The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions Reviews

• An eye opener and a challenge

  
  By A3823WQPK4LXLL on 2004-11-17
  I was fortunate enough to read an advanced copy of The Death of Innocents and it knocked my socks off.
  
  It's written in that down-home, inimitable style Sister Helen Prejean brings to both her writing and her speaking. The stories - especially the one of Dobie Gillis Williams - will ring your heart.
  
  But the book goes a lot farther than telling stories about innocent people executed. It takes on the Supreme Court, Justice Scalia in particular, and challenges a system of justice which is so caught up in process and procedure it appears to have left human beings out of the equation. Finally, it asks the question, when we let such a system continue unchecked, what part of our own humanity do we lose?
  
  Reading The Death of Innocents is an education; it's also a plain, good read.
  
  

• Distortion of facts in Dobie Gillis Williams case

  
  By A7WV67R9LK4II on 2005-01-24
  Sister Helen Prejean certainly has a right to voice her opinion regarding the death penalty. As a family member of the victim in the Dobie Gillis Williams case, it was very disturbing to see that she only presented a one-sided view. She did not attend Williams's trial nor bother to review ALL of the evidence. So many of the statements she makes in this book regarding the Dobie Williams case are distorted. It doesn't seem that accuracy and truth are as important to Sister Prejean as promoting her views on the death penalty. She did not even show enough respect to the victim in this horrible crime to spell her name correctly. Her name is Sonya Merritt Knippers, not Sonja. This is only one of the erroneous or misleading statements in this book. I am simply saying that everyone has a right to his or her opinion regarding the death penalty---but if you are writing a book about particular cases---it should be fair, accurate and truthful.
  
  

• Broadening the Discourse

  
  By AM0UCM3JLZKJ2 on 2004-11-12
  From the first page, this is an impossible story to put down, and although the outcomes of these tales are dark, they pave the way to a hopeful place that Helen Prejean is so capable of championing: broadening the discourse on one of the things that divides America the most. While you may think you know where you stand on the death penalty in America, Sister Helen lays open the ambiguity in even the most hardened heart. Where "Dead Man Walking" attempted, with neither judgment nor justification, to take us inside of an experience that few will ever know, "Death of Innocence" puts a very human face on the realities of a flawed system of justice, and the price paid by those who it continues to fail. Ten years later, Prejean's call arrives with a prescription for repair: broaden the discourse. "The Death of Innocence" is a gateway to thinking critically about the death penalty in America, and to shaping a dialogue around the road back to justice. Read the book, then be sure to connect with Sister Helen through her website (www.deathofinnocents.com) and her blog, where she's inviting Americans of all ages to engage in a deeper exploration of the issues and begin cultivating solutions. Some surprising twists ahead. The story starts with Dobie Gillis Williams, but does not end there, as even now a new chapter unfolds in his tale outside the pages of the book, and the promise of a dying man is about to be kept. Don't let this nun fool you: the habit she wears best is one of sincere elevation.
  
  

• An Impossible Book To Put Down

  
  By A3PWF2AQ5XYALW on 2005-01-13
  Sister Helen presents a persuasive case that both Louisiana and Virginia have recently executed innocent men. Dobie Gillis, executed in 1999 by Louisiana taxpayers , and Joseph O'Dell, executed in 1997 by Virginia taxpayers, were factually innocent and the legal machinery in those States ignored exculpatory evidence. If Sister Helen discovered that two innocent men have been executed, one has to wonder how many more innocent men may be lying in graves in the USA.
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Shamefully One Sided

  
  By AHDIG9ZGN904Z on 2005-02-08
  The good Sister Prejean is, perhaps, the perfect of example of somebody so fanatically opposed to the death penalty that they compromise the principles of fairness and accuracy in their crusade.
  As a long time student of the death penalty in the US and Japan, I've heard every argument against the death penalty. I'll be the first to admit, as a supporter of capital punishement, that there are a number of legitimate questions about the use of the death penalty in the United States. However, the often used tactic by certain death penalty opponents to claim hardened killers are "factually innocent" in the face of overwhelming guilt continues to astonish me.
  In this book, I am most familiar with the case of the super-villain Joseph O'Dell, so I will confine my remarks to his case. First, thanks to Sam Jones for his review on this board of the book. He did a great job of explaining the court aspects of the case. It's unreal that as I write this, only 8 of 20 readers gave the review a "helpful" recommmendation. I guess solid evidence doesn't amount to much for them.
  And, as for O'Dell being a "man with a checkered past," as in another review of the book, let's take a hard look at his past. O'Dell had over a dozen felonies in his life, most of them for crimes of violence, such as kidnapping, murder, rape, assault, etc. As noted by Sam Jones, he attempted a shockingly similar crime to the one he was eventually executed for. Before the police showed to rescue her, his victim was told by O'Dell, "Do you know what necrophilia is? I'm going to have sex with you whether you're alive or dead. I would prefer alive, but that's up to you." What kind of human being could say and do such a thing? Think about this.
  A man with a checkered past, indeed. And Mr. O'Dell once murdered another inmate while in prison. Need we we go on about this "factually innocent" man?
  The evidence against O'Dell in the case for which he was executed is overwhelming. It has already been discussed in one review and we need not go over it again. Anyone can go to the website(s) for the courts in Virginia and see the evidence for themselves.
  It is intellectually dishonest to keep repeating that O'Dell is innocent without a serious examination of the evidence and a discussion of that evidence. This book does neither.
  8/22/2005
  Response to "Jennifer"
  You're calling *me* naive? Let's go over some *facts*.
  First, you talk about hearsay, yet that is what you are engaging in. Everything you and Sister Helen put out is from the murderer's mouth. Who said that O'Dell was "forced" to defend himself in prison from a knife attack? What evidence do *you* have. Nothing.
  The fact is that O'Dell had a long record of over a dozen felonies (19, I believe, but, hey, who's counting?!), most of them *violent*. He served time for murdering another woman. And he almost murdered another woman, after telling her he would have sex with her whether she was alive or dead. That woman confrimed the account to me *personally,* Jennifer. We exchanged email the day after the fiend O'Dell was executed as well. O'Dell was a sick, sick violent killer and con man. He obviously suckered you.
  As for the Pope, with all due respect for his courageous battles against Nazism and Communism, who cares? He was always against the death penalty and gave support to many executed killers. Another brutal Virginia killer, Derek Barnabei, was also buried in Italy after being executed, after receiving an outpouring of support from thousands of Italians, including members of Italy's parliament.
  At least O'Dell was buried in a proper place. The cemetery where his filthy corpse lies is also the final resting place for many of Italy's most notorious mafiosi. They can have him. Goodbye and good riddance.
  
  
• Execution of the factually innocent
  By AIZRNHQRV6009 on 2005-01-01
  This is an extremely important book that documents in great detail the cases of Dobie Gillis (Executed 1999 in Louisiana) and Joseph O'Dell (1997 in Virginia). Sister Helen presents a persuasive case that both men were factually innocent and that the legal machinery in those States turned a blind eye to exculpatory evidence. The facts of the cases are presented impartially. Supporters of the death penalty who claim that the innocent are rarely if ever executed may wish to also read this book and consider the facts.
  A long section also examines changing attitudes in the Christian community and in the Catholic Chuch in particular, leading to an official change in Catholic teaching in 1997 that ended its tacit support of the death penalty. Sister Helen may have played no small part in helping bring about that change.
  The book may not convince everyone, but it presents a wealth of information that needs to be included in any debate on the death penalty.
  If Sister Helen stumbled across two cases of factually innocent who have been executed, how many are out there on various Death Rows and about to be executed?
  
  
• Entertaining not comprehensive.... :(
  By A3SPVUHWD0UJ0K on 2005-01-21
  If you are serious about the subject that Prejean writes on you should always do a little research on your own. That means you don't limit yourself to what defense attorneys or anti-death penalty groups disseminate. It's what doesn't get printed or written about that makes you wonder more. Omitting evidence that indicates guilt where it exists is a disingenuous tactic.
  
  These works represent wonderful "entertainment" but are not conclusive or comprehensive. As noted in other reviews, Prejean excludes certain facts that don't necessarily agree with what makes her works interesting. Check court opinions on the Internet or the fine print in old news articles.
  
  
• Thought-provoking and thoughtfully written
  By A2F6N60Z96CAJI on 2005-01-22
  The world-at-large first met Sister Helen Prejean in 1993 when her bestselling book DEAD MAN WALKING was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and then produced as an Oscar-winning movie by the same title. But Sister Prejean's work with men on death row began more than a decade before her celebrity was born.
  
  As a spiritual adviser, Sister Prejean has accompanied five men to their deaths. Two, she believes, were innocent: Dobie Gillis Williams and Joseph Roger O'Dell. In her own words about THE DEATH OF INNOCENTS: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, she warns, "Brace yourself. These stories are going to break your heart."
  
  Dobie Gillis Williams had an IQ of 65 and severe arthritis. Home on a weekend furlough in July 1984 from a minimum-security detention facility (where he was serving for burglary), Dobie was one of three men --- three black men --- rounded up for questioning in the murder of Sonja Knipper. Mrs. Knipper, her husband claimed, was murdered in her home by a black man; he knows this because she shouted from the bathroom, "A black man is killing me." Dobie was accused of squeezing through a tiny window and stabbing Mrs. Knipper multiple times. He was tried and within a week was sentenced to death, despite monumental problems in forensic findings.
  
  Joseph O'Dell was arrested for the murder and rape of Helen Schartner in 1985. Prosecuters convinced the jury that O'Dell, a Caucasian male with a checkered past, abducted Helen outside a lounge, raped her, bludgeoned her to death, and then dumped her in an empty field. Again, evidence aside, O'Dell was sentenced in six quick weeks to death.
  
  Sister Prejean writes of these two cases, "The tragic truth is that you as a reader of this book have access to truths about forensic evidence, eyewitnesses, and prosecutorial maneuvers that Dobie's and Joseph's jurors never heard." According to the good nun, scant circumstantial evidence unveiled in the courtrooms didn't hold a candle to the facts uncovered after the trials (and some before the trials!), while the men waited on death row for their ultimate demise. Sister Prejean spells out in no uncertain terms the evidence that would have saved Dobie and Joseph. But attempts to bring new evidence to light failed, and both men were wrongfully executed.
  
  As in DEAD MAN WALKING, THE DEATH OF INNOCENTS puts the death penalty issue under a magnifying glass. Prejean reminds us that "Recently we have been witness to astounding admissions of error by state and federal courts forced to free 116 wrongly convicted people from death row since 1973, and the numbers keep growing." She reminds us that the law is fallible, and so are the humans who regulate it. THE DEATH OF INNOCENTS is thought-provoking and thoughtfully written. I'd expect nothing less from Sister Prejean, who has not only devoted the last 20 years to inmates on death row but also to educating proponents of both sides of the death penalty debate.
  
  --- Reviewed by Roberta O'Hara
  
  
• A Topic always worth thinking about, but not convincing to me
  By A3BFKY618DR43K on 2006-08-14
  The facts of Prejean's first book have been disputed by victims and others. The truth isn't always obvious, but putting together Prejean's remarks in her book about Robert Lee Willie; the interviews that they both gave; Debbie Morris's account in Forgiving the Dead Man Walking: Only One Woman Can Tell the Entire Story, of what Prejean told her; the testimony of other witnesses, I'd have to say that she was lying when she described him as remorseful, and her credibility is compromised. Prejean is also willfully gullible when it comes to her advisees; she isn't so trusting with everyone. The first part of this book deals with the cases of two executed men whom Prejean claims were innocent. I don't know whether to believe her or not.
  
  I also found this book considerably less moving since it does not include the soul-searching that made her first book so profound. Prejean is now apparently much more confident of her own righteousness, or at least less inclined to acknowledge other points of view.
  
  The second part is arguments against the death penalty. Here Prejean is talking particularly, though not exclusively, to fellow Catholics, pointing out the changes in the Church's teachings. As an atheist, I will only say that I agree with Walter Berns in For Capital Punishment: the Christian model of redemption, presided over by an all-knowing god, is not a suitable model for a human legal system.
  
  Prejean would argue that our lack of omniscience is a chief reason why we should not condemn anyone to death; life-without-parole is an adequate substitute. In my opinon, if we release a person we have good reason to believe is dangerous, we are an accessory to further violence. Not as guilt as if we executed an innocent person, but still guilty. If we didn't have the death penalty, I don't believe that we would have life without parole. I can remember the 1960s and 1970s: Karl Menninger's book The Crime of Punishment sums it up: "men of science" would "cure" criminals. Prejean's argument that we cannot predict future behavior is thus deeply ironic. Many of the people now arguing for life-without-parole used to argue for short sentences, employing the same basic arguments presented here. Hugo Bedau argued that surely ten years was enough for any crime, however heinous. If the death penalty is eliminated, I assume that many abolitionists will revert to their earlier, more sincere beliefs and campaign for quick parole. Having a death penalty is a very crude solution, but I don't know of any other.
  
  In Dead Man Walking, Prejean quotes Susan Jacoby's brilliant book, Wild justice: The evolution of revenge. Jacoby argues that state justice exists partly to restrain excessive vengeance, like blood feuds, but "`... law exists not only to restrain retribution but to mete it out ... A society that is unable to convince individuals of its ability to exact atonement for injury ... runs a constant risk of having its members revert to wilder forms of [vigilante] justice.'" [brackets Prejean's] I think that our society lost its faith not so much in the ability as the will of the legal system to exact atonement.
  
  I have discussed this at length with a friend who is a pre-sentencing investigator, who thus talks to everyone involved in a case and sees the final outcome. While our politicians may strut about talking about getting tough, existing laws may be unenforced and people get out the back door. In some states, parole agreements are unenforceable; probation is piled upon probation; parole is granted simply for time, not behavior. We are told that it is the public's fault: we refuse to pay for an adequate legal system. But since the "get tough" is considerably more public than the loopholes, I think this is doubtful. It's like maintaining any infrastructure: the temptation is always to shave here and shave there to finance more visible projects, knowing that it will take awhile for the neglect to become obvious.
  
  Prejean also brings up a number of my least favorite arguments:
  1. "The legal system is unfair to the poor and minorities". Eliminating capital punishment only solves this if unfairness only affects capital cases, or if you think a wrongful lengthy prison sentence is a trifle. I attended a debate on the death penalty: someone suggested that the solution is to provide a better defense. I thought this was a brilliant idea, benefitting all indigent defendants, not just the tiny fraction up on capital charges. The opponents of the death penalty said that it is impossible to improve the quality of the defense. There are at least three different systems for providing counsel to the poor - surely they can't all work the same. And the justice (or injustice) meted out to the wealthy shows that a defense can be much more effective. I also don't see how it would help the victims of crimes that the legal system more or less ignores. Do they want others to be treated as badly as they are, or do they want to be taken seriously?
  
  2. "It is unfair that different jurisdictions hand down different penalties". No, we deliberately set up a system that allows these differences. Anyone who doesn't like it can certainly campaign to change the constitution, but that's the system now. It is also inappropriate to judge individual states by nationwide statistics. Further, if we require uniformity, more states have the death penalty than don't - a scale can be balanced from both sides.
  
  3. "If something is wrong for an individual, it is wrong for the government". In that case, the government has no right to imprison people, either, let alone collect taxes, enforce public health laws, etc.
  
  Prejean's statistics leave a lot to be desired. They are incomplete or inappropriately applied, e.g., taking statistics from "The Death Belt" and applying them to the entire country. Prejean also uses an "any weapon that comes to hand" approach that means that she talks out of both sides of her mouth: the death penalty is unconstitutional in Texas because they use it too much, and unconstitutional because most of the states only rarely apply it. I'm rather incredulous that Prejean says that human beings can't make distinctions: I think I can see the difference between killing someone because one's car skidded on ice and being a serial killer.
  
  
• Get ready to lose your complacency!
  By A3MGFSB3ORRFAA on 2005-02-11
  If you read this book with an even slightly open mind, it will rock your world. If you are a supporter of capital punishment, you will question your beliefs. (Assuming, of course, that slightly open mind.) If you are like me, a moderate who had come to believe that the death penalty is probably wrong, you will be shaken out of your complacency. This book is terribly disturbing. How can I be sitting here, comfortable in my cozy middle class life, going to my lovely church and teaching Sunday School. How can I be just going about my life, unconcerned, when MY government is killing people in MY name? How can Christians sit by and let this happen? We can't!
  
  
• if you're undecided
  By AGJOGC8GTL32U on 2005-12-31
  If you're undecided about the death penalty, please read this book. If you haven't thought about it that much because you basically trust the justice system to be fair enough, please read this book. If you want to know why Europeans think the U.S. death penalty is so barbaric, again, please read this book.
  
  
• A Devastating Read
  By A1V0PN0W020CXR on 2006-05-02
  For those of us who like to think that the justice system of the USA is the best in the world, the contents of this book will be nothing less than devastating. Sr. Helen details how two men, both probably innocent, were executed in spite of the purported "safeguards" in the death penalty process. Revealed for all to see is a "justice" system that has become corrupt, populated with judges and prosecutors whose passion for justice has been expropriated by a passion for the law, with The Law the end, instead of merely a servant of justice. As an example, an appeal submitted by one of these two men's attorneys was titled "Notice of Appeal" instead of "Petition for Appeal" and so the Virginia Supreme Court refused to review the case--then and forever, in spite of strong new DNA evidence that showed this man was probably innocent. This was a very powerful argument against the death penalty, and against the legalism that has almost entirely taken over our courts.
  
  
• As an undecided about the death penalty (and thus, unbiased reader)
  By A1V7450OVB0WUO on 2005-07-17
  This book is amazing. I am so glad that I randomly picked it up at a library a couple weeks ago. Although I had heard of Dead Man Walking, I had no idea who this author was. Sister Helen Prejean, as it turns out, is an amazingly impressive person and writer.
  I was full of ambivalence about the death penalty when I first started reading this book. I knew the issue, and although I intellectually sided with the abolitionist case, I emotionally sided with the pro-death faction. However, after reading this book I now feel that there should, at least, be an immediate moratorium imposed on all executions in the United States (and the rest of the world...) Prejean uses her personal experiences combined with well-established research to present her case. And what a case it is!
  The book discusses two cases where the defendant's guilt was seriously in question, but was nonetheless put to death. They were both denied justice because of technicalities, such as an ineffective public defender failing to object to serious biases presented by the prosecution during the original trial, and the Supreme Court issuing a new decision on a separate case, that had it been issued a couple months earlier, would have prevented the defendant from being put to death. Prejean then goes on to state her personal views on the death penalty and discusses the application of the death penalty in relation to the location of the trial and the race and economic class of the defendant. I have really learned so much from this sister.
  In addition to the amazing substance of the book, it is also extremely well written. I love the non-fiction genre as a whole, but I realize that although a book might cover a fascinating topic, it may read dry. This is not the case with The Death of Innocents. It is an emotionally compelling book, and one that is powerfully written. There have been countless places in the book where I have either flat-out cried at the injustice that was served or had to wipe tears from my eyes.
  This is an emotionally compelling look at one of the most important civil rights issues of our times. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to delve further into the complex issues of sanctioned government killing. And although I cannot claim one side or another in the death penalty debate--I don't think reading a single book would ever determine such an imporant issue for me--- I have gained an immense amount of knowledge from the reading of this book. I cannot wait to pass this book along to everyone that I know
  
  
  
• Naivity of Recent Reviewers
  By A1CZ3WJ7OEWI3R on 2005-07-31
  Contrary to the naive words of death penalty rights advocate Sam Jones and "C Trew", Sister Helen wrote an extremely accurate portrayal of Joseph O'Dell and the circumstances he encountered throughout his conviction and trial. Having known both Sister Helen and Joseph O'Dell, and having been involved with the last few years of the case before he was executed, I can attest to the fact that great injustices were done, and that Sam Jones, who claims to have expertise on this case, has nothing more than the superficial knowledge of one who read outsider opinions on the case. The mere fact that he used a quote describing the accused spoken by THE PROSECUTOR himself as evidence of O'Dell's malicious nature is proof alone that he is biased, one-sided and unfit to provide an account of the proceedings. Sam Jones' own contradictory remarks diminish his credibility without my assistance, having claimed that O'Dell was privy to exemplary counsel, and then two sentences later claiming that the injustice he encountered in the appeals process was due to an ignorant mistake made by O'Dell's lawyers. Seem consistent? Didn't think so.
  
  As far as C Trew's account, you admonish Sister Helen for presenting biased views and inaccurate facts, when you yourself have the audacity to sit here and present HEARSAY as evidence of O'Dell's character. Furthermore, you apparently possess little knowledge about the facts that you do present. Do you know WHY Joe O'Dell murdered another individual? Because that person attacked him with a KNIFE in PRISON, and O'Dell was forced to defend himself. Why do you think he received no punishment? Come on people. Let's not criticize people for doing one thing and then demonstrate hypocrisy by doing the same. I'm 21 years old and I have more intelligence than that.
  
  And please, explain to me, why the Vatican, the Italian Parliament, and the Pope himself would extend their hospitality to a convicted murderer whose guilt was so unmistakably obvious. Explain to me why they would make fly Joseph O'Dell's body to Italy for a proper burial and make him an HONORARY CITIZEN of their country if Joseph O'Dell's case was so black and white as you claim it to be. Please. Have a little common sense. Sister Helen Prejean has common sense. Read her book. It is one of the most eye-opening, truth-telling pieces I've ever read, and you will be a much more informed, involved individual if you do so as well.
  
  
  
  
• THE DEATH OF INNOCENTS
  By AGQS656DYMAQ7 on 2006-02-17
  THIS IS A VERY MOVING ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THE REAL LIFE STORIES OF PEOPLE WHO THE LEGAL SYSTEM HAS FAILED . THE HEART RENDERING ACCOUNTS GIVEN BY HELEN PREJAN A VERY HUMAN AND UNDERSTANDING PERSON MAKES YOU WONDER WHAT IS JUSTICE CAN IT EVER BE SEEN AS AS DEATH SENTENCING BEING JUST SURELY NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE ANYONES LIFE
  
  
• Amazing
  By A16OWAUMM97R1G on 2006-04-18
  This book is absolutely amazing. Very in-depth and quite simply incredible. I love it.
  
  
• Helen Prejean at her very best
  By A1ROA70CSTKN8M on 2006-11-14
  All those who support "lawful" executions must read this book. It should give even the most ardent supporters pause to think. This may be especially true for those public officials still in office today.
  
  
• Emotional drivel.
  By A8XBPJ6YRBTYW on 2007-10-09
  Helen Prejean has elevated her beliefs above God and everyone else who does not share her emotional, "growing compassion." The mere suggestion that if God does not meet Prejean's human standard of compassion, then he is not worthy of her worship, is offensive to me. Hey Sister Helen, It's not about YOU! Prejean's beliefs that scripture has been misinterpreted to support the death penalty and that she knows the true mind of Christ are, while warm and fuzzy, inaccurate and misdirected. That innocent people are sometimes convicted of crimes and ultimately imprisoned for life or executed is a tragedy. But to say that this justifies the abolishment of the death penalty is ridiculous. Don't bother with this book it is an old lady grasping for straws to support her cause.
  
  
• Good going, Sister
  By A3MQ672FYFNM7B on 2006-03-05
  "The Death of Innocents" is Sister Helen Prejean's follow up to her bestseller, "Dead Man Walking."
  
  The book tells the story of Dobie Gillis Williams who was sentenced to death. There were numerous inaccuracies in his case and Sister Prejean goes over all of the evidence. She also discusses Joseph O'Dell who she felt was wrongly put to death. I wish the book would have included some pictures of these men that were detailed (no pictures were included in the book, except a small picture of the Sister on the inside jacket).
  
  You don't have to be for or against capital punishment to know that the men the Sister followed have been wrongly and unjustly treated.
  
  Some of the book was written like a text-book (The Machinery Of Death), however overall it was thought-provoking and interesting.
  
  
  
• Three Florida cases: Jerry Rogers, Roy Swafford, Peter Ventura
  By A25WCZP66QCYC3 on 2006-07-01
  Jerry Layne Rogers, Sr. -- wrongfully convicted and innocent. From 1989 - 1992, I was his investigator at CCR [The Office of Capital Collateral Representative, a state agency representing death-sentenced persons].
  
  Mr. Rogers' case consisted in 1992 of at least 80 boxes of documents, from court files, prosecutor and law enforcement files, trial and evidentiary hearing transcripts, etc. Mr. Rogers's case was the largest and most complicated that CCR has ever represented that I am aware of.
  
  The second largest and most complicated was that of Mr. Gerald Stano, whose lead attorney during most of the development of his case was Mark E. Olive.
  
  In 1995, Mr. Rogers began receiving pro bono representation from the Washington, D.C. law firm Covington and Burling. The result was an unanimous Florida Supreme Court (FSC) 26 page opinion ordering a new trial in Mr. Rogers' case due primarily to prosecutorial misconduct, in particular Brady v. Maryland violations.
  
  To read the opinion, go to the FSC website, then at "Public Information", to the recent opinions, to the year 2001, then toward the bottom at February 15, 2001, one will find the FSC opinion.
  
  During the summer of 2002, Mr. Rogers was re-convicted, however sentenced to life upon the jury recommendation. Now twice Mr. Rogers has been wrongfully convicted.
  
  In 2004, the Florida 5th District Court of Appeal denied relief. The FSC declined to accept jurisdiction and thus denied the petition for review.
  
  Mr. Rogers' case is pending Federal review.
  
  
  
  
  For those interested in reading the narrowly decided by four to three vote Florida Supreme Court opinions regarding two more death sentenced persons whose innocence is an authentic issue, please go to the FSC website, then go to the recent opinions, then chose the correct year and scroll down to the following two cases:
  
  Roy Swafford: April 18, 2002
  
  Peter Ventura: May 24, 2001
  
  
  Additionally, the issue in the below cases is DNA testing that proves that Roy Swafford did not rape Brenda Rucker:
  
  Roy Swafford: March 26, 2004 Case Nos. SC03.931 and SC03.1153
  
  
  
  Please also read other books about Florida's death row by David von Drehle and Michael Mello - also availabe at Amazon.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account Of The Death Penalty In The United States
• Vector
• Dead Man Walking
• Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment? The Experts on Both Sides Make Their Case
• Welcome to Hell: Letters & Writings from Death Row (Criminal Justice)