{"id":228515,"date":"2010-01-25T15:49:12","date_gmt":"2010-01-25T20:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thejusticeproject.org\/?p=721"},"modified":"2010-01-25T15:49:12","modified_gmt":"2010-01-25T20:49:12","slug":"kirk-bloodsworth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/228515","title":{"rendered":"Kirk Bloodsworth"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In June of 1993, Kirk Bloodsworth\u2019s case became the first capital conviction in the United States to be overturned as a result of DNA testing. On July 25, 1984, a\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 nine-year-old girl was found dead in a wooded area. She had been beaten with a rock, sexually assaulted, and strangled. An honorably discharged former Marine and Maryland resident, Bloodsworth was convicted of sexual assault, rape, and first-degree premeditated murder. He was convicted and sentenced to death on March 8, 1985. The ruling was appealed a year later on the grounds that evidence was withheld at trial, and Bloodsworth received a new trial. He was found guilty again and sentenced to two consecutive life terms.<\/p>\n

After years of fighting for a DNA test, evidence from the crime scene was sent to a lab for testing. Final reports from state and federal labs concluded that Bloodsworth\u2019s DNA did not match any of the evidence received for testing. On June 28, 1993, a Baltimore County circuit judge ordered Bloodsworth released from prison due to the results of his DNA test, and in December 1993, Maryland\u2019s governor pardoned Bloodsworth.<\/p>\n

By the time of his release, Bloodsworth served almost nine years in prison, including two on death row for a crime he did not commit.<\/p>\n

On September 5, 2003, almost a decade later, Bloodsworth heard the news he had been waiting to hear for 20 years: the state of Maryland finally charged someone with the rape and murder of young Dawn Hamilton after matching DNA evidence with information from state and federal databases. The evidence matched the DNA of a man named Kimberly Shay Ruffner, who had been arrested on charges of robbery and attempted rape and murder a few weeks after Bloodsworth\u2019s arrest in 1984. He pled guilty on May 20, 2004 to the murder for which Bloodsworth had been wrongfully convicted.<\/p>\n

Today, Bloodsworth is involved in efforts for criminal justice reform and is an ardent supporter of the Innocence Protection Act (IPA). The IPA, which was signed into law by President Bush on October 30, 2004 as part of the larger Justice for All Act of 2004, established the \u201cKirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing Program,\u201d which will help states defray the costs of post-conviction DNA testing.<\/p>\n

Over the years, Bloodsworth has been a national spokesperson educating the public on issues surrounding wrongful convictions and innocence and helping other wrongfully convic\"\"<\/a>ted death row exonerees readjust to society. <\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Prosecutor’s Ev<\/strong>idence at Trial<\/strong>
\nThe prosecution based its case on several points:<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>\u00b7 <\/span><\/span><\/span>An anonymous caller tipped police that Bloodsworth had been seen with the girl earlier in the day.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span> \u00b7 <\/span><\/span><\/span>A witness identified Bloodsworth from a police sketch compiled by five witnesses.<\/p>\n

\u00b7 <\/span><\/span><\/span>The five witnesses testified that they had seen Bloodsworth with the little girl.<\/p>\n

\u00b7 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Bloodsworth had told acquaintances he had done something \u201cterrible\u201d that day that would affect his marriage.<\/p>\n

\u00b7 <\/span><\/span><\/span>In his first police interrogation, Bloodsworth mentioned a \u201cbloody rock,\u201d even though no weapons were known of at the time.<\/p>\n

Testimony was given that a shoe impression found near the victim\u2019s body was made by a shoe that matched Bloodsworth\u2019s size.<\/p>\n

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Post-Co<\/strong>nviction Challenges<\/strong>
\nIn 1986 Bloodsworth\u2019s attorney filed an appeal contending the following:<\/p>\n