The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "death row" ...
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Cracked
Fetlz's investigation "exposes how junk science has allowed Texas to keep mentally retarded inmates on death row - and execute several of them - despite a 2002 Supreme Court decision, Atkins v. Virginia, that bans such punishment for these defendants.
Tags: capital punishment; criminal justice; mental retardation; death row; execution; Texas; Atkins v. Virginia
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The Forensic Test
Dennis Lawley was found guilty of murder in 1989 but new forensic methods are calling his conviction into question 19 years later.
Tags: forensics; dennis lawley; wrongful conviction; scott kauffman; death row;
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Death Wish
"Two members of hte national 'right to die' group Final Exit Network secretly assisted a seriously mentally ill Phoenix woman to commit suicide by inhaling helium. The police learned about the assisted suicide only because of blunders by the pair. murder investigation is still ongoing."
Tags: balloons; gas; Jana Van Voorhis; Wye Hale-Rowe; Frank Langsner; Jack Kevorkian; Hemlock Society; Derek Humphrey
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Writs Gone Wrong
The Austin American-Statesman investigates as writs of habeas corpus are found to have errors when submitted to the court. These writs are essential in death row appeals because they "help ensure that the right person will be executed and that verdicts are obtained in accordance with the U.S. and state constitutions." But the newspaper found that "court appointed lawyers routinely submit shockingly botched writs applications. Some are incomplete, incomprehensible or improperly argued. Others are duplicated, poorly, from previous appeals." Yet, these lawyers are not held accountable for these mistakes.
Tags: Writ of Habeas Corpus; death row appeals; court-appointed lawyers; lazy lawyers; overworked lawyers; case load
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Someone Has To Die Tonight
The Lords of Chaos, a group of teenage boys on Ft. Myers, FL, went on a crime spree that ended with the murder of a high school band director. Their crimes included theft, vandalism and blowing up a Coca-Cola building. They even planned, but never had a chance to commit, a racially-motivated mass murder at Walt Disney World. As author Jim Greenhill conducted interviews and got to know the group's ringleader on Death Row, the ringleader and his mother asked the author to arrange the murders of three witnesses. Greenhill delves into how these young boys went so horribly bad.
Tags: Murder; Lords of Chaos; crime spree; teenage crime; Death Row; Kevin Foster
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Innocence Arrested
This article takes a look at prisoners who have spent years in prisons, convicted for crimes they have not committed. Last minute DNA testing while on death row is one way in which these people are released. This story looks at other simpler procedural changes such as videotaping confessions whenever possible that can stop these kinds of wrongful convictions.
Tags: Wrong Conviction; Death row; DNA testing
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Girl's convicted killer seeks freedom
The Orlando Sentinel reviewed the evidence that charged police officerJames Duckett with the 1987 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl and found that the case is unraveling. Among others: a key witness changed her story, claims of missing evidence surfaced, the child had complained about a friend of the family hugging her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. James Duckett is on Florida's death row.
Tags: murder; rape; James Duckett; death row
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The Valessa Strategy
A two-part series on the Valessa Robinson murder case. Ms. Robinson, a 15-year-old girl, was charged with brutally stabbing her mother to death. However, the jury rejected the first-degree murder charge, and convicted her instead of third-degree murder. The article probes into what took place leading up to that verdict, and how Valessa's defense team was able to play down her extensive drug use and sexual experience, and paint her instead as a victim, a vulnerable child. And how on the other hand, her boyfriend -- who wound up on death row -- became the true villain.
Tags: valessa robinson; matricide; jury; stabbing; murder; makeover; adolescent
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Time of Death
Alan Gell had been in prison for eight years when the Raleigh News and Observer set out to prove his innocence. After exposing major oversights by the defense attorneys and finding flaws in witness testimony, the newspaper began publishing the series. As a result of Neff's story, Gell has won a retrial. He remains in prison, awaiting trial.
Tags: Murder; Death Row; innocence; crime; Alan Gell; retrial; justice system
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Prison addicts: On Dope Row
Insight reports on inmates' deaths caused by drug overdoses in state prisons. The story finds that at least 188 prisoners died during the last decade; state prisons lack aggressive and competent drug screening policies; and states are not required to track the number of fatal drug overdoses or confiscated drugs cases. Meanwhile, administrators deny that their prisons have a drug problem.