No less than five state and federal judges have found that Kris Helton was wrongfully convicted of first-degree murder because an "inexperienced" assistant public defender, Gerod Hooper, failed to investigate and present jurors with "inviolable" and "persuasive" proof of his innocence. Even so, he remains wrongfully incarcerated in a state prison just because another attorney, Mel Black, failed to ensure a timely filing of his federal habeas petition (a purely procedural technicality unrelated to the merits of his ineffective assistance of counsel claim against Hooper). This is fundamentally unfair. Even United States Senator Patrick Leahy, a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has written, "As a former prosecutor, I know that nothing presents a greater risk of convicting an innocent person than an incompetent lawyer. Far too often, defendants find their lives in the hands of underpaid court-appointed lawyers who are inexperienced, inept, or uninterested." Please sign this petition to help family members, friends, and other supporters use the immense power of the people and social media to free Kris for a crime he did not commit. For additional information, visit www.freekrishelton.org.

After a number of technical issues and crashes of our original petition on www.change.org, we decided to start this second petition on www.ipetitions.com. Thanks to the overwhelming support of people around the world, we easily exceeded our goal of obtaining 100 signatures!Thus, We are closing this petition, If you missed out on showing your support, please sign our brand new petition at www.freekrishelton.org/apps/guestbook. Thanks again for your support.