News Roundup

Last month the News Roundup noted that a federal judge had vacated Charles Ray Finch’s 1976 state conviction for murder.  That ruling followed the Fourth Circuit’s decision earlier this year that Finch was entitled to a hearing on the merits of an untimely habeas petition because he met the actual innocence standard required to overcome his untimeliness.  The Wilson Times reports that this week the Wilson County District Attorney’s Office formally dismissed the murder charge against Finch and will not retry him.  The article says that Finch now will petition Governor Cooper for a pardon, which, if granted, would entitle him to compensation for the 40 years he spent in prison.  Keep reading for more news. Dixon.  WLOS reports that a jury has convicted Nathaniel Dixon of first-degree murder in his trial arising from the death of his pregnant girlfriend, Candace Pickens.  The News Roundup noted the trial earlier this month because a witness who had testified later was shot and killed.  The WLOS story about the verdict indicates that security is an ongoing concern in the proceeding, with some jurors reportedly receiving threats and suspicious activity occurring around the courthouse. Memory.  Readers of this blog likely are aware that a misidentification based on a false memory was a contributing factor to the wrongful conviction of Ronald Cotton for rape and murder in North Carolina in the mid 1980’s.  The victim in that case, Jennifer Thompson, was certain that Cotton was her assailant, though he later was exonerated by DNA evidence.  [...]