Kevin Cooper's Death Sentence Challenged in Court

Norman Hyle is the lead attorney for Kevin Cooper, a man he says was wrongfully convicted for the 1983 murders of the Ryan Family. Hyle says new testimony and evidence should prove Coopers innocence.

"A blue shirt, we just found out, was found near the site of the Canyon Corral bar at the time of the crimes and it was never turned over to the defense and we didn't know about it until this last year. The coveralls were destroyed with the approval of the sheriffs department rather than just by one deputy as was testified at trial. The list goes on and on."

But state attorney Holly Wilkins argued the purported new evidence was known all along and doesn't substantiate new facts. Outside the courthouse Coopers supporters rallied against the death penalty and what they call a wrongful conviction. Rebecca Dorn with the Mobilization to Save Mumia says the case of Kevin Cooper is a case against the death penalty.

"You saw Holly Wilkins who was speaking for the state. She once said if you belive in Kevin Cooper's innocence, you must believe in fairy tales. I want to say what fairy tales are, I think fairy tales are believing one man can walk into a house wielding three weapons and killing 4 people and nearly killing a 5th in a minute and a half. When you ask the prosecution how Kevin cooper was able to kill 3 people with three weapons, what they say is that he was ambidextrous. I'm sorry but, that may explain two weapons but that doesn't explain three. And by the way I know Kevin cooper and hes not ambidextrous."

Coopers appeal comes at a time when California's death penalty is in question. The state's lethal injection is contested and a state appointed Blue Ribbon Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice is investigating the state's use of the death penalty and wrongful convictions. The commission has issued three reports suggesting ways to safeguard the accused from wrongful convictions. Natasha Minsker Director of Death Penalty Policy of Norther California's ACLU says the civil rights group sponsored two bills last year in the senate based on the panels recommendations.

"Those bills passed the legislature and were vetoes by the governor. We will be introducing those two bills plus a new bill this session in the legislature to address those problems. One would require electronic recording in all serious felony cases to prevent false confessions. The second would reform the eyewitness identification procedures so that police are using modern best practices when they ask a witness to identify someone."

The third bill the ACLU is working to get in the legislature would require that informant testimony be backed by additional testimony. Again Minsker.

"Basically an informant is anyone who is receiving a deal from the prosecution. This typically includes jail house informants-people who are in custody and says they have heard a confession from someone else. But informants can also be people who are on the street who are arrested, or charged with a crime and then to get themselves out of that a situation they help the police they help the prosecution and often they are telling lies to help the prosecution and to help themselves."

The Blue Ribbon Commission will also make recommendations to discourage faulty evidence or misconduct in criminal trials within the next couple of months, which, according to Minsker, relates to Kevin Coopers case. Coopers Attorney argued that his death sentence was based on the use of faulty evidence including DNA tests and misconduct, in that evidence was tampered with and destroyed. Hyle expects the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal to rule on Coopers case within the next three months.