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…

            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 5th, 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.

            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,…

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…