EvidenceProf Blog

Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Minnesota

This is the twenty-fourth in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Minnesota treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee.  

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Michigan

This is the twenty-third in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Michigan treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee. 

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Massachusetts

This is the twenty-second in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Massachusetts treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee. 

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Maryland

This is the twenty-first in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Maryland treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee. 

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Maine

This is the twentieth in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Maine treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee. 

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Louisiana

This is the nineteenth in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Louisiana treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee. 

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Kentucky

This is the eighteenth in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Kentucky treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee. 

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Kansas

This is the seventeenth in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Kansas treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee.

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Iowa

This is the sixteenth in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Iowa treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee.  

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Indiana

This is the fifteenth in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Indiana treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee.  

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Illinois

This is the fourteenth in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Illinois treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee.  

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Idaho

This is the thirteenth in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Idaho treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee. 

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Hawaii

This is the twelfth in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Hawaii treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee. 

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Georgia

This is the eleventh in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Georgia treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee. 

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Florida

This is the tenth in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Florida treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee. 

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: D.C.

This is the ninth in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why the District of Columbia treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee.

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The Testimony of the Houlihan's Witnesses at the Willie "Pee Wee" Veasy Trial

In the most recent season of the Undisclosed Podcast, we covered the case of Willie Veasy ("Pee Wee"), who was convicted of murdering John Lewis ("The Jamaican"), in North Philadelphia, about 8 miles from the Houlihan's where Veasy worked. The murder occurred shortly before 10:00 P.M. on January 24, 1992, and the strongest evidence of Veasy's innocence is his time card from the Houlihan's, which showed him clocking in at 5:59 P.M. on January 24, 1992 and clocking out at 1:52 or 1:54 A.M. on January 25, 1992.

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Delaware

This is the eighth in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Delaware treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee.

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Cyntoia Brown & the "51-To-Life" Project: Connecticut

This is the seventh in a series of posts on the "51-To-Life" Project. In Tennessee, if a juvenile is convicted of first-degree murder, there are two sentencing options: (1) life without the possibility of parole; or (2) life with the possibility of parole, with that possibility only existing after the juvenile has been incarcerated for 51 years. In this post, I will explain why Connecticut treats juvenile homicide offenders better than Tennessee.

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Thiru Vignarajah & the New Trials & Tossed 100+ Year Prison Terms For 2 Man Convicted of Killing a Prospective Witness

I hadn't noticed this Baltimore Sun article until seeing this tweet. The title of the article is provocative: "2 men sentenced to more than 100 years in killing of witness to receive new trial." Specifically, according to the article,

Derius Duncan, 27, and Clifford Butler, 25, were both convicted of first-degree murder of Ronald Givens* in 2015. But in an opinion issued on Feb. 2, the appeals court wrote that they should receive new trials because information was unfairly used against them from a proffer agreement Butler had made during the investigation.

So, what happened?

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