Dr. Gary Wells, a distinguished Professor of Psychology at Iowa State University, is a leading researcher in the field of eyewitness memory.  Dr. Wells has authored over 170 articles and chapters and two books, with most of his work focused on the reliability of eyewitness identification.  Much of his research has been focused specifically on police procedures that affect the reliability of eyewitness identifications.

Below is Dr. Wells' testimony in support of an Eyewitness Identification Bill proposed to the DC City Council in 2004.  The hearing took place on November 15, 2004, and the entire hearing is available here, in ten segments.  The links that follow connect directly to the DC City Council's archive of public proceedings.

Part I
The Eyewitness ID Bill is introduced at approximately 5:40 minutes into Part I, and Dr. Wells' testimony begins shortly thereafter, continuing through Part II and into Part III.

Part II
Dr. Wells' testimony continues through Part II.

Part III
Dr. Wells' testimony continues through Part III.

            It was discovered last month that lab technicians in Baltimore City had been inadvertently contaminating crime scene evidence.  The Baltimore lab failed to catalogue its employee's DNA, a precaution that is considered standard by industry experts.  Without the safeguard of an employee catalogue, DNA profiles left by employees are categorized as "unknown" rather than being properly identified.

            Defense attorneys are outraged at the oversight, arguing that this is just the latest in a series of quality assurance lapses that have plagued the lab.  To read the Baltimore Sun's piece on the lab and the government's response, click here.

The Baltimore Sun ran a lengthy piece on the recent efforts in Maryland's State Legislature to repeal the death penalty.

            On September 5^th, the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment convened its final public hearing.  The Commission, created by Governor O'Malley, is charged with determining whether the state's moratorium on the death penalty should be lifted or made permanent. (more…)

            Many of you attended our First Annual Awards Luncheon and heard exonoree Marvin Anderson and former Virginia Governor Mark Warner speak about the ongoing project in Virginia to perform post-conviction DNA testing in nearly 1,000 old cases.  During Warner's tenure in office, five innocent men were cleared of rape charges based on DNA evidence that had unexpectedly been saved in files kept by the Virginia Department of Forensic Science (DFS).  In 2005, Gov. Warner made history when he ordered DFS to perform post-conviction DNA testing in every case in which such evidence had been saved. 

            Since that time, the Forensic Science Board (FSB) has been tasked with establishing a system for evaluating the physical evidence and developing a protocol for notifying the affected defendants of the DNA testing.  MAIP has been intimately involved in this process.  Our main goal has been to ensure that legislators and members of the FSB understand the importance of notifying the affected defendants that the DNA from their cases is being tested and advising them of the potential legal consequences of that testing.  Unfortunately, the FSB narrowly voted down MAIP's proposed plan, which involved having a network of MAIP-trained pro bono attorneys locate and notify each defendant whose case was subject to testing.  Instead, FSB has begun the work of notifying these defendants by mail, using addresses that MAIP fears will in many cases be too outdated to be effective. 

            In these letters, the FSB provides defendants with MAIP's contact information.  In addition, the FSB may rely on pro bono attorneys trained and recruited by MAIP to notify those defendants whose letters are returned as undeliverable and who cannot be located by the Virginia Department of Corrections or the Virginia State Police.  In order to handle the anticipated influx of requests, we have assembled a group of more than 200 attorneys who will assist in the representation of these men and women.  Additionally, to ensure that these attorneys are well versed in the post-conviction process, MAIP is arranging training sessions for the pro-bono advocates.  Please email Shawn Armbrust at sarmbrust@exonerate.org if you are interested in participating in this project.

 Click here to read the Washington Post's article on this unprecedented re-testing project.

MAIP is proud to announce that on August 5, 2008, Aaron Michael Howard walked out of prison as a free man for the first time in nearly twenty years.  New evidence uncovered by Howard's attorneys - led by MAIP Board Member Seth Rosenthal - disproved the eyewitness testimony used to convict Howard at trial and established Howard's innocence of the 1988 murder of Bobby Parker in the District of Columbia.  With the pro bono resources of Rosenthal's firm, Venable LLP, and additional financial support from MAIP, Rosenthal obtained affidavits from Howard's co-defendants that cleared him of any blame.  The new evidence was so persuasive that it caused the Metropolitan Police Department detective and the lead prosecutor on the case to believe in Howard's innocence. 

            Howard leaves prison a free man, but he will not be considered "exonerated" in an official sense.  Despite the lead prosecutor's belief in Howard's innocence, the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia remained intent on protecting his conviction.  The Office's stance led the lead prosecutor to withdraw from the case.  Facing the prospect of a lengthy evidentiary hearing, and having already spent two decades in prison, Howard entered into an agreement by which he accepted a conviction for manslaughter without admitting guilt and thus earned immediate release for the time he had already served.