Innocence claim is no longer a parole hurdle in some states
High-profile wrongful convictions are helping spur a change in some states that once considered a convicted inmate’s claims of innocence to be a reason to deny parole.
At least four inmates in New York have won parole despite their claims that they weren’t guilty of the crime that sent them to prison, the New York Times reports. Inmates in other states, including California and Alaska, have also maintained their innocence and obtained parole.
One of the New York inmates who won his freedom is Sundhe Moses, who was convicted in a 1995 shooting that killed a 4-year-old child. The first time Moses appeared before the parole board in 2011, he said he had previously lied when he claimed to be guilty. The board denied parole, but allowed it when Moses appeared a second time and outlined problems with his conviction.
Civil rights lawyer Ron Kuby represents Moses. “Parole commissioners, like the rest of society, have come to recognize that there are far more innocent people in prison than we had ever imagined, so they’re more receptive to that argument,” Kuby told the Times.
