Longview, Wash. — A court reversed Thomas Kennedy’s 2001 conviction for raping his 11-year-old daughter after she later testified that the story was fabricated, The Associated Press reports. Under the state’s Wrongful Conviction Compensation Act, Kennedy was paid $519,973 for the 11 years he served in prison. He was also compensated for the year he had to register as a sex offender and his attorney’s fees.
Sacramento — New figures from the California Department of Justice show that Californians today are less likely to be victims of violent crimes than they were a few years – and even decades – ago, the Sacramento Bee reports. In 2013, the murder rate was 4.6 murders for every 100,000 state residents, down 8 percent from 2012 and 64 percent since 1993.
Sierra Nevada — Forestry officials have opened an inquiry into the near-deadly experience of 12 firefighters during a fire in the Sierra Nevada in September, reports Reuters. The group of firefighters, which included 10 prisoner-firefighters, was almost entirely engulfed in a wall of flames until a helicopter found them and guided them to safety. The incident is now under review by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Cal Fire.
Arizona — The state must improve general health and mental health treatment for about 30,000 inmates, according to the terms of a proposed settlement for a 2012 class action lawsuit brought by prison rights groups. According to The Arizona Republic, the settlement would reduce the time mentally ill inmates can be placed in solitary confinement as well as restrict the use of pepper spray to control prisoners. Under the proposed settlement, the state would not admit any wrongdoing.
Huntsville, Texas — Former death row inmate Manuel Velez was released from prison in September after his death sentence was thrown out in 2012 by an appeals court, reports The Associated Press. His conviction was reversed because of a faulty testimony at Velez’s 2008 trial for the death of his girlfriend’s young son. Velez, whose attorney insisted he is innocent, was released after pleading no contest to a lesser charge of injury to a child.
San Antonio — The highest criminal appeals court in Texas upheld a lower court’s decision to throw out the murder conviction of Vanessa Cameron, the daughter of a San Antonio police sergeant. Cameron was found guilty in 2012 of orchestrating the kidnapping and murder of her child’s father, 26-year-old Samuel Allen Johnson Jr. The lower Court of Appeals granted Cameron a new trial last year, saying that her “constitutional right to a public jury trial was violated” because her supporters could not observe jury selection, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
Woodbine, Ga. — The Camden County sheriff has found a way to keep his jail’s GED courses funded and running despite recent budget cuts to the program. Sheriff Jim Proctor, who believes that such courses help reduce recidivism rates in the county, was able to use profits from the jail’s commissary to provide funds for the GED classes. Proctor said that he could not think of a better place to put the money, according to the Florida Times Union.
Raleigh, N.C. — An autopsy report on Anthony Michael Kerr, an inmate who died after being held in solitary confinement at Alexander Correctional Institution, determined that he died of severe dehydration, according to The Associated Press. Kerr, who was diagnosed with severe mental illness, was found unresponsive March 12 in a van while being transferred from Alexander Correctional Institution to Central Prison in Raleigh. The state Department of Public Safety later fired a captain and four nurses. A fifth nurse and staff psychologist later resigned.
Fort Lauderdale, Fl. — The family of Aleshia Napier settled a lawsuit for $500,000 over Napier’s death with the Florida Department of Corrections and the private companies contracted to provide medical and mental health services at the prison. Napier, then 18, hanged herself with a bed sheet in 2006 while placed in solitary confinement at Broward Correctional Institution. Prior to her death, Napier was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and clinical depression with psychotic features, according to The Root.
Bridgewater, Mass. — State prison officials fired three correctional officers following an internal investigation into an inmate’s death in 2009. The investigation looked into the death of 23-year-old Joshua Messier, who suffered a heart attack at Bridgewater State Hospital after guards strapped him to a small bed at the prison for inmates who are mentally ill. According to the Boston Globe, a department spokesman said hearings conducted over the summer showed that the correctional officers’ actions violated the department’s policies.
Washington — The District of Columbia decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana in October, reports The Associated Press. A person found carrying less than 10 grams of marijuana will now receive a $100 fine for a first offense, $250 for a second offense and $500 for a third offense.
