Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is suspending the state's Conviction Review Unit due to the Trump administration's refusal to renew federal grant funding. The unit, established in 2020 to examine wrongful convictions, can no longer operate without diverting resources from other core responsibilities.
Jeff Titus, who spent over two decades in prison for a double murder, has agreed to a $5.25 million settlement. The settlement follows accusations that police withheld evidence that could have exonerated him. Titus was released in 2023 after prosecutors requested his murder convictions be erased, acknowledging an Ohio serial killer may have been responsible.
James Broadnax, 37, was executed in Texas Thursday evening for the 2008 murder of Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler during a robbery outside a Garland recording studio. Broadnax maintained he was not the shooter, and his cousin Demarius Cummings recently confessed to being the actual killer. Broadnax's attorneys challenged his conviction citing racial discrimination in jury selection and misuse of rap lyrics at trial. The U.S. Supreme Court and Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied appeals. The victims' mother supported proceeding with execution.
Exonerees across the U.S. share their struggles finding employment after wrongful convictions, with many facing persistent stigma despite being cleared of crimes. A Louisiana bill to abolish an elected position won by an exoneree has amplified concerns about systemic bias against wrongly convicted individuals seeking to rebuild their lives.
