Category Wrongful Convictions

Philadelphia man acquitted of ’91 murder in less than an hour after retrial Innocence Project

Philadelphia man acquitted of ’91 murder in less than an hour after retrial Innocence Project – “We are extremely relieved that this very long nightmare is finally over for Mr. Wright and his family. DNA testing proved not only that Mr. Wright is absolutely innocent but also that law enforcement fabricated evidence against him,” said […]

PressTV-For 35 yrs in prison without conviction

PressTV-For 35 yrs in prison without conviction – A mentally ill African American man has spent more than three decades in the US state of Texas without conviction, a defense attorney says. Jerry Hartfield, 59, has been jailed for over 35 years despite his original murder conviction being thrown out from being found guilty, defense […]

Was Race a Factor in Sterling Case? | Consortiumnews

Five months ago, in court, prosecutors kept claiming that Sterling’s pursuit of the racial-bias lawsuit showed a key “motive” for providing classified information to journalist James Risen. The government’s case at the highly problematic trial was built entirely on circumstantial evidence. Lacking anything more, the prosecution hammered on ostensible motives, telling the jury that Sterling’s […]

Jeffrey Sterling vs. the CIA: An Untold Story of Race and Retribution | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

As early as 2000, Sterling was reaching out toward Capitol Hill about his concerns. He received a positive response from House member Julian Dixon (D-Calif.), a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, who expressed interest in pursuing the matter of racial discrimination at the CIA and contacted the agency about his case, Sterling says. […]

4th World Radyo: The Hidden American Gulag: TheAngryindian Speaks with George Mallinckrodt | APNS Public Radyo

Summary:  TheAngryindian speaks with US Psychotherapist and Prisoner Rights Advocate George C. Mallinckrodt, (georgemallinckrodt.com / Twitter – @GeoMallinckrodt) author of ‘Getting Away With Murder: A True Story‘ (2014) based on the tragic and violent death of Darren Rainey, a mentally-challenged state of Florida prison inmate who was literally ‘cooked to death’ while in custody as a punishment by vindictive […]

Police: Maybe Freddie Gray Severed His Own Spine! | Crooks and Liars

A prisoner sharing a police transport van with Freddie Gray told investigators that he could hear Gray “banging against the walls” of the vehicle and believed that he “was intentionally trying to injure himself,” according to a police document obtained by The Washington Post. The prisoner, who is currently in jail, was separated from Gray […]

Exclusive Video: Violence Inside Rikers – The New Yorker

Last year, the office of Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District, released a report denouncing the horrific conditions in the adolescent jail on Rikers, describing it as a place that “seems more inspired by Lord of the Flies than any legitimate philosophy of humane detention.” Browder experienced this firsthand during the many months […]

Chicago Is About to Offer the Nation’s First Reparations Program for Victims of Police Violence | The Nation

From 1972 to 1991, at least 110 African-American men experienced similar forms of torture at the hands of CPD commander Jon Burge and the detectives who reported to him. Like Cannon, many of these people were coerced into making false confessions; more than 20 are still in prison today for crimes they may not have […]

Fourth World Radyo: 500 More Years of White Racist Colonialism And Abuse? | APNS Public Radyo

Summary: TheAngryindian offers his thoughts on the daylight, public execution of Walter Scott by a murderous United States police officer in the American South; his disgust at the unforgivable colonialist disrespect and institutional misogyny shown by the Euro-settler Canadian justice system to the loss of First Nations #MMIW victim, Sister Cindy Gladue and some brief comments on the Death-by-Neglect […]

“They Couldn’t Take My Soul”: Anthony Ray Hinton on His Exoneration After 30 Years on Death Row | Democracy Now!

Days after being exonerated and freed from an Alabama prison, Anthony Ray Hinton recounts how he got through nearly 30 years on death row as an innocent man. Hinton was convicted of murdering two fast-food managers in separate robberies in 1985, based on scant evidence that later turned out to be false. Hinton is said […]

Fourth World Radyo: Political Prisoner #Mumia abu-Jamal: Medical Crisis Update 02.04.2015 | APNS Public Radyo

Summary: The APNSPR 60-Plus second Indigenist News Report — Listen / Download: 00:01:34 128Kbps mp3 — (1MB) Stereo via Fourth World Radyo: Political Prisoner #Mumia abu-Jamal: Medical Crisis Update 02.04.2015 | APNS Public Radyo.

SCLC director calls on black families to arm themselves | www.ajc.com

The remarks came one week after 23-year-old Goodyear employee Nicholas Thomas was fatally shot by Smyrna police serving an arrest warrant on a probation violation. Police say Thomas tried to run them over in a customer’s Maserati, though lawyers hired by the dead man’s family have challenged the official account. Earlier this month 27-year-old Anthony […]

A prosecutor apologizes for his role in putting an innocent man on death row

In March 2014, after prosecutors and Ford’s attorneys filed motions to vacate his conviction, the state district court ordered his release. However, more than a year later, Ford is still fighting the state for compensation. He’s also facing an advanced cancer diagnosis. Stroud knows all of this. He says he knows now that Ford was […]

Black Students at Berkeley Want a Hall Renamed After Assata Shakur – The Root

The black student union at Berkeley would like Barrows Hall to be renamed “Shakur Hall.” “We want the renaming for someone—Assata Shakur—who we feel … represents us as black students,” Cori McGowens, spokesman for the school’s black student union, said. “We’re at a crisis on campus.” McGowens says that black students at Berkeley are isolated […]

Garbage man sent to jail for picking up trash too early | Atlanta

“Fines don’t seem to work,” Riley said. “The only thing that seems to stop the activity is actually going to jail.” Riley says 911 lights up when trash haulers come before 7 a.m. McGill, who didn’t have an attorney with him when he was sentenced, is serving his time on the weekend. His new attorney […]

Jim Crow lynchings more widespread than first thought, report concludes | World news | The Guardian

“The trauma and anguish that lynchings and racial violence created in this country continues to haunt us and to contaminate race relations and our criminal justice system in too many places across the country,” it concluded. The report, titled Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror, is the result of nearly five years […]

Video: Seattle Police Jail Elderly Military Veteran for “Walking in Seattle While Black” | Slog

On the video, Officer Whitlatch can be heard insisting that the recording would show Wingate swinging his golf club at her and hitting a stop sign with it. According to the SPD, there exists no video to back up this claim. (SPD did not make Whitlatch available for comment.) “The allegation that he swung at […]

#WrongfullyConvicted Brothers Win $17,000,000 Settlement From NYC – The Root

According to the Post, approximately 70 of the homicide detective’s murder convictions are currently under investigation by the district attorney, who is probing allegations of coerced testimony, false confessions and hiding exculpatory evidence. The Post reports that most of Scarcella’s convictions rested on the testimony of a Teresa Gomez, a prostitute with a known drug […]