Recently in Doubt Remains Category

They're again calling on Gov. Bob Riley to allow testing of evidence in the case of Thomas Arthur. The state had planned to put Arthur to death on Dec. 6, but the Supreme Court halted the execution around 5 p.m. the day before. Testing the evidence could put the issue of Arthur's guilt or innocence to rest once and for all. "Riley is called on to make many difficult decisions as governor. But this isn't a difficult one. Riley should order DNA testing for any Death Row inmate who disputes his guilt and whose case involved evidence that could be screened," says the Birmingham News.

Arthur was set to die by lethal injection, today (Dec. 6) after being in prison 20 years for a murder he says he didn't commit. Some evidence in the case has not been tested for DNA, despite a likelihood that it will point questions about his guilt (or innocence) to rest. Gov. Bob Riley's office has not responded to the Innocence Project's requests for testing, and has refused to hold off on the execution until testing could be complete (it would take just a few weeks).

The Supreme Court stopped the execution (pdf) while they decide if they will hear Arthur's appeal. Previously, they denied his motion for DNA testing based on his failure to meet legal time lines for appeals.

Arthur's daughter, his attorneys, the Innocence Project and Amnesty International have all requested a meeting with the Governor to discuss the case, but he's not agreed to meet with any of them.

"(W)hat does it hurt to do the testing before carrying out Arthur's execution? Even the victim's family has supported Arthur's efforts to get the evidence tested, expressing uncertainty about the truth in the case," the Birmingham news wrote in an editorial yesterday. Arthur has always proclaimed his innocence and there is still much doubt in the case, as the News points out. What everyone is trying to understand, however, is why Alabama is opposing testing evidence that has never been tested before Arthur's execution on Dec. 6. Either way, it could help to put the case to rest.

The Supreme Court effectively ended Arthur's legal battle to halt the execution, having decided not to hear his appeal yesterday. There is some evidence in Arthur's case that has yet to be tested, bot Gov. Bob Riley in Alabama has refused to stay the execution and the state has vigorously opposed allowing the evidence to be tested. The execution is set for Thursday, Dec. 6.

Prosecutors used "violent" drawings Tim Masters made in high school as evidence against him in a murder trial of a classmate. He was convicted about eight years ago, but, "(n)ow, prosecutors say they are ready to move forward with DNA testing on evidence collected from an alternate suspect, who may have also had ties with prosecutors in the Masters conviction," according to the Bournemouth Innocence Project.

Max Soffar won a new trial in 2004, after serving nearly two decades for the shooting murders of four people. He was convicted and sentenced to death a second time, but his defense team says the second trial was almost as unfair as the first. "The ACLU and (the Texas Innocence Network) argued that Soffar was denied the constitutional right to defend himself because Soffar's trial judge refused to admit evidence that another man confessed to committing the murders," says one blogger.

That's unless the Governor or the courts take steps to stop it. The Innocence Project says "... Thomas Arthur will be executed tomorrow despite his claims of innocence and the possibility of DNA testing in his case." The governor in Alabama has refused to allow DNA-testing in Arthur's case. The Birmingham news says "(Governor) Riley's refusal is beyond disappointing, and it's beyond logic. The testing could have been ordered two weeks ago without even requiring a delay of the execution, according to the Innocence Project." It's the second time that Alabama's governor has allowed an inmate to be put to death while questions lingered and DNA remained untested.

Previously:
-ThomasArthurFightForLife.com
-Is Alabama set to execute an innocent man?
-Thomas D. Arthur petition
-Arthur Carmona: LA Times Op-Ed

Similar to Where Doubt Remains, the St. Petersburg Times published a story and multimedia report on a possible wrongful conviction. "Had Leo Schofield taken the deal the state offered -- plead guilty to second-degree murder for 12 to 17 years -- he would have been out of prison years ago. But he insisted he was innocent, rolled the dice and lost. He's in for life."

Many things contributed to to Kirk Bloodsworth's wrongful conviction in Maryland. DNA exonerated him years later. Now, he's speaking out about Troy Davis, who the state of Georgia is set to execute despite substantial doubts as to his guilt. "The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles should grant Troy Davis clemency to ensure that the horrific mistakes made in his case, my case, and numerous others are not repeated," Bloodsworth says. The Georgia Supreme Court recently agreed to hear his case.

He was convicted of molesting several boys nearly two decades ago in a case that was made famous by the "celebrated" documentary, Capturing the Friedmans. Kathi Pollitt says in The Nation that "(t)he ingredients common to sex-panic cases were all present: an over-zealous police and prosecutor, a hostile community, frenzied media, dubious therapeutic practices like recovered memory and hypnosis, immense pressure put on kids to say what the prosecution wanted to hear, evidence withheld from the defense, and so on."

The family is accepting donations for his legal defense at www.friedmandefensefund.org through the National Center for Reason and Justice.