Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 6 December 2002 — Page 4

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6,2002

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ft Using DNA testing to free the innocent

Edmonds acknowledged, "My staunch supporter of Edmonds frith in God sustained me and andhisfcmily. PastorGreene said,

bmight nM through." Edmonds admits,"

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deal their cases down to lesser incarceratedduetomyfrith,frm- families are decimated. Young understand that things must sentences. Most of the persons ily and friends. My hope is that children, wives and parents lose change."

"My initial response to the call whose cases have been overturned through this testimony another their fathers, husbands and chil- Leading the charge for change admits, "I am ready that Brother Jerome had been due to DNA testing were unable incarcerated person canbehelped dren. Many families are without are Innocence Projects, whidi to put this ordeal behind me and arrested was he is innocent’ I to afford the costs of a criminal to hold onto their faith." the breadwinner and sink into raise awareness and concern move mi with life. However, I do knewthatin myspiritThen came defense attorney, whose fees be- Pastor Greene added, "The re- poverty. Their only relief is hav- about the frilings of the criminal question, why couldn't the au- the realization that his case was ginupwardsof$50,000andwere ality ofwhat Brother Jerome went ing to rely on assistance in efforts justice system and the thousands tnorities have waited until they going to cost money.” defended by public defenders. through must be exposed. The to keep their families fed and of innocent people in jail or on had the results from the DNA As with many persons (falsely) Edmond, who is content to system won't change and it can't clothed." death row. The most renown Intesting before they arrested me? accused ofacriminal offense with forget the entire ordeal, realizes, change if no one speaks up and Edmonds shakes his head in nocence Project is located at the Because of that, I lost over a year limited financial resources, "I was blessed to have survived demands change." (False) impris- agreement and continued, 'There Benjamin N. Cardozo School of of my life that X^oan never get Edmondswasappointed a public and I am not vengeful. From this onment impacts not just the im- are many innocent people in jail Law in New York. It is a nonback.” defender. Public defenders are situation I learned to have no prisoned, but also their entire onthebasisofafalsetestimonyor profit,probono,legalclinicwhere ' Pastor David W. Greene Sr. of usually overburdened and more doubt that God is in full and com- family. It is an emotionally stress- an inaccurate identification. Any- students handle cases under the -- the church Edmonds attends is a likelytoencouragetheirclientsto plete control. I got through being fid time for the family and many one could be next. People have to supervision ofateam of attorneys

and clinic staff. Attorneys Barry

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C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld created the project in 1992. The project (www. I nnocenceProject.org) only handles cases where post conviction DNA testing of evidence can yield conclusive proof ofinnocence; andprisoners wanting to prove innocence must pay for their own DNA test Working with Indiana Univer-sity-Purdue University at Indianapolis, part ofinnocence Project Northwest have freed four men from Indiana who have spent a cumulative of 47 years behind bars for crimes they did not com-

mit

Larry Mayes was thelOOth person freed using post-conviction DNA testing. According to Innocence Project Northwest, Mayes spent 21 years in prison after a 1982 conviction based on the victim's unsure photo line-up identification of him. The victim had twice failed to identify him during live lineups. The victim revealed that the police had hypnotized her prior to her makingthe photo identifi- | cation. Mayes was exonerated in 2001, when the DNA test excluded him as a match to the sperm and semen samples collected from the victim. Richard Alexander served five-and-a-halfyears after beingfelsely convicted ofbeing involved in several sexual assaults. The Innocence Project reveals that even after Akrtarkter was imprisoned, more assaults were committed and that his photo was placed accidentally in a photo line-up where the victim of the latest assault identified him as her attacker, which was impossible since Alexander was in prison. In 2001, Michael Murphy confessed to one of the crimes Alexander hadbeen convicted of, usingDNA evidence not available at the time of his conviction, it was proven that the DNA matched Murphy's DNA profile. On Dec. 12,2001, Alexander was released from prison. In 1993 Dewayne Scruggs was released from prison after seven and ahalfyears. Due toamistaken idaitification by the victim, he was convicted The Innocence Project reports that Scrugg’s public defender filed for the DNA testing that provided conclusive evidence that he wasn'tamatditothe sperm andbkxxl found at tiie crime scene. And Jerry Watkins was exonerated in 2000 after 13 years behind bars. A combination of a jailhouse snitch giving a false statement and inaccurate forensic testimony overrode Watkins' confirmed alibi and his passed polygraph test Even though the Innocence Project provided DNA evidence to prove his innocence, it was not enough to earn him a new trial Only when coupled with the confirmation that the snitch had lied, suspicious police activity and the knowledge that there had been the suppression of two key witnesses, one who saw the abduction and anotherwho claimed to be in the van at the time of the crime, and a second more comprehensive DNAtest, was the case against Watkins dropped Unfortunately circumstantial evidence, false confessions, fraudulent forensic testimony, inaccurate witness identification and sometimes poor defense counsel will continue to convict the innocent While the Innocence Project has been instrumental in the exoneration of 116 wrongly convicted and incarcerated men, there are thousands of others whose cases are awaiting evaluation. Thousands of innocent lives are beingpunishedfbr crimes they did not commit

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