Ms Hodson did a wonderful job on this report. She deserved the recognition. Congratulations.
An investigation by Augusta Chronicle reporter Sandy Hodson that discovered hundreds of people convicted of crimes in Richmond County were not able to appeal their cases has won national journalism honors.
Ms. Hodson's stories called The Wait of Conviction won an Investigative Reporters and Editors award for newspapers with circulation less than 100,000.
"The piece was unique in that it focused on the administration of the justice system, not just the results of that system," said IRE judges in announcing the award Tuesday.
The investigation, which took almost a year, looked at trial convictions over a decade and found nearly half of the 339 people sentenced to at least five years in prison never had an appeal, as guaranteed by the Constitution.
Given that one in five cases in Richmond County Superior Court had been reversed in whole or part, or remanded with instructions for correction, the lack of timely appeals likely meant a number of those convicted could have gotten new trials.
The initial February 2007 stories prompted new Chief Judge Carlisle Overstreet to make changes. He began appointing counsel to those never granted appeals. The local bar association also provided volunteers.
When The Chronicle reviewed the status of the cases at year's end, only a few had not been addressed. Most of the inmates had their cases heard and several were successful in their appeals and won their freedom.
Comments
Ms Hodson did a wonderful job on this report. She deserved the recognition. Congratulations.
I found her series on Don Cheeks and his son-in-law's questionable land dealings informative.
Way to go Ms. Hodson!! It is no wonder I moved out of Richmond County, what a joke it is. And as long as the taxpaying voters are willing to put up with the crap in Augusta-Richmond County they deserve what they get
Just because she finally got one right, doesn't make her a good reporter.
Ummm...she is one of the ones that has been consistently getting it right, Sconse
Way to go Sandy!
In a world where every googling moron considers himself a writer, it is very reassuring to see a professional journalist recognized by her peers. Good hard consistent work. Congratulations!
The next time you have a violent crime commited against you, check to see if the deffendant was helped or set free because of her great research & writing skills. I'm sure that might be 1 who was not guilty but I bet you the rest was. Criminals have too many rights now. If you don't commit a crime you will not have to worry about an appeal ! I don't worry, except now about who might be back on the streets ! Maybe now she should research how many criminals get off on a small mistake or oversight of their rights, now this would really be worthy of an award. Our court system does not skip their appeals attentionally, they are under funded & overloaded by our criminal element in society. So it's ironic that the CRIMINALS ARE RESPONSEABLE FOR THEIR SLOW APPEALS. If they would get a job & work instead of stealing or selling drugs they would not need an appeal.
PoliticallyNCorrect: I would rather our rights and freedoms not be dependent solely upon the good graces of the various executive branches throughout this country. Not only can - and do - they make honest mistakes, but without someone checking their actions (e.g., the media, the judiciary), the likelihood of less-than-honest "mistakes" only increases.
Great work Ms. Hodson!
All she did was condense the Rants and Raves site and all the information forth coming on it -- that took some doing!!!
Sconset, I've worked with her and she's a damn good reporter. No doubt. She deserves a little love from the IRE and AP.
Well deserved recognition and award. She is a good reporter!!
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