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	<title>CRIMINAL JURISDICTION &#187; DNA exonerations</title>
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	<link>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog</link>
	<description>CRIMINAL JURISDICTION: Criminal Law Blog by Defense Lawyer John Floyd and Mr. Billy Sinclair</description>
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		<item>
		<title>WRONGFUL CONVICTION AND PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT</title>
		<link>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/12/28/wrongful-conviction-and-prosecutorial-misconduct/</link>
		<comments>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/12/28/wrongful-conviction-and-prosecutorial-misconduct/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Dec 2011 08:18:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>johntfloyd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Houston Criminal Lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA exonerations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[miscarriage of justice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prosecutorial misconduct]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wrongful Conviction]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/?p=699</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Filing Grievances, Request for Courts of Inquiry in Wrongful Conviction and Exoneration Cases

By: Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

On December 12, 2011, writing for Mother Jones, Beth Schwartzapfel and Hannah Levintova published a piece titled “How Many Innocent People Are In Prison?”—a piece based in part on research conducted by University of Michigan Law Professor Samuel Gross. Gross’s research, with the assistance of the New York-based Innocence Project and the Center on Wrongful Convictions, determined there have been as many as 850 exonerations in this country since the late 1980s. The Innocence Project lists 282 exonerations since 1989 based on DNA evidence alone. Extrapolating from these two figures, Schwartzapfel and Levintova conservatively estimate that 1 percent of the total prison population in the United States have been wrongfully convicted. Put it raw numbers, this means that approximately 20,000 inmates in the nation’s prison system were wrongfully convicted.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/12/28/wrongful-conviction-and-prosecutorial-misconduct/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>SUPREME COURT TO TACKLE WITNESS IDENTIFICATION ISSUE</title>
		<link>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/08/28/supreme-court-to-tackle-witness-identification-issue/</link>
		<comments>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/08/28/supreme-court-to-tackle-witness-identification-issue/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Aug 2011 15:21:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>johntfloyd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Houston Criminal Lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA exonerations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eyewitness misidentification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wrongful convictions]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/?p=644</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Admissibility of Unreliable Identification Evidence

By: Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

According to the New York-based Innocence Project, 75 percent of the nation’s 273 DNA exonerations involved eyewitness misidentification—and according to Harris County state senator Rodney Ellis, a longtime advocate of eyewitness identification reform, 86 percent of Texas’ 45 DNA exonerations (the most in the nation) involved eyewitness misidentification. Eyewitness misidentification, and its link to wrongful convictions, has been explored several times by us on this site (here, here and here). ]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/08/28/supreme-court-to-tackle-witness-identification-issue/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>UNTESTED RAPE KIT CASES AN ONGOING PROBLEM</title>
		<link>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/06/12/untested-rape-kit-cases-an-ongoing-problem/</link>
		<comments>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/06/12/untested-rape-kit-cases-an-ongoing-problem/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 Jun 2011 16:15:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>johntfloyd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Sexual Assault Crime Attorney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA exonerations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rape]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sexual assault]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/?p=614</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Delay in Testing Delays Justice for Victims and Wrongly Accused

By: Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

In a June 4, 2011 article titled “Justice Delayed in Rape Cases,” Houston Chronicle staff writer Anita Hassan reported that five years ago the Houston Police Department crime lab had more than 4,000 “rape kits” sitting untested in its “property room freezer.” Some of these cases date back to the 1990s, according to Hassan, and more of them are still sitting idle in neglect waiting to be tested. The crime lab has only tested “200 cases” over the last five years, citing “a lack of manpower” in getting the job done. ]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/06/12/untested-rape-kit-cases-an-ongoing-problem/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>SUPREME COURT BLESSES LAW ENFORCEMENT MISCONDUCT</title>
		<link>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/06/05/supreme-court-blesses-law-enforcement-misconduct/</link>
		<comments>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/06/05/supreme-court-blesses-law-enforcement-misconduct/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 05 Jun 2011 16:55:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>johntfloyd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Federal Crimes Lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA exonerations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[enforcement misconduct]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[perjured testimony]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[planted evidence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/?p=612</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Lack of Criminal and Civil Accountability Points to Need for Criminal Justice Reform Commissions

By: Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

This session of the U.S. Supreme Court should be noted for its zealous protection of official misconduct by prosecutors and law enforcement officials. In two decisions, Connick v. Thompson and Ashcroft v. Al-Kidd, the nation’s highest court extended a constitutional license to prosecutors and police to violate the law. We have detailed the background facts of both these cases in previous posts (here and here). In the Thompson case, the Court ruled that several New Orleans assistant district attorneys, who were responsible for railroading an innocent man to Louisiana’s death row for 14 years, and the City of New Orleans were not liable for damages under the federal civil rights statute, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. In the al-Kidd case, former U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft was insulated from civil damages under the same statute for permitting al-Kidd and other terrorists suspects to be held indefinitely, without any meaningful evidence of either personal wrongdoing or knowledge about wrongdoing, under the federal material witness statute, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3144, in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/06/05/supreme-court-blesses-law-enforcement-misconduct/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>THE PURPOSE OF REASONABLE DOUBT IN CRIMINAL TRIALS</title>
		<link>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/02/11/the-purpose-of-reasonable-doubt-in-criminal-trials/</link>
		<comments>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/02/11/the-purpose-of-reasonable-doubt-in-criminal-trials/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:09:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>johntfloyd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Drug Defense Attorney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA exonerations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drugs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[police search]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prosecutorial misconduct]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reasonable Doubt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wrongful Conviction]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/?p=545</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In a recent post we discussed both the history and role of reasonable doubt in criminal trials. We noted and criticized the fact that Texas judges in criminal trials do not, per Texas Court of Criminal Appeals mandate, have to give jurors any instruction as to what constitutes “reasonable doubt.” This, we believe, is one of several reasons why Texas leads the nation in the wrongful conviction of innocent people.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/02/11/the-purpose-of-reasonable-doubt-in-criminal-trials/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>WHAT IS REASONABLE DOUBT?</title>
		<link>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/01/30/what-is-reasonable-doubt/</link>
		<comments>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/01/30/what-is-reasonable-doubt/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:41:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>johntfloyd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Houston Criminal Lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[criminal defendant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA exonerations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[erroneous outcomes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[moral certainty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reasonable Doubt]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/?p=538</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Another Tool for Preventing Wrongful Convictions:  Texas Needs a Statutory Definition of Reasonable Doubt

By: Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

Four decades ago in the case of In re Winship the United States Supreme Court firmly established that, as a matter of due process, a person charged with a criminal offense, including a juvenile as in Winship, can be found guilty only after the prosecution has proven every element of the crime “beyond a reasonable doubt.” The Supreme Court dated the term “beyond a reasonable doubt” in American jurisprudence to 1798, some eleven years after our Constitution was adopted. Thus, beyond a reasonable doubt has been the degree of persuasion necessary in criminal cases since the early founding of our nation. It has become the very bedrock of our criminal jurisprudence. As Mr. Justice Frankfurter put it in 1952 in Leland v. Oregon: “ … it is the duty of the Government to establish  … guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This notion – basic in our law and rightly one of the boasts of a free society – is a requirement and a safeguard of due process of law in the historical, procedural content of ‘due process.’”]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/01/30/what-is-reasonable-doubt/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>ACTUAL INNOCENCE IN POST-CONVICTION PROCEEDINGS</title>
		<link>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2010/09/28/actual-innocence-in-post-conviction-proceedings/</link>
		<comments>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2010/09/28/actual-innocence-in-post-conviction-proceedings/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:30:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>johntfloyd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Houston Criminal Lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[actual innocence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[death penalty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA exonerations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Habeas Corpus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wrongful Conviction]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/?p=488</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions Recommends Expanded Post-Conviction DNA Testing, Habeas Corpus Based on Changing Science

By: Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore, Jr., who presides in the Southern District of Georgia, recently observed in the death penalty case of Troy Davis (here and here) that only one state of the 35 states that have the death penalty does not have any post-conviction avenue for inmates to either secure or offer evidence of innocence. That lone state is Oklahoma. Altogether, 47 states and the District of Columbia have enacted statutes which provide varying degrees of access to remedies to establish innocence in a post-conviction setting. Massachusetts, Alaska, and Oklahoma are the only three hold-out states which have elected not to enact reform legislation in the critical area of establishing “actual innocence” despite the ever-increasing number of DNA exonerations.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2010/09/28/actual-innocence-in-post-conviction-proceedings/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE TIMOTHY COLE ADVISORY PANEL ON WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS</title>
		<link>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2010/09/13/recommendations-from-the-timothy-cole-advisory-panel-on-wrongful-convictions/</link>
		<comments>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2010/09/13/recommendations-from-the-timothy-cole-advisory-panel-on-wrongful-convictions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Sep 2010 22:09:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>johntfloyd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Houston Criminal Lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA exonerations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[false memories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pardon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rape]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wrongful Conviction]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/?p=481</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Current Eyewitness Identification Procedure Reinforce False Memories and Lead to Wrongful Convictions

By: Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

There have been 258 DNA exonerations in this country over the last two decades, according to the New York-based Innocence Project. In approximately 75 percent of those cases, eye misidentification played a significant role. It is an issue we have thus far blogged about four times this year (here, here, here, and here) and four times last year (here, here, here, and here)—the latter two 2009 posts dealing with the wrongful conviction of Timothy Cole.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2010/09/13/recommendations-from-the-timothy-cole-advisory-panel-on-wrongful-convictions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS-TRAGIC RUSH TO JUDGMENTS</title>
		<link>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2010/08/31/wrongful-convictions-tragic-rush-to-judgments/</link>
		<comments>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2010/08/31/wrongful-convictions-tragic-rush-to-judgments/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 Aug 2010 07:55:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>johntfloyd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Houston Criminal Lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA exonerations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Innocent Project]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Murder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prosecutorial overzealousness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rape]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tunnel vision]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wrongful convictions]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/?p=474</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Tunnel Vision By Investigators and Prosecutors Convicts, Imprisons the Innocent

By: Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

Last year we blogged about the tragic wrongful convictions of three innocent Texas inmates, Ricardo Rachel, Timothy Cole (here and here), and Ernest Sonnier. This year has proven just as tragic. We have thus far blogged about the wrongful convictions of four more innocent Texas inmates: Donald Wayne Good, Anthony Robinson, Allen Wayne Porter, and Michael Anthony Green. The wrongful conviction emblem seems to have been deeply etched on the face of Texas justice. But convicting innocent people is not a phenomenon unique to this state.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2010/08/31/wrongful-convictions-tragic-rush-to-judgments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>18</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>HOUSTON-HARRIS COUNTY NEEDS AN EMERGENCY DNA LAB</title>
		<link>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2010/08/03/houston-harris-county-needs-an-emergency-dna-lab/</link>
		<comments>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2010/08/03/houston-harris-county-needs-an-emergency-dna-lab/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:51:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>johntfloyd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Houston Criminal Lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA exonerations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNA lab]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[familial searching]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[serial killers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[serial rapist]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/?p=458</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Independent DNA Lab Necessary to Successfully Prosecute Dangerous Criminals and Prevent Wrongful Convictions

By: Houston Criminal Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

Last month we posted a blog about the ever increasing need for an independent crime lab in Harris County. The Houston Chronicle  reported recently about Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos’ call for an “emergency DNA lab.” The newspaper reported that the Houston Police Department’s (HPD) DNA lab, which has been plagued with mismanagement and scandals over the past several years, has 4,076 rape kits dating back to 1996 which have not been DNA tested and another 969 criminal cases scheduled for DNA testing.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2010/08/03/houston-harris-county-needs-an-emergency-dna-lab/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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