Dan Bright
State: Louisiana
Convicted: 1996
Exonerated: 2004
Race: Black
DNA used in exoneration? No
Reasons for wrongful conviction:
Mistaken identification
Official misconduct
Inadequate legal defense
Dan's Wrongful Conviction
Dan Bright was the victim of wrongfully convicted at age 26, resulting in nine years in prison, four of which were on death row, before his conviction was overturned.
Dan was initially represented by a lawyer who did not investigate the case and was drunk during his trial. At the same time, the State withheld FBI documents that named the real killer of Murray Barnes and evidence that undermined the credibility of the State’s primary witness. Dan’s sentence was later commuted to life, at which time he made requests to have the identity of the true killer released through the Freedom of Information Act. Citing the real killer's right to privacy, the federal government declined to reveal his name.
Shortly after the Innocence Project of New Orleans signed on to the case with Dan’s new counsel from the Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center, a federal district court judge ruled he had the right to know the identity of the true killer. The Louisiana Supreme Court then reversed Dan’s conviction in 2004.
When Dan was released from prison in June 2004, among the most relieved was the late Kathleen Hawk Norman, the foreperson of the jury that had sentenced him to death. She had become one of his strongest advocates after learning that exculpatory evidence had been withheld from the jury. She also became one of his closest friends after his release.
Dan's Work Today
Dan was one of the original voices in the Louisiana exoneree theater production, Voices of Innocence. He lives in New Orleans and is actively involved in Resurrection After Exoneration and Witness to Innocence.
Publications:
Published with author Justin Noble
"This incredible true story unflinchingly shows the injustice of the legal system, as well as the base corruption on display at Angola prison.