This Week in Innocence News – April 7, 2017

Here are some of this week’s news highlights:

New York mayor announces plan to shut down Rikers Island

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last Friday that he endorses a plan to shut down Rikers Island within the next 10 years. New York Times

Judge orders DNA testing for Nebraska man as result of improved law

A judge ordered DNA testing for Nebraska Innocence Project client Antoine Young, who was convicted of murder in 2009. Young was initially denied testing because the law required him to prove the technology was unavailable during his trial. The Innocence Project worked with the Nebraska Innocence Project and the Nebraska legislature to remove this requirement from the law, paving the way for the judge’s order for testing of evidence in Young’s case. Omaha World-Herald

Texas exonerees testify in support of wrongful conviction reform bill

Exonerees Chris Ochoa and Michael Morton testified at the Texas state capitol in support of House Bill 34, which would require police to electronically record all interrogations in felony investigations and require prosecutors to disclose information about jailhouse informants during trial. Dallas Morning News

Illinois man wrongly convicted of 1957 murder asks judge to clear his name

In 2012, Jack Daniel McCullough was convicted of the 1957 murder of a 7-year-old girl. In 2016, his conviction was overturned when a new prosecutor determined he could not have committed the crime. On Thursday, McCullough asked the judge to clear his name once and for all. CNN