New Report Examines Georgia's Wrongful Convictions of 20 Innocent Men Who Collectively Spent Nearly 170 Years in Prison for Crimes They Did Not Commit

/PRNewswire/ -- A new report released today by The Justice Project analyzes the cases of twenty innocent Georgians who collectively spent nearly 170 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. Convicting the Innocent in Georgia: Stories of Injustice and the Reforms that Can Prevent Them also presents Georgia with common sense solutions that must be implemented to improve the quality of evidence used in criminal cases and reduce the risk of wrongful convictions.

While DNA evidence can determine guilt or innocence with a great degree of certainty, biological and DNA evidence is only available in a small number of cases. In fact, only seven of the twenty men highlighted is this report were exonerated by DNA testing. While non-DNA exonerations are more difficult to prove, they are similar to DNA cases in that they trace back to the same flawed procedures in need of reform.

Adopting non-DNA related reforms is vital to increasing the fairness and accuracy of Georgia's criminal justice system. In fact, issues like mistaken eyewitness testimony and false informant testimony are shown to be leading causes of wrongful convictions. Until Georgia enacts the practical reforms outlined in this report, its criminal justice system will remain prone to error.

Among the report's key findings:

-- Twenty innocent Georgians spent roughly 169 years in prison for crimes
they did not commit. The average length of incarceration was eight
years.
-- Mistaken eyewitness identification is the leading cause of wrongful
conviction in the highlighted cases, playing a role in half of the
defendant's cases.
-- Other factors leading to Georgia wrongful convictions include: false
testimony from informants or accomplices, flawed forensic science,
suppression of exculpatory evidence, and inadequate defense counsel.

The full report is available at www.TheJusticeProject.org.


The report details the enormous impact wrongful convictions have on innocent people, as well as the entire community. For the innocent person, prison is a terrifying experience, and the time spent in prison causes tremendous loss. Public safety is also put at risk when an innocent person is convicted. The investigation stops and the true perpetrator remains uninvestigated, unpunished, and free to commit more crimes.

"Georgia should be compelled to act swiftly to reform its criminal justice system given the number of wrongful convictions in its state," said John Terzano, President of The Justice Project. "Simple, practical reforms can help Georgia increase the fairness, accuracy, and reliability of its criminal justice system. We all have a vested interest in making sure the necessary reforms are in place to insure the best evidence is presented in the courtroom."

The Justice Project (TJP) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to improving the fairness and accuracy of the criminal justice system. TJP is based in Washington, D.C. and has offices in Austin, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee.

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Former Ft. Stewart Soldier Receives 70 Months Imprisonment for Faking Wife's Death and Collecting Insurance Proceeds

Edmund A. Booth, Jr., United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, announced that Ingerberth Baird, age 38, was sentenced on October 14, 2008, in U.S. District Court in Savannah to 70 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge B. Avant Edenfield.

Booth commented that, in imposing sentence, Judge Edenfield made an upward variance from the advisory guidelines range of 44 to 51 months, finding that Baird committed perjury when he testified on his own behalf at trial and noting that Baird remained totally unrepentant of his criminal actions. Baird had been convicted by a jury on January 29, 2008, on one count of conspiracy, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, one count of making false claims against the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 287, and one count of mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341.

Baird had been extradited from Trinidad to face the charges in this case in June 2007. Booth noted that Baird will be transferred to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation to his home country of Trinidad after he completes serving his sentence.

The convictions rested upon the evidence at trial which established the following :Ingerberth Baird and his wife, Nicolette, lived in Hinesville, Georgia, in 2002. Ingerberth Baird was an enlisted officer in the U.S. Army, posted at Ft. Stewart. Nicolette Baird was an elementary school teacher at Joseph Martin Elementary School in Hinesville. In September 2002, Nicolette Baird requested time off to travel to Trinidad, where she had been born, to attend a family funeral. Several days later, a person identifying himself as Nicolette's husband called the principal of Joseph Martin Elementary to report that Nicolette had died in an automobile accident in Trinidad. Ingerberth Baird sought leave from his duties with the United States Army and traveled to Trinidad shortly after Nicolette's reported death, spending eleven days there before returning to the United States. The evidence further showed that in October and November, 2002, Ingerberth Baird applied for benefits under life insurance policies covering Nicolette through the U.S. Army (under the Family Servicemembers Group Life Insurance program, or "FSGLI") and the Liberty County, Georgia school system.

In connection with those claims, he presented a handwritten death certificate and handwritten police report purportedly describing Nicolette's death in Trinidad. Ingerberth Baird received over $100,000 from the U.S. Army FSGLI policy on Nicolette. The benefit was paid in the form of a checking account funded with the entire benefit amount, and a checkbook drawn on that account was mailed to Ingerberth Baird at his home. Over the course of October and November, 2002, Ingerberth Baird wrote numerous checks that totally depleted the account. In December 2002, Ingerberth Baird left the United States for Trinidad.

Shortly thereafter, it was determined that the death claim was false in that the handwritten death certificate was counterfeit and that no registrar of deaths with the name listed on the death certificate actually existed. In April 2003, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation located Ingerberth Baird and Nicolette Baird, alive, living together in Cunupia, Trinidad. At that time, Ingerberth Baird admitted to the FBI agents that he knew on his first trip to Trinidad in September 2002, right after his wife's reported death, that no accident had occurred and that his wife was alive.

Booth praised the efforts of Special Agents Joseph Swiatek and Freddie Watkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The United States was represented by Assistant United States Attorneys R. Brian Tanner and Brian F. McEvoy.

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“Counter-Jumper” Caught and Convicted After Committing Seven Armed Bank Robberies

A jury in federal district court returned a guilty verdict late September 25, 2008, against SOUKSAKHONE PHAKNIKONE, a/k/a “BRUCE PHAKNIKONE,” a/k/a "Trigga", 26, of Dacula, Georgia, on seven counts of armed bank robbery, seven counts of use of a firearm during the commission of the armed bank robberies, and one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. PHAKNIKONE was convicted on all counts of the indictment after the jury deliberated approximately five hours.

United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said of today’s verdict, “This defendant has terrorized bank tellers for the last time. At trial many victims of this defendant described the fear and danger he created when he vaulted the teller counters in seven separate armed bank robberies. “Trigga” used his loaded semi-automatic firearm to steal thousands of dollars. Our community will be a safer place as a result of the cooperative and coordinated efforts of the many federal, state and local law enforcement agencies who worked on this case.”

FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Greg Jones said, “We are extremely pleased with the jury's verdict today. The emotional harm caused by Mr. Phaknikone to the numerous bank employees during his crime spree cannot, and is not overlooked by those pursuing justice in this matter. We thank not only the diligent prosecutors in this case but also the jury in remembering the victims as this case was presented and the violent nature of Mr. Phaknikone's crimes.”

According to United States Attorney Nahmias and the information presented in court: PHAKNIKONE was arrested on April 6, 2007, after he robbed a Wachovia Bank in Suwanee, Georgia, and led police on a high speed chase that ended in a collision and his apprehension at gun point. The evidence at trial proved that on seven separate occasions, “Trigga” robbed banks wearing a ski mask, hoodie, gloves and carrying a semi-automatic firearm. In each robbery he vaulted the teller counter and personally grabbed the cash. Although he went to great lengths to conceal his identity, investigators recognized his signature actions, including jumping the counter in each of his robberies. Intensive investigation revealed PHAKNIKONE had visited a number of the banks without his mask to “case” and plan the robberies. Agents obtained bank surveillance photos from “Trigga’s” pre-robbery visits to the banks, which in effect, removed his mask for the jury and revealed “Trigga’s” true identity.

PHAKNIKONE faces a maximum sentence of seven life sentences plus 150 years, and faces a mandatory minimum of 157 years in prison, and a fine of up to $3,750,000. Sentencing is not yet scheduled before United States District Judge Richard W. Story.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and police officers from the following departments: Suwanee Police Department, Lilburn Police Department, Duluth Police Department, Gwinnett County Police Department, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, and Barrow County Sheriff’s Department.

Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew T. Jackson and Angela M. Jordan are prosecuting the case.

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Medical Supply Executive Imprisoned for Defrauding Medicare

ANGELA D. ISLEY, 44, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr. to serve more than 5 years in prison on charges of health care fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering. ISLEY was convicted of these charges on April 28, 2008, following a two week jury trial.

United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said, “The defendant submitted false claims to Medicare with a total value of more than $600,000, resulting in a loss to Medicare of $219,000. She also used her position at Orthoscript, Inc. to steal more than $360,000 from that company. Every dollar the defendant stole from the Medicare program was a dollar taken from the elderly and disabled Americans who depend on Medicare for their health care needs, and from the taxpayers who fund the program. The prison sentence imposed today reinforces the message that health care fraud is a serious crime with serious penalties.”

OIG Special Agent in Charge Melody Jackson said, “Today's action sends a message to those who corruptly take advantage of the Medicare system. The Office of Inspector General, Atlanta Regional Office will continue to work aggressively to eliminate this type of corruption in our health care system.”

ISLEY was sentenced to five years, ten months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $703,814. Judge Pannell said from the bench at today’s hearing that, partly because of extra costs incurred by the government retrieving hundreds of documents demanded by ISLEY during discovery that he is also ordering her to pay a fine of $125,000.

According to United States Attorney Nahmias and the information presented in court: Between January 2001 and December 2003, ISLEY knowingly assigned incorrect “product codes” to certain wrist braces and walking boots in Orthoscript Incorporated’s inventory in order to generate higher reimbursements from Medicare. ISLEY instructed company employees, often over their objections, to file claims with Medicare listing fraudulent product codes which are to be specifically used for custom-fabricated wrist braces, when all Orthoscript actually supplied were cheaper, prefabricated, off-the-shelf items. As a result of the health care fraud scheme, ISLEY caused Orthoscript to fraudulently bill the Medicare program for more than $600,000.

ISLEY's responsibilities at Orthoscript also included handling and accounting for ordinary business expenses, such as writing checks to vendors. Between April 2001 and April 2004, ISLEY wrote Orthoscript company checks to pay her and her partner's personal Capital One credit card bills, and used her sole control over Orthoscript's books to cause these payments, totaling more than $360,000, to be falsely recorded as legitimate business expenses. Orthoscript's officers and shareholders never authorized ISLEY to obtain reimbursement for these personal expenses.

A defendant in a related case, ARCH NELSON, 46, of Alpharetta, Georgia, who was a partner in Orthoscript, was sentenced late this afternoon to 5 years of probation, and ordered to perform 250 hours of community service, on a charge of misprision of felony, in knowing about and not reporting ISLEY’s crimes. NELSON had pleaded guilty to the charge in October 2006 and testified against ISLEY at her trial.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorneys Glenn D. Baker and John Horn prosecuted the case.

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