mammastalkin
06-27-2009, 12:48 PM
2009
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/images/fields.jpg131. Nathson Fields Illinois Conviction: 1986, Acquitted: 2009 Nathson Fields, 55, and a co-defendant were sentenced to death for the 1984 murders of two rival gang members. The original trial, however, was marred by corruption, as the the judge in the case, Circuit Judge Thomas Maloney, accepted a $10,000 bribe during the trial. Thomas Maloney, who died in 2008, was ultimately convicted and spent 13 years in prison for fixing murder trials.
As a result, Fields and co-defendant Earl Hawkins were granted new trials in 1998. Hawkins, who had admitted to killing 15 to 20 people, testified against Fields in exchange for a lesser sentence. However, at Fields' retrial, Judge Vincent Gaughan found Hawkins "incredible," saying that "If someone has such disregard for human life, what regard will he have for his oath?"
Fields spent almost twenty years in prison, including 11.5 years on death row. He was released on bond in 2003 while awaiting retrial and has been residing outside of Chicago. This is the 19th exoneration from death row in Illinois since 1973, which is second only to Florida in the number of exonerations. Following the not guilty verdict handed down by Judge Gaughan, Fields said,"I feel like my prayers have been answered...It's been 24 years of this ordeal for my family and my friends, and now with it coming to an end, it's like a dream come true."
(M. Walberg, “23 years after judicial misconduct, ex-gang leader freed (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-fields-09-apr09,0,7988426.story)," Chicago Tribune, April 9, 2009). (R. Hussain, Man formerly on death row acquitted in retrial (http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1517670,death-row-nathson-fields-aquitted-040809.article),” Chicago Sun-Times, April 8, 2009). See also People v. Hawkins, et al., 181 Ill.2d 41 (January 29, 1998) (upholding a circuit court's reversal of Fields' and Hawkins' convictions).
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/images/paulhouse.jpg132. Paul House Tennessee Conviction: 1986, Charges Dismissed: 2009
The state ofTennesseedropped all charges against House, who was accused of the 1985 rape and murder of Carolyn Muncey based largely on circumstantial evidence. Biological evidence used against him at trial was later found through DNA testing to belong to Muncey's husband. In House v. Bell, the U.S. Supreme Court considered the new DNA tesing and questions about blood stains on House's clothes. In 2006, the Court held that no reasonable juror would have found House guilty based on this new evidence, thus entitling him to raise constitutional issues that led to a reversal of his conviction. The case was remanded to the District Court of the Eastern District of Tennessee, where Judge Harry Mattice vacated his conviction and sentence unless the State of Tennessee held a new trial against him. In 2008, a Tennessee judge ordered House released from prison, pending a new trial.
(See House v. Bell (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/04-8990.pdf), No. 04-8990 U.S. (June 12, 2006). See House v. Bell (http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/OPINIONS/TSC/CapCases/HousePaul/House%20v%20Bell%20-%20Dec%2020%20Ruling.pdf), E.D. Tenn. (December 20, 2007). See also J. Satterfield, "Prosecutor drops murder charges against ex-death row inmate House (http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/may/12/prosecutor-moves-drop-charges-against-ex-death-row/)," Knoxville News Sentinel, May 12, 2009).
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/images/danielmoore.jpg133. Daniel Wade Moore Alabama Conviction: 2002, Acquitted: 2009
Daniel Wade Moore was acquitted of all charges by a jury in Alabama on May 14. Moore was originally found guilty of the murder and sexual assault of Karen Tipton in 2002. The judge overruled the jury’s recommendation of a life sentence and instead sentenced him to death in January 2003, calling the murder one of the worst ever in the county. A new trial was ordered in 2003 because of evidence withheld by the prosecution. A second trial in 2008 ended in a mistrial with the jury deadlocked at 8-4 for acquittal. (Moore is the 133rd person to be exonerated and freed from death row since 1973, according to DPIC's record of exonerations.)
Judge Glenn Thompson, who originally sentenced Moore to death, ordered a retrial upon discovery that the prosecution had withheld important evidence. "Orders were entered in any capital case, that whatever the state has, whatever the prosecutor has, whatever the investigation has they should provide that to the defendant," said Judge Thompson. The evidence missing was a 256-page F.B.I. report. "The prosecution, Mr. Valeska specifically, looked me in the eye and said, quote, 'there ain't no such thing as an F.B.I. report.' Well, there probably wasn't a report, but there were 256 pages of information collected by Decatur police officers that were sent to the F.B.I.," said Judge Thompson. According to Judge Thompson, Assistant Attorney General Don Valeska later came to him confessing there was withheld information. "Mr. Valeska came forward with the information after the conviction," said Judge Thompson. “Clearly, the only remedy was to grant him a new trial and I did," he said. "It frustrated and angered me that he would be willing to lie to the court," he continued. Meanwhile, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ordered Judge Thompson to stand down from the trial and continued to let Valeska prosecute Moore.
Upon hearing the jury’s not guilty verdict, Judge Thompson responded, "I felt like it was the only conclusion that a jury could reach if they actually followed the law." Thompson also said that the problems with the prosecution withholding evidence continued throughout the 10 years of the case. Just days before the current trial started, the prosecution called the defense saying they had just found new evidence from the victim's home computer.
(See A. Stuart, “Judge in Moore’s first trial discusses case (http://www.whnt.com/news/whnt-judge-talks-about-daniel-moore-case,0,2984085.story),” WHNT (Alabama), May 18, 2009).
http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-cases-2004-present#133
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/images/fields.jpg131. Nathson Fields Illinois Conviction: 1986, Acquitted: 2009 Nathson Fields, 55, and a co-defendant were sentenced to death for the 1984 murders of two rival gang members. The original trial, however, was marred by corruption, as the the judge in the case, Circuit Judge Thomas Maloney, accepted a $10,000 bribe during the trial. Thomas Maloney, who died in 2008, was ultimately convicted and spent 13 years in prison for fixing murder trials.
As a result, Fields and co-defendant Earl Hawkins were granted new trials in 1998. Hawkins, who had admitted to killing 15 to 20 people, testified against Fields in exchange for a lesser sentence. However, at Fields' retrial, Judge Vincent Gaughan found Hawkins "incredible," saying that "If someone has such disregard for human life, what regard will he have for his oath?"
Fields spent almost twenty years in prison, including 11.5 years on death row. He was released on bond in 2003 while awaiting retrial and has been residing outside of Chicago. This is the 19th exoneration from death row in Illinois since 1973, which is second only to Florida in the number of exonerations. Following the not guilty verdict handed down by Judge Gaughan, Fields said,"I feel like my prayers have been answered...It's been 24 years of this ordeal for my family and my friends, and now with it coming to an end, it's like a dream come true."
(M. Walberg, “23 years after judicial misconduct, ex-gang leader freed (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-fields-09-apr09,0,7988426.story)," Chicago Tribune, April 9, 2009). (R. Hussain, Man formerly on death row acquitted in retrial (http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1517670,death-row-nathson-fields-aquitted-040809.article),” Chicago Sun-Times, April 8, 2009). See also People v. Hawkins, et al., 181 Ill.2d 41 (January 29, 1998) (upholding a circuit court's reversal of Fields' and Hawkins' convictions).
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/images/paulhouse.jpg132. Paul House Tennessee Conviction: 1986, Charges Dismissed: 2009
The state ofTennesseedropped all charges against House, who was accused of the 1985 rape and murder of Carolyn Muncey based largely on circumstantial evidence. Biological evidence used against him at trial was later found through DNA testing to belong to Muncey's husband. In House v. Bell, the U.S. Supreme Court considered the new DNA tesing and questions about blood stains on House's clothes. In 2006, the Court held that no reasonable juror would have found House guilty based on this new evidence, thus entitling him to raise constitutional issues that led to a reversal of his conviction. The case was remanded to the District Court of the Eastern District of Tennessee, where Judge Harry Mattice vacated his conviction and sentence unless the State of Tennessee held a new trial against him. In 2008, a Tennessee judge ordered House released from prison, pending a new trial.
(See House v. Bell (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/04-8990.pdf), No. 04-8990 U.S. (June 12, 2006). See House v. Bell (http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/OPINIONS/TSC/CapCases/HousePaul/House%20v%20Bell%20-%20Dec%2020%20Ruling.pdf), E.D. Tenn. (December 20, 2007). See also J. Satterfield, "Prosecutor drops murder charges against ex-death row inmate House (http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/may/12/prosecutor-moves-drop-charges-against-ex-death-row/)," Knoxville News Sentinel, May 12, 2009).
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/images/danielmoore.jpg133. Daniel Wade Moore Alabama Conviction: 2002, Acquitted: 2009
Daniel Wade Moore was acquitted of all charges by a jury in Alabama on May 14. Moore was originally found guilty of the murder and sexual assault of Karen Tipton in 2002. The judge overruled the jury’s recommendation of a life sentence and instead sentenced him to death in January 2003, calling the murder one of the worst ever in the county. A new trial was ordered in 2003 because of evidence withheld by the prosecution. A second trial in 2008 ended in a mistrial with the jury deadlocked at 8-4 for acquittal. (Moore is the 133rd person to be exonerated and freed from death row since 1973, according to DPIC's record of exonerations.)
Judge Glenn Thompson, who originally sentenced Moore to death, ordered a retrial upon discovery that the prosecution had withheld important evidence. "Orders were entered in any capital case, that whatever the state has, whatever the prosecutor has, whatever the investigation has they should provide that to the defendant," said Judge Thompson. The evidence missing was a 256-page F.B.I. report. "The prosecution, Mr. Valeska specifically, looked me in the eye and said, quote, 'there ain't no such thing as an F.B.I. report.' Well, there probably wasn't a report, but there were 256 pages of information collected by Decatur police officers that were sent to the F.B.I.," said Judge Thompson. According to Judge Thompson, Assistant Attorney General Don Valeska later came to him confessing there was withheld information. "Mr. Valeska came forward with the information after the conviction," said Judge Thompson. “Clearly, the only remedy was to grant him a new trial and I did," he said. "It frustrated and angered me that he would be willing to lie to the court," he continued. Meanwhile, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ordered Judge Thompson to stand down from the trial and continued to let Valeska prosecute Moore.
Upon hearing the jury’s not guilty verdict, Judge Thompson responded, "I felt like it was the only conclusion that a jury could reach if they actually followed the law." Thompson also said that the problems with the prosecution withholding evidence continued throughout the 10 years of the case. Just days before the current trial started, the prosecution called the defense saying they had just found new evidence from the victim's home computer.
(See A. Stuart, “Judge in Moore’s first trial discusses case (http://www.whnt.com/news/whnt-judge-talks-about-daniel-moore-case,0,2984085.story),” WHNT (Alabama), May 18, 2009).
http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-cases-2004-present#133