Kwame Malik Kilpatrick is an American politician,convicted fraudster and racketeer,who previously served as the 72nd mayor of Detroit –from 2002 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party,he previously represented the 9th district in the Michigan House of Representatives from 1997 to 2002. Kilpatrick resigned as mayor in September 2008 after being convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to four months in jail and was released on probation after serving 99 days.
A rape kit or rape test kit is a package of items used by medical,police or other personnel for gathering and preserving physical evidence following an instance or allegation of sexual assault. The evidence collected from the victim can aid the criminal rape investigation and the prosecution of a suspected assailant. DNA evidence can have tremendous utility for sexual assault investigations and prosecution by identifying offenders,revealing serial offenders through DNA matches across cases,and exonerating those who have been wrongly accused.
The Oakland County Child Killer (OCCK) is the name given to the perpetrator(s) responsible for the serial killings of at least four children in Oakland County,Michigan,United States,between 1976 and 1977. The victims were held captive before being killed,and forensic DNA testing has indirectly implicated two suspects,one of whom has since died,with the other serving life in prison for offenses against children. A DNA profile of the main perpetrator was created from samples taken from some of the victims' bodies,but does not match the DNA of anyone named in connection with the case;the perpetrator's identity is unknown.
Kevin Coe is an American convicted rapist from Spokane,Washington,often referred to in the news media as the South Hill Rapist. As of May 2008,Coe is still a suspect in dozens of rapes,the number of which is unusually large;his convictions received an unusual amount of attention from appeals courts. His mother,Ruth,was convicted of hiring a hitman against the judge and the prosecutor at her son's trial following his conviction. The bizarre relationship between Coe and his mother became the subject of a nonfiction book,Son:A Psychopath and his Victims,by the crime author Jack Olsen.
This is a list of notable overturned convictions in the United States.
Christine Rowland Beatty served as the Chief of Staff from 2002 to 2008 to Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
The Debbie Smith Act of 2004 provides United States federal government grants to eligible states and units of local government to conduct DNA analyses of backlogged DNA samples collected from victims of crimes and criminal offenders. The Act expands the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and provides legal assistance to survivors of dating violence. Named after sexual assault survivor Debbie Smith,the Act was passed by the 108th Congress as part of larger legislation,the Justice for All Act of 2004,and signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 30,2004. The Act amended the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000,the DNA Identification Act of 1994,the Violence Against Women Act of 2000,and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The Act was reauthorized in 2008,extending the availability of DNA backlog reduction program grants,DNA evidence training and education program grants,and sexual assault forensic exam program grants through fiscal year 2014.
A serial rapist is someone who commits multiple rapes,whether with multiple victims or a single victim repeatedly over a period of time. Some serial rapists target children. The terms sexual predator,repeat rape and multiple offending can also be used to describe the activities of those who commit a number of consecutive rapes,but remain unprosecuted when self-reported in research. Others will commit their assaults in prisons. In some instances,a group of serial rapists will work together. These rapists can have a pattern of behavior that is sometimes used to predict their activities and aid in their arrest and conviction. Serial rapists also differ from one-time offenders because "serial rapists more often involved kidnapping,verbally and physically threatening the victims,and using or threatening the use of weapons."
Charles Pugh is an American former television journalist,radio personality,and politician from Detroit,Michigan. For ten years,he served as the weekend anchor at WJBK in Detroit. He also served as the radio personality on CoCo,Foolish and Mr. Chase in the Morning and his own talk show,That's What's Up,which both originally aired Sunday evenings on WJLB.
Natasha's Justice Project (NJP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that seeks to end the nation's current rape kit backlog crisis and empower and assist survivors of sexual assault through travel grants to testify at their trials. NJP was founded by Natasha S. Alexenko,a victim and survivor of sexual assault,in hopes of exposing and eliminating the current rape kit backlog that exists in public municipalities throughout the United States. NJP empowers survivors of sexual assault by getting their rape kits off the shelves and tested so that their perpetrator(s) are brought to justice.
Making a Murderer is an American true crime documentary television series written and directed by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos. The show tells the story of Steven Avery,a man from Manitowoc County,Wisconsin,who served 18 years in prison (1985–2003) after his wrongful conviction for the sexual assault and attempted murder of Penny Beerntsen. He was later charged with and convicted of the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach. The connected story is that of Avery's nephew Brendan Dassey,who was accused and convicted as an accessory in the murder of Halbach.
The Michigan's 4th senate district special election,2016 was held on November 8,2016. The election coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election,as well as other elections to the House of Representatives,elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The deadline for candidates to file for the August 2 primary election is April 19.
After a sexual assault or rape,victims are often subjected to scrutiny and,in some cases,mistreatment. Victims undergo medical examinations and are interviewed by police. If there is a criminal trial,victims suffer a loss of privacy,and their credibility may be challenged. Victims may also become the target of slut-shaming,abuse,social stigmatization,sexual slurs and cyberbullying. These factors,contributing to a rape culture,are among some of the reasons that may contribute up to 80% of all rapes going unreported in the U.S,according to a 2016 study done by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Siwatu-Salama Ra is an American environmental and racial justice organizer. She is known for standing trial for assault and firearm felonies following an altercation where she displayed an unloaded and legally owned handgun in Michigan,a stand your ground state. Her case has been widely cited as an example of a racist justice system in the United States and highlighting the issues with mandatory minimum sentencing. She gave birth during her time in Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility. In August 2019 she won her appeal and her conviction was reversed.
Dana Michelle Nessel is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 54th Attorney General of Michigan since January 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Karen Diane McDonald is an American lawyer and politician currently serving as the prosecuting attorney of Oakland County,Michigan,and formerly as a judge on Michigan's 6th Circuit Court in Oakland County. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Quisi Bryan is an American man convicted of murdering Cleveland police officer Wayne Leon during a traffic stop in 2000. Bryan is on death row in Ohio and is scheduled to be executed on January 7,2026.
Michael Darnell Harris is an American serial killer and rapist who has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for four murders and one rape committed in Michigan from 1981 to 1982,but is a suspect in several others. Harris has insisted on his innocence since his conviction,and in the mid-2010s,DNA testing proved that he was not responsible for any of the murders. According to his attorneys,his first conviction influenced all of Harris' subsequent trials,due to which the Michigan State Police launched an investigation into supposed falsified evidence against him. In the end,his remaining convictions were upheld,but Harris is still considered by some to be innocent.
Nicole Blank Becker is a Michigan-based lawyer known for being the defense litigator of R&B singer,Robert Sylvester Kelly.
The Prosecuting Attorney of Wayne County is in charge of the office that prosecutes felony and misdemeanor crimes that occur within Wayne County,Michigan,United States. The current prosecuting attorney (DA) is Kym L. Worthy.
