Category Archives: justice

Why Do The Innocent Confess?

On September 28th, Damon Thibodeaux, 38, became the 300th prisoner nationwide to have his conviction overturned based on DNA evidence, and the 18th death row prisoner freed based on such evidence according to the Innocence Project. Thibodeaux served 16 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, most of them on death row.

While the above numbers are startling, Thibodeaux was also one of the approximately 25% of wrongfully convicted defendants cleared by DNA evidence who made false confessions, admissions or statements to law enforcement officials.

He was convicted in 1997 and sentenced to death after he confessed to the July 19, 1996, rape and murder of his 14-year-old step-cousin, Crystal Champagne, in Westwego, near New Orleans. DNA testing later showed that he was not the murderer and that the victim had not been raped.

So why in the world would Thibodeaux or any innocent person confess to a crime they did not commit?

Studies have shown that the decision to confess is often seen as a way to avoid an immediate consequence, even though the confession likely increases the risk of incurring a future consequence. Other studies have found that those who are truly innocent naively believe that the truth will come out in a fair trial and that justice will prevail.

Personality traits can be another factor. Some people are simply more malleable and suggestible than others, allowing experienced interrogators to lead them into a false set of beliefs. Police have also been known to present false evidence or misinformation, thus increasing a person’s willingness to confess.

How do we decrease the number of false confessions? The Innocence Project believes the single best reform is the electronic recordings of interrogations from the moment Miranda rights are read to a suspect.

In 2003, Illinois became the first state to require that all police interrogations of suspects in homicide cases be recorded.

The Supreme Courts of Alaska and Minnesota have declared that, under their state constitutions, defendants are entitled as a matter of due process to have their custodial interrogations recorded.

Three hundred people have served a combined total 4,013 years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit. It’s long past time the rest of the states required the video recording of all interrogations.

Back To The Future

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Hundreds of thousands of voters could be disenfranchised this November because of blatant voter suppression legislation. Studies indicate that 18 percent of elderly voters, 25 percent of black voters, and 20 percent of Asian voters all lack ID and risk disenfranchisement by these new laws.

Yet, the Supreme Court is likely to consider efforts to scale back the landmark Voting Rights Act this term. The Act was first passed by Congress in 1965 and renewed four times since then, most recently 2006 when Congress voted to extend it for another 25 years.

Petitions from North Carolina and Alabama are challenging a key provision in the law requiring states with a history of discrimination at the polls to get federal permission before making any changes to election procedures, from redrawing congressional district boundaries to changing the locations of polling places.

As recently as 2009, the Court upheld the requirement, though Chief Justice Roberts’ majority opinion left open the possibility that the law could be struck down later, “In part due to the success of that legislation, we are now a very different nation.” Really?

A Brennan Center for Justice analysis of the ten states that have implemented voter ID laws found that the new requirements place substantial burdens on low incomer and minority voters who have limited access to offices that issue the proper ID. The Center found that fees required for the necessary documentation, such as birth certificates or passports, and difficulties scheduling appointments due to irregular hours, constitute a “poll tax.” Reuters reported that there have been more challenges to the Voting Rights Act in the past two years than in the previous forty-five.

Perhaps if Justice Roberts removed his blinders, he’d see a nation that is looking more like 1965 every day.

The Real Reason Drugs Are Illegal

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As was doing research for the fifth book in my mystery series featuring Homicide Detective John Santana, I came across some interesting facts, which reinforced my believe that drugs have as much chance of being legalized as I do of becoming president. But my skepticism is based on something quite different than you might think.

Whenever those opposed to legalizing drugs are asked to defend their position, they often cite health concerns and moral, spiritual, and political reasons for their opposition. In some instances they’ll cite economic concerns, arguing that when compared to the social costs of drug abuse and addiction, government spending on drug control is minimal.

But there’s one economic argument for keeping drugs illegal that is rarely mentioned, and it has to do with the billions of dollars that are laundered through the global banking system every year.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates the amount of money laundered globally in one year to be 2 – 5% of global GDP, or $800 billion – $2 trillion US dollars. Senator Carl Levin estimates that “$500 billion to $1 trillion of international criminal proceeds are moved internationally and deposited into bank accounts annually.” Estimates place the dirty money flowing into U.S. coffers during the 1990s amounted at $3-$5.5 trillion.

According to a report prepared by James Petras, Professor of Sociology at Binghamton University, the dirty money flowing through the major U.S. banks far exceeds the net revenues of all the IT companies in the U.S. The yearly inflows also surpass all the net transfers by the major U.S. oil producers, military industries and airplane manufacturers.

The bottom line is that “without dirty money the U.S. economy would be totally unsustainable, living standards would plummet, the dollar would weaken, the available investment and loan capital would shrink and Washington would not be able to sustain its global empire.”

And here’s the bad news. Petras believes the amount and importance of laundered money is increasing.

Conservative economist Milton Friedman once said that, “if you look at the drug war from a purely economic point of view, the role of the government is to protect the drug cartel,”––and, I would add, by extension the banks that illegally launder their drug money.

So the next time someone asks you why we can’t legalize drugs forget the traditional arguments and tell them the truth. The world and U.S. economy and banking systems are dependent on keeping drugs illegal.

NFL Hitmen

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Minnesota Viking’s fans have suffered through four disheartening Super Bowl losses to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1970, the Miami Dolphins in 1974, The Pittsburgh Steelers in 1975, and the Oakland Raiders in 1977. Fans also had to endure gut-wrenching playoff losses, as in 1975 when the Vikings lost 17-14 to the Dallas Cowboys, on a controversial touchdown pass from the Cowboys’ quarterback Roger Staubach to wide receiver Drew Pearson that became known as the Hail Mary Pass. Many felt that Pearson had pushed off defensive back Nate Wright, and that offensive pass interference should have been called.

Then there was the 1998 season when an explosive offense led by Randall Cunningham, Robert Smith, Chris Carter, and rookie sensation Randy Moss, set a then-NFL record by scoring a total of 556 points, never scoring fewer than 24 in a game. The Vikings finished the season 15-1, their only loss by 3 points to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week nine.

In the playoffs that year, the Vikings crushed the Arizona Cardinals 41-21, and were heavily favored to win their NFC title showdown with the Atlanta Falcons. However, kicker Gary Anderson, who had just completed the first perfect regular season in NFL history (not missing a single extra point or field goal attempt the entire year), missed a 38- yard attempt with less than 2 minutes remaining. That allowed the Falcons to tie the game. Atlanta went on to win it 30-27 in overtime on Morten Andersen’s field goal, also a 38-yarder. The Vikings became the first 15-1 team to fail to reach the Super Bowl.

Eleven years later in 2009, the Vikings returned to the league championship against the New Orleans Saints. Tied at 28-28 late in the game, and with the Vikings driving and in position to kick the winning field goal, Brett Farve threw an ill-advised pass across the middle with seven seconds left that was intercepted. New Orleans won in overtime, 31-28, and the Vikings futility continued.

Viking fans were angry with Brett Farve, despite an incredible season. Many thought he could have run a few yards and stepped out of bounds, setting up what could have been the winning field goal. But Farve didn’t run. He had suffered a number of vicious hits in the game, and had a severely injured ankle. The Saints received three unnecessary roughness penalties that day, but none of their players were tossed from the game. Farve was roundly, though I think unfairly, criticized for his decision to pass instead of run. After all, without his leadership and passing, the team never would have been in the championship game in the first place.

But now comes news that defensive players for the Saints were paid a bounty for deliberate hits designed to injure or disable opposing players during the 2009-2011 seasons. League officials have determined that as many as 27 players, as well as former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, were involved in the scheme. Players contributed $50,000 to an illegal pool, despite a league rule, which prohibits non-contract bonuses, not to mention the obvious safety concerns and motives behind paying players to deliberately injure opponents. Had Farve not been injured, who knows what would have happened that day?

The league had better come down hard on the Saint’s organization including suspensions, fines, and loss of draft choices. Though no punishment will ever make up for, or help Minnesota fans forget, the Viking losses.

Judging The Memphis Three

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Given the contamination of evidence, poor crime scene procedure, a coerced confession, shoddy detective and forensic work, and, as in many of these types of cases, an overzealous prosecutor desperate to pin the brutal murders of three young boys on anyone, it should come as no surprise that newfound DNA evidence does not support the convictions of teenagers Damian Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin, the infamous West Memphis Three, but rather Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one of the victims. The Arkansas Times reported that a hair consistent with Hobbs was found tied into the knots used to bind one of the victims.

As disturbing as the teen’s convictions and the eighteen years they served in prison appear to be, equally disturbing are the actions of the judge in the original trial, one David Burnett. There are allegations by Jessie Misskelley’s attorney of foreman and jury misconduct, and that Burnett made inappropriate remarks to the jurors. If true, any of these accusations should have led to an immediate mistrial.

Then, in September of 2008, Circuit Court Judge David Burnett denied Damian Echols’ request for a retrial, citing the DNA tests as inconclusive, and that the absence of evidence was not innocence. But as reported by John Brummett in the Arkansas News, the Arkansas Law Review contended that Burnett erred in denying Echols a new trial on evidence that there was no DNA linking him to the scene.

Burnett made this ruling while he was running for the state senate in direct violation of the state constitution, which says a sitting judge who seeks a non-judicial political office vacates the judgeship automatically when he files for the other office. One might conclude that ruling in favor of a Death Row inmate, might hurt a law and order judge’s chances of being elected to the senate.

Burnett retired from the law in 2009, but was subsequently appointed as a special judge responsible for post-conviction issues surrounding the West Memphis cases, though he later told a Sun reporter that he was sick and tired of it. He also said that he had regretted letting documentary filmmakers into the courtroom in 1994 because their “Paradise Lost” documentary was biased for the defendants. Both statements were obviously prejudicial and a bad sign for the three apparently innocent men sitting in prison. Burnett later apologized for his remarks, but never declined his appointment.

Fortunately for the West Memphis Three, in early December 2010, Circuit Court Judge David Laser was selected to replace David Burnett, and upon hearing the new evidence, released the three men from prison.

David Burnett is now a member of the Arkansas state senate, though I highly doubt his “judgment” has improved.

Not Guilty Doesn’t Mean Innocent

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As a mystery writer who’s dealt with some interesting cases––both real and imagined––it’s certainly no stretch to say that I, like many others, was shocked by the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial.

The prosecution presented what seemed to be a coherent theory that Casey had used chloroform, suffocated her daughter Caylee with duct tape, and dumped her body in a wooded area after hauling it around in the trunk of her car. Yet, because the body was too badly decomposed to pinpoint the cause of death, and there was no direct evidence or witnesses linking Casey to her daughter’s death, the case was circumstantial. Still, many others have been convicted on circumstantial evidence.

The defense argued that Caylee had accidentally drowned in a pool and that Casey and her father, George, concealed the death. Yet, no matter how you frame the case, it’s nearly impossible to explain how a mother can party for 31 days and get a tattoo that proclaims “bella vita” –– beautiful life –– instead of reporting her daughter missing. Then, when confronted by police, Casey Anthony concocted an elaborate lie that police easily refuted. If her daughter’s death truly was an accident, and Casey was only guilty of covering it up, it seems that would have been the time to come clean to the police. But if Caylee did drown, why would there be duct tape across her mouth? If the child were dead, there would be no need to cover her mouth.

Defense attorneys attempted to explain away Casey’s lies by claiming that her father had sexually abused her as a child and had been coached to lie her entire life. That accusation, of course, does not bode well for family relations. Casey’s parents left the courtroom after the verdict without speaking to their daughter.

So while a jury of twelve men and women in Orlando, Florida found Casey Anthony innocent of most of the charges against her, including first degree murder, she, like O.J. Simpson, will forever be seen as guilty in the eyes of the country. Like O.J., Casey Anthony may find that life on the outside is not so sweet. And like O.J. she may find herself behind bars again some day. One can only hope.

Justice Run Amok

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John Thompson

Imagine if you were found guilty of a robbery and murder that you did not commit, and then spent 14 years of your life on death row. Imagine if prosecutors deliberately suppressed evidence at your trial that would have exonerated you. What do you think it should cost the state and prosecution for intentionally imprisoning an innocent man?

Well, in the case of a Louisiana man named John Thompson, a jury awarded him $15 million. A civil court and two federal courts ruled that he had suffered a miscarriage of justice, and should be compensated for the years he’d spent in prison and the stress of being on death row. But in a truly bizarre 5-4 ruling this past week, the five conservative members of the Supreme Court overturned the ruling. Justice Ginsburg, joined by Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan, orally read her dissenting opinion from the bench, strongly criticizing the decision.

Thompson was weeks away from being executed when an investigator found blood evidence on the robbery victim’s clothing that proved his innocence. Thompson was Type O, but the blood evidence was Type B. That critical evidence was purposely withheld from Thompson’s lawyer by a team of prosecutors in the New Orleans Parrish District Attorney’s Office, and ultimately led to his murder conviction.

In his civil rights lawsuit after his exoneration, Thompson claimed that former New Orleans District Attorney Harry Connick, Sr. (the father of Harry Connick Jr.) suppressed the exculpatory blood evidence, knowingly allowed prosecutors in his office to engage in repeated acts of misconduct, and failed to train his prosecutors about how to handle exculpatory evidence. Connick, in a truly convoluted bit of logic, claimed in his own testimony that training would make his job more difficult.

What makes this Supreme Court ruling all the more difficult to understand, is that the court was well aware of this culture of corruption in New Orleans, having previously vacated a capital murder conviction prosecuted by Connick’s office. In that 5-4 decision the court also found evidence of prosecutorial misconduct, as was found by the lower courts in Thompson’s case. Connick himself had previously been indicted by federal prosecutors for suppressing a lab report. It appears that the only difference in the two rulings is that Justice Alito replaced Justice O’Connor on the court.

It’s troubling enough when lawyers sworn to uphold the law deliberately suppress evidence in some warped, misguided attempt at justice. But now we have a majority on the Supreme Court that more often than not seems blinded by its ideology. There is a reason why Lady Justice is depicted as balancing the scales of truth and fairness while wearing a blindfold. I’m not sure that all members of the current court understand the personification.

Pre-Teen Killers

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In June 2006, two-year-old Emily Johnson of Fergus Falls, Minnesota, was sexually assaulted and murdered by the thirteen-year-old son of her daycare provider.

Yesterday, in the Minnesota House of Representatives, a bill called “Emily’s Law” began moving through the chamber. Sponsored by Republican Representative Torrey Westrom, and supported by Emily’s parents, the bill seeks to lower the age in which a juvenile could be tried as an adult in Minnesota from fourteen to ten. The bill would allow a judge to certify children as young as ten as adults if they are accused of murder, manslaughter, assault, aggravated robbery or sexual misconduct. Under current Minnesota law, minors between the ages of fourteen and seventeen can be certified as adults. Previous efforts to change the legal age have failed.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s most recent data, juveniles under the age of fifteen committed 27% of violent juvenile crimes in 2007-2008. Murder, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault are classified as violent crimes in their index.

Thirteen states already allow violent juvenile offenders under the age of fourteen to be certified as adults, including Kansas and Vermont, which allow juveniles as young as ten to be tried as adults. Colorado allows ten-year-olds to be certified as adults only if they are charged with murder.

In March 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the death penalty for juveniles, ruling that state laws authorizing capital punishment for those under the age of eighteen who commit murder violated the Eighth Amendment’s provision against cruel and unusual punishment and was therefore unconstitutional. Juveniles who commit violent crimes can now be sentenced to a maximum of life in prison. The ruling struck down laws in twenty-one states that had allowed the death penalty for juvenile offenders and took seventy-two prisoners off death row.

Representatives from Minnesota county attorneys, the public defender’s office, and corrections officials, all testified against the bill. They contend that very few juveniles younger than fourteen commit murder or other “unspeakable acts,” and no change in the law is necessary. Others argued that ten-year-olds do not have the capacity to “think and function as adults.” Representatives from the ACLU testified that the law would “impact racial disparities.”

Emily’s parents, Lynn and Travis Johnson, have testified in support of the legislation for five consecutive years. They believe the current system “has failed miserably,” and ask why fourteen is the “magical age.”

Obviously, it’s easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize Emily’s parents for supporting the age change, but what if you were Emily’s parents? What would you do? Should ten-year-olds be tried as adults in cases of murder and other extremely violent crimes? If not, at what age should a juvenile be certified as an adult?

The jury is out.

Assange and Cheney

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What do these men have in common?

Interpol has issued red notices and has alerted authorities to monitor their movements. They soon may have arrest warrants issued in their names.

photo credit: World Economic Forum

Nigeria recently filed bribery charges against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and officials from five foreign companies, including Halliburton Co. The alleged $180 million of bribes were connected to $6 billion in contracts with Nigeria LNG Ltd., whose largest shareholder is the state-owned petroleum company, to build liquefied natural gas facilities on Bonny Island, off the country’s southern coast.

In the U.S., KBR and Halliburton agreed to pay $579 million to the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission in February 2009 for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 1977 law that bans bribery of foreign officials to obtain or retain business, in Nigeria from 1994 to 2004.

photo credit: adamfeuer

Julian Assange’s lawyer stated that Sweden hasn’t issued a valid European warrant for their client’s arrest for the sex crimes the WikiLeaks founder has been accused of. The lawyer said the arrest warrant was sent back by Scotland Yard because it did not comply with the law and was defective. British authorities are currently holding Assange without bail, fearing he will flee the country.

Assange was originally accused of sexual crimes following allegations made by two Swedish women. The case was opened, dropped, and then reopened by the prosecutors, but formal charges against the WikiLeaks founder haven’t been made in Sweden.

The U.S. government is working with Interpol and British and Swedish authorities to detain and, ultimately, to extradite Assange to the States to face charges for leaking government documents. Yet, the Justice Department sees no irony or hypocrisy in shielding Dick Cheney from Interpol and Nigerian authorities.

Finding Abducted Children

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A recent story in the New York Times reported that privacy laws enacted a generation ago to prevent Watergate-era abuses are preventing federal and state law enforcement officials from using IRS data to track missing children. The law forbids the IRS to turn over data from tax returns unless a parental abduction is being investigated as a federal crime and a U.S. district judge orders the information released. Local and state officials investigate most abduction cases.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, there are approximately 200,000 family abductions each year in the United States, and most involve parental abductions. Amazingly, many of the parental abductors file a tax return. Obviously, investigators could use details written on the IRS form such as work history and mailing address to track down the abductors and missing children.

The IRS has helped recover more than eighty children since 2001 by including thousands of photos of missing children with forms mailed to millions of taxpayers. Still, imagine how many more abducted children might be recovered if the law were changed to allow state and local investigators to search IRS data. Far too many children and families are needlessly suffering. This is a law that needs to be changed and changed quickly.