wrongful conviction

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Op-Ed: Devastating Murder Case Now Looks Awfully Shaky

New affidavits, forensic doubts challenge evidence against Nicole Chuminski

(Newser) - A South Boston fire that killed two young sisters in 2008 sent their mother's girlfriend to prison; the Boston Globe now asks whether the system got it wrong. In a new opinion piece, reporter David Scharfenberg revisits the case of Nicole Chuminski, convicted in 2010 of second-degree murder and arson...

One State Opposes Nearly All Wrongful Conviction Payouts

ProPublica reports on how Louisiana AG Liz Murrill has opposed 22 of 23 claims

(Newser) - Louisiana's top lawyer has taken an unusually combative stance against people the courts say were wrongfully locked up. In a deep dive for ProPublica , Richard A. Webster reports that state Attorney General Liz Murrill has opposed 22 of 23 claims for financial compensation from Louisianans whose convictions were thrown...

Tiny Difference in Username Sent Innocent Man to Prison

Canadian man served 18 months because police didn't notice difference in underscores

(Newser) - A barely noticeable discrepancy in a screen name led to a Canadian man serving 18 months in prison for a crime he didn't commit, reports the CBC . Nova Scotia's Court of Appeal has thrown out the child exploitation conviction of 30-year-old Brandon Klayme after finding investigators targeted the...

How a Botched Rape Case Ruined 2 Lives
It Was a Case
That 'Should
Never Have
Happened'
LONGFORM
Jul 5, 2026 1:32 PM CDT

It Was a Case That 'Should Never Have Happened'

ProPublica details police failures after wrongful conviction for 1981 sexual assault of Alice Sebold

(Newser) - In ProPublica's sprawling reexamination of the rape case at the center of Alice Sebold's memoir Lucky, the real mystery isn't just who attacked her—it's how the system managed to fail almost everyone. Reporter Joaquin Sapien traces how police in Syracuse pushed Sebold's 1981 rape into...

They Spent 28 Years in Prison for Murder. Now, Exoneration

Flawed forensics, incentivized witness testimony undermine 1997 Philadelphia case

(Newser) - Nearly three decades after a North Philadelphia murder sent three men to prison for life, a judge has tossed their convictions and set them free. District Attorney Larry Krasner's office on Tuesday announced the exonerations of Mark Brittingham, Jermel Shuler, and Rasheed Turner, who were "robbed of a...

Man Wrongly Convicted of Killing 2 Hunters in 1990 Gets $5.25M

Jeff Titus had served nearly 21 years for Michigan murders when he was freed

(Newser) - A man who spent nearly 21 years in prison for the deaths of two Michigan hunters has agreed to a $5.25 million settlement after accusing police of failing to turn over evidence that could have helped him at trial, a lawyer said Monday. Jeff Titus was released in 2023...

Man Who Served 43 Years on Overturned Conviction Can Stay in US

Homeland Security might appeal judge's ruling

(Newser) - A Pennsylvania man who spent more than four decades behind bars for a murder he says he didn't commit may not be forced out of the country after all. An immigration judge on Thursday ruled that 64-year-old Subramanyam "Subu" Vedam can remain in the US, where he's...

Exonerated Man Has Waited for His $2.5M Since 2016

Inside Michael Holmes' fight

(Newser) - Michael Holmes says he wouldn't lie to shave decades off his sentence and ended up serving eight years for a crime courts determined he didn't commit. Holmes, now 66, is speaking publicly for the first time about how a team of disgraced St. Louis officers derailed his life,...

After 19 Years in Prison: 'This Case Should Have Never Happened'

Judge throws out conviction for Kenneth Windley, 61, who ended up behind bars in 2007 for robbery

(Newser) - A man who spent nearly two decades in prison for a roughly $550 robbery was exonerated and freed on Monday, after prosecutors said they now agree he didn't commit the crime. "It cost me 20 years, but they said they corrected it now. So that's all that...

A Second Win for Texas Woman Exonerated After 22 Years

Homeland Security lifts ICE hold, allowing exonerated mother to stay

(Newser) - A Texas woman whose murder conviction was tossed after more than two decades in prison will not be forced out of the country, the New York Times reports. Federal officials say 54-year-old Carmen Mejia, declared innocent Monday in the 2003 scalding death of a 10-month-old in her care, can remain...

Texas Executed a Black Man With an Alibi. Now, Contrition

Dallas County resolution seeks symbolic justice in racially charged 1956 case

(Newser) - Texas' Dallas County is poised to say out loud what many Black residents have believed for decades: that the state executed an innocent man in 1956. In a special meeting Wednesday, county commissioners are expected to hear evidence and vote on a symbolic resolution clearing Tommy Lee Walker, a 21-year-old...

Reiners Had a Bond With a Death Row Inmate
An Inmate Became
Like Family to the Reiners
LONGFORM
Jan 11, 2026 3:41 PM CST

An Inmate Became Like Family to the Reiners

Couple championed death row prisoner Nanon Williams' innocence before their shocking murder

(Newser) - Rob and Michele Reiner spent their final weekend cheering on a man in a Texas prison they'd come to view as family, only to be killed less than two days later in a crime for which their own son now stands accused. The couple's unlikely bond with 51-year-old...

A Twist in Case of Man Serving Life Over 'Shaken Baby'

Former chief medical examiner now says baby's death was likely due to natural causes

(Newser) - A onetime star witness in a shaken-baby trial now says the crime may never have happened—but the man he helped put away is still serving life. Former Tennessee chief medical examiner Dr. Bruce Levy tells NBC News he has reversed his decades-old finding that Alex Maze, who died at...

Big Win for Man Who Claims Cops Framed Him for Murder

Maurice Hastings awarded largest wrongful conviction settlement in California history

(Newser) - An innocent man who spent 38 years behind bars in California was awarded $25 million in what his lawyers called the largest wrongful conviction settlement in state history. The settlement was reached in August, according to court documents made public on Monday, per the AP . Maurice Hastings, 72, was convicted...

After 31 Years, Death Row Inmate Will Get a New Trial

Tests showed it was somebody else's DNA on Alabama murder victim's body

(Newser) - A federal judge has ordered a new trial for an Alabama death row inmate after tests showed it was another man's DNA on the victim's body. Christopher Barbour, now 56, was convicted of the 1992 stabbing death of 40-year-old Thelma Bishop Roberts in Montgomery. Barbour, who has been...

Amanda Knox Gets 'Relief,' Thanks to Monica Lewinsky

Pair team up for Hulu limited series showing 'the long consequences' of trauma

(Newser) - You might think Monica Lewinsky and Amanda Knox have little in common. But when the former White House intern turned anti-bullying advocate began considering options for a TV deal following her involvement in Impeachment: American Crime Story, she thought of the similarities between her story and Knox's account of...

Judge Sets Free Man in Jail for 378 Years

Ajay Dev's conviction overturned after judge finds strong evidence of false rape claims

(Newser) - A California man sentenced to 378 years in prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting his adopted daughter has walked free after a judge cited strong evidence that the allegations were made up. The daughter sought to punish Ajay Dev, who ultimately served 16 years, and improve her own chances of remaining...

Woman Framed by Detectives for Murder Receives $34M

Kirstin Blaise Lobato served 16 years for a Vegas slaying she didn't commit

(Newser) - First, she was exonerated . Now a jury in Las Vegas has awarded Kirstin Blaise Lobato $34 million after she served 16 years for a murder she didn't commit, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal . In addition to the sum from the city police department, the jury ordered the two detectives...

Wrongfully Imprisoned. Freed. And Now: a Murderer
Wrongfully Imprisoned.
Freed. And Now: a Murderer
in case you missed it
Dec 14, 2024 1:20 PM CST

Wrongfully Imprisoned. Freed. And Now: a Murderer

Shaurn Thomas shot a man over $1.2K drug debt, despite receiving $4M payout in Philadelphia

(Newser) - Shaurn Thomas is going back to prison in Philadelphia, this time for a murder he did commit. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on the hard-to-fathom turn of events for the 50-year-old:
  • In 2017, Thomas was freed from prison after 24 years when his 1992 murder conviction was overturned. The Pennsylvania Innocence
...

He Lost Everything While in Prison. Now He's a Millionaire

Wrongfully convicted Michael Sullivan is awarded $13M, though state law caps reward at $1M

(Newser) - For the nearly three decades that he was behind bars, Michael Sullivan's mother and four siblings died, his girlfriend moved on with her life, and he was badly beaten in several prison attacks. All for a murder he long insisted he never committed. Earlier this month, the 64-year-old Sullivan...

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