in which a dog is exposed to a scent from a crime scene and then walked past vials containing swabbed samples from suspects and non-suspects. The dog indicates to the handler that it has reached a match, by stiffening its back or barking. Using dogs to follow scents has long been a practice of law enforcement officials, and is still employed by the FBI. But even the FBI agrees that dog scent line ups should not be used as the primary piece of evidence against a suspect. Dogs are liable to suggestion by their handlers, smells are often easily mixed and difficult to distinguish, and handlers may misinterpret their dog's signals. Many states do not accept scent line ups as evidence, but several do, including Texas, Florida, New York and Alaska.

New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/us/04scent.html?_r=1&ref=us

Northwestern Law Launches Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth

Northwestern University School of Law has launched a new joint project between the Center for Wrongful Convictions and the Children and Family Justice Center. The Center for Wrongful Conviction of Youth (CWCY) will address the specific concern of exonerating and advocating for children and adolescents who are wrongfully convicted. Children and adolescents are particularly susceptible to police coercion and false confession. A Miranda warning is often not enough for a child or adolescent to adequately understand the ramifications of their words and actions while in police custody.



Media pages for CWCY:

CWCY.org

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Co-Founder Steve Drizin's article on The Huffington Post

Kenneth Ireland Exonerated of 1986 Rape and Murder

Kenneth Ireland of Connecticut was released last week after a judge granted him a new trial. The prosecutor is expected not to retry the case. Ireland was 20 years old when he was convicted of the rape and murder of Barbara Pelkey, a mother of four. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison. At his original trial, witnesses testified that Ireland confessed to them. Ireland contended that those witnesses lied for a large monetary reward. Ireland was released by means of DNA evidence which proved his innocence, obtained with the help of the Connecticut Innocence Project.

Congratulation to Kenneth Ireland and his family, and to the Connecticut Innocence Project!

The Boston Globe: DNA clears Conn. man of killing after 20 years

Bruce Lisker Freed After 24 Years

Bruce Lisker had his murder conviction overturned on Friday after spending 24 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He is currently free on bail while the prosecution decides whether they wish to appeal. Lisker was 17 years old when his mother was murdered. Lisker saw his mother on the floor, broke into his parents' home to help her, and called paramedics. At the time, he was living elsewhere and was battling a drug addiction. He was arrested the same afternoon. Lisker was convicted primarily on four pieces of evidence, including blood spatter on his clothes, a bloody foot print in his parents' home, and a confession to a jailhouse informant. Evidentiary rulings later cast considerable doubt on the evidence that had been used against Lisker at trial, and the original prosecutor admitted that he now had "reasonable doubt". At the time of the murder, the police failed to follow a lead on another suspect, who had been to Lisker's mother's home the day before and who had lied about his whereabouts at the time of the crime. That suspect later committed suicide.

Congratulation to Bruce Lisker and the California Innocence Project!

The Los Angeles Times: Judge overturns Bruce Lisker's conviction in 1983 killing of his mother

DNA Database Solves Cold Cases

The state of Georgia recently reported that more than 1,500 cases have been solved because of the Georgia DNA database. Georgia began testing DNA in 1991 and began adding samples to the FBI database in 1998. In 2000, the Georgia legislature passed a law requiring that DNA samples be taken from all convicted felons. Previously, samples had only been taken from convicted sex offenders. In the first year after the database was expanded, 70 cases were solved. DNA databases also aid those claiming factual innocence, as actual perpetrators may already be in the database.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution: Georgia DNA solves 1,500 cases

Texas Reform Creates Office for Capital Appeals

A new law in Texas will create a state office to handle the appeals of death row inmates. The office was created in response to a series of well publicized scandals which brought international attention to the subpar representation of capital offense appeals. Texas, unlike other states with capital punishment, had not used the public defender's office to handle the habeus corpus writs for their capital offenders, but instead had hired outside attorneys who often missed deadlines or wrote "skeletal writs". The new office will have a budget of a million dollars and a staff of nine, but its services will not be available to those capital inmates who have already used up their appeals. The Office of Capital Writs is expected to handle approximately ten appeals a year.

The Houston Chronicle: State to handle capital appeals