Dear Florida Media Friends,
24 vs. 22 Death Row Exonerations:
WHY FADP AND DPIC DIFFER
Since Juan Melendez was released from death row on
January 3, 2002, Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP)
has spent considerable time explaining to reporters why FADP counts 24
exonerated prisoners, and the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC)
in Washington, DC counts only 22. The reason is because FADP and DPIC
use different standards to decide which persons should be included in
the list. DPIC does not include Sunny Jacobs and Joe Spaziano, because
they were not ***technically*** exonerated.
DPIC posts the following statement prior to listing a
number of cases of "probable innocence" on their web page at
<http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocothers.html#Released>
"Other defendants, though not exonerated
completely, were released from death row with substantial evidence
of their innocence. Generally, the defendant's conviction was
overturned and then he or she reluctantly entered a guilty plea to a
lesser charge because of the threat of possibly receiving another
death sentence. In most of these cases, no responsible person would
find them guilty. Nevertheless, unlike those enumerated above, they
are technically guilty of some degree of murder. This list is not
necessarily inclusive of all such cases." END OF QUOTE
There are those who would dispute that language,
particularly the phrase "they are technically guilty of some
degree of murder."
Consider then the OTHER EXPERTS who DO count Sunny
Jacobs and Joe Spaziano.
The St. Petersburg Times included both Jacobs and
Spaziano in their 1999 review of Florida's exonerated death row
inmates, which you can now read on the FADP site at <http://www.fadp.org/article1.html>.
and
Professor Michael L. Radelet, preeminent expert on
Florida's death row, also counts Jacobs and Spaziano. In his most
recent version of his document "Recent Developments in the Death
Penalty in Florida," which you can AND SHOULD read at <http://www.cuadp.org/florida/fldpinfo.html>,
he writes in his section on innocence:
"Note that in addition to the 21 cases included
by the Death Penalty Information Center, I also include the Florida
cases of Sunny Jacobs and Joe Spaziano. And, if Governor Bush is
sincerely interested in testing his belief that everyone executed in
Florida was unquestionably guilty, I urge him to look into the case
of Jesse Tafero, whose evidence of innocence is even stronger than
that of Medina and Demps." END QUOTE
Jesse Tafero was Sunny Jacobs' co-defendent.
Enough said. Florida has ***24*** releases of
prisoners wrongfully convicted.
