Back to Awards
Paul H. Chapman Award
Presenter – Foundation for Improvement of JusticeRecipient – Dr. Mark Perlin
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
September 23, 2017
At an awards banquet in Atlanta, GA on September 23, Cybergenetics Dr. Mark Perlin accepted the Paul Chapman award from the Foundation for Improvement of Justice.
His seven-minute acceptance speech highlighted the impact of modern science on innocent two men. Roosevelt Glenn and Darryl Pinkins were wrongfully convicted of a 1989 five-man gang rape through mistaken identity. The Indiana courts sentenced them both to long prison terms.
In 2001, new DNA evidence didn’t free them – the scientists couldn’t interpret their mixture data. But 15 years later, TrueAllele reanalysis of the same data found the five true perpetrators' DNA. Pinkins was exonerated and freed in 2016, and Glenn was exonerated in 2017.
"The question," asked Dr. Perlin, "is how do you bring more science into justice?"
Links
Dr. Perlin accepts Foundation for Improvement of Justice Chapman Award
Cybergenetics scientist Perlin receives Chapman Award for improving justice