DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

“We’re going to be asking everyone who sells drugs, gets caught, to receive the death penalty for their heinous acts,” he added. President Joe Biden had campaigned on passing legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level, but pulled back on that in office. Biden’s aides say he supports death row inmates serving life sentences without probation or parole. Meanwhile, the Justice Department under Biden and Garland has not sought the death penalty in federal cases that could have warranted it, and has even withdrawn death penalty sentences in about two dozen cases that it had inherited. There are currently 40 inmates, all men, on federal death row, according to the nonpartisan Death Penalty Information Center.

Persons: Donald Trump, ” Trump, “ We’re, ”, Trump, Yasmin Cader, Grover Cleveland, William Barr, “, Joe Biden, General Merrick Garland, Biden’s, Garland, Lee Kovarsky, Biden, Kovarsky, “ they’re, can’t, Ruth Friedman, ” Friedman, Friedman, Robert Roberson, Robert Dunham, ” Dunham, Dunham Organizations: Center for Justice, Equality, U.S, Department, Biden, Boston Marathon, University of Texas School of Law, Punishment, Trump, Trump’s, Federal, Habeas, Republican, Democratic, National Registry, ACLU Locations: Alabama, South Carolina, Pittsburgh, Texas

☆ What we know: Fate of Texas death row inmate’s testimony before a state legislative committee is uncertain
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-21 | by ( Dakin Andone | Ed Lavandera | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

By Thursday evening, after a series of court battles and escalating appeals, the Texas Supreme Court had issued a temporary stay of execution. The AG is representing TDCJ, and is calling the shots, while simultaneously attacking the underlying subpoena before the Texas Supreme Court. We expected that the subpoena would be honored pursuant to Texas law and the Committee’s intent. “It’s the entire case, and that is Mr. Roberson’s case,” Keith Findley, professor emeritus with the University of Wisconsin Law School, testified before the Texas Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence last week. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals previously issued a stay of execution in Roberson’s case in 2016, sending a claim under Article 11.073 (among others) back to the trial court.

Persons: Robert Roberson, it’s, Roberson, Nikki Curtis –, Paroles, Gretchen Sween, Sween, Joe Moody, ” Sween, Nikki, Nikki “, –, Brian Wharton, pediatricians, “, ” Keith Findley, ” Dr, Antoinette Laskey, ” Dani Allen, Michael Wyke, ”, Roberson’s, ” Findley, ” Moody, ” CNN’s Ashley Killough, Nicole Chavez Organizations: CNN, Texas, Texas Supreme, US, Texas Attorney General’s, Texas Department, Criminal, Capitol, American Academy of Pediatrics, Palestine, US Centers for Disease Control, CDC, US Army, National Registry, Exonerations, University of Wisconsin Law School, American Academy of Pediatrics ’, Child, Appeals Locations: Texas, TDCJ, Austin, Palestine , Texas, Huntsville , Texas

CNN —Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson sat praying in a cell Thursday night, just feet from the execution chamber where he was set to die by lethal injection for the “shaken baby” death of his toddler. Just over 90 minutes before Roberson’s execution was set to begin, the House committee was able to secure a temporary restraining order against the state, pausing the execution. Roberson’s case is called into questionAdvocates for Roberson insist the diagnosis that his daughter died from shaken baby syndrome is inaccurate and has been discredited. Shaken baby syndrome is accepted as a valid diagnosis by the American Academy of Pediatrics and supported by child abuse pediatricians who spoke with CNN. Since 1992, courts in at least 17 states and the US Army have exonerated 32 people convicted in shaken baby syndrome cases, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

Persons: Robert Roberson, Nikki, Roberson, God, “, ”, Amanda Hernandez, Robert Roberson –, Gretchen Sween, Joe Moody, Jeff Leach, Jennifer Roberson, Robert, “ It’s, Brian Wharton, Wharton, ” Wharton, “ We’ve, ” Roberson, –, Moody, Leach, Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton, pediatricians, Nikki Curtis, Nikki “, Dr, Sandeep Narang, Antoinette Laskey Organizations: CNN, Texas Supreme, Texas House, Texas Department, Criminal, Texas, US, Appeals, Criminal Justice, Division, Texans, Huntsville Unit, Texas Capitol, Texas Gov, American Academy of Pediatrics, US Army, National Registry, American Academy of Pediatrics ’, Child Locations: Texas, Palestine , Texas

Texas is preparing to put a man to death Thursday in what would be the nation’s first execution involving a case of “shaken baby syndrome,” a diagnosis that has been re-evaluated in more recent years, leading to the overturning of similar convictions. Prosecutors argued that Nikki must have been shaken to death because she had been diagnosed with “the triad” — a swollen and bleeding brain and retinal hemorrhaging — symptoms once believed to be indisputable evidence of shaken baby syndrome. In 2009, the American Academy of Pediatrics changed the name of shaken baby syndrome to the more broadly defined “abusive head trauma” to include injuries caused by mechanisms other than shaking alone. It is now medical consensus that other medical conditions, including infections, accidental trauma and pre-existing illnesses, can also cause the symptoms associated with shaken baby syndrome. Hundreds of possible shaken baby and abusive head trauma cases are reported to hospitals in the U.S. every year, according to a nonprofit advocacy group.

Persons: Robert Roberson, Greg Abbott, Lester Holt, Paroles, Abbott, Roberson, ” Brian Wharton, “, I’ve, I’m, ”, Nikki, Wharton, Roberson's, Gretchen Sween Organizations: U.S, Supreme, NBC, Texas, NBC News, Prosecutors, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Registry, Palestine, Food and Drug Administration Locations: Texas, Huntsville, U.S, East Texas

CNN —A Travis County judge granted a Texas House committee’s last-minute temporary restraining order request against the state just 90 minutes before Robert Roberson was scheduled to be executed Thursday. While authorities have not confirmed the execution is delayed, Roberson’s attorneys and the committee fighting for him told CNN they believe the execution is currently halted. “This is an injustice and his blood is on Abbott and Anderson County,” she told CNN. I did not hear his voice,” Brian Wharton, the former detective who oversaw the investigation into Nikki’s death, told state lawmakers Wednesday at a hearing featuring the case. I don’t want to be there, I don’t want to watch it happen,” Wharton told CNN.

Persons: Travis, Robert Roberson, Amanda Hernandez, Roberson, Sonia Sotomayor, ” Sotomayor, ”, Sotomayor, “, ” Robin Maher, Greg, Abbott, Dale Wainwright, Jennifer Roberson, Brian Wharton, Roberson’s, he’s, pediatricians, Nikki Curtis, They’ve, Paroles, ’, Nikki, Nikki “, –, Robert, ” Brian Wharton, Wharton, Gretchen Sween –, ” Wharton, John Grisham, Sween, Jeff Leach, Antoinette Laskey, ” Laskey Organizations: CNN, Texas, Texas Department, Criminal, US, Former Texas Supreme, Huntsville Unit, Supreme, GOP, Wednesday, Appeals, American Academy of Pediatrics, US Army, National Registry, American Academy of Pediatrics ’, Child Locations: Texas, ” Texas, Travis, Huntsville, Anderson County, Anderson, Palestine , Texas

Greg Abbott, who has the power to commute a death sentence if the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommends doing so. Abbott can still grant a one-time 30-day reprieve to postpone the execution even though the board has denied a clemency bid. In 2009, the American Academy of Pediatrics changed the name of shaken baby syndrome to the more broadly defined “abusive head trauma” to include injuries caused by mechanisms other than shaking alone. It is now accepted medical consensus that the symptoms associated with shaken baby syndrome can also be caused by other medical conditions, including infections, accidental trauma and a pre-existing illness. The uncertainty surrounding shaken baby syndrome has also led to a reevaluation of many criminal cases.

Persons: ” Robert Roberson, Greg Abbott, Paroles, Abbott, Lester Holt, Roberson, “, ” “, ” Roberson, “ I’m, Nikki, Roberson’s, she’d, Brian Wharton, Wharton, Holt, Gretchen Sween Organizations: Texas, U.S, Supreme, NBC News, Prosecutors, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Registry, Palestine Police Department, Food and Drug Administration Locations: Texas, United States, East Texas

The inmate’s attorneys call that a misdiagnosis – and also discredit shaken baby syndrome on its face, despite broad consensus among pediatricians it is legitimate. The shaken baby syndrome diagnosis from doctors and nurses, their emotional response to Nikki’s condition and Roberson’s odd reaction all stacked against the then-suspect, said Wharton. “There really is not a controversy in medicine about the existence of abusive head trauma. Just this month, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered a new trial for a man sentenced to 35 years in prison after being convicted of injury to a child in a case that also relied on a shaken baby syndrome argument. Without shaken baby syndrome, he said, “there’s nothing that’s chargeable here.

Persons: West, Robert Roberson, Nikki Curtis, Roberson, Nikki, ” Roberson, John Grisham, Brian Wharton, Wharton, ”, “, Robert, pediatricians, Dr, Lee Savio Beers, Sandeep Narang, ” Narang, They’ve, Greg Abbott, Nikki Curtis Roberson, ’, Nikki’s, Janet Squires, Squires, ” Squires, Narang, Roberson’s, –, Larry Bowman, Nikki –, ‘, Sciences –, Kate Judson, it’s, ” Dr, Antoinette Laskey, Laskey, he’ll, he’s, I’ll, “ Unforgiveness, he's, Ashley Killough, CNN Wharton, Gretchen Sween, ” Wharton, We’re, LaMotte, Stephanie Becker Organizations: West Livingston CNN, CNN, American Academy of Pediatrics, US Centers for Disease Control, CDC, American Association of Pediatrics, AP, US Army, National Registry, Appeals, SBS, Board, Republican Gov, Integrity, Sciences, American Academy of Pediatrics ’, Child, Texas Department, Criminal, New York Times Locations: West Livingston CNN — Texas, Texas, United States, Roberson’s, Palestine , Texas, ”, Livingston , Texas, Anderson County, Dallas

☆ Calvin Buari served 22 years for two murders he didn’t commit. He says prison saved his life
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-06 | by ( Faith Karimi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Calvin Buari with podcaster and former journalist Steve Fishman in a photo taken after Buari's release. He began selling drugs as a teenager so he could buy a pair of Air JordansBuari was a savvy — and flashy — drug dealer. His flamboyant role as a drug dealer made him unsympathetic and an easy target for a conviction, he says. And now, prison was no longer my destiny.”Seven years later, he’s on a path to redemptionSince his release from prison, Buari has been a busy man. Part of that involves thinking about the lives and neighborhoods he destroyed as a drug dealer, he says.

Persons: CNN — Calvin Buari, he’d, Buari, Uber, ” —, “, …, BMW Buari, New York City —, ”, Steve Fishman, Fishman, he’s, Calvin Buari, Exonerations, Jordans Buari, Rudy Giuliani, ” Buari, “ ‘ Young, Elijah, Salhaddin Harris, Prosecutors, Edward Keating, Myron Beldock, Beldock, Rubin “, ” Carter, —, Oscar Michelen, who’d, “ I’ll, He’s, He's, ” Fishman, Michelen, … I’m, It’s Organizations: CNN, Volkswagen Jetta, Green, Green Haven Correctional Facility, Service, VW, BMW, fedora, “, Cal, National Registry, Statistics, Fila, Air, East 213th St, Supreme, Green Haven Correctional, The New York Times, Central, New York Locations: Green Haven, Stormville , New York, Bronx, New York City, Versace, East, New York, Texas, Houston, Houston , Texas, New, New Jersey

The lead detective in the case, Brian Wharton, accepted the shaken baby syndrome diagnosis, and Roberson was arrested before an autopsy was even completed. Shifting scienceThe concept of shaken baby syndrome began in the 1970s. Hundreds of possible shaken baby and abusive head trauma cases are reported to hospitals in the U.S. every year, according to a nonprofit advocacy group. A Mississippi man on death row for a shaken baby diagnosis was resentenced to life in prison in 2018 after evidence was re-examined. "The shaken baby concept did not add up," Sween said.

Persons: Robert Roberson, Lester Holt, Greg Abbott, I've, I'm, Roberson, Abbott, Holt, Nikki, Brian Wharton, Wharton, Kate Judson, Judson, Andie Asnes, Asnes, Robert Dunham, Phillips, Gretchen Sween, Sween, Robert Organizations: NBC News, Texas Gov, NBC, Texas, Criminal Appeals, Prosecutors, Center, Integrity, Forensic Sciences, American Academy of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, Child, National Registry Locations: Texas, East Texas, Dallas, U.S, Mississippi

The pending perjury trial of three retired Philadelphia police detectives could prove an exception, if they themselves are not cleared by alleged mistakes by District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office. Former detectives Martin Devlin, Manuel Santiago and Frank Jastrzembski have asked a judge to dismiss the case. That trial testimony was still fair game when Krasner, a civil rights lawyer focused on criminal justice reform, took office in 2018. He charged the Wright detectives in 2021, days before the five-year deadline expired. Last year, a mistake by prosecutors sank a police perjury case in Manhattan, when a judge halted the trial over their failure to turn over evidence to the defense.

Persons: Larry Krasner’s, Martin Devlin, Manuel Santiago, Frank Jastrzembski, Krasner, exoneree Anthony Wright, Wright, Krasner's, Sam Silver, Devlin, —, acquitting, Santiago, “ We’re, we’re, ”, Alan J, Tauber, There's, Marissa Bluestine, “, Bluestine, Maurice Possley, Lucretia Clemons, Brian McMonagle, ” Santiago Organizations: PHILADELPHIA, Philadelphia, nab, New, National, Pennsylvania Innocence, Quattrone Center, Fair Administration, Justice, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Inquirer Locations: U.S, New Jersey, Jastrzembski, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Manhattan

A Gallup poll from October found 50% of Americans believe capital punishment is applied unfairly, compared to 47% who believe it is fairly implemented, Maher said. Nearly 200 death row exonerations since 1975, including three in 2023, also have helped changed people's minds about the fairness of the death penalty, Maher said. In recent years, various individuals across the country, including conservative legislators, have raised concerns about the death penalty or debated its future, Grosso said. One allows the death penalty in child rape convictions, despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning capital punishment in such cases. Texas, the nation’s busiest capital punishment state, has not been immune to the ongoing debate over the death penalty.

Persons: —, Eric Berger, Alabama —, Robin M, Maher, ” Maher, Catherine Grosso, George Floyd, Grosso, Berger, Ron DeSantis, ” DeSantis, Corinna, Jeff Leach, “, ” Leach, ” Berger, ___, Juan, Lozano Organizations: HOUSTON, University of Nebraska, Washington, D.C, Gallup, Michigan State University’s College of Law, Florida Gov, U.S, Supreme, University of Richmond School of Law, GOP, Texas, Texas Senate Locations: U.S, Lincoln, Oklahoma, — Texas, Florida , Missouri , Oklahoma, Alabama, United States, Florida , Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, Idaho, Virginia

☆ 3 Men Exonerated in New York, 30 Years After False Confessions
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Hurubie Meko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When he stood to speak, Mr. McCloud became emotional. That equates to 29 years and 15 days exactly,” Mr. McCloud said. Although he is happy that his name has been cleared, “it doesn’t fix things,” he said. “It doesn’t fix this scar on my face,” he said, pointing to a thick line about four inches long across his right cheek — a wound he got in prison. Since 1989, about 400 of 3,361 total exonerations nationwide have involved false confessions, according to data maintained by the National Registry of Exonerations.

Persons: McCloud, “ I’ll, Cameron, Sunada’s, ”, “, Justice Johnson Organizations: National Registry, New York Locations: New, New York City, Queens

☆ Opinion | Justice Delayed
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Lisa Belkin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

“We investigated this thing upside down,” said Jerry Hill, a retired state attorney, in a “Bone Valley” interview with Mr. King’s co-host, Kelsey Decker, minutes after the board denied parole to Mr. Schofield in 2020. And so it went in the Adams and Schofield cases, as the prosecutors all but physically barred the jailhouse door. There was no expression of regret from the prosecutors who convicted Randall Dale Adams in Dallas. (Mr. Lindsey himself spent three years on death row before the Florida Supreme Court concluded the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction. He is one of 30 death row inmates in Florida to be exonerated since 1972, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.)

Programming note: The full interview with Richard Glossip will air Friday, May 5, on “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” which starts at 4 p.m. Lea Glossip, left, wife of death row inmate Richard Glossip, listens with death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean, right, during a news conference on Thursday, May 4, in Oklahoma City. Sneed admitted to killing Van Treese, but at trial, prosecutors portrayed the killing as a murder-for-hire plot orchestrated by Glossip. Ultimately, Reed Smith concluded “that no reasonable juror hearing the complete record would have convicted Richard Glossip of first-degree murder,” said Stan Perry, a partner at the firm. The Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, where Richard Glossip is set to be executed, is seen in 2015.

☆ US criminal justice alliance seeks to erase 'trial penalty'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | Thomson Reuters | Sarah N. Lynch Is The Lead Reporter For Reuters Covering The U.S. Justice Department Out Of Washington | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The effort is complicated by the U.S. criminal justice system's diffuse nature, with local, state and federal courts. Defendants who plead guilty typically get credit for accepting responsibility for their crimes and spend less time in prison. Criminal justice advocates point to a downside. Defendants who plead guilty are not given access to all evidence against them and their appeal rights are limited. The National Registry of Exonerations, which collects information about exonerations of innocent criminal defendants, has tracked 3,300 exonerations since 1989.

☆ How investors cash in on the $2.9 billion boom in wrongful-conviction lawsuits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Delon Thornton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

For the past few decades, state and local governments throughout the U.S. have paid out a total of $2.9 billion to Americans who were wrongly convicted of crimes. Collectively, over 25,000 years have been lost behind bars to the wrongfully convicted, according to recent estimates. Thirty-eight states, the federal government and the District of Columbia all offer exonerees some form of wrongful-conviction compensation. "There's no credit checks, there's no collaterals, there's no guarantees, there's no assets," said Abraham Arouesty, of Tribeca Capital Group, a litigation firm that offers funding for wrongful-conviction cases. Watch the video above to find out more about why investors are betting on wrongful-conviction lawsuits

The approach used to identify Kohberger is just one of several recent developments in DNA analysis that have transformed the way law enforcement investigates crimes. In a justice system rife with flawed science, DNA evidence is rightly viewed as the gold standard for forensics: After DNA evidence was first introduced in the criminal justice system in the late 1980s, scientists spent years developing and evaluating protocols for comparing individual DNA samples, which have been repeatedly found to produce consistent, reliable results. DNA analysis was a revolution in forensics, but like every form of scientific evidence it has the potential for error. Recent technological advancements allowing scientists to analyze increasingly small or contaminated DNA samples further complicate the process. DNA samples are also sometimes mishandled or tampered with, compromising results.

☆ Executions in U.S. continue decline but many ‘botched,' report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Kate Brown commuted the sentences of all 17 of the state’s death row inmates to life in prison without parole. There have been no federal executions since January 2021 following a historic use of capital punishment by the Trump administration. Dunham said he believes ongoing issues with botched executions or reviews of execution protocols by states is helping to erode public support of capital punishment. In 2000, Texas executions reached a high of 40, according to this year’s annual report by the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Dunham said he believes the number of botched executions has contributed significantly to the movement among lawmakers, particularly conservatives, to express doubts about the death penalty.

Halim admitted to shooting Malcolm X, but he insisted his co-defendants were not involved. Prosecutors believed Aziz and Islam had been used as muscle for the Nation of Islam, Black Muslims' predominant organization. Malcolm X, reviled by some white leaders for embracing "any means necessary" in the fight for civil rights, had had had a falling out with the group just before he was assassinated, after a trip to Mecca. Malcolm X started to soften to the concept of racial unity. In early 2020, as Netflix began streaming the documentary series, "Who Killed Malcolm X?"

And Black families are affected the most. “And that means more Black families are impacted,” said Samuel Gross, the registry’s founder and senior editor. “This has caused deep wounds to Black families.”Thompson’s point is easily seen in Termaine Hicks’ family dynamic. While in prison, Hicks wrote a letter to his son every month for 16 years. And especially families … ”“The disproportionate representation of communities within our prison systems tend to impact Black families and communities more,” she said.

☆ New Orleans battled mass incarceration. Then came the backlash over violent crime.
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-06 | by ( Jamiles Lartey | The Marshall Project | Jamiles Lartey Is A New Orleans-Based Staff Writer For The Marshall Project. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

candidates before him, he appealed to a kind of economy of justice: that spending less time on minor crimes, and on things that shouldn’t be crimes, would give prosecutors more time and resources to tackle violent crime. Reflecting on his first 17 months in office, Williams made sure to mention a slew of recent convictions in nearly the same breath as his efforts toward reform. He recognizes that violent crime is up, and that his office is responsible for addressing it. Williams’ office argued Mitchell had been unfairly denied a chance at parole. The Metropolitan Crime Commission, a nonprofit that publishes weekly city crime data and has been critical of Williams, found that in 2021, 74% of violent felony cases were resolved this way.

Search resuls for: "Exonerations"

21 mentions found