How many innocent people have been sent to prison by faulty science in Mississippi?

After the exoneration of two Innocence Project clients in Mississippi in the last month, the Innocence Project and other advocates have called for a thorough review of forensic science practices in the state. An editorial in today’s Clarion-Ledger calls for a modernized crime lab, a state medical examiner to oversee criminal autopsies and more.

Read the full editorial here

. (Clarion-Ledger, 03/16/08)

The Innocence Project currently represents seven more clients seeking post-conviction DNA testing in Mississippi, and our intake team is evaluating an additional 111 cases. We have received more than 50 applications for assistance each year for the last three years.

The Innocence Project accepts cases in which DNA evidence could possibly prove innocence, and only about 10 percent of all criminal cases involve biological evidence that can be subjected to DNA testing. The Mississippi Innocence Project and Innocence Project New Orleans both work on post-conviction appeals cases in Mississippi, including both DNA and non-DNA cases. Mississippi Innocence Project Director Tucker Carrington said this week that about three dozen cases involving Steven Hayne, the notorious medical examiner who testified in both the Brewer and Brooks cases, were in need of review.

Read more here

. (Clarion-Ledger, 03/16/08)