Friday Roundup: Overturned Convictions and Troubled Crime Labs

An Ohio man who was convicted of murder based primarily on snitch testimony

had his conviction overturned

this week when a judge ordered a new trial.

An Arizona man convicted in a shaken baby case

will receive a new trial

in light of evidence pointing toward innocence.

A North Carolina judge ruled the

Racial Justice Act

— a law that gives death-row inmates the ability to commute their sentences to life by presenting evidence of racial bias — constitutional. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) has teamed with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to author legislation requiring state and local governments who receive federal grant money

to test backlogged DNA evidence in sexual assault cases

.

A New York crime lab that was put on probation in December for misconduct

produced flawed test results

.

An Ohio court ruled that

an innocent man who was wrongfully convicted of rape

cannot sue law enforcement for prosecutorial misconduct.