DAN BRIGHT: SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR A MURDER HE DID NOT COMMIT
40" X 40" _ Acrylic, Latex and Spraypaint on
Canvas
Dan spent ten years at Angola State Prison in Louisiana for a murder and robbery he did not commit. Dan was convicted in 1996.
The crime took place outside a bar in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans.
Dan’s trial lawyer completed no investigation of the case
and was drunk during the trial, thus, making a poor job of his defense. Dan’s trial lasted two days and ended with a death sentence.
It
later emerged that the F.B.I. had been in possession of the name of the real killer all along. Despite requests made by the
Freedom of Information Act that the information be released, the U.S. government took the perspective that the killer’s privacy rights
were implicated, declining to reveal the name. It took a lawsuit in federal district court to resolve the impasse, with the
judge finding that Dan had the right to the information. The identity of the real killer, together with other evidence, was
presented in the state district court and eventually the Supreme Court of Louisiana reversed Dan’s conviction.
Dan was released,
much to the relief of not just his family, but also of Kathleen Hawk Norman, the jury foreperson that had convicted Dan and who later
campaigned for his exoneration. Kathleen became the board chairperson for The Innocence Project of New Orleans.
Dan’s case
is illustrative of the issues of government accountability and how wrongful conviction cases need reform so that the priorities are
aimed at protecting the innocent.
Dan is now rebuilding his life and works as a mentor to at-risk youth in inner city New Orleans.
Convicted: 1996
Exonerated: 2006