Innocence Speaks

The Story of Barney Brown

johnemaki@gmail.com — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:09:00 GMT

In 1970, Barney Brown was a 13-year-old African American child living in Hollywood, Florida, when he was falsely accused of raping a white woman and robbing her husband.

Barney was found innocent of all charges in juvenile court, but the state of Florida then re-tried him in adult court for the same crime.

The jury found him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison.

Barney spent the next 38 years trying to prove his innocence.

On September 24, 2008, he was finally exonerated and released from prison.

Less than a year after he was freed, Jonathan Jackson of the Rainbow Push Coalition invited Barney to Chicago to tell his story.

This episode of Innocence Speaks features a recording of that event. Itâs literally the very first time Barney told his story in public.

True Stories of False Confessions

johnemaki@gmail.com — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:57:00 GMT

This episode of Innocence Speaks features a conversation with Rob Warden and Steve Drizin of the Center on Wrongful Convictions about their new book, True Stories of False Confessions.

The book presents 39 accounts of false confessions written by distinguished writers like Alex Kotlowitz and John Grisham. These stories demonstrate that false confessions are not only fairly common, but they are also a significant factor that contributes to wrongful convictions.

The royalties from the book will go to the Center on Wrongful Convictions. Buy it today at Amazon.com.

If you want to learn more about True Stories of False Confessions, please visit its website.

Fight for DNA Testing: The Story of Johnnie Lee Savory

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:50:00 GMT

This episode of Innocence Speaks features the story of Center on Wrongful Convictions' client, Johnnie Lee Savory.

In 1977, when Johnnie was only 14 years old, he was falsely accused of committing a double murder in his hometown of Peoria, Illinois. Even though the prosecution admitted that Johnnie had no motive, and that there was no evidence that tied him to the crime, Johnnie was convicted and sentenced to 50-100 years in prison.

Johnnie did not see the streets again until the end of 2006. Thatâs when Steve Drizin, the legal director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, convinced the state to release Johnnie on parole.

Today Johnnie is a free man, but he is still fighting the same battle that began for him more than 30 years ago. Johnnie wants to prove that he is completely innocent of teh crimes for which he was convicted as a 14-year-old boy.

Thatâs why Johnnie and his many allies have repeatedly asked the state of Illinois to test evidence in his case for DNA. Such testing is routine today, but it didnât exist when Johnnie was convicted. The Center believes that DNA testing will not only exonerate Johnnie. It will also identify the person who committed the murders for which Johnnie was sent to prison.

And yet, as The New York Times reported, Illinois has repeatedly refused to hand over this evidence "on the grounds that a jury was convinced of his guilt without DNA and that the 175 convicts already exonerated by DNA were 'statistically insignificant.'"

You can join Johnnie fight for justice today. Take two minutes, e-mail Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, and ask that he order DNA testing for Johnnie Lee Savory.

DNA is no Panacea

Mon, 9 Mar 2009 03:02:00 GMT

In this episode of Innocence Speaks, Rob Warden, the executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, talks about the role DNA testing has played in wrongful conviction reform.

While DNA testing has helped shine a light on wrongful convictions and exonerate more than 200 people in the United States, it is no panacea.

DNA evidence is present almost exclusively in sexual assault cases, but the causes of wrongful convictions--such as erroneous identifications, junk science, and false confessions--are found in all kinds of cases, from armed robbery to murder.

As Mr. Warden explains, we need to ensure that accused people have access to DNA evidence. But at the same, we should not mistake this access for a solution to wrongful convictions. If we do, we risk ignoring potentially thousands of men and women who languish in prison for crimes they did not commit because their cases lack exculpatory DNA evidence.

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