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Murray Hooper's Conviction Of Forensic Evidence

661 Words3 Pages

In its third execution of 2022, Arizona executed Murray Hooper for a 1980 crime that was never analyzed using modern forensic methods. In the days preceding his execution, his attorneys continued to request DNA testing and pursued new claims of prosecutorial misconduct based on evidence not revealed until Hooper’s clemency hearing. All challenges to his conviction and death penalty have failed.

In an investigative report published the day before Hooper’s scheduled execution, Liliana Segura of The Intercept reviewed the issues of race, misconduct, and innocence that have been central to Hooper’s legal challenges. In an interview with Segura, Hooper continued to protest his innocence and wanted his story told even if he was executed. “Even if …show more content…

The prosecution alleged that Hooper and two codefendants, William Bracy and Edward McCall, were hired to kill Patrick in a plan to take over his graphic design business. His conviction relied on the testimony of government informants and the eyewitness testimony of Marilyn Redmond, Patrick’s wife, who was injured but survived.

While Hooper was awaiting trial in an unrelated Illinois murder case, Marilyn Redmond was brought to Chicago to identify him in a lineup. Despite conflicting descriptions of her attackers, Redmond picked Hooper out of the lineup. Hooper was sentenced to death in the Illinois case despite his allegations of police brutality that led to a false confession. Eventually, the judge in the Illinois murder case would go to prison for corruption, police officers in the case would be implicated in a pattern of police torture, and Hooper’s conviction would be vacated because of discrimination in jury …show more content…

When defense attorneys sought relief because this withheld evidence supported earlier claims about the unreliability of eyewitness testimony, the prosecution claimed that a mistake had been made and that no photo lineup existed.

Defense attorneys had also pursued DNA and fingerprint testing of items at the crime scene, citing a recent Arizona law expanding access to testing in old cases. All requests for testing were denied.

At Hooper’s clemency hearing, defense attorneys continued to focus on his innocence claim: presenting testimony about unreliable eyewitness testimony, the misconduct throughout his case, and the absence of any physical evidence linking him to the crime. Hooper’s advanced age (76) and his lack of disciplinary issues while in prison were also

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