News & Public Affairs

Stetson panel discusses wrongful convictions

Listen to this entire show:

Tags: James Bain, Alan Crotzer, Stetson College of Law, social justice, criminal justice, wrongful convictions, false conviction, wrongly accused, DNA, exoneration, Innocence Project, Judith

If it wasn’t for the New York Chapter of The Innocence Project, a nonprofit that works to overturn wrongful convictions, St. Petersburg native Alan Crotzer would currently be rounding out his third decade in prison. Crotzer spent nearly 25 years in prison for a robbery, kidnapping and double rape that DNA evidence shows he did not commit; however, he kept his sense of humor as he spoke during a social justice round table.

Last night, Stetson University College of Law convened a panel to di...

Proposed law would get DNA samples of all felony arrest suspects listen

Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Politics, DNA, fingerprinting, civil rights

This morning, a bill that would take the DNA of all people arrested for felonies in Florida won approval in committee, despite objections from the ACLU.

Currently, DNA is collected only of people convicted of felonies.

But Alachua County Republican Steve Oelrich, a retired sheriff, says his proposal would help protect Floridians from criminals who are repeat offenders.

And Oelrich said that his bill adds protections for the disclosures of DNA records and samples. Intentional disclo...