DNA Reform Bill

Governor supports DNA access bill

(The Columbus Dispatch © 8/13/2009)

A year ago this week, Robert McClendon walked from a stark prison yard as a free man, no longer condemned for a child rape that DNA testing showed he didn't commit.

Man wrongfully convicted in rapes wins pardon

(The Columbus Dispatch © 4/8/2009)

DNA testing freed him from prison in 2004 after 23 years, but he remained shackled in a legal limbo that offered him little hope for the future.

3 freed by DNA tests push reform

(The Columbus Dispatch © 4/2/2009)

A Senate committee was smacked with a sobering dose of reality yesterday from three Columbus men who were improperly imprisoned for a combined 53 years and now want to prevent the same thing from happening to others.

Science Found Wanting in Nation’s Crime Labs

(The New York Times © 2/4/2009)

Forensic evidence that has helped convict thousands of defendants for nearly a century is often the product of shoddy scientific practices that should be upgraded and standardized, according to accounts of a draft report by the nation’s pre-eminent scientific research group.

New Efforts Focus on Exonerating Prisoners in Cases Without DNA Evidence

(The New York Times © 2/7/2009)

In 1988, nine years after Gary Dotson was convicted of raping a woman in a Chicago suburb, his lawyer tried to clear his name with what was then a novel approach: DNA testing, which was conducted on the woman’s underwear.

DNA now solving property crimes

(The Columbus Dispatch © 12/29/2008)

A thief broke into a West Side lumber company and paused for a snack.

Living Free: Wrongly convicted man cherishes simple pleasures and newfound life in a devoted family

(The Columbus Dispatch © 12/28/2008)

Robert McClendon hovered over a bathroom sink in an Easton Town Center department store for about two minutes, unable to find the knobs.

Test of Convictions

(The Columbus Dispatch © Series)

A yearlong review finds deep flaws with Ohio's system for testing DNA to uncover wrongful convictions.

Judge orders Columbus man freed from prison after DNA tests

(The Columbus Dispatch © 08/11/2008)

A Franklin County judge today ordered Robert McClendon of Columbus freed from prison after 18 years for a child rape that new DNA tests showed he did not commit.

DNA not kept in half of states

(USA Today © 08/06/2008)

Half the states lack requirements to preserve DNA evidence, despite a series of dramatic exonerations based on the critical biological material.

The verdict is out on DNA profiles

(Los Angeles Times © 07/20/2008)

State crime lab analyst Kathryn Troyer was running tests on Arizona’s DNA database when she stumbled across two felons with remarkably similar genetic profiles.

When a match is far from a lock

(Los Angeles Times © 05/04/2008)

Police found the naked body of Diana Sylvester near her Christmas tree.

In 5 Ohio cases, DNA revealed a new suspect

(The Columbus Dispatch © 05/04/2008)

When Brian Piszczek was released from prison in 1994, cleared by a DNA test, the Cuyahoga County judge urged police to reopen the investigation.

DNA tests OK'd for 7 inmates

(The Columbus Dispatch © 03/16/2008)

The cold, hard scowl only grew deeper when Glen Haynie learned last week he had received a chance to prove his innocence.

Proposed reforms shown to work

(The Columbus Dispatch © 02/24/2008)

A new bipartisan coalition focused on preventing wrongful convictions is pushing for changes in how crimes are investigated and prosecuted in Ohio.

Pursuit of justice

(The Columbus Dispatch © 01/31/2008)

For 12 hours, they showed him photos from the bloody crime scene, screamed in his ears, threatened him with the death penalty, told him he failed a lie-detector test and even followed him into the bathroom, until Robert Caulley finally gave them what they wanted.

High cost of freedom

(The Columbus Dispatch © 01/30/2008)

NORFOLK, Va. -- Arthur Whitfield is either one of the luckiest men alive or the unluckiest. It's never clear, least of all to Whitfield.

Flashback

(The Columbus Dispatch © 01/29/2008)

Jane Tillar dunked her Lipton tea bag in hot water as her sister walked in with the morning newspaper.

Reasonable doubts

(The Columbus Dispatch © 01/29/2008)

The letters DNA didn't mean anything to the 10-year-old girl eating a slice of cheese pizza.

On parole, men face life sentence

(The Columbus Dispatch © 01/28/2008)

The pigtailed schoolgirl was swinging her backpack in one hand and holding onto her dad with the other when she stopped in front of Anthony Constant's home.

Out of time

(The Columbus Dispatch © 01/28/2008)

GLEN, N.Y. -- The crunch of gravel under car tires rolling up the driveway sent chills across Eli Keim's skin.

State fumbles DNA testing, failing to use key to justice

(The Columbus Dispatch © 01/27/2008)

Imagine that you are charged with a crime you didn't commit.

DNA testing should be used fairly to ensure justice for the guilty and the innocent

(The Columbus Dispatch © 01/27/2008)

And in seeking justice in crimes involving physical evidence from the human body, nothing tells more truth than DNA analysis.

Prosecutors lose veto power

(The Columbus Dispatch © 01/27/2008)

Cameron Sterling's request for a DNA test appeared doomed from the start.

Death Row inmates face higher hurdles

(The Columbus Dispatch © 01/27/2008)

Melvin Bonnell hunched awkwardly over a table at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown, his ankles shackled, his wrists cuffed and bound to a heavy chain around his waist.