S03E13 – Kirk Bloodsworth

In Episode 13, Season 3 of the American Justice Podcast, Scott and C. Derick tackle the tragic tale of Kirk Bloodsworth, a waterman and decorated Marine who was charged and convicted for sexual assault, rape, and first-degree murder of nine-year-old Dawn Hamilton in 1984. They discuss how an innocent man was convicted of a rape-murder he didn’t commit, only for DNA evidence to exonerate him and link one of his prison mates to the crime.

05:57 Introduction

07:55 Factors That Led to the Arrest of 23-year-old Kirk Bloodsworth

09:45 Kirk is Arrested Even Though Physical Description of Suspect Does Not Match His Appearance

10:46 Witness Misidentification and Wrongful Convictions

11:39 Kirk is Charged with First Degree Murder, Sexual Assault, and Rape

13:46 The Trial: Five Witnesses Testify Against Kirk

16:58 The Lack of Physical Evidence In Kirk’s Case

17:39 Kirk is Found Guilty and Sentenced to Die in a Gas Chamber

18:11 Glaring Holes in Kirk’s Case

19:19 The Drama of Faulty Investigations and Questionable Persecution

20:01 The Retrial: Kirk Gets Two Life Sentences

23:25 Kirk is Released After DNA Evidence Proves He Wasn’t at The Scene of the Crime

24:25 Kirk Becomes the First Deathrow Inmate to Be Exonerated By Post-Conviction DNA Testing

25:09 DNA Testing Links Kirk’s Prison Mate, Kimberly Shay Ruffner, To The Murder of Dawn Hamilton

26:32 Mr. Ruffner is Fomarly Charged with Dawn’s Murder

27:58 Kirk Becomes a Wrongful Conviction Advocate

30:32 Compensation For Wrongful Convictions

33:15 Parting Thoughts

Resources:

Juryintegrity.com

Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA Evidence

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Links and Videos

Kirk Bloodsworth compensated $400K decades after his exoneration

Kirk Bloodsworth – DNA Evidence

Innocence Project Speaker: DNA Exoneree Kirk Bloodsworth

From Death Row to Exoneration Thanks to DNA

Kirk Bloodsworth

https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3032

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news-brief/death-row-exoneree-kirk-bloodsworth-receives-supplemental-compensation-under-new-maryland-wrongful-imprisonment-statute

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/exoneree-kirk-bloodsworth-compensated/37882552#

https://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/single-post/kirk-bloodsworth

https://www.uis.edu/illinoisinnocenceproject/defenders-of-the-innocent-event/

https://www.chesapeake.edu/article/kirk-bloodsworth-shares-story-documentary-0