Blagojevich issues 26 Pardons in Response to Criticisms for Delay in Reviewing Clemency Petitions

Posted on October 31, 2008 by Avi Kamionski

 The Chicago Tribune is reporting this morning that:

Roughly a month after the advent of a law allowing the wrongfully convicted to circumvent the governor in seeking certificates of innocence, Gov. Rod Blagojevich pardoned four exonerated men convicted of crimes ranging from rape to murder.

Two weeks ago, the men filed for certificates of innocence with the circuit courts after waiting for a response from Blagojevich, who has been criticized for taking too much time to respond to clemency petitions. Blagojevich pardoned 26 people Thursday.

Among those pardoned based on innocence were Marlon Pendleton and Jerry Miller, who were falsely convicted of sexual assault charges before DNA evidence exonerated them. Also pardoned was Luis Ortiz, convicted of a torture-murder in 1997 and exonerated in 2002, and Robert Wilson, pardoned after nearly a decade in prison for an attempted murder after he was falsely identified.

The Tribune does not identify all 26 individuals.

The clemency petitions are not the method by which these individuals were or are released from prison.  In Jerry Miller's case, he has been free for some time.  His request for a pardon is merely a formality. Miller needs an innocence pardon to seek money for his imprisonment from the Illinois Court of Claims. Given Blagojevich's lengthy time to respond to clemency petitions, lawyers for these individuals lobbied for a new law allowing a judge to issue a "certificate of innocence" to circumvent the Governor and allow for a petition before the Illinois Court of Claims.  Not clear who beat whom to the punch, but these individuals either got certificates and/or pardons based on innocence. 

As previously reported by the Center, Jerry Miller has a federal lawsuit against the City of Chicago, several police officers, and crime lab personnel.  

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Wrongful Conviction Suit filed against Fort Collins, Colorado Police Officers

Posted on October 30, 2008 by Avi Kamionski

Rocky Mountain News reports:  

Tim Masters, whose murder conviction was overturned earlier this year, is suing several current and former Fort Collins police officers and Larimer County prosecutors for wrongful arrest, conviction and imprisonment.The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday.On Feb. 11, 1987, a bicyclist on his way to work discovered the body of Peggy Hettrick, a 37- year-old Fashion Bar manager in a south Fort Collins field....On Aug. 10, 1998, Masters was arrested for Hettrick's murder, based on a forensic psychologist's interpretation of his drawings and writings. He was convicted the following spring. In 2003, his case was taken up by two new attorneys, Maria Liu and David Wymore, who pushed for a new trial after finding hundreds of pages of documents that were not turned over to Masters' original defense team. DNA found on Hettrick's clothing was also sent to a Netherlands lab last year, which concluded that it did not match Masters,' but was linked to Hettrick's former boyfriend...[Masters spent] 9 1/2 years in prison.

According to this report, it appears a forensic psychologist interpretation of drawings and writings is what led to Masters' arrest in this case. The complaint itself details a very lengthy criminal investigation that led to Masters. He claims he was framed and it was all circumstantial evidence. Its all to easy to blame the police simply because the DNA in the case matched another individual. To early to judge and to early to call this police misconduct.
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