Location

Defendant(s)

Date of Alleged Crime

Alvin R. Moore Jr. was sentenced to death for the murder of JoAnn Wilson, 23, the wife of a former co-worker.� Wilson called police and said, "Somebody stabbed me."� After police officer Bill Fields arrived on the scene, he asked her who stabbed her and she reportedly told him, "Elvin did it."� Fields later thought the victim meant "Alvin."� Moore, who is black, was having an affair with Wilson, who was white.� Moore was arrested with a drop of blood on his pants.� Tests showed the blood was Type O, the same as Wilson's, but shared by about 45% of the population.� Moore had a different blood type.� A stereo and a plastic jug containing pennies from Wilson's home were found in Moore's car.

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Kevin Williams was convicted of the armed robbery of a 7-Eleven convenience store.� Two 18 to 20-year-old black males robbed the store of $15 at about 10:54 p.m.� One held a gun while the other took money from the cash register.� The cashier called police and her call was logged in at 10:56 p.m.� Two teenagers had seen the robbers flee in a brown car.� At 11:06 p.m., police stopped Williams and his friend Ernest Brown about 1 1/2 miles from the crime scene.� They were driving a brown car of similar description as that of the robbers.� The cashier identified the 28-year-old Williams as being the unarmed robber.� She cleared Brown of involvement.� Neither man had any money or gun on them, but police found two six-packs of Pepsi in the car.

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Douglas A. DiLosa was convicted of the murder of his wife, Glinda.� When police arrived at DiLosa's condominium following a 911 call from his son, they found DiLosa tied up on the living room floor.� His wife was found bound and strangled on a bed.� DiLosa said he was awakened about 3:30 a.m. to noises downstairs.� When he investigated, he discovered two black male intruders.� The intruders him beat him unconscious.� When he recovered from his unconsciousness, he found himself bound and the house in shambles.� He called out to his son and instructed him to dial 911.� The crime occurred at Apartment 7-C, Chardonnay Village Condominiums, 1500 West Esplanade Ave. in Kenner, LA.

In time, DiLosa was arrested for Glinda's murder based on an alleged lack of evidence supporting his version of events.� Investigators also discovered a possible motive.� DiLosa was out of work, his unemployment benefits were about to run out, a large payment was near due on the condo, and his wife's life was insured for a substantial sum.� At trial the prosecution focused on the lack of evidence that any other perpetrator besides DiLosa committed the crime.� During his closing argument, the prosecutor told the jury, "There was not one, not one shred of black hair found in that residence."� And he also stated, "Did you hear any evidence about any other houses that were hit that night?"

However, there was evidence supporting DiLosa's version of events, but it was withheld from the defense:� (1) Hair of a non-Caucasian type was found on the rope around Glinda's neck and on the bed where her body was discovered. (2) Fingerprints were found in the condo that could not be positively identified.� (3) An attempted break-in occurred at a nearby condo.� (4) A taxi driver had seen a car occupied by two black men exit the condo complex at 5:45 a.m.� The taxi driver said the car's driver looked "tense," faced straight ahead while gripping the steering wheel, and was driving very slowly.

In 2002, the federal 5th Circuit Court overturned DiLosa's conviction due to the withholding of evidence.� It is not known if DiLosa was retried, but a reference source lists DiLosa as having been exonerated in 2003.� (DiLosa v. Cain)� [10/08]

John Thompson, who had no history of violence, was charged with the robbery and murder of 34-year-old Ray Liuzza, Jr., a hotel executive.� In 1985, the day after his picture was in the newspaper and on the evening news, three victims of an attempted carjacking came forward and stated Thompson was the perpetrator.� Even though the attempted carjacking occurred after the murder, Thompson was convicted of the attempted robbery prior to his murder trial.� Thompson was then convicted of murder and sentenced to death in part because of the prior conviction.� The prior conviction prevented him from testifying on his own behalf.

In 1999, intentionally hidden blood evidence from the attempted carjacking incident surfaced that showed the perpetrator had a different blood type than Thompson.� That conviction was overturned and led to his murder conviction being overturned.� At the murder retrial, the defense tracked down an eyewitness who had fled the area out of fear for her life a month after the murder.� She testified in the defense's favor and Thompson was acquitted.� (Times-Picayune)� [9/05]

After a storm at sea, a shrimp boat named �The Bandit,� containing Alvin Latham and the ship's captain, Raymond Leiker, failed to return to its home port of Venice, LA.� Latham was picked up at sea 14 hours later holding onto a piece of wood.� He said the storm came up suddenly and that while trying to pull fish into the boat, Leiker's foot got caught in a fishing net. Latham tried to help Leiker free his foot, but eventually Leiker told him to save himself.� Moments after Latham swam away from the boat, the boat submerged into the sea.

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Rickey Johnson was convicted of raping a woman on July 12, 1982 at an apartment complex in Many, LA.� He was convicted solely on the victim's identification.� She was unable to describe any distinguishing marks that Johnson had, including his gold front tooth, despite her testimony of looking at her assailant's face during the entire four hours he was in her bedroom.

In 2001, a close friend and fellow inmate, Calvin Willis, told Johnson to contact the Innocence Project to help exonerate him of his wrongful conviction.� Johnson watched Willis walk out of prison after being exonerated by DNA evidence in 2003.� In Jan. 2008, Johnson was also exonerated after DNA tests showed that another man, John Carnell McNeal, had committed the rape.� McNeal had been convicted in 1984 of raping another woman on April 30, 1983 at the same apartment complex.� (Shreveport Times)� [3/08]

Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace, both blacks, were convicted of murdering white prison guard Brent Miller in Louisiana's State Penitentiary at Angola, the largest U.S. Prison.� Evidence against them seems to depend solely on coerced or bribed testimony.� Woodfox and Wallace were known prison activists, and the conviction allowed the prison to keep them permanently in solitary confinement.

Robert King Wilkerson, also a prison activist, was also held initially in solitary confinement because officially he was "under investigation" for the death of Miller, although he was not at Angola at the time of Miller's death.� Later he was charged and convicted of killing inmate August Kelly, but there was compelling evidence of his innocence.� His conviction was later overturned.� Afterwards, apparently to avoid being sued, the state insisted he plead guilty to conspiracy and receive time served.� Wilkerson agonized over the decision, but agreed to it and was released.� Woodfox got a retrial in 1998, but despite the lack of evidence was re-convicted.� (JD01, Herman Wallace)� [6/05]