Word: dna
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...hammer blow came when Pierce, a landscaper who was convicted of rape in 1986, was released last week after DNA testing exonerated him. He had been found guilty despite a clean record and plausible alibi largely because of Gilchrist's analysis of hair at the crime scene. "I'm just the one who opened the door," said Pierce. "There will be a lot more coming out behind...
Gilchrist told TIME, "There may be a few differences because of DNA analysis," but she is confident most of her findings will be confirmed. "I worked hard, long and consistently on every case," she says. "I always based my opinion on scientific findings." She insists she didn't overstate those findings to please the D.A.'s office or secure convictions. "I feel comfortable with the conclusions I drew...
...states with a death penalty have been considering moratoriums. In Congress, lawmakers just a few years ago rushed to expand the list of crimes punishable by death; now they are cosponsoring the Innocence Protection Act, which sets minimum standards for appointed lawyers in capital cases and requires access to DNA tests. Americans may overwhelmingly support the execution of Timothy McVeigh, but a shift is taking place across the country. A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll shows 63% in favor of the death penalty, down from 80% seven years ago. Other polls show that 80% think innocent people have been executed...
...change of heart may be most remarkable in Texas, where 40 people were put to death in 2000. So far this year, seven have been executed. Governor Rick Perry, Bush's Republican successor, recently signed a bill giving the accused access to state-paid DNA testing, the strongest such law in the country. A pending bill would add life without parole to sentencing options in capital cases; another would exempt the mentally retarded from capital punishment and improve the quality of lawyers assigned to the cases of indigent defendants. Most striking of all is a bill that would allow Texans...
Virginia, which claims second place in executions, is showing signs that it too may be rethinking its death-penalty fervor. Two weeks ago, Republican Governor James Gilmore signed a bill giving inmates access to DNA testing and marginally easing the state's rigid rules of evidence. The U.S. Supreme Court has nudged the state too, overturning three of Virginia's death sentences in the past three years. Next fall the court could make history when it uses a North Carolina case to reconsider whether executing the mentally retarded is cruel and unusual punishment...