Stories

Wrongful Convictions

Steven Avery, Brendan Dassey of 'Making a Murderer' fame seek commutations

Nearly 21 years after Teresa Halbach's killing, Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey have applied to Wisconsin's Commutation Advisory Board, and a judge has called commutation for Avery "entirely inappropriate."

Courts

Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike receiving medical care after failed execution

Tennessee halted Christa Pike's execution after two rounds of lethal injection drugs failed to kill her, in a two-hour process witnesses said took place largely behind a closed curtain.

Wrongful Convictions

Appeals court stops exoneration in death penalty case

The execution of a woman who claims she was wrongly convicted of killing her 2-year-old daughter has been thrown back into legal limbo.

Wrongful Convictions

Man freed after decades on Utah's death row faces new challenges as legal fight continues

Douglas Carter, released after spending more than four decades on Utah's death row, is adjusting to life outside prison while attorneys seek a finding of factual innocence and potential compensation.

Wrongful Convictions

Scottish CCRC takes another look at controversial 1994 Orkneys murder conviction

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission will review Michael Ross's conviction for the 1994 Mumtaz restaurant murder in Kirkwall, which he has always denied.

Wrongful Convictions

Convicted of a murder he did not commit, Fred Steese struggled after prison

Fred Steese spent two decades in prison for a 1992 Las Vegas murder before judges declared him innocent. He was pardoned and paid about $1.4 million, but his life after prison was troubled. He died in August at 62.

The Case That Changed Disclosure: What Liam Allan's Story Reveals About False Allegations

Liam Allan's 2017 rape trial collapsed when police finally disclosed the complainant's phone messages — a failure that forced a national overhaul of how evidence is shared with the defence.

Wrongful Convictions

Pardon of innocence first step to seeking payment for wrongful conviction

In North Carolina, a wrongfully convicted person must first win a pardon of innocence before claiming up to $750,000 in state compensation; federal civil rights awards have no cap.

False rape allegations

Jay-Z accuser admits her rape claims against the rapper were false

The woman who accused Jay-Z of raping her when she was 13 has recanted, saying in a court filing that she never met him and that her claims against him were false.

England

Association of Prisoners Maintaining Innocence (APMI) Innocence Assembly 2026

Sean Bw Parker reports from the APMI's Innocence Assembly in London, where speakers took on IPP and joint enterprise sentences, a CCRC they called unfit for purpose, and the cases of Andrew Malkinson and Peter Sullivan.