Category Archives: capital punishment

Disproportionate Harm

Those wrongly convicted of murder suffer great harm. They may spend years in prison under threat of execution; they may even lose their lives. Far from being perpetrators, they are additional victims of the perpetrators. A report published last year, based … Continue reading

Posted in African American, capital punishment, criminal justice, death penalty, exonerations, Mississippi, USA, Willie Manning, wrongful convictions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Validation of Lies*

At Willie Manning’s Steckler-Miller trial, Earl Jordan was the only witness who testified that Willie had confessed to committing the murders. But there were huge problems with Jordan’s credibility. Willie’s “confession”, as recounted by Jordan, involved the highly improbable scenario … Continue reading

Posted in capital punishment, criminal justice, death penalty, Mississippi, polygraph, prosecutorial misconduct, USA, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Shifting Opinions

November 10, 2017 was the day when Willie Manning completed 23 years on death row. There have been many changes since Willie first entered the row; one that should gladden him is the big decline in American public support for … Continue reading

Posted in capital punishment, criminal justice, death penalty, executions, Gallup polls, public opinion, Willie Jerome Manning, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hope in Sherwood Brown’s New Trial

Willie Manning must be happy that his fellow death row inmate and African American, Sherwood Brown, has been granted a new trial by the Mississippi Supreme Court. Like Willie, Brown had been pursuing DNA testing; like Willie, he was granted DNA … Continue reading

Posted in African American, capital punishment, criminal justice, death penalty, DNA testing, flawed forensics, Injustice, innocence, Mississippi, Sherwood Brown, USA, Willie Manning, wrongful convictions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Dirty Secret

It is a “dirty secret”, known by few, that the American death penalty system is “specifically engineered to ensure that those who are convicted stay convicted, guilty or not.”[i] This is how it works. Death sentences routinely result from poor defense … Continue reading

Posted in capital punishment, death penalty, defense attorneys, Fly Manning, Injustice, Mississippi, prosecutor misconduct, prosecutorial misconduct, USA, Willie Jerome Manning, Willie Manning, wrongful convictions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Terrible Old Rule

Samuel Gross wrote an amicus brief[i] in support of Willie Manning for his concluded case from 1993 (Jimmerson-Jordan murders). This summer Gross, writing more generally, highlighted “a terrible old rule that has done great harm to the accuracy of criminal … Continue reading

Posted in Brady v. Maryland, capital punishment, criminal justice, death penalty, Mississippi, United States v. Bagley, USA, Willie Jerome Manning, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Method of Control

Clive Stafford Smith has played a pivotal role in Willie Manning’s cases, first as Willie’s post-conviction lawyer, and later as publicist for some of the injustices inflicted on him. Last month Stafford Smith joined other death penalty experts in condemning capital … Continue reading

Posted in capital punishment, Clive Stafford Smith, criminal justice, death penalty, Mississippi, torture, USA, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Legal Challenges to Execution Methods

Until early April only two US states allowed the firing squad as a method of execution. In early April, Mississippi joined Oklahoma and Utah in permitting this “barbaric anachronism of a different era” Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant approved three additional methods … Continue reading

Posted in capital punishment, death penalty, electrocution, executions, firing squad, Fly Manning, Mississippi, nitrogen hypoxia, USA, Willie Jerome Manning, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Frank Parker: Snitch Testimony

At the trial where Willie Manning was convicted of murdering two students, Frank Parker testified that he had overheard Willie saying he “sold the gun on the street”. Thus Willie was linked to the murders, and specifically to the missing … Continue reading

Posted in capital punishment, death penalty, Fly Manning, incentivized witnesses, jailhouse informant, jailhouse snitch, Mississippi, snitch testimony, USA, Willie Jerome Manning, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Abominations Masked by Secrecy

Willie Jerome Manning first came to the world’s attention because of an article by Clive Stafford Smith, who continues to speak out against the death penalty. Stafford Smith recently described the US death penalty as a dying dinosaur – destined for … Continue reading

Posted in Arkansas, capital punishment, criminal justice, death penalty, execution drugs, executions, Fly Manning, Injustice, innocence, lethal injection drugs, Mississippi, pharmaceutical companies, secrecy, USA, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment