State Courts

Exonerated death row inmate to visit WSU

By Ron Sylvester

Wichita will be able to hear another story of a man who has been wrongly convicted.

Juan Melendez, who spent more than 17 years awaiting a death sentence for a crime he didn’t commit, will speak next week at Wichita State University. He’s scheduled to speak twice: 7 p.m. Feb. 1 in the Campus Activity Center (CAC) Theater at Rhatigan Student Center. and at 2 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Rhatigan Fireside Lounge.

Now 59, Melendez was sentenced to death in Florida in 1984, after being convicted of killing a beauty salon owner. The case against Melendez largely hinged on the word of a police informant. Among the evidence left out of Melendez’s trial: another man confessed to the crime. Melendez was released from death row in 2002 and has traveled the country speaking about his experiences.

The Wichita State Criminal Justice Student Association is sponsoring the event.

Full post as published by What the Judge Ate for Breakfast on January 24, 2011 (boomark / email).