Team Gets 80 Requests That Convictions Be Reviewed

In the six months since Orange County prosecutors and public defenders joined forces to examine possibly erroneous convictions, 80 current and former prisoners have requested that their cases be reviewed.

So far, the team of attorneys and investigators has looked at 35 cases and found only one--a 20-year-old rape--that warranted new DNA testing. But the team discovered that the evidence needed to conduct the tests was destroyed, so no more can be done with the case at this time.

The county’s “innocence project” has received national attention because it brings together two traditional courtroom adversaries to take a second look at criminal convictions. Its launch comes as law enforcement is focusing more on using new technology such as DNA testing to determine whether justice was done in old cases.

Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas sent notices to all California prisons last fall encouraging inmates to write him if they believed scientific testing could prove their innocence.

The panel of prosecutors and defense representatives on Monday discussed the first 35 cases. Officials did not provide specifics about the rape case but said it involved a man who had already served his three-year sentence for the crime but wanted his conviction expunged.

About one-third of the cases were rejected because the requests came from inmates convicted outside Orange County, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Camille Hill. Nearly half the petitioners were turned away because there was no scientific evidence to support their claims.

Supervising district attorneys made presentations of each case to the panel, Hill said. Although no cases of wrongful conviction have yet been proved, the process adds an avenue to correct mistakes, Hill said.

“I thought it went very, very well,” Hill said. “There was a lot of cooperation. Everyone was there to make sure justice was done.”

Rackauckas launched the program eight months after authorizing the release of DeWayne McKinney, who served nearly two decades in prison for an Orange County murder that prosecutors now believe was committed by another man.

In 1996, DNA testing led then-Dist. Atty. Mike Capizzi to release Kevin Green, who had served nearly 17 years for the near-fatal beating of his wife. Another man was convicted of the attack after Green’s release.

The overture to prisoners--the notices were printed in both English and Spanish--marks the first time Orange County prosecutors have actively solicited claims of innocence. But the notices include a warning that any blood and DNA evidence that prisoners provide could be used to implicate them in other crimes.

Orange County sends about 4,000 people a year to state prison, so officials were bracing for a flood of responses. They said the 80 requests were manageable as well as gratifying.

“It does give you a sense of confidence in terms of the convictions that have come out of Orange County,” Hill said.

The panel will meet to discuss the remaining cases within the next two to four months, Hill said. At that time, prosecutors will send new notices to state prisons inviting inmates to apply to have their cases reviewed.