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	<title>CA Innocence ProjectCA Innocence Project | CA Innocence Project</title>
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	<link>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog</link>
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	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 00:37:21 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Intl. Wrongful Convictions &#8211; China Suspects Presumed Guilty Before Trial</title>
		<link>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/20/intl-wrongful-convictions-china-suspects-presumed-guilty-before-trial/</link>
		<comments>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/20/intl-wrongful-convictions-china-suspects-presumed-guilty-before-trial/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 00:36:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Chinn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[False Confessions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Wrongful Convictions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Police Misconduct]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[international innocence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/?p=1160</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I was recently called for jury duty for a criminal case.   While I was eventually dismissed, the defense attorney reviewed the term &#8220;presumed innocent until proven guilty&#8221; and its application to a criminal trial.  While well known in the U.S., this concept is not accepted internationally everywhere. The Guardian UK has published an article called &#8220;China Suspects Presumed Guilty Until Proven Innocent&#8221; about wrongful convictions in China. There are not many cases of wrongful convictions being reported but the ones we know about include the causes of wrongful convictions we are familiar with in the U.S. Zhang Gaoping and his nephew, Zhang Hui, spent 10 years wrongfully incarcerated for a 2003 rape-murder of a young hitchiker.   New evidence showed DNA results matching another man and the Zhanges&#8217; &#8220;confessions&#8221; were the product of coercion.  The Zhanges were deprived of sleep and underwent seven days of abusive interrogation, including physical abuse.  They finally signed confessions drafted by the police under pressure from other detainees. Eventually, the two men were compensated by the court for their ordeal. Other cases also involved police abuses.  Zhao Yanjin spent 10 years in prison for the murder of a neighbor&#8217;s son despite suffering permanent hearing [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/20/intl-wrongful-convictions-china-suspects-presumed-guilty-before-trial/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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		<title>TakePart.com Now Publishing Articles on the Innocence March</title>
		<link>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/17/takepart-com-now-publishing-articles-on-the-innocence-march/</link>
		<comments>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/17/takepart-com-now-publishing-articles-on-the-innocence-march/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 18:47:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Chinn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Public Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alice Leong]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brian Banks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ed Contreras]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Innocence March]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JC Allen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Justin Brooks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leomia Myers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/?p=1152</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The California Innocence Project has teamed up with TakePart.com to publish articles in support of the Innocence March.  Some will give updates on the progress of the Innocence March and others will focus on preventing wrongful convictions.  Two recent postings are examples of what is to come. J.C. Allen, a retired Associate Warden at San Quentin Prison in California, wrote a column titled &#8220;San Quentin Prison is No Place for Innocent Men.&#8221;  Allen argues that even if one innocent man is imprisoned, society should work to free him. His story shows an gradual realization that wrongful convictions do occur, an unusual viewpoint given his chosen profession in the correctional system. When he began his career in the mid-70s, Allen believed that every inmate was guilty, writing that &#8220;They wouldn’t be here if they were not guilty, I thought. They belong here, I thought.&#8221;  However, in the mid-90&#8242;s, Allen saw an inmate being released after his sentence was reversed based on a wrongful conviction (&#8220;How very odd, I thought&#8221;).   In the mid-2000&#8242;s, Allen began to notice all the innocence projects and the increasing use of DNA testing to exonerate inmates. Rather than hold to the belief that all inmates are guilty, Allen [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/17/takepart-com-now-publishing-articles-on-the-innocence-march/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Questions Raised About Work of Detectives in Brooklyn and Chicago</title>
		<link>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/14/questions-raised-about-work-of-detectives-in-brooklyn-and-chicago/</link>
		<comments>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/14/questions-raised-about-work-of-detectives-in-brooklyn-and-chicago/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 May 2013 00:49:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Chinn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Police Misconduct]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Ranta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeffrey Deskovic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Juan Johnson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Louis Scarcella]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reynaldo Guevara]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/?p=1148</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Two recent articles have focused attention on problems with detectives in New York City and Chicago.  Each have been involved in wrongful conviction cases. The New York Times reports that the flawed detective work by a Brooklyn detective, Louis Scarcella, and his partner led to the wrongful conviction of David Ranta.  Ranta spent 23 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.  The Times reports that Scarcella &#8220;let informants out of jail to visit prostitutes, often had no notes to back up his interviews and told a witness to pick Mr. Ranta out of a lineup. Mr. Scarcella, who retired in 1999, has denied any wrongdoing.&#8221; Scarcella&#8217;s other work is not coming under scrutiny.  &#8221;A review by The New York Times showed that the detective played a key role in other questionable convictions. Inmates said he made up confessions, and Mr. Scarcella acknowledged having used the same crack-addicted prostitute as an eyewitness on at least six different occasions.&#8221; In addition, exoneree Jeffrey Deskovic will use his foundation to investigate Scarcella&#8217;s other convictions.  Deskovic told the Times that “Considering that Scarcella was working in tandem with the prosecutors, relying on the D.A. to do the investigation is like asking the fox [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/14/questions-raised-about-work-of-detectives-in-brooklyn-and-chicago/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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		<title>Debra Brown &#8211; Waiting for the Utah Supreme Court to Decide Her Innocence</title>
		<link>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/09/debra-brown-waiting-for-the-utah-supreme-court-to-decide-her-innocence/</link>
		<comments>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/09/debra-brown-waiting-for-the-utah-supreme-court-to-decide-her-innocence/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2013 02:25:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Chinn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daniel Larsen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Debra Brown]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rocky Mountain Innocence Center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Utah]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/?p=1145</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The City Weekly from Salt Lake City has published an extensive article on the Debra Brown case.  On May 9, 2011, Brown was released from prison after she was found factually innocent under Utah&#8217;s Post-Conviction Remedies Act.  However, her ordeal is not over.  The ensuing legal battle is one that innocence projects, unfortunately, face &#8211; where the appeal focuses on legal procedures and not the facts supporting innocence. Brown was convicted of the 1993 murder of her boss.  The Rocky Mountain Innocence Project (RMIC) took on her case and worked for 10 years to prove her innocence.  Their efforts resulted in a hearing where a judge found her factually innocent.  Once Brown was released, then-Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff told the media that his office would not appeal the decision. However, two weeks later, the Attorney General did an about-face and filed an appeal. What prompted this action?  Shurtleff became convinced that the judge had misinterpreted the law.  Shurtleff then raised the &#8220;floodgates&#8221; argument common among district attorneys and attorney generals.  “We fear there will be a floodgate opened. Every judge out there will be … giving another bite of the apple to everyone convicted of a crime &#8230; years, if not [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/09/debra-brown-waiting-for-the-utah-supreme-court-to-decide-her-innocence/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Little Support Given to Exoneree Maurice Caldwell</title>
		<link>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/07/little-support-given-to-exoneree-maurice-caldwell/</link>
		<comments>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/07/little-support-given-to-exoneree-maurice-caldwell/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 May 2013 00:05:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Chinn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life After Exoneration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maurice Caldwell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Northern California In]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paige Kaneb]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/?p=1132</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[California Innocence Project exoneree Brian Banks began his professional football career with the Atlanta Falcons over the past few days by getting on the field and showing his athletic skills.  By all accounts, he did very well considering that he has not played football in ten years.  Brian has shown much courage and resolve in pursuing his goals and has handled the attention well. But we must not forget that Brian&#8217;s success is not often repeated for other exonerees.  Two recent stories brought this reality to light.  The first, published in the New York Times, describes how an exoneree&#8217;s record is not always expunged of their wrongful conviction.  The record of conviction will then cause the exoneree problems when applying for jobs or other services.  The time, cost, and complexity of the expungement process discourages exonerees from going through the ordeal.  The Times reports that &#8220;A study of 118 exonerated inmates led by Evan Mandery and Amy Shlosberg, two criminal-justice researchers, found that one-third still had criminal records, sometimes more than a decade after their release. They found that former convicts with clean records were less likely to return to prison than those whose records had not been expunged.&#8221; In [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Mississippi Death Row Inmate Denied DNA Testing on Eve of Execution</title>
		<link>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/06/mississippi-death-row-inmate-denied-dna-testing-on-eve-of-execution/</link>
		<comments>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/05/06/mississippi-death-row-inmate-denied-dna-testing-on-eve-of-execution/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2013 23:37:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Chinn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Death Penalty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forensic Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[death row]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mississippi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Willie Manning]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/?p=1136</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Willie Manning case from Mississippi has garnered much attention recently.  Manning, on death row, is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, May 7th.  His case contains many facts that raise the possibility of a wrongful conviction.  However,  the state has steadfastly refused to conduct DNA and fingerprinting tests on the evidence.  Experts told the New York Times that this is a rare case where an inmate is executed without having such tests granted. In December of 1992, two Mississippi State University students were found shot to death outside of Starkville, MS.  One female victim was thought to have been sexually assaulted but tests turned up no evidence of seminal fluid.  A restroom token found at the scene of the crime matched a token stolen from the victim&#8217;s car at university.   Several other items were also stolen from the car.  Manning became a suspect when he was caught trying to sell items stolen from the victims.  Later, a man came forward saying that Manning confessed to him in jail.  Another witness, Manning&#8217;s ex-girlfriend, linked him to the crime.  Manning was convicted in 1994 and sentenced to death. Manning&#8217;s post-conviction lawyers asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to order DNA testings. [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>CIP Attorneys Talk to San Diego&#8217;s KPBS about Upcoming Innocence March</title>
		<link>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/04/25/cip-attorneys-talk-to-san-diegos-kpbs-about-upcoming-innocence-march/</link>
		<comments>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/04/25/cip-attorneys-talk-to-san-diegos-kpbs-about-upcoming-innocence-march/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:07:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Chinn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Innocence March]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jan Stiglitz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mike Semanchik]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/?p=1127</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In anticipation of the California Innocence Project&#8217;s upcoming Innocence March, San Diego&#8217;s KPBS Midday Edition interviewed  CIP Co-Director Jan Stiglitz and CIP staff attorney Mike Semanchik.  The march will start in San Diego and end 600 miles later in Sacramento with the walkers presenting Gov. Jerry Brown with clemency petitions on behalf of twelve of their clients (the &#8220;California 12&#8243;).  Semanchik will be one of those walking the entire distance. Host Maureen Cavanaugh started by asking what prompted CIP to take on this march.  Stiglitz said that &#8220;we have had some heartbreaking losses caused by the fact that it&#8217;s very difficult legally &#8212; the standards for overturning a wrongful conviction are extremely high. We lost a case 4-3 in the California Supreme Court where even though we undermined the conviction and explained all the facts that led to the conviction and one of the key prosecution witnesses recanted and said he was wrong, we lost because the law requires us to actually prove our client was innocent. So there&#8217;s nothing more we can do legally. Going to the governor and other cases like it, to provide a law for someone who is innocent is not just a stunt.&#8221; Semanchik also [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/04/25/cip-attorneys-talk-to-san-diegos-kpbs-about-upcoming-innocence-march/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Dozens of Cases in West Valley, UT Dismissed Due to Police Corruption</title>
		<link>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/04/24/dozens-of-cases-in-west-valley-ut-dismissed-due-to-police-corruption/</link>
		<comments>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/04/24/dozens-of-cases-in-west-valley-ut-dismissed-due-to-police-corruption/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:01:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Chinn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Police Misconduct]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[police corruption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[West Valley City Utah]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/?p=1124</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In Utah, the West Valley Police Department is facing serious allegations of police misconduct.   The Salt Lake County District Attorney and the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office for Utah have dismissed a total of 98 state and federal cases.  The dismissals are the result of an investigation into police corruption with the focus on the police department&#8217;s Neighborhood Narcotics Unit. News station KSL described what specifically led to the dismissals.  &#8221;The unit was disbanded in December following the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Danielle Willard by a pair of undercover drug detectives, Shaun Cowley and Kevin Salmon. Police say the discovery of evidence from another case in the trunk of Cowley&#8217;s car raised red flags that led to an internal investigation.  Cowley and Salmon have been on paid administrative leave since the shooting. An additional seven officers from the drug unit were placed on leave last week pending the outcomes of several investigations.&#8221;  At a press conference, West Valley mayor Mike Winder tried to reassure the public by saying that a new training plan would be implemented and &#8220;although some cases have been dismissed, the department sees several thousand cases successfully prosecuted each year.&#8221; In the aftermath of the dismissals, the public [...]]]></description>
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		<title>TX Legislature Considering Exoneration Review Panel</title>
		<link>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/04/23/tx-legislature-considering-exoneration-review-panel/</link>
		<comments>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/04/23/tx-legislature-considering-exoneration-review-panel/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:34:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Chinn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Public Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rodney Ellis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Texas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Timothy Cole]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/?p=1120</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the wake of criminal charges being brought against the prosecutor in exoneree Michael Morton&#8217;s case, there may be legislation enacted to prevent future wrongful convictions in Texas.  The nine member Timothy Cole Exoneration Review Commission would study the causes of wrongful convictions and publish its findings and recommendations.  The commission is named for Timothy Cole, a Texas inmate who died in 1999 but was exonerated in 2009 through DN testing. The efforts to enact the legislation is being lead by State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon and Sen. Rodney Ellis.  McClendon and Ellis spoke to the press about the measure. “We are the No. 1 state in the country for wrongful convictions,” said McClendon, the bill’s author. “We are putting people in prison for a crime they did not commit and this is a shame,” she said. “The conviction of an innocent person is tragic failure of the justice system.” Ellis, who has been very active in supporting reforms to prevent wrongful convictions, said the commission is long overdue.  “A formal Innocence Commission is pivotal for Texas. Texas has had more total exonerations — 117 to date, and DNA exonerations, 48, — than any other state in the country,” Ellis [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Wyoming Man Freed After Results of DNA Testing</title>
		<link>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/04/22/wyoming-man-freed-after-results-of-dna-testing/</link>
		<comments>http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/2013/04/22/wyoming-man-freed-after-results-of-dna-testing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:57:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Audrey McGinn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[DNA testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forensic Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Johnson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jennifer Hare Salem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rocky Mountain Innocence Project]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wyoming]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://californiainnocenceproject.org/blog/?p=1115</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There was very happy news out of Wyoming last week.  Back in February, we wrote about about the first DNA test conducted in Wyoming.  Now, Andrew Johnson was given his freedom after a 24-year-long battle to prove his innocence.  Johnson was released on bond on Wednesday, April 17, 2013 after DNA evidence showed he was not the perpetrator of the 1984 rape in Cheyenne, Wyoming.   The Rocky Mountain Innocence Project secured Johnson’s release and convinced Laramie County District Judge Thomas Campbell to order a retrial for the 1989 rape. DNA evidence now shows Johnson is not a match to the sperm from the victim’s rape kit. Laramie County District Attorney Scott Homar, however, is not completely convinced of Johnson’s innocence and asked the judge to decide if Johnson should receive a retrial.  Things did not go quite as planned for Johnson when a large snowstorm shut down the courthouse and Johnson was forced to spend one more night in jail.  Despite convincing DNA results showing Johnson’s innocence, his newfound freedom comes with a catch.  Johnson had to post bond for his release.  The judge has ordered him not to leave Laramie County until the retrial or another outcome is decided. [...]]]></description>
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