Injustice Watch (https://www.injusticewatch.org/projects/)
Lovell McDowell was awakened one night in April, 1988, by the sound of her infant daughter, Brittany Smith. McDowell found her boyfriend, then known as Charles Robins, holding the 11-month old and hollering, “Brittany, come on. Brittany, wake up. Wake up, Brittany.”
As 2019 ends, we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight stories we’ve published that have had the biggest impact and resonated the most with readers.
Responding to Darlie Lynn Routier’s frantic 911 call from her Dallas County home in 1996, police found her two sons, Devon Routier, 6, and Damon Routier, 5, dying of stab wounds.
This is the first in a series of cases that Injustice Watch is featuring over coming weeks called “Unrequired Innocence.” Each of the
cases involves defendants given death sentences who have not been exonerated, despite significant evidence that emerged casting doubt on their guilt. The case of Larry Swearingen represents the only one of these cases in which the defendant has been executed.
Eighteen days before Stacey Lee Stites was supposed to be married to a rookie police officer, her body was found in April, 1996 by a passerby in the brush on the side of a road in a rural county not far from Austin.
This is the third in a series of cases that Injustice Watch is featuring over coming weeks called “Unrequired Innocence.” Each of the
cases involves defendants given death sentences who have not been exonerated, despite significant evidence that emerged casting doubt on their guilt. Thomas Ward and Karl Fontenot have not been exonerated despite evidence that their “dream confessions” are proven fiction.
A review of the Facebook accounts of thousands of officers around the US — the largest database of its kind — found officers endorsing violence against Muslims, women, and criminal defendants.
Injustice Watch joined forces with other news organizations to examine why innocent people would plead guilty to crimes. At times, it is the logical choice.
Henry and Juan Johnson, wrongly convicted of murder, won a new trial after 11 years in prison. The prosecutor offered to let them walk free — if they pleaded guilty.
A federal investigation revealed 8 Baltimore police officers were stealing from suspects, planting evidence. Most of their victims pleaded guilty. Many were not.
You’ve been arrested and you have a choice: take your chances in court or plead guilty and go home with a criminal record?