(August 14, 2007)
– Assigned to
read a common book on exonerated prison inmates, new students at
New College of Florida will follow up their summer reading with
death penalty-related presentations by guest speakers who
include a local public defender and alumnus, an inmate cleared
of a murder-rape conviction and a DNA researcher.
Over the summer, New College freshmen were asked
to read "The Exonerated," a short play based on transcripts from
trials and interviews with more than 40 exonerated inmates who
had received the death penalty. New students will focus on the
book during orientation, which is Aug. 22-29. Fall classes at
New College begin Aug. 29.
The Court TV film, "The Exonerated," which stars
actors Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon, Brian Dennehy and Aidan
Quinn, will be shown twice: Monday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. and
Thursday, Sept. 6, at 6 p.m.; both showings will be in the
Teaching Auditorium, Hamilton Center, which is located on New
College's campus east of Tamiami Trail.
Three speakers will come to New College for
public talks related to "The Exonerated," all speaking in the
Teaching Auditorium, Hamilton Center:
l "A Community
Conversation on the Death Penalty," Thursday, Aug. 30, 7 p.m.
New College graduate Adam Tebrugge, who has
worked for 22 years in the Florida's Public Defenders Office in
Sarasota, will lead a discussion on the death penalty. A
graduate of the Florida State University College of Law and a
board-certified criminal trial attorney, Tebrugge is a frequent
speaker on criminal justice issues. He is a member of the Death
Penalty Steering Committee of the Florida Public Defender
Association and helps to organize the annual "Life Over Death"
training conference for attorneys.
l
"An Exoneree’s Odyssey,"
Thursday, Sept. 6, 7:30 p.m., Teaching Auditorium, Hamilton
Center
Guest speaker John Restivo served 16 years in
prison before DNA tests excluded him from involvement in a 1984
murder and rape in New York. He was sentenced in 1987 to 33-1/3
years to life. The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 to assist
prisoners who could be proven innocent through DNA testing, took
up his case in 1997. False confessions, use of informants and
forensic-science misconduct are cited as contributing causes of
Restivo's wrongful conviction. He was exonerated in 2005.
l "Forensic DNA
Analysis: Popular Perceptions and Reality," Friday, Sept. 7, 4
p.m.
Dr. Matt Thomas, a senior scientist and
laboratory manager at DNAPrint, will speak on forensics in
evidence collection. Since joining DNAPrint, Thomas has played
an instrumental role in research, development and
commercialization of innovative forensics products that have
aided investigations around the world. At DNAPrint, Thomas
oversees the forensic operations of the company as well as
projects dedicated to understanding the genetic makeup of the
world populations.
The play,
"The Exonerated," which grew out of the Innocence Project, won
the 2003 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Play,
Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel awards, and the LA Ovation Award
for Best World Premiere Play. It was nominated for four
additional Ovation Awards, three NAACP Theater awards and the
John Gassner Playwriting Award.
The play’s
12 subjects ("just like in a jury," wrote one of the authors)
were freed through an appeals process that left them imprisoned
on death row for as long as 20 years. In each case, crusading
lawyers working pro bono, journalism students or investigative
reporters worked to overturn the inmates' convictions.
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