Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences

10/07/2026

Changing science behind shaken baby syndrome may give death row inmate a reprieve

“On Wednesday, the Mississippi Supreme Court unanimously allowed [Bennett] to go to the Rankin County Circuit Court to seek post-conviction relief based on what the court considered newly discovered evidence: recently undermined expert testimony in a California case.”

The Mississippi Supreme Court allowed a death row inmate to go to the Rankin County Circuit Court to seek post-conviction relief based on the changing science of shaken baby syndrome.

10/06/2026

Texas death row case gives Robert Roberson new grounds for evidentiary hearing

“Filings obtained by The Dallas Morning News cite Melissa Lucio’s recent case proceedings as a consequence of moving forward without an evidentiary hearing.”

Nearly a year after Robert Roberson’s last stay of ex*****on, his attorneys are using another death row inmate’s case as grounds to again press a Texas judge for an evidentiary hearing.

10/02/2026

Today is International Wrongful Conviction Day and at CIFS, we arrange a list of simple actions you can take today to help wrongfully convicted individuals. If you’d like to take action today, click the links to learn more about these cases and sign petitions.

Charles Flores: Charles has been on death row in Texas for over 26 years. His conviction relied heavily on testimony of a hypnotized witness who identified him for the first time, in court, 13 months after the crime occurred.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/charles

Annette Cahill: Annette was sentenced to up to 50 years for the murder of a friend and partner. The case went cold for 25 years until a woman came forward and said that when she was 9 years old, she heard Annette confess. No physical evidence points to Annette and she maintains her innocence. There are unidentified DNA profiles on the alleged murder weapon.
https://www.change.org/p/vacate-annette-cahill-s-wrongful-conviction

Brandon Woodruff: Brandon was convicted and sentenced to life without parole for the murder of his parents. Police painted a scenario where Brandon was living a double life and hiding his bisexuality and poor grades from his parents, but those weren’t secrets. Hair from the scene still has not been DNA tested.
https://www.change.org/p/texas-court-of-criminal-appeals-take-up-brandon-woodruff-s-case

Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act in NY: This bill would create a path for wrongfully convicted people to get back into court to prove their innocence, provide post-conviction discovery, access to counsel, and appeal denied claims, including cases involving faulty or misleading forensic science.
https://innocenceproject.org/petitions/new-yorkers-challenging-wrongful-convictions/

10/01/2026

Tennessee Governor Suspends Ex*****ons After Inmate Survives Lethal Injection

“Tennessee has called off another planned ex*****on in 2026 and will review how it puts prisoners to death after an inmate, Christa Pike, survived two doses of a lethal drug in the state’s second botched attempt at capital punishment this year.”

Randy Spivey, a lawyer for Ms. Pike, called on Gov. Bill Lee to commute her sentence after she survived an attempt to execute her by lethal injection. Mr. Lee ordered ex*****ons suspended pending a review.

09/29/2026

Woman convicted of killing her baby in 2002 acquitted amid new medical research

“Significant concerns about that medical evidence emerged years later as the province examined shaken-baby cases from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s”

Jennifer Gaskin was acquitted of manslaughter Tuesday more than two decades after being convicted in the death of her infant son.

09/25/2026

Appeals court rejects finding that Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio is innocent

“The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday rejected a lower court’s finding that death row inmate Melissa Lucio is innocent of the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter.”

A district judge found Lucio “actually innocent" in 2024 and ruled the state had suppressed evidence in her death penalty case.

09/24/2026

William Whateley was wrongfully convicted of arson that burned a Michigan mobile home in 2017. His ex-girlfriend told investigators that Whateley had threatened to burn down the trailer, but messages to that effect were never found. The assistant fire marshal visited the trailer twice, but never entered because of “structural instability”. He relied on photos of the interior and an arson dog to determine that the fire was intentionally set. He testified that he saw pour patterns on the living room floor and the arson dog indicated to the scent of accelerant. Cellular GPS coordinates showed Whateley’s phone being near the trailer, but a time could not be pinpointed.

In 2025, attorneys with Life After Justice, the Exoneration Project, and the Mueller Law Firm filed a motion for a new trial citing an incomplete investigation and invalidated science. After 9 years in prison, Whateley was exonerated in August 2026.

09/23/2026

Sheila Denton was wrongfully convicted of felony murder in 2006 after a local Georgia dealer claimed that Denton confessed to the crime. At trial, the only evidence against Denton was this alleged confession and two bite marks. A forensic odontologist testified that a bite mark on Denton was from the victim and a bite mark on the victim was from Denton. She was convicted and sentenced to life. In 2017, the Southern Center for Human Rights took on Denton’s case.

The American Board of Forensic Odontology guidelines had been updated as advancements in science had shown that matching bite marks was no longer deemed a reliable method of forensic science. We now know that the bite marks in this case may not have been bite marks at all.

In September 2026, Denton was fully exonerated after over 15 years in prison.

09/22/2026

Ouachita DA reopens prosecution of former death row prisoner Jimmie Duncan

“The Ouachita Parish District Attorney’s office attempted to obtain a DNA sample this week from former death row inmate Jimmie “Chris” Duncan in an apparent effort to reopen the case against him for the 1993 death of his former girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter, Haley Oliveaux.”

Duncan spent nearly three decades in prison before his murder case was finally overturned by the state Supreme Court. But this week, the DA’s office obtained a warrant for a DNA sample from him. His attorneys are asking for the warrant to be thrown out.

09/17/2026

The framing of Chris Duncan: Part Two

“Hayne and West were often the tool prosecutors used to inflict that punishment. There are countless cases like Duncan’s, where the question should not have been who killed the child, but whether the child was killed at all.”

“God doesn’t let innocent babies die for no reason. Somebody has to be punished.”