James Murdoch Faces Possible Jail over his involvement in the News of the World Phoner Hacking Scandal

Hacking Scndal is Britain's Watergate

James Murdoch may face jail for News of the World hacking scandal
Published: Friday, Jul 8, 2011, 14:37 IST
Place: London | Agency: ANI

Readers comment: Cameron is too stupid and arrogant  to say he made a mistake or say sorry.

Media scion James Murdoch may face jail for News of the World engineered phone hacking scandal.

Former editor of News of the World Andy Coulson also faces questioning by the metropolitan police on suspicion that he led the hacking of voice mail messages by the newspaper, The Age reports.

Former British home secretary Alan Johnson suggested that Murdoch's announcement of admission that could expose him to prosecution

Murdoch, News International's chairman, is quoted in a press release as admitting that he personally and wrongly approved out of court settlements to phone-hacking victims.

The constant spew of allegations about News of the World's use of phone hacking reached fever pitch this week, forcing Murdoch to announce newspaper's closure.

News of the World had confessed to and apologised for hacking the message banks of several celebrities, sports identities and politicians two months ago.

There was widespread condemnation of actions taken by the newspaper. But, this week, it was alleged that the paper had hacked the phone of a murdered British teenager and deleted some messages in order to retrieve others - in doing so gave the girl's tortured parents some cause for hope that she was still alive and hindering police investigations.

In response to the scandal engulfing his media empire, Rupert Murdoch ordered the shut down of the News of the World which is Britain's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper with a circulation of over 2.6 million.

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_james-murdoch-may-face-jail-for-news-of-the-world-hacking-scandal_1563629

	Rebekah Brooks_Leaving News Of The World After Announcing Closure_8-07-2011

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British cell phone hacking scandal escalates: U.K. companies are pulling ads from the News of the World, a British tabloid caught up in scandal after allegations were made that its employees hacked into the cell phone of murdered schoolgirls and the families of London terror victims.


James Murdoch may face jail for News of the World hacking scandal
Published: Friday, Jul 8, 2011, 14:37 IST
Place: London | Agency: ANI

Readers comment: Cameron is too stupid and arrogant  to say he made a mistake or say sorry.

Media scion James Murdoch may face jail for News of the World engineered phone hacking scandal.

Former editor of News of the World Andy Coulson also faces questioning by the metropolitan police on suspicion that he led the hacking of voice mail messages by the newspaper, The Age reports.

Former British home secretary Alan Johnson suggested that Murdoch's announcement of admission that could expose him to prosecution

Murdoch, News International's chairman, is quoted in a press release as admitting that he personally and wrongly approved out of court settlements to phone-hacking victims.

The constant spew of allegations about News of the World's use of phone hacking reached fever pitch this week, forcing Murdoch to announce newspaper's closure.

News of the World had confessed to and apologised for hacking the message banks of several celebrities, sports identities and politicians two months ago.

There was widespread condemnation of actions taken by the newspaper. But, this week, it was alleged that the paper had hacked the phone of a murdered British teenager and deleted some messages in order to retrieve others - in doing so gave the girl's tortured parents some cause for hope that she was still alive and hindering police investigations.

In response to the scandal engulfing his media empire, Rupert Murdoch ordered the shut down of the News of the World which is Britain's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper with a circulation of over 2.6 million.

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_james-murdoch-may-face-jail-for-news-of-the-world-hacking-scandal_1563629

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/tabloid-tricks-as-news-of-the-world-burns-the-rest-of-britains-media-feel-the-heat/2011/07/08/gIQAVMw23H_story.html

Tabloid tricks: As News of the World burns, the rest of Britain’s media feel the heat

LONDON — As Britain’s most powerful Sunday newspaper crashes and burns, newsrooms across London are feeling the heat.

Media watchers and former journalists say the practices that felled the News of the World were common across the industry in Britain. With 200 tabloid journalists out of work, two people sentenced to jail, and a former editor-in-chief under arrest, those behind the headlines are wondering whether they’ll soon be in them.
“It’s a warning for Fleet Street,” public relations guru Max Clifford said Friday, using the nickname for the national newspaper industry. “A lot of journalists were up to similar things for many, many years.”

Clifford should know. Besides being one of the nation’s best-connected media operators, he was also among the tabloid phone hacking scandal’s most prominent victims.

It was his hefty settlement with the News of the World — a reported $1.6 million (1 million pounds) — that whet other lawyers’ appetites for suing the paper over the practice. That litigation turned up revelations so damaging they proved fatal.

Newsrooms across the country are waiting to see if their publication could be next. Prime Minister David Cameron hinted more heads would roll, saying at a hastily called news conference that there had been “some illegal and utterly unacceptable practices at the News of the World and possibly elsewhere.”

Within hours, Scotland Yard was at the central London offices of the Daily Star Sunday — a downmarket tabloid with a circulation of about 300,000. They walked away with a disc full of computer material relating to Clive Goodman, the former News of the World journalist who served a jail term in 2007 for hacking into the phones of royal aides, setting the scandal in motion.

Goodman was arrested again Friday, this time over allegations he bribed police for scoops. Former News of the World Editor and Downing Street insider Andy Coulson was also taken into custody. Both were released on bail.

The Daily Star Sunday said in a statement that it had never carried “any story that might have stemmed from phone hacking.”

But the cloud of suspicion hangs heavily over many tabloids.

Fleet Street reporters have long been known for stopping at almost nothing to score a scoop, whether it be rooting through trash cans, fast-talking their way past police or handing out checks for hard-to-get interviews.

In one celebrated case, the Daily Mirror — once edited by CNN star Piers Morgan — sent a reporter undercover to work at Buckingham Palace.

In another, News of the World reporter Mazhar Mahmood, posing as a Middle Eastern potentate dubbed the “Fake Sheik,” tricked scores of prominent figures, including sports stars and royalty, into embarrassing indiscretions.

These included getting Princess Michael of Kent to vent some sensational opinions, including an assertion in 2005 that Princess Diana was “bitter” and “nasty.” In 2001, the Fake Sheik drew indiscreet comments from Sophie, Duchess of Wessex, the wife of Prince Edward, that ended her public relations career.
( Oli Scarff, Pool, file / Associated Press ) - FILE - In this April 13, 2010 file photo, Andy Coulson, formerly editor of the tabloid News of the World, and later David Cameron’s director of communications, speaks on a mobile phone in London. London police on Friday, July 8, 2011, arrested Andy Coulson, the former News of the World

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/08/rebekah-brooks-confronted-news-of-the-world-staff

Rebekah Brooks confronted by furious News of the World staff
Former editor, accused of arrogance by one employee, said staff would know in 12 months time why she had not resigned
James Robinson and Mark Sweney
guardian.co.uk,     Friday 8 July 2011 20.34 BST
Article history


Rebekah Brooks has been accused of arrogance during a NoW staff meeting. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
Rebekah Brooks was confronted by angry News of the World staff on Friday when she updated them on the decision to close the title and said that advertisers thought it was a "toxic" brand.

Brooks, who has been removed from a new management committee set up to handle the fallout from the phone-hacking affair by the paper's owner, News International, was accused of arrogance by one employee.

The former News of the World editor, who began her career as a trainee on the title, told the paper's 200 staff: "This is not exactly the best time in my life" but claimed the paper had become toxic and said advertisers would not support it.

The unnamed employee said: "You're calling our newspaper toxic. There is an arrogance there that you'd think we'd want to work for you again." He was applauded as he spoke.

Brooks said: "We know there's no toxicity attached to you guys in the room." She added that everyone at the paper had been betrayed by people they had trusted.

Brooks told staff – many of whom had not been able to use the internet or log on to their computers after arriving for work at the company's London offices – that the title would have faced two years of upheaval had it remained open, given the forthcoming public inquiries into press standards and the original police investigation into phone hacking.

She said staff would be found jobs elsewhere in the organisation if possible.

Brooks claimed she wanted to remain as chief executive of the company because she was acting as a "lighting conductor" for the paper's critics in the wake of the phone-hacking affair.

She spoke of the "team spirit" displayed when she launched the controversial "Sarah's Law" campaign under her own editorship following the murder of Sarah Payne at the hands of a convicted paedophile.

In one heated exchange, Brooks was asked directly why she hadn't resigned. She replied that staff would understand why she had not done so in 12 months' time, but added that she understood why people where angry with her.

In an email to all News International staff, Brooks repeated some of what she had told employees in her address in the News of the World newsroom on the second floor of News International's new offices. The email ended by saying: "The News of the World staff have the toughest and most important job of all. I know they will produce a final issue that will make us all proud."

She also made clear in the email that News International chairman James Murdoch had instructed the management and standards committee – set up last month to handle the company's response to the hacking scandal – to report directly to two directors at News Corp, its ultimate parent company.

It also emerged that Scotland Yard had requested that no News of the World journalist be allowed back into the building after this week's paper is produced on Saturday without being accompanied by security.

It is understood that News International resisted that request, but as staff worked on the final edition, they were also scrambling to save contact details stored on computers in the knowledge they would be lost if they failed to do so.

After staff were told on Thursday that this Sunday's edition would be its last, the TV sets were turned off and the lights went out at the News of the World's newsroom on the second floor of News International office block in London .

Soon after, executives began to make plans to ensure the paper appears. The Sun's news editor was ordered to cut short his holiday and come into the office this morning to provide cover in case News of the World journalists didn't report for work.

The National Union of Journalists has been "inundated" with calls from staff at News International titles asking about membership and rights, despite the fact the company doesn't recognise the NUJ.

A News International insider said staff could see the camera crews gathered outside the entrance to the paper's old building across the road in Wapping. He said there had been rumours the paper might not publish for one week only, or carry no advertising, but "nothing like this".

He said that when "[the Sun editor] Dominic [Mohan] came out of his office and addressed everyone [on Thursday afternoon], his voice was cracking as he told us the news, he was completely shell-shocked like he couldn't believe what he'd just been told".

The insider added: "The whole building feels quite funereal really. It has been pretty quiet and after the huge news of yesterday everyone seems to be keeping their heads down. It is a very weird atmosphere. The issue really is what happens and how it will be after Sunday when the last News of the World is run. Everyone wants to know what is going on."

The News of the World's political editor, Ian Kirkby, told Sky News: "We are committing to the editor, if nothing else. Colin Myler ... deserves a decent farewell."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/08/rebekah-brooks-confronted-news-of-the-world-staff
Media
Rebekah Brooks ·     Phone hacking ·     News of the World ·     Newspapers & magazines ·     National newspapers · Newspapers

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8627000/News-of-the-World-phone-hacking-scandal-hits-No.-10.html

News of the World phone hacking scandal hits No. 10
David Cameron struggled to distance himself from the News of the World hacking scandal after he faced questions over his decision to hire Andy Coulson as his director of communications.


Mr Cameron’s intervention came 24 hours after the announcement that the News of the World would close, and on the day detectives arrested both Mr Coulson and a former reporter at the News of the World over allegations of phone hacking and illegal payments to police


In a press conference minutes before Mr Coulson, the paper’s former editor, was arrested by police, the Prime Minister repeatedly stressed that the appointment was “his responsibility” but declined to apologise or acknowledge a mistake had been made.
He admitted that the relationship between politicians and the media had become too close.
He said the current system of press regulation needed to be overhauled and ann-ounced two inquiries, one into phone hacking and one into the conduct of the media.
Mr Cameron’s intervention came 24 hours after the announcement that the News of the World would close, and on the day detectives arrested both Mr Coulson and a former reporter at the News of the World over allegations of phone hacking and illegal payments to police.
Mr Coulson was editor when most of the alleged hacking is said to have taken place but was given a “second chance” with the job for Mr Cameron.
RELATED ARTICLES
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Secret recording of Rebekah Brooks's address to staff 08 Jul 2011
In other developments:
:: The Prime Minister said that James Murdoch, the chairman of News International and the son of Rupert Murdoch, had “questions to answer” after he admitted making mistakes in his handling of the scandal. He also indicated that Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International and also a friend, should have resigned.
:: Media regulators suggested they may intervene to stop BSkyB being run by News Corp, the Murdoch family’s main company, on the grounds that the directors are not “fit and proper”.
:: Mrs Brooks told staff at the paper that it had to be shut down because worse revelations about its activities were imminent. She was stripped of her role investigating the scandal.
:: Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, faced growing questions over his hiring of a former News International employee accused of wrongdoing, which he denies.
Mr Cameron sought to seize control of the scandal which has dominated the news agenda for a week. The Prime Minister indicated that the alleged criminality at the newspaper would lead to major changes in the entire media industry.
“Because party leaders were so keen to win the support of newspapers we turned a blind eye to the need to sort this issue, get on top of the bad practices, to change the way our newspapers are regulated,” he said.
The Prime Minister described the News of the World scandal as a “wake-up call”, adding: “Over the decades, on the watch of both Labour leaders and Conservative leaders, politicians and the press have spent time courting support, not confronting the problems.
“Well, it’s on my watch that the music has stopped and I’m saying, loud and clear — things have got to change.”
Mr Cameron’s pledge to intervene in the crisis has been criticised by opposition politicians because of his decision to bring Mr Coulson into Downing Street.
He repeatedly refused to apologise for that decision, saying he had received “assurances” from Mr Coulson that he had no knowledge of phone hacking at the newspaper.
Asked at a press conference if he had “screwed up” by employing Mr Coulson in the wake of his resignation from journalism, Mr Cameron said: “People will decide.” He added: “I decided to give him a second chance but the second chance didn’t work. The decision to hire him was mine and mine alone.”
He said a company had run a “basic background check” on Mr Coulson before he was employed while the Tories were in opposition. He had received no “actionable” information about the former editor and was unaware of “specific” warnings.
Mr Coulson resigned from Downing Street in January after News International passed new evidence to the police on alleged phone hacking. Mr Cameron said he had spoken to and met Mr Coulson since then. He said: “I think he did his job for me in a very effective way. He became a friend and he is a friend.”
Downing Street sources said that the Prime Minister was currently giving Mr Coulson the “benefit of the doubt” until any evidence emerged proving that the assurances he gave were misleading.
Mr Miliband demanded that Mr Cameron apologise for the decision. The Labour leader said: “His wholly unconvincing answers of what he knew and when he knew it about Mr Coulson’s activities undermine his ability to lead the change that Britain needs.”
Mr Cameron said that a reported resignation offer from Mrs Brooks, also a good friend, should have been accepted.
Comments
What Cameron has done is too little too late. He has reacted after events forced him to react rather than pro-actively dealing with the problem.

He is fatally flawed and I have not the slightest confidence in yet more useless "inquiries" given what we saw on WMD and cliamtegate.

There is more to to this phone-hacking caper than just accessing voice-mail-boxes with passwords. 

To say the truth you cant trust anybody inouer Country Cameron, Police and some of the the Papers we live in the Europien Country was has the most coraptien and lies. I dont trust nobody, in this Country Money talks and Cameron has got a lot to ancer for what a shumble.

Tabloid journalists are the scum of the earth.  Bottom feeders, always seeking to stir up muck.  Their editors try to influence public opinion, usually for the worse - such as the papers attacks on the royal family.  The NOWT should have been closed years ago.

Cameron and other politicians need to be very careful about dealing with such deplorable people, if they must do so.

DC's looking like a right fool. Lucky for him that Labour has a socket puppet in charge. Anyone with a brain could take our Dave to the cleaners.


My Google Voice number has been awfully quiet lately!  Those mysterious unknown Satellite phone numbers and overseas hucksters just seemed to get awfully quiet in the past week. 

Coincidence?

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/22376/end-of-the-world-for-news-of-the-world

End of the world for News of the World
12:43 am | Saturday, July 9th, 2011

LONDON—The Murdoch media empire has unexpectedly jettisoned the News of the World after a public backlash over the illegal guerrilla tactics it used to expose the rich, the famous and the royal and remain Britain’s best-selling Sunday newspaper.
The abrupt decision on Thursday stunned the paper’s staff of 200, shocked the world’s most competitive news town and ignited speculation that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. plans to rebrand the tabloid under a new name in a bid to prevent a phone-hacking scandal from wrecking its bid for a far more lucrative television deal.
“This Sunday will be the last issue of the News of the World,” James Murdoch, son of the media magnate, announced in a memo to staff.
Mushrooming allegations of immoral and criminal behavior at the paper—including bribing police officers for information, hacking into the voice mail of murdered schoolgirls’ families and targeting the phones of the relatives of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and the victims of the London transit attacks—cast a dark cloud over News Corp.’s multibillion-dollar plan to take full ownership of British Sky Broadcasting, an operation far more valuable than all of Murdoch’s British newspapers.
Public outrage
Faced with growing public outrage, political condemnation and fleeing advertisers, Murdoch stopped the presses on the 168-year-old newspaper, whose lurid scoops have ranged from Sarah Ferguson’s claims she could provide access to ex-husband Prince Andrew to motor racing chief Max Mosley’s penchant for sadomasochism.
James Murdoch said all revenue from the final issue, which will carry no ads, would go to “good causes.” The paper has been hemorrhaging advertisers since the phone-hacking scandal escalated this week, with companies including automakers Ford and Vauxhall, grocery chain J. Sainsbury and pharmacy chain Boots pulling ads from the paper.
Police say they are examining 4,000 names of people who may have been targeted by the tabloid, which sells about 2.7 million copies a week.
Hacking admitted
The paper has acknowledged hacking into the messages of politicians, celebrities and royal aides but maintained for years the transgressions were confined to a few rogue staff. A reporter and a private investigator working for the paper were jailed for hacking in 2007.
But in recent days the allegations have expanded to take in the phone messages of 13-year-old Milly Dowler, who disappeared in 2002 and was later found murdered, as well as the families of two other missing schoolgirls.
James Murdoch said if the allegations were true, “it was inhuman and has no place in our company.”
“Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad,” he said, “and this was not fully understood or adequately pursued.”
“While we may never be able to make up for distress that has been caused, the right thing to do is for every penny of the circulation revenue we receive this weekend to go to organizations—many of whom are long-term friends and partners—that improve life in Britain and are devoted to treating others with dignity,” he said.
Shock waves
The announcement sent shock waves across the British media establishment, and among News of the World staff. Features editor Jules Stenson said the news was met with gasps and some tears.
“No one had any inkling,” he told reporters outside the company’s London headquarters. “There was no lynch mob mentality, there was just a very shocked acceptance of the decision.”
Some suspected shutting the paper was a ploy to salvage Murdoch’s British media empire as well as the job of Rebekah Brooks, the trusted chief executive of his British news operation.
“News Corp. has taken a bold decision to stop printing the News of the World and close the title. Mr. Murdoch was clearly not willing to jeopardize his bid for BSkyB,” said markets analyst Louise Cooper of BGC Partners in London. “Murdoch has shown what a brilliant operator he really is.”
‘Cynical decision’
Graham Foulkes, whose 22-year-old son David was one of the 52 people killed in the 2005 London transit bombings—and who suspects his phone may have been hacked—said the paper’s closure was “a cynical decision” by Murdoch.
“The only language (Rupert) Murdoch speaks is the dollar and this must have hit him hard,” Foulkes said.
The 43-year-old Brooks, editor of News of the World at the time of the eavesdropping allegations, has maintained she did not know about it. James Murdoch said he was “satisfied she neither had knowledge of nor directed” the phone hacking.
News International spokesperson Daisy Dunlop denied rumors that The Sun, the News of The World’s sister paper that publishes Monday through Saturday, would now become a seven-day operation. Still, she seemed to leave room for further developments.
“It’s not true at the moment,” she said.
Same culture
According to online records, an unnamed UK individual on Tuesday bought up the rights to the domain name “sunonsunday.co.uk.”
Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, one of the tabloid’s alleged hacking victims, said closing the paper would not resolve the problems at News International.
“Cutting off the arm doesn’t mean to say you’ve solved it,” he said. “There is still the body and the head and the same culture and that’s why there has to be a public inquiry into it. I cannot accept for a moment that at the top of the company, Mr. Murdoch—and certainly Rebekah Brooks—didn’t know what was going on.”
But Charlie Beckett, director of the POLIS media institute at the London School of Economics, said it was a bold move aimed at resolving a situation that had gotten out of control.
The long-running hacking saga exploded on  Monday with the revelation that the News of the World had hacked into Milly Dowler’s voice mail soon after her 2002 disappearance and deleted some messages, giving her parents and police false hope the girl was still alive and hampering their investigation. Her body was discovered months later. AP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/former-tabloid-editor-arrested-pm-cameron-promises-full-investigation/2011/07/08/gIQAlujP3H_story.html

Cameron vows inquiry into tabloid scandal

By Karla Adam and William Booth, Published: July 8 | Updated: Saturday, July 9, 5:22 AM
LONDON — The government of Prime Minister David Cameron was engulfed in a rapidly spreading scandal that saw his former spokesman arrested on allegations that when he served as top editor of Britain’s most popular tabloid newspaper his staff hacked into cellphone accounts and bribed police for confidential information.

Just a year into office, Cameron fought to assure angry Britons that he was as appalled as they were by allegations that one of Rupert Murdoch’s flagship newspapers had snooped on ordinary citizens -- including victims of the London transit bombings in 2005 -- using the tabloid “dark arts.”
The Conservative Party leader announced two separate inquiries into the revelations, saying “no stone will be left unturned” and “the investigation will go where it goes.”

At a press conference, reporters asked Cameron how he could have hired a former tabloid editor as the public face of his administration, who resigned in January after persistent revelations that his former newspaper had engaged in widespread phone hacking.

The Friday arrest of Andy Coulson, former spokesman for 10 Downing Street, was a stunning development in a fast-moving story that has rocked the British media and political world. It follows the announcement Thursday that the salacious News of the World will publish its final edition on Sunday, after 168 years in print.

Leaving a south London police station late Friday night, Coulson, 43, told a scrum of jostling reporters that there was a lot he wanted to say “but I can’t.”

Coulson was editor of the News of the World when the newspaper allegedly engaged in illegal hacking of the cellphones and voice mails of aides to the royal family, celebrities, politicians and relatives grieving from the loss of loved ones from the London transit bombing in 2005.

In his remarks, the prime minister said he remained a loyal friend of Coulson but promised to support both the police investigation and others that seek to learn how widespread was the illegal eavesdropping. Police sources say as many as 4,000 mobile phone accounts could have been hacked.

Cameron also faced questions about his ties to James Murdoch, and his father, Rupert, whose newspapers loom large in British politics. The Murdoch’s News Corp is also trying to purchase the remaining 60 percent of the United Kingdom’s most popular pay-TV satellite channel, a move which requires government approval.

Coulson has denied any knowledge of the hacking. Top executives at Murdoch’s News Corp have described the illegal snooping as the work of a rogue reporter and a private investigator.

That reporter is Clive Goodman, 53, the former News of the World royal reporter, who was arrested again on Friday over “allegations of corruption.” Goodman was jailed in 2007 after he pleaded guilty to hacking into private phone messages in connection with pursuing stories about the British monarchy.

The scandal emerged after Goodman wrote stories in 2005 about Prince William that contained details about the young royal arranging a meeting with his knee surgeon – something known to very few people. The articles raised alarm bells in the royal household.
Prime Minister David Cameron's former communications chief was arrested Friday, the latest to be swept up by Britain's rapidly evolving media scandal over phone hacking and bribing police. (July 8)
Phone hacking scandal closes News of the World
British phone hacking scandal widens
UK journalist arrested in widening phone hacking scandal
Murdoch's News International admits role in phone-hacking scandal

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/murdochs-news-international-admits-role-in-phone-hacking-scandal/2011/04/08/AFpNkh4C_story.html

Murdoch’s News International admits role in phone-hacking scandal

Rupert Murdoch’s powerful U.K. news arm reversed course and admitted its role Friday in a long-running phone-hacking scandal that has thrown into question the prime minister’s judgment and threatened Murdoch’s biggest-ever deal.

News International, parent company of Britain’s top-selling News of the World tabloid, had vigorously denied that it knew journalists were hacking the phones of politicians, celebrities and members of the royal family, blaming a handful of “rogue reporters” for the scandal.
But in a major turnaround for the company, News International — part of Murdoch’s global media empire News Corp. — said Friday it would admit liability and pay compensation in eight cases — although many more people believe they were targeted.

Those who will receive an “unreserved apology” from the group include actress Sienna Miller and politician Tessa Jowell.

The scandal brought into question the judgment of Prime Minister David Cameron, who appointed former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as his head of communications. Coulson ran the paper at the time of the hacking scandal.

Although Coulson has denied knowledge of the hacking scandal, he was forced to resign as Cameron’s media manager this year, saying the focus on the controversy was too great a distraction.

Analysts said the move was an attempt to limit potential financial costs as News Corp. tries to complete its planned $14 billion purchase of pay-TV operator BSkyB — a deal that has angered other British news operators who fear the group’s growing influence over Britain’s media.

“Following an extensive internal investigation and disclosures through civil legal cases, News International has decided to approach some civil litigants with an unreserved apology and an admission of liability,” it said in a statement.

“We have also asked our lawyers to establish a compensation scheme with a view to dealing with justifiable claims fairly and efficiently. . . . We will, however, continue to contest cases that we believe are without merit or where we are not responsible.”

Lawyer Mark Lewis of Taylor Hampton Solicitors, which represents four individuals suing the News of the World — including horse jockey Kieren Fallon — said that he had yet to receive any settlement offers but welcomed the development.

“This is a good stab in the right direction, but it is a long way from being over,” he said. “There are people who don’t even know at this stage that they are victims.”

“This is being driven by business considerations because clearly the reputational damage is just mounting,” media consultant Steve Hewlett said. “The price that they will pay for admitting liability is way lower than the consequences of fighting on all fronts.”

A spokesman for Britain’s Department of Media said the admission would not affect News Corp.’s planned takeover of BSkyB, which is set to be given the green light in the next few weeks by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/uk-journalist-arrested-in-widening-phone-hacking-scandal-turned-herself-in-at-police-station/2011/06/27/AGBRYgnH_s

UK journalist arrested in widening phone hacking scandal; turned herself in at police station

By Associated Press, Published: June 28
LONDON — Britain’s Press Association news agency said Monday one of its reporters was arrested by detectives investigating a widening phone hacking scandal.

Scotland Yard said that detectives questioned the 34-year-old on suspicion of intercepting private communications, after she turned herself in at a central London police station. She was released on bail hours later.
Press Association identified the journalist as royal reporter Laura Elston, but did not provide any more details.

Dozens of celebrities and public figures in Britain have claimed their phones were hacked by reporters, but so far the scandal has only involved the Rupert Murdoch-owned The News of the World tabloid newspaper.

In 2007, the tabloid’s former royal reporter Clive Goodman and private detective Glenn Mulcaire were jailed for intercepting messages from members of the royal household.

Three of the paper’s journalists have been arrested and questioned since police reopened a probe into its practices, but no new charges have been brought.

The paper’s owners have apologized, admitted wrongdoing and reached cash settlements with some of the victims, including actress Sienna Miller.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/more-alleged-victims-in-phone-hacking-by-uk-tabloid-pm-cameron-urges-new-investigation/2011/07/06/

Report: tabloid’s phone hacker targeted relatives of dead soldiers

By Associated Press, Published: July 6 | Updated: Thursday, July 7, 5:18 PM
LONDON — A published report says that the telephone numbers of relatives of dead military personnel have been found in files amassed by a detective employed by a Sunday tabloid newspaper.

The Daily Telegraph’s report in Thursday’s edition could not be independently verified, and the newspaper did not identify the source of its information. There was no indication whether any of those telephones had been hacked.
The BBC reported that relatives of some soldiers say they have not been contacted by police, but that a newspaper had asked them about possible hacking.

The News of the World, the newspaper which is the focus of a criminal investigation, issued a statement saying it would be “absolutely appalled and horrified” if there was any truth in the allegation.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Tuesday he was deeply shocked by charges that a tabloid newspaper hacked into the phone mail of an abducted teenage girl and may have hampered the investigation into her disappearance. (July 5)

Posted at 12:26 PM ET, 06/07/2011
Sienna Miller receives compensation in phone hacking case
By Jen Chaney


Sienna Miller now has that phone hacking case behind her.

Sienna Miller has settled her claim against the tabloid News of the World in a phone hacking case and will receive 100,000 pounds in compensation.

Reuters reports that Miller — star of “Factory Girl,” “Alfie” and a lengthy, rocky relationship with Jude Law — also was granted an injunction that will prevent further illegal access to her voicemails and publication of personal information.

Miller is one of several high-profile individuals who have pursued lawsuits — including Law, who filed a test case — against News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary that owns News of the World, for hacking into their phones and using information obtained from personal voice mails in published articles.

According to the Financial Times, Miller changed her cell phone number three times in three months when she became concerned that someone was tapping into her phone. Articles containing private information about Miller that was allegedly obtained via hacking were published in the News of the World back in 2005 and 2006.

Scotland Yard is currently investigating the phone hacking case, which has grown wide in scope and will likely involve compensation being paid to additional people, including Miller’s stepmother, interior designer Kelly Hoppen.

As the Guardian notes, Rupert Murdoch’s News International recently issued a public apology that acknowledged phone hacking is a rampant problem at the News of the World, as opposed to bad behavior committed by one reporter as the company originally claimed.

“Past behaviour at the News of the World in relation to voicemail interception is a matter of genuine regret,” the statement said. “It is now apparent that our previous inquiries failed to uncover important evidence and we acknowledge our actions then were not sufficiently robust.”

The Innoncense Project

Kenny Waters with the help of his dedicated sister

 Betty Ann Waters
freed from a wrongful convection after wrongly spending 17 years in Jail
 because of a corrupt police officer who just wanted a conviction at all costs just to help her career



note_police_officer_Nancy_Taylor_the Waters_case

Newspaper_clip_Kenny_Waters_arrest1

Kenny Waters
	Incident Date: 5/21/80 Jurisdiction: MA Charge: Murder, Robbery Conviction: Murder, Robbery Sentence: Life	Year of Conviction: 1983 Exoneration Date: 6/19/01 Sentence Served: 18 Years Real perpetrator found? Not Yet Contributing Causes: Informants/Snitches Compensation? Yes

About Kenny Waters

Kenny Waters served 18 years in prison for murder he didn’t commit before DNA testing proved his innocence. His sister, Betty Anne Waters, put herself through college and law school in order to help with her brother’s case. She worked with the Innocence Project to bring about his exoneration in 2001.

Sadly, Waters passed away six months after his release. He was 47 years old and had spent more than a third of his life in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Kenny Waters’ case is the subject of the film “Conviction,” in which Sam Rockwell plays Waters.

Read more on Waters’ wrongful conviction and his exoneration.

Watch the trailer and find showtimes in your area.

View key documents from the case, inlcuding Waters’ mugshot, a photo of the murder weapon and more.

See a slideshow of Waters family photos.

About Betty Anne Waters

Betty Anne Waters was 29 years old when her brother Kenny Waters was convicted of a murder in Ayer, Massachusetts. He swore he was innocent and Betty Anne vowed to do everything she could to help overturn his wrongful conviction.

For two decades, she fought for justice in Kenny’s case, putting herself through college and law school in her pursuit. Finally, in 2000 Betty Anne and the Innocence Project obtained access to DNA testing on evidence from the crime scene in Kenny’s case. The results proved his innocence and led to Kenny’s release in March of 2001.

Today, Betty Anne lives in Bristol, Rhode Island, and works as the general manager of a pub. She works to help the Innocence Project spread the word about wrongful conviction by speaking out about her story and the cause of wrongful conviction.

Read Betty Anne’s first letter to the Innocence Project seeking assistance with Kenny’s case.

See a slideshow of Waters family photos.

Read more about Kenny’s case and the true story behind “Conviction.”

Kenny Waters served 18 years in prison for murder he didn’t commit before DNA testing proved his innocence. His sister, Betty Anne Waters, put herself through college and law school in order to help with her brother’s case. She worked with the Innocence Project to bring about his exoneration in 2001.

Sadly, Waters passed away six months after his release. He was 47 years old and had spent more than a third of his life in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Waters’ case is the focus of the film “Conviction,” which was released in October 2010.

• Visit our “Conviction” page for videos, resources and the story behind the film.

• View a slideshow of Waters family photos and pictures from the day Kenny was freed

• View original documents and images from the case

• Watch a 3-minute video on the story behind “Conviction,” featuring Betty Anne Waters, Kenny Waters and Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck

More on Kenny Waters’ wrongful conviction and exoneration:

The Crime
On the morning of May 21, 1980, Katherina Reitz Brow was stabbed to death in her Ayer, Massachusetts, home. Her body was found at 10:45 a.m. — she had been stabbed more than 30 times and her linen closet had been ransacked. There were bloodstains throughout the house and the kitchen faucet was running. Her purse, some jewelry and an envelope where she kept cash were all missing.

The Investigation
Investigating officers responded to the victim’s house shortly after her daughter-in-law discovered her body. Crime scene investigators recovered hairs, blood and fingerprints in the house, including two fingerprints in blood — one on a toaster in the kitchen and the other on the running faucet — that were considered potentially tied to the perpetrator. The apparent murder weapon, a bloody paring knife, was collected from a wastebasket in the house.

Kenny Waters became a suspect because he lived next to the victim, with his girlfriend, Brenda Marsh. He worked at the Park Street Diner in Ayer, where Brow was a frequent customer. It was apparently known to diner employees that Brow kept a large amount of cash in her home.

Waters was questioned by police on the day after the crime and provided an strong alibi that he had worked until 8:30 a.m. on the day Brow was killed and a coworker had driven him home. He changed clothes and had been in the Ayer courthouse for a 9 a.m. appearance with his attorney. He said he left the courthouse after 11 a.m. and returned to the diner, where he stayed until 12:30 p.m. Officers examined his clothes and body and did not see any apparent blood stains or cuts. He was fingerprinted and questioned further but not charged. Four months later, officers asked Waters to submit to a voice stress test, which he did voluntarily and passed.

The case remained open for more than two years. In October 1982, a man named Robert Osborne, who was living with Marsh, Waters’ ex-girlfriend, approached the Ayer Police Department and allegedly offered to provide information on the murder in exchange for money.

Osborne said Marsh had told him that Waters confessed to her that he had killed a woman. It is unknown whether Osborne was ever compensated for the information he provided. Officers then interrogated Marsh and allegedly threatened to charge her as an accessory to murder and take away her children if she didn’t corroborate Osborne’s claim. She initially refused, saying Osborne’s statements were untrue. Eventually, however, she agreed to corroborate the details provided by Osborne. She told police that Waters had returned home on the morning of the murder with a long, deep scratch on his face. Based on these statements, Waters was charged with murder.

The Trial
Waters’ trial began in Ayer in May 1983. Although police had collected and analyzed fingerprint evidence in the case and had used fingerprints from the toaster and faucet to exclude Waters and several other suspects during the investigation, these records were apparently not provided by police to prosecutors. Therefore, the prosecution and defense proceeded with the trial under the false assumption that no fingerprints of value had been collected at the scene of crime.

The state’s case relied heavily on the statements of three witnesses. Marsh testified that she had seen the defendant with a scratch on his face and that he had admitted to her that he had killed Brow. Roseanna Perry, another former girlfriend of Waters’, also initially told police that she had no information about the crime but after more than three hours of interrogation and threats of arrest, told them Waters had told her something about stabbing a woman and stealing her money and jewelry. She testified to this statement. A friend of Brow’s who worked with Waters at the Park Street Diner said Waters had sold her a ring that had belonged to the victim. She said she paid $5 for the ring and gave it to police. Workers from the packing company where Waters had previously worked stated that a knife similar to the one found at the crime scene had gone missing. The knife was manufactured by the company where the victim’s husband worked, however.

A forensic analyst also testified for the state about test results on blood from the crime scene. Blood types O and B were found in the apartment. The victim was type B and Waters and the victim’s husband were both type O. The analyst told the jury that 48% of the population has Type O blood. The analyst also testified that three hairs collected from the crime scene — including one in the victim’s hand and one on the murder weapon — did not match the victim or Waters.

Waters raised an alibi defense, saying that he was at work at the Park Street Diner until 8:30 a.m. and then at court until 10:45 a.m. His time card from that week, however, had gone missing and wasn’t presented as evidence. Although it has been revealed that police indepently confirmed Waters’ work schedule during the investigation, this evidence wasn’t presented during trial.

Waters was convicted on May 11, 1983, and sentenced to life in prison.

Appeals and DNA Testing
Waters appealed his conviction several times between 1983 and 1999. Although Roseanna Perry recanted her trial testimony that Waters had admitted guilt, his appeals for a new trial and for federal habeas corpus relief were denied. Several times during this period, Waters and his representatives requested complete documents in the case from the Ayer police department, but were given the same incomplete documents used at trial. Critical evidence of Waters’ innocence, including the fingerprints and the timecards, was withheld.

After Waters’ conviction, his sister, Betty Anne Waters, sought to prove his innocence. She put herself through college and law school, all with the goal of exonerating her brother. In 1999, she located the Type O blood evidence collected from the scene of the crime and obtained a court order to preserve the evidence for possible DNA testing. In 2000, she began working with the Innocence Project on the case. Together Betty Anne Waters and the Innocence Project reached an agreement with the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office to allow a private lab to conduct DNA testing on the evidence. The results excluded Waters and the victim’s husband, proving that Waters was not the perpetrator.

Reinvestigation and Exoneration
In March 2001, the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab verified the DNA results, and Waters’ conviction was vacated two days later. After nearly 18 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Waters was freed while prosecutors considered whether to retry him.

The Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office opened a new investigation of the case to determine whether to retry Waters. The reinvestigation was led by a state police officer, who found the police reports to be incomplete, and contacted Ayer police officers who had been involved in the original investigation. At this point, for the first time, the police turned over complete records from the case — including a police report confirming Waters’ work schedule and extensive documentation on the fingerprint evidence that had been collected before trial.

On June 19, 2001, the District Attorney’s office dropped all charges against Waters and his exoneration became official. Sadly, after only six months of freedom, Waters died in a tragic accident on September 19, 2001. He was 47 years old.

Since his death, representatives of his estate have settled a civil lawsuit with the town of Ayer, and the case was the subject of a 2010 feature film, “Conviction.”


Ralph Armstrong served more than 28 years in Wisconsin prisons for murder before a judge overturned his conviction in 2009 based on evidence that a prosecutor had deliberately withheld evidence of his innocence more than a decade earlier.

The Crime
On the afternoon of June 24, 1980, Charise Kamps, a 19-year-old student at the University of Wisconsin was found strangled to death in her Madison, Wisconsin, apartment. She was naked and face-down in her bed with a bathrobe belt draped across her back.

The Investigation
Investigators collected clothing and other evidence from the victim's apartment, including fingerprints and hairs.

The victim had drunk alcohol and used drugs with Ralph Armstrong, his brother Steve Armstrong and others on the night she died. Ralph Armstrong told police that he had used cocaine with Kamps that night and that the two had been in her apartment alone for a short time around 9:15 p.m. before joining friends elsewhere. Police learned that Armstrong owed Kamps's boyfriend $400, and witnesses said they saw him hand her cash on the night of the crime.

The Identification
A neighbor of Kamps' told police he was sitting on his porch that night and saw a lean, muscular man with long, dark hair drive up to the area in a black and white vehicle around 12:30 a.m. and park out of sight. The witness said the man ran into and out of Kamps' building three times before finally disappearing to the area where his car may have been parked.

Before an identification procedure was conducted, police arranged for the witness to be hypnotized. A detective and the hypnotist viewed photographs of Armstrong and his car during the videotaped hypnosis session, but the detective testified that the witness did not see the photos. The witness later disagreed, saying he did see Armstrong's photo in the hypnosis room. The witness allegedly described the perpetrator as having a long nose and bushy eyebrows, and said the perpetrator was 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 5 inches tall. He changed the height estimate to six feet at the prodding of the hypnotist. Armstrong, who had long, dark hair at the time, is six-feet, two-inches tall.

Ten days after the crime, police conducted a "pseudo re-enactment" lineup near the crime scene with Armstrong and four other participants who were police officers wearing wigs. At the advice of his attorney at the time, Armstrong passively resisted what his attorney felt was a rigged lineup, so he went limp during the lineup and had to be carried by two officers. The witness identified Armstrong as the perpetrator, but also pointed out to police that the other participants were clearly wearing wigs. He would later confirm that he said at the time the lineup was "fixed."

The Trial and Physical Evidence
Armstrong was arrested and charged with raping and killing Kamps. He was tried before a jury in 1981. The state's case rested on forensic evidence, eyewitness identification testimony and an alleged motive involving the money Armstrong owed Kamps' boyfriend.

A forensic analyst testified that several head hairs collected from the bathrobe belt draped across the victim's body and the bathroom sink were "consistent" or "similar" to Armstrong's hair. She also identified several pubic and head hairs that she said came from neither Kamps nor Armstrong. In closing arguments, however, the prosecutor exaggerated the importance of her findings, saying "two of the defendant's hairs were on this robe."

Similarly, a forensic analyst found a positive reading for the presence of chemicals in human blood on several of Armstrong's fingers and toes, but she wasn't able to determine any characteristics of the blood. The prosecutor exaggerated this finding as well in his closing argument, saying "that was Charise Kamps' blood."

Armstrong's fingerprints were also found on a bong in Kamps' apartment, but the defense argued that Armstrong had moved the bong when he was in the apartment earlier on the night of the murder.

The forensic analyst testified that semen was detected on the bathrobe, and that it came from a Type-A secretor (a person whose blood type is found from bodily fluids like semen). Armstrong is a Type-A secretor.

The eyewitness who been hypnotized identified Armstrong in court as the man he saw run in and out of the victim's apartment building for ten minutes around 12:30 a.m. on the night of the crime.

Prosecutors also sought to show that Armstrong's claimed whereabouts on the night of the murder were unrealistic. They said he could not have been at the victim's house at 9:30 p.m. because the route he said he drove allegedly could not have allowed for a stop at the victim's apartment. Instead, they argued that he came to her apartment after midnight, saying that was when he left the fingerprints and murdered the victim.

The state argued that Armstrong had allegedly paid the victim $400 in cash toward a loan her boyfriend had given Armstrong on the night in question. The cash was not discovered in the apartment the next day, and Armstrong deposited $315 into his bank account the next day.

Armstrong's defense attorneys challenged the prosecution's case on many fronts — from the timeline of the night to the eyewitness identification and the forensic evidence. Defense attorneys called an expert in hypnosis and questioned the validity of the eyewitness identification, presented evidence that the hair and blood evidence were being used improperly and offered a timeline of the night's events according to Armstrong. The defense argued that Armstrong had received $315 from his brother on the day after the crime.

Despite these efforts, Armstrong was convicted and sentenced to life in prison plus 16 years.

Post-Conviction Appeals
Armstrong filed several unsuccessful appeals in the years after his conviction. In 1991, he sought a new trial based on DNA test results showing that he could not have been the source of the semen on the bathrobe belt. His appeals were denied, however, with a state appeals court calling the semen evidence "an insignificant piece of circumstantial evidence linking Armstrong to Kamps and to her apartment."

The Innocence Project became involved in Armstrong's case in 1993, working with Wisconsin attorneys Jerome Buting and Keith Belzer. More advanced DNA testing was conducted in 2001, excluding Armstrong and the victim's boyfriend as the source of the head hairs on the bathrobe belt, and finding that the semen stain used against Armstrong at trial was connected to the victim's boyfriend. Based on these results, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2005, granting him a new trial.

While a new trial was pending, a woman testified at a hearing that she had called Dane County Assistant District Attorney John Norsetter in 1995 to report that Armstrong's brother, Steve, confessed that he, not Ralph, was guilty of the crime, and that he feared Ralph would be exonerated by DNA and come after him if he found out Steve was the real guilty party. The woman said she described Steve's gruesomely detailed confession to Norsetter, who did not report this evidence to defense attorneys and did not pursue the lead. Steve Armstrong had disappeared shortly after the crime and never again contacted his brother Ralph. Steve died in 2005.

In 2006, more forensic testing was done on the crime scene evidence — including mitochondrial (mtDNA) tests, an advanced technique that can develop DNA profiles from degraded samples and hair follicles. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) tests of hairs from the crime scene excluded Ralph Armstrong. Because mtDNA is inherited from one's mother, Ralph and Steve Armstrong would be expected to have the same mtDNA profile.

Six forcibly removed pubic hairs, found on the bedspread on which the victim's body lay, were tested for mitochondrial DNA. Those tests proved they did not come from Ralph Armstrong , the victim or her boyfriend. Another semen stain was found, this time on the bathrobe belt found draped across the victim's body. Further DNA tests of the semen stain from the robe belt excluded Ralph Armstrong again, as well as the victim's boyfriend. Despite those exculpatory results, the state announced it would retry Armstrong for the crimes. Then, despite a court order requiring prosecutors to notify defense attorneys any time evidence in the case was moved or analyzed, Norsetter secretly ordered additional DNA tests. These illegal tests used up the biological evidence, preventing any further testing. Moreover, the Y-STR DNA testing Norsetter ordered in 2006 focuses on the Y chromosome and would not have distinguished genetic material between males with the same father.

The defense did not learn about the woman's 1995 call to Norsetter until 2007. At that point, the defense argued that Norsetter's decision to order Y-DNA tests may have indicated that he was trying to get a conviction against Ralph even if his brother's indistinguishable Y-DNA was found. At a subsequent court hearing Norsetter admitted under oath that he did get a call in 1995 from a woman claiming to have heard a confession in a big case, and that it could have been about Ralph Armstrong, but his memory was vague. He admitted he never told the defense or any court because, in his opinion, the information wasn't credible enough to do so.

Based on the destruction of evidence and the prosecutor's suppression of potentially exculpatory evidence for more than a decade, there was proof that Armstrong's due process rights had been irreparably compromised. A state circuit court judge dismissed the case against Armstrong in July 2009, saying it was clear that the prosecutor in the case had acted "in bad faith." Prosecutors announced in August 2009 they wouldn't appeal the dismissal, and Armstrong was officially cleared. As of October 2009, Armstrong was incarcerated in New Mexico on a parole violation.

Levon Brooks
	Incident Date: 9/15/90 Jurisdiction: MS Charge:Capital Murder, Sexual Battery Conviction:Capital Murder, Sexual Battery r Sentence: Life	Conviction Date: 1/20/92 Exoneration Date:03/13/2008 Sentence Served:16 Years Real perpetrator found?Yes Contributing Causes: Government Misconduct, Unvalidated or Improper Forensic Science Compensation? Not Yet

Levon Brooks served 16 years in Mississippi prisons for a 1990 rape and murder of a three-year-old girl he didn't commit. In 2008, DNA testing cleared another man, Kennedy Brewer, who had been sentenced to death for a nearly identical murder that happened in the same town less than two years after the crime for which Brooks was convicted. The DNA results implicated the perpetrator of that crime, and he confessed to committing both murders, clearing Brooks.

The exonerations of the two men, both Innocence Project clients, revealed troubling problems with autopsies and forensic oversight in Mississippi, and the underlined the shortcomings of bite mark comparison evidence.

The Crime
Late at night on September 15, 1990, three-year-old Courtney Smith was abducted from her Brooksville, Mississippi, home. The girl shared a bedroom with her two sisters, ages six and one. Her 26-year-old uncle was asleep in the next room when she disappeared.
Her body was found two days later in a pond 80 yards from her house. She had been sexually assaulted and murdered.
The Investigation
Levon Brooks became a suspect because he was an ex-boyfriend of Smith's mother.

Another man, Justin Albert Johnson, was also briefly a suspect in the case. His ex-wife and son lived next to the Smith residence and he had been inside the Smith house on the day of the abduction.

Dr. Steven Hayne, a Mississippi pathologist, performed an autopsy on the victim shortly after her body was found. He determined that she had been sexually assaulted. He also found possible bite marks on her wrist and referred the case to Dr. Michael West, a forensic dentist in Mississippi who had worked with Hayne on other cases in the past.

West determined that the marks on the victim's body were indeed from human bites, and he took dental impression samples from 12 possible suspects -- including Justin Albert Johnson but not including Levon Brooks.

Ten days after the victim was killed, police interviews the victim's six-year-old sister. The girl's sister said she had seen the perpetrator abduct the victim and identified the perpetrator as Levon Brooks, her mother's ex- boyfriend. Based on the girl's identification, Brooks was arrested.

On the same day, September 25, West took a sample of Brooks' teeth at the local jail. West testified at Brooks' trial that he compared Brooks' sample to the marks on the victim's body and found that two of Brooks' teeth "matched" the marks on the victim's body. He said Brooks made the marks with his two top front teeth. Brooks was charged with capital murder.

The Trial
Brooks was tried before a jury in Noxubee County, Mississippi, in January 1992. The victim's sister testified that she saw Brooks abduct her sister, although her testimony had several contradictions. In addition to the child's unreliable testimony, the state's case rested on the bite mark evidence presented by Dr. West, who testified that "it could be no one but Levon Brooks that bit this girl's arm."

Brooks' defense attorneys presented an alibi defense, that he was working a club on the night of the murder and did not have an opportunity to commit the crime. The defense also challenged West's credentials and findings. After deliberating for about nine hours, the jury convicted Brooks of capital murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Post-Conviction Appeals and Exoneration
Just four months after Brooks was convicted, another young girl was abducted, raped and killed in Brooksville. The facts were startlingly similar, a three-year-old girl taken from her home at night and found in a creek. But the similarities between the cases did not end there. Police focused on Kennedy Brewer, the boyfriend of the victim's mother. Dr. Steven Hayne conducted the autopsy and said he found bite marks on the victim's body. West was called to analyze the bite marks. He confirmed that the marks were from a human bite, and determined that they came from Brewer. Based on this evidence, Brewer was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to death.

The Innocence Project became involved in Brewer's case in 2001, consulting with Brewer's attorneys on DNA testing issues. DNA test results showed that semen from the victim's body excluded Brewer as the perpetrator of the crime and his conviction was overturned. He remained behind bars for six more years, however, awaiting a new trial. Another round of testing matched the profile of Justin Albert Johnson, who had been a suspect during the initial investigations of both Brewer's and Brooks' cases. Johnson was interviewed by law enforcement officials and he admitted to committing both murders, but adamantly denied biting either victim. Following his confession, Brewer and Brooks were both freed on February 15, 2008. Brooks was officially cleared on March 13.

Forensic Fallout
In the wake of the exonerations of Brewer and Brooks, the Innocence Project and several other organizations and individuals began to call for investigations into the work of Hayne and West. For years, Hayne claimed to conduct 1,200 to 1,800 autopsies a year across the state of Mississippi (six times the professional standard), earning him more than a million dollars a year.

Hayne had served as Mississippi's chief medical examiner in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but couldn't fill the position permanently because the state required the official to be properly board-certified, which he is not. The position has been vacant for more than 15 years, however, and Hayne was essentially filling the role on a de facto basis. In August of 2008, just months after the Brewer and Brooks exonerations, the state announced that it was severing all ties with Hayne.

Investigations into several other cases involved Hayne and West are ongoing

Barry Gibbs
	Incident Date: 11/04/86 Jurisdiction: NY Charge: Second-degree murder Conviction:Second-degree murder Sentence: 25 Years to Life	Conviction Date: 03/25/88 Exoneration Date:9/29/05 Sentence Served:17.5 Years Real perpetrator found?No Contributing Causes: Government Misconduct, Eyewitness Misidentification, Informant / Snitch Compensation? Yes

Barry Gibbs was convicted in New York City of committing a murder he didn't commit based on misconduct by a NYPD detective later convicted of arranging and committing several murders and cover-ups on behalf of an organized crime family. Gibbs served 17 years in prison before new evidence led to his release.

The Crime
On the afternoon of November 4, 1986, the body of an African-American woman was found lying under a blanket near a busy Brooklyn highway. She had been strangled to death.

The Investigation and Identification
The lead New York Police Department detective assigned to the case was Louis Eppolito.

A witness told Eppolito that he had been jogging on the day of the crime and had seen a white man and a black woman sitting in a gray car parked by the highway. The man said he then watched the white man walk to the passenger side of the car and pull out a body, lay it on the ground and place a blanket over it. The jogger said the perpetrator noticed him after just three seconds and ran back to the driver side.

Eppolito apparently learned that Barry Gibbs knew the victim. Gibbs voluntarily participated in a line-up and consented to a police search of his apartment. During the search, police found a pair of red jeans that matched eyewitness testimony of what the perpetrator was wearing during the crime; however, the jeans did not fit Gibbs. Police also discovered that Gibbs owned a gray car similar to the perpetrator's car but Gibbs' car was inoperable, had two flat tires, and had not been driven for a substantial amount of time.

During the police lineup, the witness who observed the perpetrator dispose of the victim's body identified Gibbs as the perpetrator despite physical differences in stature and weight. Additionally, a park police officer told responding officers he had seen the perpetrator but was never asked to identify the suspect in a police line-up.

An autopsy was performed on the victim's body. Testing conducted on hair samples found on the victim revealed Caucasian characteristics.

The Trial
The prosecution's case was based on both eyewitness testimony and snitch testimony.

The jogger testified about seeing a white man dump the body. Another state witness was a jailhouse informant who had a very close relationship with a criminal investigator in the Department of Corrections and an extensive arrest record. The informant, who had testified for the state in several other cases, testified that he spoke to Gibbs while he was in jail awaiting trial and Gibbs admitted to killing the victim. A defense witness, who was also incarcerated with Gibbs pre-trial, offered contrary testimony that in conversations with Gibbs over a 4-month period, Gibbs always maintained his innocence. Based on the eyewitness and snitch testimony, Gibbs was convicted and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

Post-Conviction Appeals and Exoneration
Nine years after his conviction, Gibbs contacted the Innocence Project for assistance in obtaining DNA testing to prove his innocence. In response to an Innocence Project motion, a Brooklyn judge ordered the State to search for the evidence — including the caucasion hairs and rope used to strangle the victim, DNA testing on any found items. Despite repeated searches for physical or biological evidence in the case, none could be found. Some of the evidence in the case had been reported as destroyed, other items were never found. Read more about New York City's problems with evidence storage and retention here.

Gibbs' police investigation file was also missing at the time. In 2004, after exhausting all possible searches for evidence, the Innocence Project began the process of referring the case to another project. The next year, police began investigating Eppolito, who had retired from the NYPD, for alleged ties to organized crime. In a search of Eppolito's house in Las Vegas, officers found Gibbs' police file. The Innocence Project once again began working on his case, and requested the US Attorney's office investigate Gibbs' claim of innocence. That re-investigation led to further evidence of Gibbs' innocence.

Eppolito and another former NYPD detective have since been convicted of eight murders and several other charges based on evidence that they plotted and carried out murders on behalf of the Mafia.

In 2005, the eyewitness who had testified at Gibbs' trial that he had seen the perpetrator while jogging in the area recanted his testimony. He said Eppolito had threatened his family if he didn't identify Gibbs in the lineup and again in court.

Based on the witness's recantation, Gibbs was freed from prison in 2005 and cleared. He had served more than 17 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Paul House
	Incident Date: 7/13/1985 Jurisdiction: TN Charge: First-degree murder Conviction:First-degree murder Sentence: Death	Year of Conviction: 1986 Exoneration Date:05/12/099 Sentence Served: 22 Years Real perpetrator found?No Contributing Causes: Unreliable/Limited Science, Forensic Science Misconduct, Bad Lawyering Compensation? Not Yet

Paul House served 22 years on Tennessee's death row before evidence of his innocence — and the intervention of the U.S. Supreme Court — cleared him of murder and led to his release.

The Crime
In the summer of 1985, Carolyn Muncey was found dead near her home in rural Luttrell, Tennessee. Dressed in a nightgown and house coat, her bloodied body was found under some brush on the bank of a creek. She had been raped and beaten.

The Arrest
A few months before Muncey's murder, Paul House had moved into his mother's nearby home. Almost immediately after the incident, police suspected that House, an outsider with a criminal record, was responsible for Muncey's death.

The Conviction
At trial, two witnesses for the state testified that they had seen House wiping his hands on the night of the crime near where Muncey had been found. A pair of jeans collected from House had blood on them, and a forensic expert testified at trial that the blood matched Muncey's ABO blood type. A forensic expert also testified that that House's blood type matched the semen found on Muncey's underwear.

In February 1986, the jury convicted House of first-degree murder, sentencing him to death.

Post-Conviction
While House's attorneys were appealing his conviction, several witnesses came forward with evidence that the victim's abusive husband had killed her. Two women claimed that Mr. Muncey had confessed to the crime at a party one night. A third woman saw him hitting his wife at a dance. A fourth said he had asked her to provide an alibi for him on the night his wife was killed.

Further analysis of the blood on House's jeans cast doubt on whether the blood was actually deposited during the course of the crime. This included testimony from a former Tennessee State Medical Examiner, who stated that in his view, the the blood on the jeans showed enzyme decay — which, he testified, was consistent with blood taken at Mrs. Muncey's autopsy and transported in vials without preservative or refrigeration. The decay would not be expected to be found in blood that came in direct contact with House's pants while the victim was alive.

Additional evidence supported the theory that blood collected at Muncey's autopsy had spilled on House's jeans after they were collected as evidence, whether accidentally or deliberately. The blood vials were not sealed, and were driven 10 hours to the FBI lab by two law enforcement officers. The blood spoiled during the trip due to heat exposure, and FBI records showed that a significant amount of blood from the autopsy vials was missing when the officers arrived at the lab.

More exculpatory evidence came in the late 1990s, after House had spent over a decade in prison. Advanced DNA testing revealed that the semen from Muncey's underwear and nightgown belonged to her husband, not House — contrary to the testimony of an FBI expert at trial, who had incorrectly told the jury that only House's blood group antigens could have been the source of the semen stains.

Release and Exoneration
House's appeals, which called for his conviction to be overturned in light of the array of new evidence, was rejected by several courts before his case was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005. The Innocence Project filed a friend-of-the-court brief on his behalf in the Supreme Court. On June 12, 2006, the court ruled that any "reasonable juror" would probably not have convicted House had they been aware of the new evidence in his favor, and sent his case back to the district court in Tennessee for a full review.

In Tennessee, U.S. District Court Judge Henry Mattice Jr. overturned House's conviction and ordered the state to either release House or to retry him within 180 days. The state appealed the decision, but lost. Bail was set at $500,000 — then reduced to $100,000. An anonymous donor paid the 10% bond, and House, who suffers from chronic multiple sclerosis and is confined to a wheelchair, was released from the Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility on July 2, 2008. He had served 22 years on death row.

Prosecutors requested permission to conduct further DNA testing in the case while House was on bail. The results, from testing conducted on a hair found at the crime scene, material from under the victim's fingernails and other items, pointed to at least one other unknown suspect. Additional investigation conducted by House's new trial team (Assistant Public Defender Dale Potter of Tennessee and Linda Kenney Baden of New York, who agreed to assist House pro bono) cast further doubt on the state's evidence against House. In light of the DNA test results and other evidence, Prosecutors dropped all charges against House on May 12, 2009.

Walter Swift
	Incident Date: 09/02/1984 Jurisdiction: MI Charge: 1st degree criminal sexual conduct, robbery Conviction:1st degree criminal sexual conduct, robbery Sentence: 20-40 Years	Conviction Date: 11/10/82 Exoneration Date: 5/21/08 Sentence Served: 25.5 Years Real perpetrator found?No Contributing Causes: Eyewitness Misidentification, Unvalidated or Improper Forensic Science, Government Misconduct, Bad Lawyering Compensation? Not Yet

Walter Swift served 26 years in Michigan prisons for rape before evidence of his innocence led to his exoneration and release in 2008. He was wrongfully convicted based in part on a highly questionable eyewitness identification and incomplete forensic testimony.

The Crime
On September 2, 1982, a woman was playing with her seven-month-old son in her Detroit home when an intruder grabbed her from behind. He dragged her to her upstairs bedroom, where he removed her clothing and raped her. He allowed her to cover herself with a robe before leading her downstairs to locate her purse. He took $60 from her purse, as well as her wedding band and another $100 in cash from the house. The perpetrator raped the victim again on a rug on the first floor. He then told the victim to close her eyes and fled.

The Investigation
When police arrived at the victim's house, they collected the robe she was wearing and the sheet from her bed. She was taken to a local hospital, where a rape kit was collected. The victim described the perpetrator as a clean-shaven African-American man between 15 and 18 years old, about 5'10'' tall, with an unusual hairstyle with very small braids.

Eight days after the crime, the investigating officer, Janice Paavola, showed the victim several hundred photos of black men between 15 and 25 years old. The victim selected seven photos based on various characteristics in common with the perpetrator. At this time, Paavola decided that the person in the next photo the victim chose would be included in a live lineup. Walter Swift's photo happened to be the eighth she chose, saying his eyes were similar to those of the perpetrator. Paavola wrote in a 2003 affidavit that the victim did not say Swift was the perpetrator and didn't place any emphasis on his photo compared to the other seven photos. The officer "was confident that she would not identify Mr. Swift as the perpetrator in the lineup."

Officers learned that Swift did not have braids, had a mustache and had a black eye at the time of the crime. Despite these inconsistencies, the lineup was conducted a few days later. Swift and four other men participated; they ranged in age from 20 to 34 and ranged widely in height and build. The officer told the victim that the man whose photo she chose would be included. The victim tentatively selected Swift, saying "I believe it is number 2." In her 2003 affidavit, the officer said she did not consider this a positive identification and scheduled a polygraph test for Swift to further investigate his possible role in the crime.

Paavola scheduled the polygraph examination, but would soon learn that it had been cancelled by a sergeant and a warrant had been issued for Swift's arrest. The sergeant told Paavola that "Mr. Swift may not have done this crime but [the sergeant] was sure that he did some crime before and had gotten away with it." Based almost exclusively on the victim's questionable identification, Swift was charged with sexual assault and robbery.

The Trial and Forensic Evidence
Swift was tried before a jury in Detroit two months later. He was represented by a court-appointed attorney.

The state's case focused on the victim's identification of Swift and presented an incomplete account of how the victim identified him. Most critically, during trial, the jury was led to believe that the victim was shown hundreds of photographs at the police station of men who fit her description of the perpetrator, that she selected only Walter Swift's photo out of that photo array, and that she later confirmed the selection in a live lineup. As a result of suppression by state witnesses, and defense counsel's failure to investigate, the jury never learned that the victim selected the photographs of seven other men as well and only identified Swift as the perpetrator after a highly tainted lineup.

Strong biological evidence of Swift's innocence that existed before trial was also never presented to the jury. Prior to trial, defense counsel was provided with a report showing that Swift was a secretor (an individual whose blood group is evident from bodily fluids like semen and saliva) and that testing on semen stains from the robe and the sheet indicated that the semen stains may have been deposited by a non-secretor. Prosecutors called one of the two forensic analysts who conducted tests in the case. The analyst testified that semen was detected on the victim's robe and sheet, but that he did know whether the person who deposited the semen was a secretor. He said that the other analyst on the case had knowledge of this result. The defense did not cross-examine the analyst presented at trial, and waived the testimony of the other analyst entirely.

Swift's attorney, however, was not solely responsible for the failure to provide the jury with complete information about the forensic analysis. A second version of the lab report, which included additional lab results, was withheld by the police and never released to the prosecution or defense. The updated report provided further evidence that the source of the semen was likely a non-secretor and therefore unlikely to have been Walter Swift.

Swift's defense consisted mainly of an alibi. His girlfriend at the time testified that he was with her when the crime occurred. Swift's defense attorney, Lawrence R. Greene, failed to reveal serious flaws in the identification procedure, declined to cross-examine the forensic analyst who testified and did not call the other analyst as a witness. The attorney has been suspended from practicing law several times in the last decade based on misconduct and inadequate representation in other cases and his license was eventually revoked in Michigan.

After a two-day trial, Swift was convicted. Before his sentencing, Officer Paavola visited the judge to explain that she thought he had been wrongfully convicted. Later the same week, Paavola was transferred from the Sex Crimes Unit to patrol duty. Swift was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison.

Post-Conviction Appeals and Exoneration
The Innocence Project accepted Swift's case in 1998 and began requesting searches for the biological evidence in the case. Although all evidence in the case had been lost or destroyed, the investigation began to uncover solid evidence of Swift's innocence. In addition to staff attorneys and clinic students at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, a student from Ireland named Niamh Gunn was assigned to work on the case in 2003, and she would play a significant role in Swift's exoneration.

Gunn won a competition at her college in Ireland to work at the Innocence Project in the summer of 2003; she extended her stay as she became more involved in Swift's case and continued to work on his case for five years after returning to Ireland. In part because of her efforts, the police officer and lab analyst who worked on the case before Swift's trial supported his quest for exoneration.

The cooperation that brought about Swift's exoneration was unprecedented. The prosecutor who originally convicted him and Janice Paavola, the former police officer who testified at his trial, filed affidavits in support of vacating his conviction. The Innocence Project presented all of the evidence it had developed in the case to Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Kym Worthy, whose office investigated the case thoroughly. Worthy's office joined the Innocence Project on May 21, 2008, in asking a Michigan judge to vacate Swift's conviction and dismiss the indictment. He was freed that afternoon after 26 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/Innocence_Project_MidAtlantic_Innocence_Project_and_Hogan_Lovells_US_
LLP_Ask_Virginia_Appeals_Court_to_Exonerate_a_Richmond_
Man_Who_Has_Served_Nearly_27_Years_for_Rapes_He_Didnt_Commit.php

Innocence Project, Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and Hogan Lovells US LLP Ask Virginia Appeals Court to Exonerate a Richmond Man Who Has Served Nearly 27 Years for Rapes He Didn’t Commit

Attorney General and Richmond and Henrico Commonwealth Attorneys Support His Claim of Innocence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 3, 2011

The Innocence Project, the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and Hogan Lovells US LLP is filing legal papers before the Virginia Court of Appeals today asking the court to exonerate a Richmond man who has been incarcerated nearly 27 years for three rapes that DNA and other evidence now show were committed by the notorious “Black Ninja” rapist.  After an extensive investigation that included DNA testing, an exhaustive review of the evidence and polygraph tests, Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Herring and Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Wade Kizer are both calling for Mr. Haynesworth’s exoneration and return to freedom.  Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has also announced that he is supporting the writ seeking a declaration of innocence.

“This a tragic miscarriage of justice that occurred because law enforcement let the pressure of making an arrest in high profile crimes get in the way of finding the real perpetrator,” said Shawn Armbrust, director of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project.  “What’s particularly upsetting in this case is that after our client was arrested and behind bars, rapes matching the same MO continued, yet it didn’t occur to anyone that our client could have been innocent even though he insisted on his innocence throughout four trials.” 
 
Peter Neufeld, Co-Director of the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with Cardozo School of Law, added, “Forty years of social science research—much of it available when these crimes occurred—has concluded that identifications are often unreliable, especially in cross racial crimes.  We hope this case will spur the legislature to demand that all departments across the state enact formal policies that are designed to prevent misidentification. ”

Between January 3 and February 1, 1984, five white women were the victims of rapes or attempted rapes by a young black male in the East End of Richmond, a small area overlapping both the City of Richmond and Henrico County.  On February 5, 1984, Thomas Haynesworth, an 18-year-old Richmond resident with no prior record, was arrested after one of the victims identified him.  The other four victims later picked his photo out of a photo array. Haynesworth was eventually convicted for crimes that occurred on January 3, 30 and February 1, 1984 and sentenced to 36 years in prison.  He was acquitted of the crime that occurred on January 21, and the charges were dropped in a January 27 incident. 

Rapes in the same general area continued throughout 1984 after Haynesworth was arrested, with more than 10 young white women being attacked by a young black male who began to refer to himself to his victims as the “Black Ninja.”  On December 19, police arrested Leon Davis, who was charged with about a dozen rapes that took place during the last nine months of 1984. Davis was eventually convicted of at least three of those crimes and sentenced to multiple life terms. 

After five men were exonerated through DNA testing of biological evidence in the case files of the Department of Forensic Science, Gov. Mark Warner ordered a review of all the cases between 1973 and 1988 where there was evidence suitable for DNA testing.  As a result of this review, it was discovered that the semen recovered from the victim of Haynesworth’s January 3 rape conviction matched Davis, not Haynesworth. 

At this point, the Innocence Project, the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and Hogan Lovells US LLP reached out to the Richmond and Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorneys to review Haynesworth’s other convictions.  While there was no physical evidence for his two remaining convictions, DNA testing proved that Davis was the perpetrator in the case for which Haynesworth was acquitted.

After additional review, the Richmond and Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorneys now agree that Haynesworth is also innocent of the other two crimes.  Haynesworth and Davis are similar in appearance – DNA evidence now proves that the victims in two of Haynesworth’s cases misidentified him as Davis.  However, Haynesworth is not quite 5’7” in height, while Davis is 5’10”.  The victims in the two cases without physical evidence described their attacker as 5’9” or 5’10”.  (Interestingly, after he was convicted, Haynesworth ran into Davis in the Richmond County Jail, and Davis asked him to appear at his trial in hopes of confusing the victim of his identity.  Haynesworth refused.)  Haynesworth also passed polygraph tests about both of the cases that were administered in the presence of the respective Commonwealth’s Attorneys.  Additionally, the MO (modus operandi) in all of the cases is strikingly similar, including:

• Davis committed his crimes either in the early morning or early evening.

• Davis would generally approach his victims casually on the street and then force them to a secluded area. 

• All of Davis’ victims were white females between 15 and 30.  (According to U.S. Department of Justice data only 12% of forcible rapes are committed by perpetrators who rape women of other races.  http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/ascii/SOO.TXT /)

• Davis robbed each of his victims, usually before sexually assaulting them.

• Davis typically engaged in the same sex acts with his victims.

• Davis was unusually talkative during his attacks.

• All of Davis’ attacks occurred in close proximity. The crimes that we now know he committed in the beginning of 1984 occurred within a five block radius of his then address on National Street in the East End of Richmond.  Most of his later attacks occurred further west in the Fan District and the Museum District, consistent with the fact that he married and moved to Parham Road in Henrico.  His wife worked at 2900 Kensington Avenue in Richmond, which is in the Fan District.  

• Davis was armed during his attacks, usually with a knife. The attacker in the Henrico case used a gun but told his victim that he usually used a knife, and 36 hours later the attacker in the Richmond case matching the same description used a gun.

In the papers that will be filed today, Haynesworth asks the court to grant him a Nonbiological Writ of Actual Innocence.  Even though his petition is supported by the Attorney General and both Commonwealth’s Attorneys now believe he is innocent, Haynesworth will likely remain incarcerated while the court decides the case.  There are no mandatory deadlines for the court to reach a decision.  

Misidentification is the cause of 75% of the wrongful convictions that have been overturned because of DNA testing.  In 2005, the Virginia legislature passed a law requiring that each law enforcement agency in the state adopt written eyewitness identification policies, but the Virginia State Crime Commission found that, as of November 2010, at least 25% of the 134 departments across the state still did not have written identification policies and many of the departments with policies use procedures that fall short of best practices. While the Virginia State Crime Commission has vowed to continue seeking improvements, this case demonstrates why the legislature should act now to implement uniform, best practices across the state. Identification procedures that eliminate suggestion by requiring that the identification procedure be administered by an officer not assigned to the case, telling the witness that the perpetrator may not be in the lineup or photo array and asking the witness their level of confidence in the identification have proven effective in reducing wrongful convictions.  Additional information about misidentification is available at www. http://www.innocenceproject.org/fix/Eyewitness-Identification.php.

 “After five years of delay, it’s clear we need the legislature to step up and demand action.  Mistaken identifications don’t just hurt the people who are wrongly identified.  They hurt all of us because the real perpetrator goes uncaught,” said Olga Akselrod, a staff attorney with the Innocence Project.  

Haynesworth would be the fourth person to be exonerated from the state’s review of 210 cases that occurred between 1973 and 1988 where there was sufficient evidence to conduct DNA testing.  (There is also an exoneration pending for a Newport News man before the Virginia Supreme Court.)  Funding for the review is being paid for largely through money from the federal government. 

Download a copy of the writ filed today.
 
Review a timeline of the case. 

The legal team includes Hogan Lovells US LLP partner Ellen Kennedy and associates Thomas Widor and Aaron George.

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CONTACTS:  Paul Cates,pcates@innocenceproject.org
Alana Salzberg, asalzberg@innocenceproject.org

(Photo: Jay Paul)

About “Conviction” The Movie

“Conviction,” an inspiring new film about a woman’s two-decade fight to overturn her brother’s wrongful conviction, opened in select theaters October 15, 2010 and will expand to screens around the world through the month of October.

Learn more about the true story behind the movie here.

The film, directed by Tony Goldwyn and written by Pamela Gray, was eight years in the making. Watch an interview with Goldwyn below, see media coverage of the film, read reviews or visit imdb and Fox Searchlight for more on the making of the film.