Abigail Blachman

The State of Indiana is fighting to uphold an attempted murder conviction in which the key witness’s identification was bolstered after he went to hypnosis. The prosecutor in that case, who downplayed the importance of that session and allegedly sought to keep it secret, is now an Indiana judge.

The 1993 attempted murder conviction was based on the word of the victim’s identification, with little supporting evidence. The trial prosecutor did not reveal that he had subjected the victim to hypnosis to win a positive identification; in fact, the federal appeals court wrote in its opinion last week, the prosecutor deliberately sought to conceal that fact.

A joint investigation by Injustice Watch and Capital News Service turns up cases across the country in which mentally disabled men plead guilty to crimes they did not commit, in some cases implicating others who are innocent. The latest installment in our nationwide examination by a coalition of news organizations, “Trading Away Justice.”

Illinois Appellate Court upholds harsh sentence to robber stealing underwear from dollar store. But the dissent contends the majority opinion approves the punishment of poverty, homelessness and addiction, citing words of Nelson Mandela.