Time Running Out for Claiming Innocence in Florida
Here's what's going on in Florida.
Prisoners convicted before DNA was routinely tested have only until Oct. 1 to submit their claims. Those who pleaded guilty or no contest, as even innocent people sometimes do, are ineligible. There is no money to pay lawyers to file DNA petitions. Nearly 700 applications are backed up and will likely run afoul of the deadline.
I was able to finally see the film After Innocence, which tells the stories of wrongfully convicted men. One of those men is from Florida: Wilton Dedge. He spent 22 years in a Florida prison for a crime he did not commit.
In 1996 Wilton became the first Florida inmate to seek post-conviction DNA testing which showed he was innocent of the crimes for which he was convicted. Despite this evidence the prosecution fought for over two years against to prevent the DNA evidence from being presented in court. In August of 2004, aided by a team of attorneys, Wilton Dedge was able to prove his innocence in court and exonerated and released from prison.
Posted by katherine at 12:10 PM
