Exonerees, former FBI agent and local journalist to speak in support of post-conviction DNA testing and the wrongfully convicted

The ‘Justice for Kirstin’ campaign is sponsoring this two-day event to highlight the case of Kirstin Blaise Lobato who was wrongfully convicted of murder in Las Vegas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Helen Caddes | helen@helencaddes.com

LAS VEGAS, NV May 13, 2013 – Exonerees Jeffrey Deskovic and Jason Puracal will join former FBI agent Steve Moore and award-winning local journalist Stephen JacksonThursday May 16th for an event called ‘Does Innocence Matter?’ to discuss post-conviction DNA testing and wrongful convictions. On Friday May 17th, they will hold a press conference and workshops with Nevadans to discuss the importance of post-conviction DNA testing.

"America was founded on the principles of justice and freedom,” Mr. Puracal stated. “It should make every American cringe to know that an American woman, Kirstin Blaise Lobato, has spent the last 12 years of her life locked in a cell in Las Vegas without evidence of a crime.  I spent two years of my life locked in a prison in Nicaragua without any evidence against me. Since my release, I have been saddened to learn that so many others are fighting the same battle right here at home. I am looking forward to one day standing with Kirstin to fight for the next exoneree."  

Kirstin Blaise Lobato was convicted of murder despite 13 witnesses testifying she was 170 miles away from Las Vegas at the time of the crime. Ms. Lobato, who is now 30 years old, was sentenced to 35 years in prison and has spent the past 12 years of her life at Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Facility (FMWCC) in Las Vegas.

The Innocence Project has offered to pay for testing of 13 pieces of DNA evidence using modern methods unavailable during Ms. Lobato’s trials, but the Clark County District Attorney’s Office has yet to allow The Innocence Project access to the evidence from Ms. Lobato’s case for DNA testing at this time.

The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice- a not-for-profit organization dedicated to battling wrongful convictions that Mr. Deskovic founded using $1.5 million of his own money which he received as compensation for wrongful imprisonment- is also supporting Ms. Lobato's efforts at obtaining DNA testing, as well as her general innocence claim.

“Ms. Lobato's case is very much like mine: there is a pre-existing DNA exclusion which conclusively establishes innocence, and yet wrongful imprisonment continues; while efforts at getting further DNA testing are blocked,” Mr. Deskovic said. “Let's make the hard earned lesson of my 16 years of wrongful imprisonment mean something by not repeating the same error: allow further testing. Either it will prove her innocence, thus allowing investigation and eventual apprehension of the actual perpetrator to begin and an innocent person to be released, or it will show she is guilty and therefore permanently resolve the question of innocence, thus ending unnecessary litigation."


WHO
Justice for Kirstin
Jeffrey Deskovic, wrongfully imprisoned for 16 years and exonerated in 2006 with DNA testing
Jason Puracal, a free man after being wrongfully imprisoned in Nicaragua for two years
Steve Moore, former FBI agent
Stephen Jackson, award-winning Las Vegas journalist

WHAT
Does Innocence Matter? Speakers panel (Thursday) and press conference with workshops (Friday).

WHEN
Thursday May 16, 2013 6:00 p.m. – Speakers Panel
Friday May 17, 2013 10:00 a.m. – Press Conference and Workshops

WHERE
Thursday: 708 South 6th Street, Las Vegas, NV 89101
Friday: Children’s Memorial Park, 6601 West Gowan Road Las Vegas, NV 89108 (Torrey Pines just North of R.E. Tobler Elementary School)

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The Justice for Kirstin Lobato Campaign was founded in Las Vegas in 2002. Co-founder Michelle Ravell’s petition “Allow DNA Testing for Kirstin Blaise Lobato” on Change.org has over 155,000 signatures.

Justice for Kirstin Lobato
Las Vegas, NV‍