Innocence commissions
Encyclopedia
An innocence commission is a legal commission set up by a government
to review criminal convictions in a new light.
. The Innocence Commission was developed to rehear cases where the accused and their advocates claim wrongful conviction. The commission was founded after a series of high-profile cases of conviction were overturned.
The law is modeled after one of the United Kingdom
http://www.innocencenetwork.org.uk/index.html.
Retired Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr.
led the panel that recommended the new process to the State.
The law expires 2010. It will need a renewal to remain in effect.
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
to review criminal convictions in a new light.
History
In 2002, the first U.S. state to develop an Innocence commission was North CarolinaNorth Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. The Innocence Commission was developed to rehear cases where the accused and their advocates claim wrongful conviction. The commission was founded after a series of high-profile cases of conviction were overturned.
The law is modeled after one of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
http://www.innocencenetwork.org.uk/index.html.
Retired Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr.
I. Beverly Lake
I. Beverly Lake, Jr. is an American jurist and public official, who served as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court....
led the panel that recommended the new process to the State.
North Carolina
Via an application process, the eight-member commission selects which cases to review. If five of the members deem it so, the case is sent to the state Supreme Court. A unanimous decision by the 3-member Supreme Court panel is necessary to overturn the conviction.The law expires 2010. It will need a renewal to remain in effect.
North Carolina
Commission members will be appointed by the chief justice of the state Supreme Court and chief judge of the state Court of Appeals.North Carolina
- Darryl HuntDarryl HuntDarryl Hunt is an African American man from Winston-Salem, North Carolina who, in 1984, was wrongfully convicted of the rape and murder of a young white newspaper copy editor, Deborah Sykes, but was later exonerated by DNA evidence...
, murder conviction, served 18 years, exonerated 2003, DNA evidence. - Alan GellAlan GellJames Alan Gell, from North Carolina, United States, was sentenced to death for the crime of first degree murder. He was freed from death row when it was determined that the prosecution had withheld significant exculpatory evidence and impeachment evidence....
, murder conviction, served 8 years, death row inmate, exonerated 2004, revealed prosecutors withheld key evidence.
External links
- Innocence Network UK
- N.C. Gov. Sets Up Innocence Commission
- North Carolina governor signs law establishing inmate innocence commission
- Easley signs innocence commission into N.C. law
- Easley Signs Innocence Inquiry Commission Bill
- Injustice victims given new chance
- Injustice network to be launched
- Pioneering conference on miscarriages of justice