Blog Archives

Two Dallas Men Released After Serving 15 Years Behind Bars

Dennis Lee Allen and Stanley Orson Mozee were released last Tuesday after Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins recommended that their murder convictions be overturned. In 2000, Allen and Mozee were convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the

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Los Angeles Woman Exonerated After 17 Years Behind Bars

Los Angeles county resident Susan Mellen, 59, was recently exonerated after spending 17 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction. Based solely on the false testimony of a woman with an extensive history of giving false information to law

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National Academy of Sciences Issues Groundbreaking Report on Eyewitness Identification and Reform

The National Academy of Sciences published a breakthrough report Thursday evaluating scientific research on memory and eyewitness identification. As eyewitness misidentification is one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions in the United States, the report recommends best practices to

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Northern California Innocence Project Exonerees to Receive Compensation for Wrongful Imprisonment

Governor Brown recently approved compensation to Northern California Innocence Project clients Franky Carrillo Jr. and Johnny Williams for their decades of wrongful imprisonment. This came after approval by the Legislature and the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board’s recommendation

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Two North Carolina Brothers Exonerated Through DNA Evidence

On September 2nd, Henry Lee McCollum, 50, and Leon Brown, 46, were ordered released from prison by a North Carolina judge after DNA evidence proved them innocent of a 1983 rape and murder for which they had been convicted. The

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NIJ Releases Report: Mending Justice-Sentinel Event Reviews

The National Institute of Justice released a report today which explores the feasibility of using a learning-from-error model in criminal justice. The report, Mending Justice: Sentinel Events Reviews, draws on lessons from the medical and aviation fields and offers perspectives on using

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Bill Addressing Prosecutorial Misconduct Heads to Governor Brown

California Assembly Bill 885, which authorizes courts to inform a jury when a prosecutor has intentionally concealed evidence of innocence, recently passed off the Assembly floor and is headed to Governor Brown’s desk to be signed. AB 885, authored by

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