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LINKS TO RELATED WEBSITES Sites remembering Jeremiah J. Hurley, Jr. The "Officer Down Memorial Page" and also, see the "reflections" on his memory.
Organizations Supporting claims of Wrongful convictions: Innocence Project -Alfred Trenkler is applying for assistance from the New England Innocence Project. TruthInJustice - dedicated to the claims of the wrongfully convicted. See the Wrongfully Imprisoned section.
Forejustice - about injustice around the world, with some history.
Injustice Busters, Canada's premier website about wrongful convictions. Center on Wrongful Convictions, Northwestern Univ, This organization exposed many Illinois cases of wrongful convictions, and is also a national center. See their excellent book about how informants or "snitches" are the largest source of wrongful convictions, and Alfred Trenkler is one of those wrongful convictions. See "The Snitch System", a powerful 16 page book.
Justice Denied which bills itself as the "Magazine for the Wrongly Convicted" but which also has links to many individual cases. This organization publishes an important book for the Campaign for Alfred, "Freeing the Innocent - How We Did It - A Handbook for the Wrongly Convicted." A copy has been sent to Alfred.
Point Park University Innocence Institute which approaches wrongful convictions from a journalism perspective. Among the many college- based Inocence Projects in the U.S., this one is unique. "Potential Cases of Wrongful Conviction" maintained by the organization, "Citizens United against the Death Penalty". The case of Alfred Trenkler is listed on that page.
Databases and information sources on wrongful convictions.
Dr. Edmund Higgins Database of Wrongful Convictions Prosecutorial Misconduct by the Center for Public Integrity and page with Exonerees from wrongful convictions involving Prosecutorial WRONGFUL CONVICTION READING ROOM, a treasure chest of information and links to other sources. "Trials of Innocents" Essay by Dennis Dechaine, published in 2000 "Inocence Cases at www.talkleft.com" This blog/webpage (misnamed as an "archive", because it's up to date) provides links to selective articles about wrongful convictions and gives readers the opportunity to make comments. "Talk Left" The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news. The magazine has a section, "Innocence Cases" with a chronological list of articles about wrongful conviction cases.
Websites of Others claiming wrongful convictions in State Courts(See also the section in this website, "Other Convicted Innocents") Lisl Auman, Colorado. This case supported by the late Hunter Thompson, in an article in the New Yorker magazine, and at a demonstration prior to his death on 20 February 2005. Bernard Baran, Massachusetts. This gay day care worker was convicted in 1985 during the day care molestation hysteria which swept the country. In June 2006, a retrial was ordered. William Heirens, convicted, when he was a college student, in 1946(!) of three murders. Bruce Lisker, California. Convicted of killing his mother in 1983 (See "Links to Articles" for 27 May 2005). There is a detective named Monsue in the case who pursued his hunches and ignored truth. Patrick Swiney, convicted of murder in Alabama. Former law enforcement officer. Darlie Routier, convicted of murdering her two young sons in Texas in 1996. Marty Tankleff, still in prison for murdering parents on Long Island, New York; seeking a retrial. In Spring, 2006 a lower court judge denied the request for a retrial, but that decision is being appealed. West Memphis 3, West Memphis, Arkansas, still in prison Guy Woolfolk, St. Louis, Missouri. If one still has the capacity for shock after seeing this website, the story of Guy Woolfolk will push the button. He is now serving his 4th year of a 25 year sentence.
Websites of those who have been exonerated (or equivalent) in State Courts. Clarence Elkins, Ohio, convicted of a 1998 rape and murder. There is DNA underneath fingernails and elsewhere, and also an alternate suspect whose DNA is being sought by the prosecutor. Darryl Hunt, now exonerated in North Carolina of murder conviction. Ralph "Dewayne" Brock paroled in 2004 after 21 years in prison. Nick Yarris exonerated in July, 2003, in Pennsylvania after 8057 days (21 years+) on Death Row for rape and murder. The reason why this case is so important to Dennis is that the DNA under the victim's fingernails belong to the same man who left sperm DNA on her clothing and thus can be presumed to be the rapist/killer. See also, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette July 29, 2003, article "DNA test said to clear death row inmate jailed 21 years in rape, David Wong, a Chinese immigrant, was convicted of a 1986 murder in a New York prison. An appeals court reversed the conviction in 2004, and the prosecution decided not to go forward and dismissed the case. A documentary about the case, "The Fight To Free David Wong"
has been shown at many film festivals. Law Enforcement Misconduct and Wrongful Conviction cases. See the Boston case of Stephen Cowans, where police misidentified a fingerprint at his trial as belonging to him. See article in "Links to Articles" for 4/28/04, "I was the not the man who did this". The two policemen in the lab were suspended during an investigation of the mistake, but subsequently no misconduct was determined. Time of Death and other forensic information Forensiconline by Dr. Bernard Cohen, New York RelentlessDefense about autopsies and post-death changes, from Kevin Mahoney in Cambridge, Mass. Websites relating to planted evidence, (The amazing aspect of this issue is there are many cases where the police (!) have planted or distorted evidence to convict someone, but none, so far, where a criminal has planted evidence on someone else to shift responsibility. Those cases surely exist, as criminals are just as smart as policemen, but those cases are almost undetected and they are less reported.) Forensic Fraud, cases where law enforcement tried too hard to convict. The Bridgewater Four in the United Kingdom The Role Of Gun Planting In Los Angeles Justice
Websites/Articles related to retrials Las Vegas, NV, Sun article on retrials in Nevada Outcome depends on reason for retrial, but most end with guilty verdicts. "After 3rd trial, Providence man found guilty of 1998 murder" "Retrial Law and Legal Definition" a short summary. Rule 33 "New Trial" of Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure This rule, and others before and after, are dry, but helpful. It is Rule 33 which says that a defendant must claim a retrial within 10 days of trial for most reasons. However, if the claim is due to newly discovered evidence, it must be brought within two years of the ORIGINAL JUDGMENT. (Thus, in Maine, if new evidence is found after those two years, unless it's DNA, inmates are out-of-luck.)
STATE
OF MAINE v. BRANDON THONGSAVANH, The Maine Supreme Court,
on October 7, 2004, ordered a new trial for Brandon Thongsavanh because
the prosecution showed a T-shirt worn by him, and the T-Shirt had religiously/sexually
provocative language ("Jesus is a cunt."). The court did
not address one of his other claims which was that the prosecutor improperly
addressed the jury in the opening and closing statements. See Maine
Bar Rule 3.7. (See Press Herald article, 6 January 2005, about new
lawyer for him, "Man
facing second trial in student«s murder to get new lawyer")
MASS. BAR RULES "Rules for Professional Conduct" for Massachusetts Lawyers (See Rule 3.7 regarding the conduct of lawyers, including prosecutors, during litigation.)
Law Enforcement Organizations Dedicated to Truth and Justice NATIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSN POLICY POSITION ON DNA TECHNOLOGY AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Standards - "Our duty to free the wrongly convicted" by Suffolk County (Boston) District Attorney, Daniel Conley. National Center for Prosecution Ethics at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC. The site begins with a number of quotations about the ethical responsibilities of prosecutors. States and the Wrongly Convicted, or Wrongly Imprisoned Wrongful Convictions of the Innocent: Kentucky's Recent Experience, Response, and Remaining Reforms
States and their mistakes and efforts to remedy Baxter Compensation Authority - in Maine, to compensate former students who were abused at the Baxter School for the Deaf.
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