Lawmakers push for passage of Pete Coones act to stop ‘miscarriages of justice’
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TOPEKA (KSNT) – Activists in the Kansas Statehouse are pushing for a new law to protect people who are convicted based on false jailhouse witness testimony.
Kansas state senators Robert Olsen, Cindy Holscher and Molly Baumgardner are joining forces with the Midwest Innocence Project in an attempt to pass the new legislation. They hope the Kansas Senate will take up House Bill 2293, also known as “Pete Coones Memorial Act.”
Coones was exonerated in November 2020 for a Kansas City murder he did not commit. He spent 12 years in prison for a conviction based partly on false jailhouse witness testimony. He died a little more than a hundred days after he was released of an undiagnosed cancer.
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Bay Scoggin, advocate for the Midwest Innocence Project, spoke on behalf of the children of Coones during a press conference on Monday.
“Kansas could never make up for the years they stole from us, and our father,” Scoggin said. “But the passage of HB 2293 would be a step in the right direction to ensure that no other family goes through the same trauma that we did.”
“Without adequate protections in place, jailhouse informants are allowed to contribute to huge miscarriages of justice,” Holscher said.
This bill would require specific evidence from jailhouse witnesses to be disclosed quickly. This includes cooperation deals and benefits received by the witness.
The final day to consider bills is coming up Friday, April 5. Senators motioned to move the bill above the line for a vote on Monday, March 25. If the senate does take it up and votes past the bill, it would go to a conference committee.
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