LOCATION CHANGE – PRESS CONF ADVISORY: Friday 10/9 in Cleveland – Death Row Survivors from Across the US Gathering in Cleveland

PRESS CONFERENCE
10AM, Friday, October 9
Due to anticipated rain, location changed to Trinity Cathedral
2230 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio

Witness to Innocence Gathering Brings Together Death Row Exonerees from across the U.S. to Mark World Day Against the Death Penalty, Call For Abolition & Reforms to Prevent Wrongful Executions

At a press conference at 10am Friday, October 9, 2015 at Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio Representative Nickie J. Antonio, D-13, will welcome dozens of members of Witness to Innocence, the national organization of wrongly convicted and exonerated death row survivors, and join with them in calling for an end to the death penalty and other reforms to prevent wrongful executions. This event coincides with worldwide activities around the international World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10th. Elizabeth Zitrin, President of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, will also speak.

“I’m one of nine death row exonerees from Ohio out of the 155 people who have been exonerated from death rows across the country since 1973,” said Joe D’Amrosio, who was freed in 2012 after serving more than 20 years on Ohio’s death row for a crime he did not commit. “Four of us were convicted here in Cuyahoga County, and we’re pleased to have our brothers and sisters from across the country join us to say ‘Enough is Enough. It is time to end the death penalty.”

BACKGROUND: Witness to Innocence (WTI), Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE), death row exonerees and their loved ones and supporters will gather at St Clarence Church in North Olmsted, Ohio from October 8 to 11, 2015 to continue their work to abolish the death penalty in Ohio and around the country. The public is welcome to attend the following events. Interviews with exonerees and conference speakers may be arranged by contacting Mariko Franz at 267.519.4583 or Abe Bonowitz at 561-371-5204.

  • Friday, Oct 9, 10am: Exonerees including Ricky Jackson, Kwame Ajamu, Wiley Bridgeman, Joe D’Ambrosio, Anthony Raye Hinton, Dewayne Brown, and Debra Milke amongst dozens of others will speak out against the death penalty at a press conference at Trinity Cathedral.
  • Saturday, Oct 10, 9am: As part of the world-wide events taking place on World Day Against the Death Penalty, WTI and OTSE will host a public day-long conference featuring workshops and speeches on some of the most pressing issues facing the death penalty. Speakers include: Richard Glossip lethal injection case Attorney Dale Baich, innocence expert Professor Mike Radelet, murder victim family member Sam Reese Sheppard, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy Margeret Russo, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty President Elizabeth Zitrin, Constitution Project President Virginia Sloan, and (M*A*S*H) actor and Death Penalty Focus President Mike Farrell. The conference is open to the public and will take place at St Clarence Church in North Olmsted. More information is at http://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/events.html

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Witness to Innocence (WTI) is the only national organization in the United States composed of viand led by exonerated death row survivors and their family members. The mission of WTI is to abolish the death penalty by empowering exonerated death row survivors and their loved ones to become effective leaders in the abolition movement. WTI actively challenges political leaders and the public to grapple with the reality of a fatally flawed criminal justice system that sends innocent people to death row. WTI seeks ways to support death row survivors and their loved ones as they confront the challenges of life after exoneration.

The mission of Ohioans to Stop Execution (OTSE) is to end the use of the death penalty in Ohio.