Last week, we jointly filed a lawsuit on behalf of Patricia Young whose brother, Ledell Lee, was denied DNA testing in Arkansas before his execution.
Since the state rushed to execute Lee in 2017 for the murder of Debra Reese, the Innocence Project and the ACLU have continued to investigate his case, collecting new evidence and analyzing evidence that was overlooked when he was alive. The lawsuit asks the court to order the city of Jacksonville to release DNA and fingerprint evidence found at the scene of the crime so that they can be tested and run through national databases for the first time. Will you stand with us in our pursuit of the truth?
Here are a few key facts you should know about his case:
No physical evidence directly connected Lee to Reese’s murder.
At Lee’s trial, the prosecution’s own experts admitted that the results of several of its forensic tests were ultimately “inconclusive,” yet the prosecution inflated the significance of its test results, leading to Lee’s conviction. Today, due to scientific advancements, DNA and fingerprint testing can tell us far more than it could in the ‘90s.
During Lee’s trial, the state argued that hairs from the crime scene were “microscopically consistent” with Lee’s hair based on a visual examination conducted by its expert — but this forensic method has since been discredited. Only DNA testing can scientifically determine the actual source of hair. Read more facts about the case.
You can help us get to the truth in this case by taking these actions:
Started in 1992 as a legal clinic at Cardozo School of Law, the Innocence Project is now an independent nonprofit, affiliated with Cardozo, that exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. www.innocenceproject.org
