We are a little late, but we finally have the video from the 2012 Vanguard Court Watch Dinner and Awards Ceremony. The event was held in Woodland on July 26, 2012.
The theme was Ending the Death Penalty, of course Proposition 34 was the focus and it went down to defeat in November 2012.
The event featured a prominent line up of speakers with the keynote, 2008 Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Maurice Possley. Jeanne Woodford the former San Quentin Warden who is not an anti-death penalty leader at the Death Penalty Focus. Don Heller wrote the 1978 Death Penalty Law for Senator John Briggs. Ellen Eggers is an attorney with the State Public Defenders Office, and she and the Northern California Innocence Project helped to free Franky Carrillo after 20 years in custody.
Yolo County Public Defender Tracie Olson gave introductory remarks.
Jeanne Woodford of Death Penalty Focus was among the feature speakers.
Don Heller, who helped author the 1978 California Death Penalty Law, has since turned against the Death Penalty. He was among the featured speakers.
Former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso presents a Vanguard Justice Award to three of the students pepper sprayed on the UC Davis Quad on November 18, 2011. Justice Reynoso headed up the task force appointed by UC President Mark Yudof to review the Kroll Report. Justice Reynoso was himself a recipient of a Vanguard Justice Award in 2011.
Ellen Eggers is a state public defender representing death penalty cases and Franky Carrillo was exonerated after spending 19 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Franky Carrillo presented a Vanguard award to Linda Starr, the Legal Director of the Northern California Innoncence Project, whose work, along with Ellen Eggers helped to free Mr. Carrillo. Linda Starr was one of the main speakers at the 2011 Vanguard Court Watch event.
Maurice Possley won a Pulitzer Prize as a reporter with Chicago Tribune, where his investigative work helped to expose Prosecutorial Misconduct and the wrongful execution of Carlos DeLuna in Texas as well Cameron Todd Willingham also in Texas. He was the keynote speaker at the 2012 Vanguard Court Watch Dinner and Awards Ceremony on July 26, 2013.
The new ability to capture video clips adds a very desireable feature to the site.