Exoneration Roundup

A Wisconsin man who spent 18 years in prison before being released based on a DNA test was awarded $25,000 by the state claims board, the statutory maximum; a lawsuit seeking more is pending.  A Missouri man filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit claiming he was deliberately framed after spending 17 years on death row.  An article discusses the no-compensation policy of Pennsylvania law.  An Amarillo lawyer is seeking to clear Johnny Frank Garrett, executed 12 years ago, by doing DNA testing on evidence that still exists.  Legislators in North Carolina hope that a death penalty moratorium bill has a chance of passage this year after two high-profile exonerations; in one of those cases, Willard Brown pleaded guilty to a murder that Darryl Hunt served 18 years for before being exonerated by DNA.  [Jack Chin]