Former death row inmate Timothy Hennis, listed as "exonerated" on the
"innocence list" maintained by the Death Penalty Information Center,
was found guilty of three counts of premeditated murder by a military
jury today. The Fayetteville Observer has this story.
This is the smoking gun that proves what we have been saying all along. The so-called innocence list is nothing of the sort.
This is the smoking gun that proves what we have been saying all along. The so-called innocence list is nothing of the sort.
For years, the "innocence list" has been cited by opponents of the
death penalty as a list of people once sentenced to death who were
actually innocent of the crimes. The DPIC itself carefully avoids
claiming that expressly but promotes the claim through its misleading
title. Death penalty supporters have long
maintained that this claim is false. Proof of actual innocence is not
required to get on the list. In 2006, Justice Antonin Scalia challenged
the list in an opinion in Kansas v. Marsh.
In Hennis's case, his first conviction was reversed on appeal, and on retrial in 1989 the jury decided that the evidence available at that time was not sufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. However, there is a wide difference between doubt of guilt and proof of innocence.
In most cases, an acquittal prevents a second trial. However, because Hennis was in the military at the time and the first trial had been held in North Carolina state court, the double jeopardy rule did not preclude a military trial. In 2006, more advanced DNA technology tied Hennis to the rape and murder of Kathryn Eastburn and the murder of her two daughters, 5-year-old Kara and 3-year-old Erin.
We have known all along that the "innocence list" claim was a lie. Now we have official proof, beyond a reasonable doubt.
In Hennis's case, his first conviction was reversed on appeal, and on retrial in 1989 the jury decided that the evidence available at that time was not sufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. However, there is a wide difference between doubt of guilt and proof of innocence.
In most cases, an acquittal prevents a second trial. However, because Hennis was in the military at the time and the first trial had been held in North Carolina state court, the double jeopardy rule did not preclude a military trial. In 2006, more advanced DNA technology tied Hennis to the rape and murder of Kathryn Eastburn and the murder of her two daughters, 5-year-old Kara and 3-year-old Erin.
We have known all along that the "innocence list" claim was a lie. Now we have official proof, beyond a reasonable doubt.
I wonder how many others on that list got away with murder.