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What's going on at the Innocence Project this past month?
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Michael Saunders at the 2017 Innocence Network Conference in San Diego. (Image: Erin G. Wesley/Innocence Project)
Remembering Beloved Innocence Project Client Michael Saunders
We are heartbroken to share that Michael Saunders, age 42, was tragically shot and killed in Chicago last month. Michael was wrongly convicted at the age of 15 along with three other teenagers for the rape and murder of a woman on the Southside of Chicago. They were coerced into falsely confessing to the crime over the course of a two-day police interrogation. Since his exoneration in 2012, Michael had become a father, entrepreneur, and advocate for people returning to their communities after incarceration. Michael will be deeply missed by his loved ones and Innocence Project staff. Learn more about his story.
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Steven Mark Chaney takes off his jacket while walking out of the Dallas courthouse after a court reversed his 1987 murder conviction because of discredited bite mark testimony. Innocence Project Attorney M. Chris Fabricant is on the right. Photographed on Monday, October 12, 2015. (Image: Lara Solt/Innocence Project)
Remembering Exoneree Steven Mark Chaney
The Innocence Project mourns the loss of another member of our family — Steven Mark Chaney. Steven passed away on May 17, just a few years after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declared him “actually innocent” of the 1987 murder for which he was wrongly convicted. He spent more than 28 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. After his release, he became a devoted prison missionary and touched so many lives. He will be missed by all those who loved him. Learn more about Steven’s story.
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WATCH: ‘The Phantom’: The Unjust Execution of Carlos DeLuna
On Dec. 7, 1989, Carlos DeLuna was executed for a 1983 murder of an employee at a gas station in Corpus Christi, Texas, despite always maintaining his innocence. More than thirty years after his execution, a new documentary, The Phantom, offers striking evidence to support his claim and is premiering today in theatres nationwide and on demand. At his trial, Carlos DeLuna insisted that another man, Carlos Hernandez, had actually committed the murder, but prosecutors dismissed his claim asserting that “Mr. Hernandez” was a “phantom” suspect whom he had fabricated. Read more about Carlos DeLuna’s story and watch the trailer.
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Exonerees Cassie River (left) and Anna Vasquez (right). (Image: Erin G. Wesley)
How Homophobia Led to the Wrongful Conviction of Four Texas Women
In 1995, Anna Vasquez and three of her friends were wrongly accused of sexually abusing two young girls in San Antonio, Texas, after one of the women, Elizabeth Ramirez, rejected the advances of the children’s father, Javier Limon. All four of the women identify as lesbians, a fact that colored the investigation into the accusations and case against them. Anna and her friends spent 15 years in prison before being released on bail in 2013 after one of the alleged victims recanted her statement saying that her father had pressured her to lie — they were exonerated with help from the Innocence Project of Texas in 2016. Read more about their story here.
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Exonerations Around the World
Innocence Project Brasil client Robert Medeiros da Silva Santos is celebrating 6 months of freedom. Innocence Project New Orleans client Kaliegh Smith was exonerated on June 14, 2021, after spending 13.5 years wrongfully incarcerated. WMU-Cooley Innocence Project client Corey McCall was exonerated on June 25, 2021, after 15.5 years of wrongful incarceration.
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