February 11, 2009 3:52 PM
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Evidence Of Injustice
"It was sort of one of those moments that stops you completely still," Hughes says. "You know, my client's saying, 'Not only did I kill two people, but these other folks didn't have anything to do with it. The state's case is a lie. It's a fabrication.'"
Asked if he tried to get Cashwell to tell that to the authorities, Hughes says, "No."
Because?
"I'm his lawyer," Hughes says. "It wasn't in his interest to tell, to have that known at all."
"Because he could have been facing the death penalty?" Kroft asks.
"He was facing the death penalty. It wasn't theoretical," Hughes says.
Asked if this bothered him, Hughes tells Kroft, "It bothered me most when Mr. Hunt was being tried. And it's bothered me ever since. There wasn't anything I could do about it. But I knew they were trying a guy who didn't do it."
It wasn't until his client committed suicide in prison that Hughes felt he could come forward to tell his story in court. But instead of being commended for coming forward to clear an innocent man, the judge threw out his testimony and reported Hughes to the North Carolina bar for violating attorney-client privilege, even though his client was dead.
"I'm not too happy to be in the position I am in now," Hughes says. "But there's a guy in prison for somethin' he didn't do."
It's impossible to know right now how many other bullet lead cases like this there may be out there in the netherworld of the criminal justice system. But Dwight Adams, the former FBI lab director who began to have doubts about the science, believes it's time for the government to reveal all of the information.
"I don't believe there is anything that we should be hiding," Adams says. "I believe that everything should be made available in regards to the testimonies and the cases that were worked involving bullet lead analysis."
The FBI ultimately agreed, acknowledging that some of its bullet lead testimony was misleading and that it should have done more to alert defendants and the courts. As a result of the 60 Minutes-Washington Post investigation, the bureau has already reviewed nearly a hundred cases, and according to the Innocence Project there are problems with the FBI testimony in almost half of them.
The complaint against Staples Hughes for violating attorney-client privilege has been dismissed. But Lee Wayne Hunt remains in prison, after the North Carolina Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal.
Produced By Ira Rosen
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. Asked if he tried to get Cashwell to tell that to the authorities, Hughes says, "No."
Because?
"I'm his lawyer," Hughes says. "It wasn't in his interest to tell, to have that known at all."
"Because he could have been facing the death penalty?" Kroft asks.
"He was facing the death penalty. It wasn't theoretical," Hughes says.
Asked if this bothered him, Hughes tells Kroft, "It bothered me most when Mr. Hunt was being tried. And it's bothered me ever since. There wasn't anything I could do about it. But I knew they were trying a guy who didn't do it."
It wasn't until his client committed suicide in prison that Hughes felt he could come forward to tell his story in court. But instead of being commended for coming forward to clear an innocent man, the judge threw out his testimony and reported Hughes to the North Carolina bar for violating attorney-client privilege, even though his client was dead.
"I'm not too happy to be in the position I am in now," Hughes says. "But there's a guy in prison for somethin' he didn't do."
It's impossible to know right now how many other bullet lead cases like this there may be out there in the netherworld of the criminal justice system. But Dwight Adams, the former FBI lab director who began to have doubts about the science, believes it's time for the government to reveal all of the information.
"I don't believe there is anything that we should be hiding," Adams says. "I believe that everything should be made available in regards to the testimonies and the cases that were worked involving bullet lead analysis."
The FBI ultimately agreed, acknowledging that some of its bullet lead testimony was misleading and that it should have done more to alert defendants and the courts. As a result of the 60 Minutes-Washington Post investigation, the bureau has already reviewed nearly a hundred cases, and according to the Innocence Project there are problems with the FBI testimony in almost half of them.
The complaint against Staples Hughes for violating attorney-client privilege has been dismissed. But Lee Wayne Hunt remains in prison, after the North Carolina Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal.
Produced By Ira Rosen
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