Twenty six former Federal Agents have joined the ranks of those calling for the immediate release of the Norfolk Four. The announcement comes just months after 4 former Virginia attorneys general voiced their support for the sailors’ clemency.

Joseph Dick, Derek Tice, Danial William and Eric Wilson were charged in 1997 with the rape and murder of a Norfolk woman. Each of the men provided the police with conflicting confessions. None of the confessions matched the physical evidence, and all four men later recanted. A fifth man, Omar Ballard, confessed to committing the crime alone and was the only match for the DNA found at the scene of the crime. All five men were convicted. (more…)

            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…)

The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project is happy to announce that Aaron Michael Howard was released from prison on Tuesday evening after new evidence, uncovered by Howard’s attorneys nearly 20 years after his conviction, proved that he had not committed a murder for which he was serving a sentence of 21 years to life.  At a hearing last week, the newly discovered evidence had prompted led the lead prosecutor to withdraw from the case, stating that he could no longer defend the jury’s verdict against Howard.  The parties subsequently reached an agreement by which Howard would accept a manslaughter conviction in exchange for immediate release from prison.   

"The agreement … is not perfect," Howard said in a written statement. "It is not perfect because, although it allows me to maintain my innocence, it requires me to accept a conviction for a crime I did not commit. That is not something I have done lightly, especially with all the evidence of my innocence that now exists. But I feel like I have little choice, because after 20 years in prison, the agreement gives me my freedom immediately." 

Mr. Howard was represented by D.C. criminal defense attorney Zack Rosenburg, who was appointed by the court, and by partner Seth Rosenthal and his team at the law firm of Venable LLP.  Rosenthal entered the case after Rosenburg asked the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project for assistance. By referring the case to Rosenthal, the Project ensured that Howard would have the resources needed to fully investigate a 20-year-old crime. “By connecting me with Seth, the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project played a vital role in securing Mike’s freedom," Rosenburg said. "It is exceedingly difficult to build the kind of case we built for Howard without the help of a firm like Venable, which has proven itself to be a role model for others."

Click on the following links to read the joint MAIP/Venable press release issued August 7, 2008; a written statement by Mr. Howard and to see a picture of Mr. Howard with his legal team.  We have also posted a fact sheet outlining the evidence of Mr. Howard's innocence and the Amended Motion to Vacate and supporting Memorandum of Law filed in D.C. Superior Court by Mr. Howard's legal team. 

An in-depth story about the case appeared in Washington's Legal Times.  The story was also covered by the Washington Times.  You can read that article here: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/18/innocence-project-wins-again/.

The story appeared on Fox 5 News and on NBC4 news at 11:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 7.  You can see the clips here:  Fox 5 video and NBC 4 video.

NBC 4 also covered the story on its web site.  You can read their story, along with comments from the community, here: http://www.nbc4.com/news/17121996/detail.html.

On April 13, 2008, the Washington Post ran a lengthy article discussing the progress of Virginia's Old Case Testing Project.  MAIP Executive Director Shawn Armbrust is quoted in the article.  To read it, click here.

On July 15, MAIP will host its first annual Awards Luncheon, at which we will honor former Virginia Governor and current Senate candidate Mark Warner for his extraordinary contribution to the cause of justice.  We hope to see you there!

On March 24, 2008, the New York times published an article about the difficulties inherent in calculating the wrongful conviction rate in the United States.  As the article points out, there is no accepted methodology for calculating the rate at which defendants have been wrongfully convicted.  Those who attempt to make such a calculation differ widely in their results.  On one side of the spectrum is Justice Scalia, who once divided the number of exonerated prisoners by the total of all felony convictions and reached a wrongful conviction rate of .027 percent.  On the other side are those who look at the number of wrongful convictions in Virginia, as proven by re-testing of DNA samples maintained by the state laboratory.  A comparison of that number against all the Virginia cases in which results could be determined yields a wrongful conviction rate of closer to 9 percent. 

MAIP Executive Director Shawn Armbrust is quoted in the article.  To read the article, click here. 

Jon Gould, a professor at George Mason University Law School and chair of the innocence Commission for Virginia, recently published a fascinating book on the creation and work of the Innocence Commission.  The book, called The Innocence Commission: Preventing Wrongful Convictions and Restoring the Criminal Justice System, received a rave review in last week's Legal Times newspaper.  Reviewer Steve Weinberg describes the book as a unique "combination of legal theory and details from real-life wrongful conviction cases" that has "spawned a number of new thoughts about wrongful convictions." To read the Legal Times review, click here.

The book also received a favorable write-up in the Law and Politics Book Review.  As described by author Priscilla H. M. Zotti, a professor in the Department of Political Science at the United States Naval Academy, the book "provides the reader with both the practical advice of creating and establishing reform as well as a very intersting discussion of errors and workable solutions to minimize them."  To read the entire review, click here.

The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project was a key participant in the Innocence Commission's work.   

To learn more about the ICVA and to read its report, you can visit its web site at www.icva.us.   

Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project Seeks Program Assistant/Development Associate

  The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP) is a small non-profit corporation dedicated to the correction and prevention of wrongful convictions in District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.  MAIP is seeking a full-time Program Assistant/Development Associate with a demonstrated passion for social justice issues and an interest in facilitating the growth of a small organization. 

The Program Assistant/Development Associate will be an integral part of MAIP’s staff, with several fundraising and administrative duties that are critical to the smooth functioning of the organization.   Specific duties may include:

  Working to raise funds, which will include planning fundraising events, managing the annual end-of-year newsletter, working with other staff to complete grant applications, and conducting other activities designed to reach out to new donors. 

• Keeping the Project’s website up to date with important articles about wrongful convictions, profiles of exonerees, blog entries, and any necessary changes.
• Reading letters from prisoners seeking our help, evaluating those letters, and appropriately responding their requests.
• Managing telephone communications and relationships with family members of prisoners.
• Reaching out to prisoners convicted in the District of Columbia, who are incarcerated all over the country, by seeking ways to let the prisoners and their families know about MAIP.
• Helping to supervise college interns, who are responsible for maintaining files and sending mail to prisoners.
• Overseeing the general functioning of the office, including bill payment, database management, and organization.
• Other tasks, as needed, to ensure the effective fulfillment of our mission.

  Qualifications:  

• Strong organizational skills.
• Ability to juggle multiple tasks.
• Ability to communicate with a diverse group of people, including prisoners and donors.
• Ability to work independently.
• Excellent writing skills.
• Knowledge of Spanish a plus but not required.

  Salary: Commensurate with experience. 

Education: Bachelor’s Degree (B.S, B.A., or equivalent)

  Application Deadline: Open until filled. 

Send application cover letter, resume, three references, and short writing sample via mail or email to:

Shawn Armbrust, Executive Director

Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project

4801 Massachusetts Ave., NW

Washington, D.C. 20016

innocenceproject@wcl.american.edu

The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project recently published its 2007 annual newsletter.  The newsletter provides updates on our most significant activities of the past year.  To read it, click here.