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Arkansas Supreme Court Decision Allows New DNA Testing in Case of the ​“West Memphis Three,” Convicted of Killing Three Children in 1993

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On April 18, 2024, the Arkansas Supreme Court decided 4-3 to reverse a 2022 lower court decision and allow genetic testing of crime scene evidence from the 1993 killing of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis. The three men convicted in 1994 for the killings were released in 2011 after taking an Alford plea, in which they maintained their innocence but plead guilty to the crime, in exchange for 18 years’ time served and 10 years of a suspended sentence. 

Florida Man Exonerated of Murder and Released from Death Row

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Ralph Wright Jr.
Ralph Wright Jr. (left)
Ralph Wright Jr. was exonerated and released from Florida’s death row on Tuesday after a circuit court acquitted him of a 2007 double murder.

In May, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that there was not enough evidence to prove Wright was guilty of the murders and remanded the case back to the Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court with instructions that Wright be acquitted.

Wright was convicted in 2014 of the murder of his ex-girlfriend and their 15-month -old son. 

No physical evidence linked Wright to the crime and there was no indication he was in the area at the time. 

Prosecutors said a single glove left at the scene belonged to Wright, but no DNA evidence linked the glove to him.

Wright was found guilty, nonetheless, with the jury voting 7-5 to recommend the death penalty. 

Governor Rick Scott has since signed into law a bill requiring that a jury vote be unanimous in order to recommend the death penalty.

“There is no fingerprint, footprint, blood, fiber pattern impression or other physical evidence tying Wright to the crime scene,” the Florida Supreme Court wrote. “There is no cell tower evidence placing him in the vicinity of the crime scene. There is no murder weapon. The only evidence presented by the state to prove that Wright was the murderer is the fact that he had motive and opportunity. But while motive and opportunity might create a suspicion that Wright committed the murders, even deep suspicions are not sufficient to sustain the convictions.”

Wright is the 27th person to be exonerated from Florida’s death row and the 159th person in the nation to be exonerated from death row since 1973.

“Ralph Wright, Jr.’s exoneration is the most recent reminder that Florida’s death penalty system not only devalues life but also imperils innocent lives too,” Brian Empric with Florida Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty said, according to Florida Politics.

➤ Read the coverage here and here.

Source: Innocence Project, Innocence Staff, July 20, 2017

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Location: Florida, USA
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