The Scottsboro Boys: Jim Crow on Trial
July 13, 2009The Scottsboro BoysThe case of the Scottsboro Boys often seemed like one of dueling prejudices. Entrenched racism against blacks, anti-Semitism, the Madonna/Whore dichotomy, and regional...
View ArticleThe Firefighter Case: Part I
South Kanasa City Blast SiteFive innocent people were convicted in February 1997 in the deaths of six Kansas City firefighters in 1988. These two stories run a total length of 20,000 words, and won...
View ArticleJ. Edgar Hoover and the Framing of the Omaha Two
Dec. 28, 2011Ed PoindexterMondo we LangaEd Poindexter and Mondo we Langa, the leaders of the Omaha chapter of the Black Panther Party in the early 1970s, were framed for the murder of Omaha Police...
View ArticleThe Case for Jean Harris’s Innocence
June 10, 2013Jean Harris (photo NPR)A distraught Jean Harris paid one last visit to her estranged lover, Dr. Herman Tarnower, intending to take her own life but ended up shooting him when the famed...
View ArticleThe Unreliable Eyewitnesses
Sept. 16, 2013Convicted Serial Killer Gerald ParkerEyewitness misidentification plays a part in more than 70 percent of wrongful convictions. Even after the actual rapist confessed, even after DNA...
View ArticlePro Bono: The 18-Year Defense of Caril Ann Fugate
Oct. 21, 2013An excerpt from Pro Bono: The 18-Year Defense of Caril Ann Fugate by Jeff McArthur (Bandwagon Books). An account of how her trial lawyer – who believed in her innocence – continued to...
View ArticleItalian Vendetta: The Amanda Knox Case
Jan. 20, 2014 Updated Jan. 30, 2014Amanda Knox and Raffaele SollecitoThe murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy on November 1, 2007 caused a global controversy. Not so much for...
View ArticleNo More Laughs for the Fat Man: The Case of Fatty Arbuckle
When Fatty Arbuckle was charged with manslaughter in the death of Virginia Rappe in 1921 he was the highest paid actor in Hollywood. The tabloid press went after him with a vengeance. Eleven years...
View ArticleThe Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Excerpt from the book The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamalby J. Patrick O'ConnorChapter OneA Cause CelebreMumia Abu-Jamal has been on death row since 1982. Over the years, as a result of his prison writings,...
View ArticleA Quest For Closure: The Kansas City Firefighters Case Part 1
View the movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVDUVOu9dlM The tragic case that shook Kansas City, Missouri awake over 33 years ago may now have a chance to be solved. Thanks to the Kansas City...
View Article