The Murder Cases of Willie Manning: Is Mississippi About to Execute An Innocent Man?

Willie Manning has been convicted and sentenced to death in Mississippi twice– for two separate double homicides. But- from there- things got complicated pretty quickly. 

There were substantial evidentiary issues with one of the convictions. Manning’s attorneys were able to get it thrown out and the state dropped those charges. 

The other conviction still stands, though– and the state still wants to execute Manning. But there are problems with this case too. Years after the case, the Justice Department and the FBI sent prosecutors a letter about the testimony given at the trial by their scientific experts. They said that the testimony had gone too far, that it had “exceeded the limits of science and were, therefore, invalid.”

But, again, the conviction still stands and the state of Mississippi still wants to execute Manning. 

So what exactly is going on here? To help us try to figure it out, we spoke with some attorneys from the Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel who are working on Manning’s case. They’ll discuss the details of both cases, why he was convicted, what they see as the problems with those convictions and what exactly they think should happen next.

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