“Our state’s broken public defense system puts all of our residents at risk. When the defense is unable to function, a fair trial is impossible. Innocent people... go to jail and real perpetrators remain free on the streets.”
- Saul A. Green, former United States Attorney, Eastern District of Michigan
A broken public defense system fails to keep our communities safe.
·Wrongful convictions mean that the innocent go to prison while perpetrators of brutal crimes are free. When mistakes are made, we are all at risk.
Ken Wyniemko and Eddie Joe Lloyd went to jail for crimes they did not commit. Years after Wyniemko and Lloyd were exonerated, the brutal crimes remain unsolved.
Ken Wyniemko faced a rape conviction and a lengthy prison sentence.He was certain his attorney would challenge the evidence in court. But that didn’t happen. His public defense attorney did not answer numerous phone calls, and then quit. The new attorney had only two weekend days to prepare. Biological evidence that would have proven his innocence was never analyzed. After more than eight years in prison, DNA testing proved him innocent.
Eddie Joe Lloyd was convicted of rape and murder after falsely confessing to the crimes. His first appointed lawyer quit on the day of his trial. His second lawyer failed to argue key issues. There was no challenge to the police interrogation procedures, nor any analysis of the blood, hair or fingernail scrapings from the crime scene. No psychiatric expert was asked to evaluate the reliability of his confession, even though he was institutionalized for mental illness at the time of his interrogation. Little cross-examination took place during trial, and no defense witnesses were called. In 2002, 17 years later, DNA evidence proved his innocence.
·Michigan needs a public defense system that ensures that the right people are sentenced for the appropriate amount of time.
A strong public defense system is needed in order to convict the guilty, protect the innocent, and keep our communities safe.
Ken Wyniemko
Eddie Joe Lloyd