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Tag: Postconviction
Events

3rd Annual BJA Forensics Programs Grantees Meeting

On behalf of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the Forensics Training and Technical Assistance (Forensics TTA) Team, led by RTI International, is hosting the 3rd Annual BJA Forensics Programs Grantees Meeting on June 9-10, 2025! 

This year’s virtual meeting will offer a series of educational case studies and sessions, covering key topics of significant interest to grantees across the BJA Forensics Programs. These include the application of forensic genetic genealogy in wrongful conviction investigations, innovative strategies for solving long-term missing and unidentified person cases, the evolving legal landscape for forensic evidence in light of Smith v. Arizona, implementing Rapid DNA technology in accordance with upcoming standards updates, the impact of turnaround times on death investigations, essential grant management practices, and more.

Program-specific breakout discussions will also be featured to provide grantees with a unique opportunity to learn more from respective BJA staff and other grantees. 

March 2025
Grey-filled circle with a justice scale icon inside
Highlights

Maui man walks free after 30 years behind bars, with help of Hawaiʻi Innocence Project

Gordon Cordeiro had been serving a term of life in prison without parole for charges stemming from an apparent drug deal robbery gone bad. Court records show that on August 11, 1994, Timmy Blaisdell, 20, of Kula was shot and killed, and his body was left at the bottom of a ravine. The petition filed by the defense claimed that the sole suspect, Michael Freitas, became the state’s star witness when he implicated Cordeiro as a means to protect himself.

“After the first trial ended in a hung jury, with 11 out of the 12 jurors [who] believed Cordeiro to be innocent, the State chose to rely on four additional…witnesses, who were all jailhouse informants,” the petition stated.

Prosecutors disagreed with the ruling. The prosecution alleged that Gordon robbed the victim by sticking his hands in the victim’s pockets and pulling out $800. The defense presented evidence that Gordon’s DNA was not in the pockets, but someone else’s DNA was. The judge determined that the new evidence surrounding DNA and lack of physical evidence linking Gordon to the scene, had a probability of changing the result if it proceeded to another trial.

Now at the age of 51, Gordon’s long-awaited homecoming has finally arrived. On February 21, 2025, Gordon was exonerated through the dedicated efforts of the Hawai’i Innocence Project supported in part by a Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence (Postconviction) Program grant. Gordon called it “Freedom Friday” as he answered questions from media about his thoughts getting back to a world and community that is much different than what he knew in his 20s.

February 2025
Forensics TTA

FY2024 Grantee Orientation Webinar – Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence (Postconviction) Program

This webinar features the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) introducing the Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence (Postconviction) Program grantees to the overall BJA team that works collectively to administer their award funds including the BJA Policy Office and BJA Programs Office. This webinar provides useful training and information about the Postconviction Program; highlights specific award conditions such as performance management and measures; shares how to submit progress reports and Grant Award Modifications; and provides other information/best practices to support the award management and grant monitoring activities of this project. This webinar also introduces the Forensics Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) Program and Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice and highlights how these two TTA providers work to support Postconviction Program grantees.
December 2024
Events

2nd Annual BJA Forensics Programs Grantees Meeting

On behalf of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the Forensics Training and Technical Assistance (Forensics TTA) Team, led by RTI International, is hosting the 2nd Annual BJA Forensics Programs Grantees Meeting, on June 10-11, 2024!
June 2024
Forensics TTA

DNA 101 & Evaluating Post-Conviction DNA Cases

This webinar was tailored for professionals in wrongful conviction attorney roles and conviction integrity units. It provided a peer-to-peer overview of forensic DNA analysis, encompassing topics such as DNA biology, the forensic DNA process, considerations for case reviews, and the decision on whether to conduct new DNA testing.
May 2024

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