Christopher Abernathy Case: Illinois Innocence Project

The two rape cases that were put against Dwayne Allen Dail and Christopher Abernathy were very similar in more ways than just one. These two people were both charged with crimes of rape against two younger girls. Later both Abernathy and Dail were both freed from federal prison after serving for many years do to evidence found from DNA samples. The first examples of the similarity between the two cases are the convictions of both Abernathy and Dail.

The murder of Bobby Franks was a gruesome and seemingly unexplained phenomenon in Cook County. The case took the nation by storm and brought the world attention to Chicago. Leopold and Loeb were two relatively normal teenagers on paper. The intricacies of their lives, however, pushed them into a different category. At the beginning of 1924, the devious mind of Richard Loeb began to plot an evil and gruesome murder of an as of yet unknown victim. Loeb’s literal partner in crime was Nathan Leopold. Together the two were to have done many things that they normally would not have done if apart. Clarence Darrow, on of two lawyers hired by the

This Organisation is a non-profit Legal organisation dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustices. The Innocence Project was established in a landmark study by the United States Department of Justice and the United States Senate in conjunction with the Benjamin N.Cardozo School of Law, which found that incorrect identification by eyewitnesses was a

William Armor of Illinois was recently released from prison and exonerated for a 1995 murder arson conviction that a judge vacated. William was accused of setting a fire which killed his mother-in-law. He was detained for two weeks and interrogated for 15 hours when he eventually confessed to the crime. He said he used vodka and a cigarette to set the fire. Earlier this year they looked into the case and three arson experts later determined that was scientifically impossible. He spent 22 years in prison wrongfully

Goodwyn, W. (2014, July 25). After Completing A 12-Year Sentence, A Texas Man Is Cleared By DNA. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/07/25/335256488/after-completing-a-12-year-sentence-a-texas-man-is-cleared-by-dna

Common police procedure entails an identification lineup in which the witness to the crime supposedly can identify the culprit, which will lead to the closure of the case and the person of guilt locked up. However, with this lineup procedure, the question arises, “what if there is another variable involved?” This is asking, what if there was something else that led the eyewitness to select the individual that they did? With this the issue of individuals enduring jail time for a crime they did not commit arises. In recent years, there has been a significant amount of attention brought towards wrongful convictions due to advancements in technology. According to the Innocence Project, over 349 people in the United States, with an average of 12 years in prison, have been exonerated due to DNA testing. Seventy-five percent of the 349 wrongful convictions involved eyewitness identification error (Innocence

“There have been 330 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States” (The Innocence Project, DNA Exonerations). While this number seems low, the amount shows that not using DNA evidence can lead to injustice in the form of wrongful convictions. The Innocence Project states that genetic evidence can prove that a person is innocent and that people have been proven innocent thanks to DNA testing. This statement shows that the testing of rape kits can free those blameless people from jail that were wrongly imprisoned for rape. Therefore, testing backlogged rape kits allow for many blameless people to finally have

How has DNA evidence helped to identify innocent people on death row? This research topic addresses questions like how many people have been released on death row, where DNA evidence is found, and how the person looking for the DNA finds it. The researcher has to think in a way if obvious evidence isn’t present at a crime scene, where else can they find evidence? This topic of identifying innocent people on death row is important to research because many people are accused of crimes they haven’t committed and automatically put on death row. When researching this topic DNA evidence could be found as helpful to solve crimes and find out what really happened in a situation. Before DNA evidence most people to be put on death row were identified

During the past twenty years reports have shown cases where people had been wrongfully convicted and exonerated in murder and rape cases. Many exonerations occurred during post-conviction and DNA tests have revealed the innocence of wrongfully convicted individuals (Leo & Gould, 2009). Over 230 prisoners have been exonerated by post-conviction DNA testing and in the past twenty years many wrongful convictions prove their innocence through non-DNA means (Leo & Gould, 2009). Before 1989, the first year to use post-conviction DNA testing was used to establish innocent and even in capital punishment cases. There has been a growth in culture and among criminal justice professionals who were wrongfully conviction that occur in criminal justice systems (Leo & Gould, 2009).

After thirty-three years Keith Harward come out of the prison on this Friday. He has spent all those years of his life aimed at a murder and rape he did not commit. After he has been trying almost all of his routes, in 2006 he knew about the Innocence Project then he spoke to them. Earlier this week, Virginia's Attorney suggested doing the DNA testing, which was not available at that time when he was arrested. The case went to trial and finally exonerated him. “My parents died before they can see me an innocent man” he answered media people when they asked him what was the worst part in prison. Studies done by Innocence Project said that around 5% of all prisoners in the U.S. are innocent. Thereupon, a state must recompense people who are unjustly

Although DNA has been used more and more to prove those who were wrongfully convicted innocent, there have been many times when the DNA evidence had also caused the conviction such as the case of Frank Button from Canada later described. There are many excuses and causes as to why these wrongful convictions has occurred such as forced confessions, but a lot of causes have to do actually do with forensics. Especially in America, as stated by the Innocence project, 46 percent of the overall 347 DNA exonerations that they have worked on were originally convicted due to the misapplication of forensic science. There have been many cases of wrongful convictions that have been due to improper forensic science, not only in America, but all around the globe. This essay discusses both the scientists around the globe that have been caught mishandling evidence, as well as individuals around the globe that have either been wrongfully convicted due to improper forensic science, or the use of forensic science had helped to exonerate

In the “Innocence Project” founded by lawyers Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, as many as 343 wrongful convictions have been overturned as a result of DNA testing.7 Details of those cases can be found on their web page. Many had been wrongly convicted and sentenced as many as 36 years to life with the evidence gathered and analyzed on ambiguous blood type. With the help of DNA technology and assiduous attorneys, those people have regained their freedom taken away by

I saw how many cases the innocence project, has over turned. One case that I looked at was the Randolph Arledge. Randolph was charged for a stabbing/rape that happened August 30, 1981. The victim was Carolyn Armstrong, she was 21 years old. Carolyn’s body was found on a road off of Highway 22 in Navarro County. She was undressed from the waist down, and had over 40 stab wounds to the neck and chest. Later police found her car abandoned with the keys in the ignition. (Case can be seen here http://www.innocenceproject.org/cases-false-imprisonment/randolph-arledge) @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

A man who was put on death row wrongly stayed there for 3 years before the case was overturned. Luckily, he had DNA evidence to eventually prove his innocence. Many of the convicted are not as lucky as him. Unfortunately, after a murder, DNA evidence is only obtained in approximately 15% of

This paper explores the topic of wrongful convictions and their relation to criminal investigation. Wrongful convictions occur when victims are found guilty in criminal trials or plead guilty to prevent a more serious punishment such as the death penalty or extensive prison sentencings. There are many sources from real wrongfully convicted victims that explain why or how the justice system failed them. Over the years, wrongful convictions has been a topic on the rise. Since the implementation of the innocence movement, there have been and continue to be more exonerations of wrongfully convicted individuals every year.