(The head of the crime lab) was committing perjury in criminal cases where he would intentionally misrepresent scientific data to help prosecutors get a conviction, even when he knew that that data was false. |
But more importantly, 90 percent of cases don't even involve biological evidence. And what that tells us is there are obviously tens of thousands of innocent people currently languishing in prisons in the United States. |
DNA evidence has revealed a finite but troubling class of convictions tainted by what is best described as 'false facts': forensic evidence that likely carried great weight with the original jury, but which is now known, to a scientific certainty, to have been erroneous. |
He has set an example for governors all over the United States. It's the governors' responsibilities to go out and do DNA testing in these cases. That is the only way you can enhance the integrity of the criminal justice system. |
I've got some good news for you, but first, I need to ask you a question, ... How do you feel about still pursuing your innocence? |
If we can prove the state police fabricated a confession to put a man on death row, it will raise serious questions about the legitimacy of other confessions in other cases. So the stake it high. |
In most of our cases, the critical biological evidence has either been lost or destroyed. |
Margo Hill deliberately buried exculpatory evidence from the district attorney. |
Obviously, one case does not in any way reflect on the correctness of the other 1,000 executions we've had in the last 30 years. Other governors should take their lead from Governor Warner and do post-execution testing in their cases, because ... there's no reason not to — it's all about getting to the truth. |
People in the commonwealth are asking what went wrong with the capital-justice system that permitted a completely innocent man to be convicted and come within nine days of execution. This trial will answer that question. |
sloppy identification procedures that were utilized by the police, the same kind of procedures that are utilized by the police in Memphis, all over Tennessee, and frankly, all over the United States today. |
The 48-hour rule and other practices that have been followed by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association reinforces and helped to create the code of silence. |
The Innocence Project is thrilled to be the beneficiary of the band's generosity. The wave of post conviction DNA exonerations sends a message to all of us that the criminal justice system is broken and desperately needs to be fixed. Thank you Nine Inch Nails for joining us in the quest for meaningful justice. |
The real issue is not whether one man was in fact guilty or innocent, it's rather that he set the example for what the other 49 governors should do on the hundreds of cases where DNA material still exists from people who have been executed. |
The truth is if you speak to crime lab directors, they will tell you that in only a relatively small number of cases is there any DNA evidence. |