On March 20, 1988, he became the first Death Row inmate in the
US to request DNA testing to prove his innocence.

He is still fighting for answers and a new trial.

After one of the shortest murder trials in Pennsylvania history, Nick Yarris was sent to death row. The conviction came with no evidence, no confession, no eyewitnesses and a credible alibi. What happened was an insult to the American justice  system and a crime against Yarris and his family. This is the factual account of his case. All statements are supported by the record, sworn testimonies and affidavits.    Nick Yarris was a drug addict with a chip on his shoulder and a knack for getting into trouble. Usually he managed to land with his feet on the ground. Not this time. While being held for another incident, he tried to make a deal for himself. Nick misjudged the odds - didn't realize there were other players and found himself in a situation where he had everything to lose.

Stupidity is not a capital offense in the American justice system. This is when it should work to separate the petty crook with a big mouth from the real dangers to society. This is when it failed for Nick. What Nicholas Yarris needed was detox and mental health care. What he got was a death sentence. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, eighty-two people have been released from death row after having been found wronglyconvicted of capital crimes due to the diligent (and largely pro Bono) efforts of students, attorneys and organizations dedicated to maintaining the integrity of our Constitution. These are just the cases we know about - the people lucky enough to attract the attention of a lawyer with spare time, agroup of law students looking for a project, or families with enough money to afford competent representation.
The actual numbers of lives this issue affects is multiplied many times by their families. They struggle and grieve along with the families of the actual crime victims. The ripple effect is staggering.
While any Death Penalty case incites many emotions on both sides, we think that this case deserves serious attention as a miscarriage of justice, and is a compelling case for abolition of the death penalty - or at the very least, a moratorium. Whether you advocate capital punishment or oppose it, clearly it's too easy to execute the innocent with our system.

Some go so far as to say that some irreversible mistakes are worth it.
Whatever it takes to keep our kids safe. One journalist recently printed her opinion that the occasional innocent put to death is a “small matter”, when considering the “larger issue”. The obvious question here is: What if yourkid pays the price - your husband, brother, sister, wife?

Our Constitution, deservedly respected by most of the world, was written to protect the rights of the individual. It makes no exception for District Attorneys’ career advancement, judges’ ineptitude or politicians’ agendas.Many have given their lives to protect it.

That is no “small matter”.  There are alternatives to the death penalty. In the case of an innocent person wrongfully convicted, at the very least, some alternatives buy time to prove innocence in a system that moves slowly. Too slowly some say,when the death penalty process has just been speeded up drastically.

                                                        
                    Nicholas Yarris # AM-6841
                                SCI Greene
                         175 Progress Drive.
                      Waynesburg, PA. 15370

My name is Nicholas Yarris I'm 36 years old (37 on May 17th). I'm Caucasian of Ukranian/Irish decent, 6' 1", 205 lbs., divorced, with blonde hair, and hazel green eyes. Born in Philadelphia.
      I don't know why I had such an ingrained love of the rain as a boy growing up in Philly.
I only knew there was some deeply help preciousness I was meant to embrace... after enduring all that I have as an adult, I found in these years that the rain was my saving grace; my sanctuary, and my physical reminder of appreciating the smallest precious gifts in life.
      I offer no more than the lessons of my life to lend to any the reverance for the precious gifts in your day that pass by without notice; caught in times easy grip and lost to your sight. If it is worth knowing, then perhaps my exchange of being allowed to rise from being "faceless and forgotten" to remind you of what passed by, then I'll feel that I'm making use of this that I have paid dearly to acquire.
      Even to those of you who do not write, but have read this, I hope that you have been
reminded of the need to stop and appreciate even the rain. For even in this time you read this, I was well beyond where I don't want to be...and I was human.

                See Nick's full pen-pal request at Cyberspace Inmates . . .
           http://green.colossus.net/cyberspace-inmates/yarris.htm

     Information provided by the friends and supporters of Nicholas Yarris

Visit link at: http://www.jungleweb.net/vanguard/yarris for more information

               The CCADP offers free webpages to over 500 Death Row Prisoners
                                              Contact us for more information.
         
                                                        "The Eyes Of The World Are Watching Now"