Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Catch-up ten: Steven Avery; (Wisconsin); Rodney Lincoln; (Missouri); Midwest innocence Project: Kansas City lawyer talks about filing appeal soon for Steven Avery of Making a Murderer...."Bushnell is also working on a similar murder case in Missouri that also involves police pressuring a witness. “They came to her and said, ‘Behind the door is a bad man, and if you don't pick the bad man, he’ll go free,’” Bushnell said. Rodney Lincoln is still in prison based on that testimony from a child who watched her mother die and survived the 1982 attack herself. “The victim has now realized that it was not Mr. Lincoln who was there. She has recanted that identification and she wants him out,” said Bushnell. Lincoln lost a court appeal in June, even though DNA testing has proved a hair from the murder scene in St. Louis is not his. “There’s literally not a single piece of evidence left to convict him or even suggest him as a suspect. That’s what's even more interesting. He had an alibi,” Bushnell said."..."“We need money - to test things, to get experts,” Bushnell said. It can take an average of seven to 10 years to free an innocent person from prison. Midwest Innocence Project and its partners worked for more than a decade on the case of Floyd Bledsoe of Oskaloosa, Kansas, until a judge exonerated Bledsoe in December. “It’s a slow process, it’s a process that favors lawyers, and it’s a process that favors finality over fairness. When someone’s convicted, the courts care about it being done,” Bushnell said. Midwest Innocence Project took on Lincoln’s case in 2005. Just like in Avery’s case, a right to a speedy trial doesn't mean a right to a speedy exoneration."


"For the first time, the Kansas City attorney representing Steven Avery is talking about his controversial murder case that millions have seen on Netflix’s Making a Murderer. Tricia Bushnell of the Midwest Innocence Project talked to 41 Action News about joining Avery’s legal team and preparing to file an appeal soon to try to free him from prison. “It’s very clear - his innocence, in all of the information that's been out there in the public,” said Bushnell. Before joining the Midwest Innocence Project as its legal director, Bushnell worked in Wisconsin and still holds a license to practice law there - the same state where Avery is serving a life sentence for murder.........Bushnell is also working on a similar murder case in Missouri that also involves police pressuring a witness. “They came to her and said, ‘Behind the door is a bad man, and if you don't pick the bad man, he’ll go free,’” Bushnell said. Rodney Lincoln is still in prison based on that testimony from a child who watched her mother die and survived the 1982 attack herself. “The victim has now realized that it was not Mr. Lincoln who was there. She has recanted that identification and she wants him out,” said Bushnell. Lincoln lost a court appeal in June, even though DNA testing has proved a hair from the murder scene in St. Louis is not his. “There’s literally not a single piece of evidence left to convict him or even suggest him as a suspect. That’s what's even more interesting. He had an alibi,” Bushnell said. It’s just one of the cases Bushnell and Midwest Innocence Project are investigating in five states: Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Arkansas. “There are a lot of these cases. There are a lot of people waiting for help,” Bushnell said. Midwest Innocence Project has 600 cases on its waiting list, but not enough money to investigate them. The not-for-profit relies entirely on donations to investigate wrongful convictions. “We need money - to test things, to get experts,” Bushnell said. It can take an average of seven to 10 years to free an innocent person from prison. Midwest Innocence Project and its partners worked for more than a decade on the case of Floyd Bledsoe of Oskaloosa, Kansas, until a judge exonerated Bledsoe in December. “It’s a slow process, it’s a process that favors lawyers, and it’s a process that favors finality over fairness. When someone’s convicted, the courts care about it being done,” Bushnell said. Midwest Innocence Project took on Lincoln’s case in 2005. Just like in Avery’s case, a right to a speedy trial doesn't mean a right to a speedy exoneration."
http://www.kshb.com/news/only-on-41-kansas-city-lawyer-talks-about-upcoming-appeal-for-steven-avery-of-making-a-murderer