Wrongfully Imprisoned - Dennis Fritz and Darryl Burton Speak Out

From left, Josh Kezer of Columbia applauds as Dennis Fritz greets Darryl Burton as the former inmates told their stories of wrongful imprisonment as part of a Midwestern Innocence Project fundraiser Wednesday night in Neff Hall Auditorium at the University of Missouri.
Photo by Parker Eshelman

Josh Kezer speaks to audiences across the county warning of the reality of wrongful convictions. He doesn’t do it for himself or the publicity; he passionately tells his tale for all the men and women he believes deserve a new day in court.

In front of a standing-room-only classroom last night on the University of Missouri campus, Kezer and two other exonerated inmates told their stories in an effort to raise money for the Midwestern Innocence Project. Through fundraising, the organization provides legal counsel for prison inmates in cases that have a high probability of being overturned.

Sean O’Brien, an associate professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and Midwestern Innocence Project board member, is one of many masterminds who head exoneration cases or work to find an attorney to handle a case. With a staff of two attorneys, a fundraiser, legal secretary and several volunteers in Kansas City, he works to conduct the groundwork needed to jump-start a potential exoneration case.

“We want people to be able to put a face on the issue,” O’Brien said. “People understand there are innocent people in prison, but this makes it real to them.”

O’Brien and project attorneys rely on volunteers to sort through the 700 cases the project has on file. Only two or three cases will be selected this year, he said, sometimes making a successful exoneration into a five-year process.

DNA evidence and testing technologies have contributed to clearing numerous inmates nationwide, including 20 Missouri cases since 1980. Typical components of an exoneration case include eyewitness misidentification, junk science, false confessions, lousy lawyering and snitch testimony, O’Brien said. Each of the three exonerated speakers’ cases was a mixed bag of such components, including snitch testimony.

Kezer was 17 when he was arrested for shooting a Southeastern Missouri State University student three times. He was prosecuted in Scott County and served 16 years in state prison. He was exonerated last February after a rebuke of prosecutor-turned-Congressman Kenny Hulshof.

In a 44-page decision, a Cole County circuit judge said Hulshof withheld key evidence from defense attorneys and embellished details in his closing arguments. Conflicting testimony and three jail inmates who had claimed Kezer confessed to the killing later acknowledged they lied in hopes of getting reduced sentences.

“They didn’t care about the truth. I should have never been arrested,” Kezer said. “That’s not me saying that. That’s out of the judge’s mouth.”

Also sharing his story was former high school science teacher Dennis Fritz. Ron Williamson and Fritz were convicted in the sexual assault and murder of a 21-year-old woman who was found strangled in December 1982 in Ada, Okla. In 1988, both men were convicted, partially because of microscopic hair comparisons done as part of a scientific testing method that has since been largely discredited.

Fritz and Williamson, who served 11 years in prison, also were convicted based on testimony by witness Glen Gore, an informant later shown by DNA testing to have been the real killer. Gore was later convicted of rape and murder.

“I was convicted by snitch testimony,” Fritz said. “These were the dirtiest of the dirty and the lousiest of the lousy. They needed to find me guilty.”

Fritz’s tale became the subject of a John Grisham book, “The Innocent Man.”

St. Louis resident Darryl Burton served the longest time in prison of the three speakers. For 24 years, he worked to clear his name of a murder he did not commit. He said he found faith and his grown-up daughter in the process.

Burton was convicted in 1985 of a gas station murder on the basis of testimony by two people claiming to be witnesses. No physical evidence or motive was offered at the trial, but the two witnesses made deals with the prosecutor in exchange for their testimony because they faced unrelated felony charges.

“I thought it would take 24 hours for them to realize they made a mistake and let me go,” Burton said. “It took 24 years.”


By Brennan David

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Fabricated DNA

(CBS) Scientists in Israel have successfully fabricated blood and saliva samples containing DNA, potentially undercutting what has been considered key evidence in the conviction or exoneration in crime cases, the New York Times reported.
According to the newspaper, the scientists also demonstrated that if they had access to a DNA profile in a database, they could construct a sample of DNA to match that profile without obtaining any tissue from that person.
"Any biology undergraduate could perform this,” said Dr. Dan Frumkin, lead author of the paper, which is published online in the journal Genetics.
The paper asserts that while DNA analysis has become a centerpiece of law enforcement, the possibility that such evidence can be faked has not been considered.
"This is potentially huge news in the world of criminal justice, which hasn’t yet even fully had the time to embrace DNA for all of its uses," said CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen. "And I suspect it won’t be long before defense attorneys are using this study to undercut DNA analysis and conclusions in cases all over the country."
"This is potentially terrible news for prosecutors and police and the military and all sorts of industries that use DNA testing to confirm or find information," Cohen adds. "As the paper’s author says, 'You can now just engineer a crime scene.' Good news for crime dramas on television but not so much to the criminal justice system."
"It’ll be interesting to see how the legal world reacts to it and whether this study will be embraced or scorned by DNA experts here in the States," Cohen said. "But you can be sure that before too long DNA evidence in criminal cases all over will be challenged based upon these findings."
Source
CBS
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Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson and Hair Analysis in Forensics

In 1982, microscopic hair analysis of strands found on the body of a victim was used and Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson were framed for the murder. Seventeen years later, DNA analysis of the same hair fragments was used to prove that these men were innocent.

As this case shows, hair analysis has come a long way the past thirty years.
Hair analysis, basically, is the scientific examination of a hair sample. It can be hair from a crime scene examined to find out who committed the act, or it can be hair taken from the back of your head and sent to a laboratory where it is checked for signs of health problems.
Hair analysis is still an evolving science, and while it has a lot of potential, we need to be careful about what we expect hair analysis to tell us about the person whose head it used to grow on.
The scientific basis of hair analysis
The scientific basis of hair analysis is simple: when new hair cells are forming in the hair follicle, they take in traces of substances going through the blood stream of the individual. As hair grows, the new cells push out the older ones, and as cells come out of the bulb, they die and harden - and thus create a long lasting record of whatever was in the blood of the person when they were forming.
Besides the hair stand itself, the sebum that coats the hair (from the sebaceous gland connected to the hair follicle) also contains traces of the drugs and minerals flowing through your body. And if the root or the root sheath is attached to the hair, it also provides a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) record.
Hair can thus keep a more long-lasting record of what passes through the body of an individual than either blood or urine – the body fluids which are usually used for such tests. Each hair lives about 5-6 years before it falls off the scalp.
Hair analysis techniques
A trichogram is a physical macro- and microscopic examination of hair and the scalp – the kind of hair analysis which was used to convict Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson. Today doctors use this mainly to find out why a person is losing hair, or how much of his hair are in the growing or resting or falling phases.
Modern, more sophisticated, hair analysis uses gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to chemically test hair or find its DNA composition. Usually, a pencil-tip thickness of hair close to the body (from the region behind the head just above the neck) is cut out. The hair closest to the scalp is used because it is the most recent growth, and it can be expected to show the most recent condition of the body.
The hair is usually dissolved for this procedure and the extract is analyzed for minerals, drugs, toxins or heavy metals. This data is also used, more controversially, to diagnose diseases and deficiencies/excesses in your system.
Modern methods are sensitive enough to find traces of minerals/metals/drugs that are a thousandth of a gram (microgram), or a nanogram (one billionth of a gram) or even a picogram (one thousandth of a nanogram) per gram of hair.
Hair analysis for minerals, drugs and toxins
Hair analysis is a standard medical test for chronic arsenic poisoning – the stuff of whodunits, but in real life more often seen in agricultural workers who inhale fumes containing arsenic from insecticide sprays or dust.
Another accepted use of hair analysis is to show if someone has been taking illegal drugs – cocaine, marijuana, amphetamines, or alcohol. The analyst checks for the presence of the substances themselves or their metabolites (the products of the body’s metabolism of these substances) in the strand of the hair. The results of such tests have been acceptable in courts of law a long time.
But there are a few problems with this analysis –
1. False positive or negative results are possible, so results always need to be confirmed by another technique.
2. If hair analysis shows a positive result for a substance, it is difficult to say where it came from especially if it is quite commonly found. For example, for illegal drugs like marijuana a positive result might mean the person consumed the drug, or it might only mean he was physically close when someone else was smoking it.
Hair analysis in forensics
One hair analysis case in Germany in 1990s involved a dog suspected of causing a traffic accident. Later this particular dog was found innocent of the crime because DNA taken from the dog did not match DNA taken from dog hair fragments stuck to the car.
A physical examination of the hair found in the crime scene, sometimes under a microscope, can show details like the race a person belongs to, and it be used to rule out possibilities. At this level, evidence cannot be used to identify a single person. But this can be done if the hair has root or root sheath material attached, which can be used for DNA analysis of the hair. DNA fingerprinting is accepted as definitive evidence.
Hair analysis is also used in forensics to check if a person has been sticking to a drug regimen (or a no-drug regimen). A person’s hair keeps a record of amphetamines, opium, cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol ingested for months. While hair analysis will not show if someone was driving under the influence or smoked pot yesterday (because even the hair closest to the scalp can be weeks old), it can show if he has been taking alcohol or pot the last month (or three or four or more months, depending on the length of hair available for analysis).
Source Link and more on Hair analysis potential and limits

More on Dennis Fritz Click Here

John Grishams' Innocent Man Speaks at Missouri University

Exonerated Former Prisoners Speak at Missouri University
Staff Photographer

Dennis Fritz signs a copy of his book 'Journey Toward Justice' for Deanna Harper on Wednesday. The book recounts Fritz's experience after he was arrested and convicted for a murder he did not commit.

After being released from prison 16 days earlier, Joshua Kezer spoke at MU about what it was like to be wrongly incarcerated for the same number of years.
Kezer and Dennis Fritz, who served 12 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of murder, described their experiences to students at a lecture in the Arts and Sciences Building Wednesday night.

Both were convicted of murder and subsequently freed after DNA evidence cleared them of all charges. Kezer and Fritz maintained their innocence throughout their prison sentences. Fritz said he had never even met the person he was accused of murdering.

"The implication of me being remotely involved in something I didn't even know about, let alone a murder charge, was something that -- it disturbed me greatly," Fritz said.
Fritz's case was recounted by novelist John Grisham in the non-fiction book "The Innocent Man."

The combined 28 years the two men served in prison have given them resolve to raise awareness about other innocent people who may still be behind bars.
"The reality is that there are men in prison right now that have stories to tell, that have claims of innocence, many of which I know personally," Kezer said.

A bill has been proposed in the Missouri Legislature this year that could help exonerate some of these innocent people. The bill would place a moratorium on all executions in the state for two to three years. This time could then be used to re-examine inmates' cases for inconsistencies or new evidence that could lead to an acquittal.

Jeff Stack, coordinator for Mid-Missouri Fellowship for Reconciliation, said while the bill was far from abolishment of the death penalty, any opportunity to reexamine past cases was valuable.
"I was fortunate to not be on death row, but I could've ended up there," Kezer said. "The purpose of this is to remember that if there's innocent people who've spent years in prison standing before you now, talking about how their cases were overturned, then there are innocent people on death row."

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, since 1973, the total number of death row inmates in the U.S. exonerated through the use of new testimony or evidence has risen to 130. There have been three in Missouri.

Leslie Ferguson, mother of Ryan Ferguson, a convicted murderer who maintains that he is innocent, said the moratorium law means a lot to someone in her situation.
"When you experience it first hand there is no way that you can condone the death penalty," Ferguson said. "I mean it has been proven that innocent people have been executed and it's found out after their execution they were innocent, and that should never happen. It's a scary thing. If Ryan, or Dennis, or Josh can get convicted of a crime it can happen to anybody, it can happen to you."

In the Missouri Legislature, the Senate version of the moratorium bill cleared the Senate Progress and Development Committee on Wednesday while the House version has been referred to the Public Safety Committee, and no hearing has been set.

Kezer said he hopes the legislation passes, so that other innocent people wrongfully incarcerated could also get a second chance.
"Let's pray that something is done, to give people the opportunity to tell their story before they're dead and they just become some kind of history, some remembered name, some memorial," Kezer said. "I'd rather see them out here living a productive life, teaching us, learning from them, than just wasting away with nothing to look forward but liquids running through their veins."
* * Correction:
In the March 5 report "Exonerated former prisoners speak at MU", the reason for Joshua Keser's exoneration was inaccurate. Keser was exonerated because of the discovery of new evidence for the case. The Maneater regrets the error.
(Added 3:55 p.m., March 12, 2009)

Source By Will Guldin
Published March 5, 2009
link

Supreme Court Hears DNA Case - Innocence Project Co-Director Peter Neufeld argued before the U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court Hears DNA Case
On March 2, Innocence Project Co-Director Peter Neufeld argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that the constitution allows prisoners access to DNA testing that can prove their innocence. The Innocence Project represents William Osborne, who has been seeking DNA testing in Alaska for years. Click here for resources on the case, media coverage, videos and more.
From The Innocence Project website

Innocence Project client William Osborne was convicted in Alaska in 1993 for a crime that DNA testing could prove he didn't commit. Alaska has arbitrarily refused Osborne’s requests for DNA testing for years – even though the testing would be performed at no cost to the state, and the state now concedes that DNA testing could prove his innocence.

Improving the Practice and Use of Forensic Science

Forensic science can be a powerful tool for seeking truth in criminal investigations and trials, but it is not flawless. A recent study found that faulty forensic evidence or testimony was a contributing factor in nearly sixty percent of wrongful convictions.

Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson were two of those wrongfully convicted based on inaccurate and misleading forensic evidence. A visual hair comparison - a “science” that has an error rate as high as sixty-seven percent on individual samples - was a major factor in their convictions. They spent over a decade in jail, with Williamson on death row, until DNA testing proved their innocence in 1999. The DNA at the crime scene matched the man who originally led police to Williamson and Fritz.

The problems in Fritz and Williamson’s case are among those highlighted in a new publication from The Justice Project (TJP), which is designed to help states improve the quality of evidence in criminal trials and increase fairness and accuracy within the criminal justice system.

A new publication from The Justice Project (TJP), Improving the Practice and Use of Forensic Science: A Policy Review, provides an overview of the problems with certain forensic science policies and procedures, offers solutions to these problems, profiles cases of injustice, highlights states with good laws and procedures, and includes a model policy for the states.

The Justice Project recommends that:

· States create an independent, transparent oversight commission to develop and enforce quality standards for forensic science laboratories.
· States require all forensic science laboratories to develop internal structures and policies to prevent bias in testing and analysis.
· States require that all forensic laboratories are independent from law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies.
· States require that all forensic laboratory analysts receive proper training and certification.
· States allocate sufficient funding to adequately implement these recommendations.

To ensure a more fair and accurate criminal justice system, it is critical to improve the reliability, objectivity, and independence of forensic analysis and testimony in criminal trials and investigations. This and other policy reviews are available on TJP’s website at www.thejusticeproject.org.

Dennis Fritz Speaks to TCC Biotechnology and Area Students

Dennis Fritz speaks to TCC, high school students -
Area high school students and TCC Biotechnology students didn’t blink while a man who spent 11 years in prison described what it was like to be behind bars, and innocent. Their eyes were cemented to the speaker, not even looking away when someone opened a door allowing sunlight to spill into the black theatre.
As Dennis Fritz spoke, empathy enveloped him. Teenagers, sometimes revered as the toughest audience to engage, didn’t breathe as he told a
story that seemed to come straight from Hollywood.

A single father of a 3-year-old girl, wrongfully arrested,sentenced to life in prison, and now using his experience to save others.

Fritz visited TCC in March to speak at the Biotechnology Learning Extravaganza held in the VanTrease Performing Arts Center for Education (PACE). The second annual event, made possible by a SEEDBEd grant from the National Science Foundation, gave students a first-hand look at why biotechnology is important.
Dr. Diana Spencer, coordinator of the biotechnology program, invited both Fritz and Forensic Supervisor Cassie Johnson to speak at this year’s event.“We wanted to expose students to the real-life events connected to biotechnology,” she said. Fritz was convicted of first-degree murder in 1988, along with co defendant Ron Williamson (Williamson died in 2004). Fritz received a life sentence while Williamson received the death penalty. At one point, Williamson was literally days away from being put to death. The two spent 11 years in prison until they were exonerated on April 15, 1999 at the Pontotoc County Courthouse. Fritz and Williamson were convicted based on unreliable evidence and false confessions. They got their freedom back thanks to The Innocence Project: a non-profit legal clinic affiliated with the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University and created by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld in 1992.
According to www.innocenceproject.org, the project is “a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.”

“Today, we can amplify DNA through a process called PCR,” Spencer said. “DNA forensic scientists have the ability to revisit old cases that
were prosecuted before DNA biotechnology, and use the miniscule amounts of DNA to free the incorrectly incarcerated.”

Since its inception, The Innocence Project has exonerated more than 200
people. Before Fritz spoke, Johnson, who does pro bono work for The Innocence Project, told students about her life as a Forensics Supervisor and Technical Leader of Y-STR and mtDNA Analysis at Orchid Cellmark in Dallas. She gave an overview of tests they perform in the lab as well as a snapshot of what her typical day includes. She said forensic science is a lot different than what is portrayed on popular crime investigation television programs. While entire crimes are solved in 20 to 40 minutes on television, actual DNA testing can take from a few days to a few weeks.
To finish the day, the 100 high school participants performed DNA
testing on strawberries at the Health Sciences and Biotechnology Learning Center, also on the Southeast Campus. Johnson and Fritz accompanied the students, watching as possible future biotechnologists got their first taste of DNA analysis.

The annual Biotechnology Extravaganza is made possible by the SEEDBEd grant awarded to TCC by the National Science Foundation in 2006. The grant focuses on introducing biotechnology to middle and high school students. The grant provides funding for TCC faculty to visit
secondary schools and engage students in conducting DNA la procedures. Funds also provide materials for secondary teachers to use in classrooms
so they can incorporate biotechnology experiences into their everyday
curriculum. Spencer said the grant, along with TCC’s Health Sciences and Biotechnology Learning Center, enables TCC to train the students needed for this exploding field.
“In Oklahoma, the occupation of biological technician is one of the 30 fastest-growing jobs in the state,” she said. “Biotech has been described by the U.S. Department of Commerce as essential to the national long-term economic growth and leadership.” She said she appreciates Fritz and Johnson speaking at the Biotechnology Extravaganza, hoping their personal and professional experiences will touch students in a way that textbooks cannot. “It takes what they’ve learned in the classroom to a new level,” Spencer said. “These events describe how effective science can change lives."

Story from TCC Magazine - To see the entire magazine, visit http://www.tulsacc.edu/ and type Spotlight in the search box. In the search results, click Spotlight Magazine. Then, click on the Spring08 edition.

More About Orchid Cellmark -
Orchid Cellmark Inc. is engaged in the provision of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing services that generate genetic profile information by analyzing an organism’s genetic identity. The Company’s business focuses on DNA testing for human identity, particularly for forensic and family relationship, as well as security applications. The Company provides DNA testing for agricultural applications, including for food safety, selective trait breeding and traceability purposes, all of which are conducted in the United Kingdom. The Company caters to various government agencies, private individuals and commercial companies. Majority of its customers are based in the United States and in the United Kingdom. On October 31, 2007, the Company acquired ReliaGene Technologies, Inc. (ReliaGene), a provider of forensic and paternity DNA testing services based in New Orleans, Louisiana. More from Reuters »

Ron Williamson Exonerated and Released April 1999 From The Innocence Project

Ron Williamson
Time Served: 11 years
Outcome: Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz were exonerated and released in April 1999

Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz were convicted in 1988 of the murder of Debra Sue Carter in Oklahoma. Her body had been found six years earlier. Fritz was sentenced to life in prison. Williamson -- whose story is the focus of John Grisham's "The Innocent Man" -- was sent to death row. The 21 year-old victim was found raped and murdered in her apartment after returning from her waitressing job. Fritz and Williamson were known to frequent the establishment where the victim worked. The prosecution presented evidence that the victim had previously complained to a friend that they "made her nervous." Williamson had been seen at the restaurant the night of the murder without Fritz. DNA testing revealed that neither Fritz nor Williamson deposited the sperm found in the victim. Further testing proved that none of the many hairs that were labeled "matches" belonged to them. The profile obtained from the semen evidence matched Glenn Gore, one of the state's witnesses at trial, who was later arrested. Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz were exonerated and released in April 1999. Williamson had, at one point, come within five days of execution. The two had been wrongfully incarcerated for eleven years.

Taken from The Innocence Project
You can read about the case in Dennis Fritz's Book.
Journey Toward Justice Author Dennis Fritz click here On Amazon Here
International Orders Order Here Journey Toward Justice by Dennis Fritz From Around The World click on here Amazon International Just type in Journey Toward Justice Author Dennis Fritz