On Wednesday, Maryland exoneree Kirk Bloodsworth testified before the Maryland legislature in favor of the abolition of the death penalty in Maryland.  Mr. Bloodsworth was convicted and sentenced to death for a rape and murder that he did not commit.  He spent nearly nine years on Maryland's death row before a DNA test proved that he could not have been the killer.  The DNA test also implicated the true killer, who subsequently plead guilty.  Mr. Bloodsworth, who serves on our Honorary Board, now speaks extensively on innocence issues and the death penalty.  To learn more about his wrongful conviction and how it happened, please…

From March 26-30, MAIP will celebrate its relationship with the Washington College of Law at American University by co-sponsoring Innocence Week.  The week will feature lunch-time panel discussions for WCL students on innocence issues, including presentations by Kirk Bloodsworth and Dennis Fritz, as well as law professors who study innocence issues and attorneys who have obtained exonerations for their clients.  The week will culminate in performances of the highly acclaimed play The Exonerated on the evenings of Thursday, March 29, and Friday, March 30.  Members of the public are encouraged to join us for the play!  Tickets should be available on-line by…

In January, television personality Dr. Phil devoted an entire hour-long show to the topic of false confessions.  What happens behind closed doors to make an innocent person suddenly confess to a crime that he didn’t commit? What factors can make an innocent person confess? During the show, Dr. Phil explored these issues by focusing on two specific cases involving false confessions. The first was the case of Justin Mello, accused of the execution style murder of an acquaintance. But Justin and his friend were at a party the night of the murder, nowhere near the pizza parlor where the crime was committed.  As they were questioned, both…