MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact
Mariko Franz, Witness to Innocence, 267.519.4583, mfranz@witnesstoinnocence.org
Abe Bonowitz, Ohioans to Stop Executions, 561.371.5204, abe@otse.org
Death Row Exonerees to Call For Reforms to Prevent Wrongful Executions at National Gathering in Cleveland Next Month
Witness to Innocence Gathering Brings Together Death Row Exonerees from across the U.S. to Mark World Day Against the Death Penalty
EDITORS: Advance Interview Opportunities & Photo Ops
Cleveland – Witness to Innocence, the national organization of wrongly convicted and exonerated death row survivors, will hold its annual gathering in Cleveland October 8-11. The gathering coincides with worldwide activities around the international World Day Against the Death Penalty and features a press conference and a public educational conference.
“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.”
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. Advance 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, October 9 10:00am
Exonerees including Ricky Jackson, Kwame Ajamu, Wiley Bridgeman, Joe D’Ambrosio, Anthony Raye Hinton, Dewayne Brown, Debra Milke amongst dozens of others will speak out against the death penalty outside of the Justice Center at 1200 Ontario St Cleveland OH 44113
Saturday, October 10 9:00am
As part of the world-wide events taking place on World Day Against the Death Penalty, WTI and OTSE will host a day-long conference featuring workshops and speeches on some of the most pressing issues facing the death penalty. Speakers include: Richard Glossip Attorney Dale Baich, innocence expert 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 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
Witness to Innocence (WTI) is the only national organization in the United States composed of and 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.