After 17 years in prison, a man walks free when a federal judge rules that officers manufactured evidence by Jarrel Wade and Curtis Killman:

A man who has spent 17 years in federal prison was freed Friday after a judge found that law officers — including some later convicted in a corruption probe — manufactured evidence in order to obtain his drug conviction.

Jeffrey Dan Williams was convicted in 1997 of methamphetamine and firearm possession charges and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge James H. Payne issued an order on Friday vacating the judgment and sentence and dismissing the indictments against Williams, now 53.

United States v. Williams, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54092 (N.D. Okla. April 18, 2014):

For the foregoing reasons, the Court finds it has the inherent power and jurisdiction to grant relief. The facts of this case clearly establish this Court properly and liberally construed Williams’ pleading as a fraud upon the court motion. The Court further finds the scheme to manufacture evidence was deliberately planned, carefully executed and intended to defraud this Court, and in fact, this Court did rely upon the fraudulently manufactured evidence in order to convict and sentence Williams. As a result of such fraud upon the court, the conviction, sentencing and judgment in Williams’ criminal conviction was not, in essence, a decision at all and never became final. This Court finds the fraud discussed herein did harm the “integrity of the judicial process” and the actions of officers and agents harmed the integrity of the judicial process. Finally, Williams has provided newly discovered evidence that satisfies the miscarriage of justice actual innocence standard. Therefore, this Court has both the duty and the power to vacate its own prior judgment. Accordingly, the Court vacates Defendant’s judgment and sentence and dismisses the Indictments.

[Note: What is 17 years of wrongful incarceration worth, City of Tulsa?]

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Motherboard: Every Drone Mission the FBI Admits to Flying by Shawn Musgrave:

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The trial court properly denied defendant a self defense instruction for shooting a police officer during what he claimed was an illegal entry into his home where he also denied even shooting the officer. People v. Pandolfi, 2014 IL App (1st) 113783, 2014 Ill. App. LEXIS 244 (April 14, 2014) [shown to be unpublished since posted here].

Plaintiff Louisiana prison inmate stated a claim for unjustified strip and body cavity searches, and dismissal of his case is reversed. Gipson v. Wilkinson, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 7005 (5th Cir. April 15, 2014).*

The search of this truck was by consent. The only issue on appeal is whether the state presented sufficient evidence to connect the passenger to drugs hidden in compartments on the truck when there was one fingerprint in the compartments that matched neither. There wasn’t in this case, and the conviction is reversed and dismissed. State v. Velazquez-Perez, 2014 N.C. App. LEXIS 365 (April 15, 2014).*

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