| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 4:25:23 PM | | Does it bother you that a man in Texas spent over 26 years in prison before being found innocent of his crime (rape) through DNA testing? He was at least the 30th person this has happened to in Texas alone! | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 4:28:05 PM | | ^^ And we are very quick to call the justice system of other countries "undemocratic" and "unjust" while we top the list, but we faile to look at our own problems first and solve them. | |
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svj
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Joined: 9/15/2007
Msg: 3 | |
| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 4:47:12 PM | I must have missed the memo on that one....
Since when do you have to do something wrong to go to jail?
Aren't something like 1 in 3 people in American jails there for being in possession of a naturally growing plant whose fibers threatened the profits of the pulp paper industry like 90 years ago? | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 5:57:22 PM |
Does it bother you that a man in Texas spent over 26 years in prison before being found innocent of his crime
Not near as much as I am sure it bothered him...
He was at least the 30th person this has happened to in Texas alone!
Thats because thats how things are in Texas... | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 5:59:58 PM | The death penalty would avoid the embarrassment of admitting wrongful conviction.
If you check into the state of US prisons, state and federal, you find out some interesting facts. There is over-crowding, which is illegal. There is inadequate health care; many wrongful deaths each year due to neglect, misdiagnoses, unhealthy conditions, poor diet. There is also a significant amount of corruption in the system, by staff, including CO's and Wardens.
This week at the Gatesville, Texas women's prison during a lock-down a woman inmate was denied emergency treatment for an asthma attack, and as the result she died on the floor of her cell. Another inmate tried to administer CPR. The CO stood by doing nothing.
The "tough on crime" voters who elect the "tough on crime" politicians like prisons to be hell-holes and they want prisoners to suffer. And they don't care in the least that innocent people get trashed along with the guilty, or that prison is inhumane. They don't care unless it happens to them personally, which it probably won't.
In the US, about 3% of the population finds its way through prison or jail at some point. The fun part now is that the prison gangs are starting to get established outside the prisons. They make the old Italian Mafia look like Sesame Street. I digress.
What do you say to a man after 26 years in prison for a crime he did not commit? "Oops" is succinct but I doubt it would be satisfying to hear. | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 6:06:41 PM | | The guy will sue the state of Texas and get a mini-fortune out of this. I'm not trying to disrespect the guy, but he'll be better off now financially than he most likely would have had he never been convicted. It's up to him to stay under the radar, invest wisely, and make the rest of his life count. I hope he can do it. | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 6:18:21 PM |
The guy will sue the state of Texas and get a mini-fortune out of this. I'm not trying to disrespect the guy, but he'll be better off now financially than he most likely would have had he never been convicted
I'm sure you are right spitfire6944, and that is looking at the bright side. It is too bad that no amount of money can replace 26 years of freedom. At least he is only 47 and not 74 and still has time to salvage a family. | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 6:21:18 PM |
The guy will sue the state of Texas and get a mini-fortune out of this. I'm not trying to disrespect the guy, but he'll be better off now financially than he most likely would have had he never been convicted. It's up to him to stay under the radar, invest wisely, and make the rest of his life count. I hope he can do it.
You know whats better than being rich?
Not being in a hell hole for almost 30 years. | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 6:59:44 PM | There's nothing anyone can do about the 30 years. The focus has to be on compensating this guy and giving him the tools he'll need to do well from here on out. Texas justice is rough; but they do put away a lot of murderers and rapists.
If anyone is interested on just why the Texas justice system is so stringent, they should check out the Kenneth McDuff case online. That one case changed the entire justice system in Texas. Yes, they make some mistakes, but they don't fùck around with rapists and murderers. Overall, Texas justice is effective.
I hope this particular guy does well from here on out. | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 7:08:58 PM | It's sad,but it happens all the time.
There is a man in Canada named David Milgard,and he went through the exact same thing.
After being found innocent by DNA testing,he was set free.
But it doesn't compensate for the many yrs of his life he lost,so he sued.
He won the settlement,and got about 1.5 million dollars.
Yes,there are certainly a lot of flaws in the justice system,especially in the States. | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 7:37:56 PM |
Overall, Texas justice is effective. Maybe in somebody's dreams it is, but not in this waking life we call reality. I'd love to see anything remotely supportive of that statement in any of the literature dealing with crime rates and criminal justice measures including recidivism and wrongful convictions. | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 7:49:16 PM | ^^^If you look at the per capita murder and rape statistics of states bordering Texas, you'll find that the rates in those states are much higher than they are in Texas. Texas has made a lot of improvements over the past 15 years.
Complaining sure as hell doesn't make anything better.  | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 8:02:21 PM | I know it would suck to be one of them but no system is perfect...
A man accused should be able to take anything and everything that might or would be able to prove him innocent into the court room let the jury see it and hear it. And be able to tell the jury in HIS words his story. ( no lawyers in it, his words after the questions and formal crap his words to the jury) There are to many things not allowed it is no longer proven gulity the accused has to prove he is innocent and then is denied a defense because that/this is ruled not admissible,no matter if is 5 years or forever your talking about a mans life everything is admissible it is the law's job to prove, it not to be fact. Then we would have a better system. | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 8:24:51 PM |
At least he is only 47 and not 74 and still has time to salvage a family.
I spent one year in Viet-Nam and it spent many years before I could deal with my PTSD that I acquired there. PTSD destroyed one of the two great relationships with women that I have had in my lifetime.
Imagine how long, if ever, it will take him to deal with the inevitable PTSD he must have acquired after 26 years in a Texas prison, knowing he was innocent. "Salvage a family"? It'll be a lucky thing if he's not a suicide within 2 years.
Consider the majority of people in the U.S. who will believe that he is still guilty of the rape and "just got off on a technicality". They'll treat him like a convicted sex offender and won't rent him a room, give him a job or let him buy a house in their neighborhood.
"Family"? He probably won't even be able to get a date...
Women - if he posted a profile on POF and was honest enough to say that he had been falsely imprisoned for rape for 26 years, and then sent you a e-mail hoping to start a relationship - would you respond positively, send him a "Thanks, but no thanks" answer or just delete his letter and not respond at all? | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 10:31:32 PM | There are thousands of people sitting in America's prisons that could be cleared or confirmed guilty through DNA evidence, but someone has to underwrite the testing. Texas recently lost one of its best crime labs due to funding. I believe that testing only occurs at the request of the inmate and who knows how long it takes to actually get it done.
There was a man in Dallas, don't know if it is the same guy you are speaking about, but he was so incredibly NOT bitter, it was really remarkable. He had every right to be furious but he said he worked through those emotions during the first decade in prison and I was happy for him because his new life could really be embraced and he could enjoy it instead of allowing the system to continue to rob him after he was finally released.
This is why I find the death penalty frightening because there are many people that are convicted of capital crimes with circumstantial evidence, eyewitness testimony, or when there are multiple perpetrators, being slower to accuse the others of pulling the trigger. At least this man has however many years he has left. The death penalty leaves no room for do-overs.
No spitfire, they just convict a bunch of people of drug possession because they were too stupid to even finger-test the product to find that it was crushed sheetrock. Yup, bunch of frigging rocket scientists in this state, and maybe the crime rates are higher in the surrounding states because all of the rednecks have left the building, we can only hope. Or they want to make sure if they are caught, they don't have to deal with the Texas prisons and the COs that are scary just because they have access to guns.
Who's Drunk, were you paying attention a couple of years ago when there was a big to-do in Illinois because something like a dozen death row inmates had been cleared when journalism students started investigating and found the real perpetrators of the crimes. A moratorium was put on all death row inmates and their sentences commuted to life and/or cases reopened. Remove head from rear. Some stupid crap happens in this state but it is not like it doesn't happen elsewhere. | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/7/2008 11:23:35 PM | Texas has an effective justice system. No one said that they don't occasionally make mistakes. They got a handle on murders and rapes after the McDuff laws passed.
"The good is not the enemy of the perfect" | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/8/2008 1:26:06 AM |
If you look at the per capita murder and rape statistics of states bordering Texas, you'll find that the rates in those states are much higher than they are in Texas. Texas has made a lot of improvements over the past 15 years.
This isn't a statement about how many people go to prison who shouldn't though. | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/8/2008 5:03:33 AM | ^^There's no way to really determine that. Probably every state has a percentage of people who are incarcerated for crimes they didn't commit. One thing to consider, though, is that karmic justice often follows a different route than legal justice. I wonder how many "innocent" people in jail actually committed crimes for which they were never caught. The convictions may be errant; but maybe some of these innocent guys really do belong in jail for something else they did!
Another thing to consider: One's friends and associations are VERY important, and can get you enmeshed in the legal system even if you've done "nothing wrong" yourself. It may not be 100% fair, but that's definitely the way it is everywhere on Earth. | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/8/2008 5:12:13 AM |
There's no way to really determine that. Probably every state has a percentage of people who are incarcerated for crimes they didn't commit. One thing to consider, though, is that karmic justice often follows a different route than legal justice. I wonder how many "innocent" people in jail actually committed crimes for which they were never caught. The convictions may be errant; but maybe some of these innocent guys really do belong in jail for something else they did!
I think that you're going into dangerous territory when you assume the guilt of somebody for a seperate crime. Simply because they were found guilty of a crime that they were innocent of.
Their are some real, serious issues with the Texas legal system. It's not of course isolated to Texas, but to dismiss these with the simple assumption of guilt is rather.
For a free documentary that discusses a lot of these problems in depth.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plea/
It discusses plea bargains, and how people are often coerced into pleading guilty for crimes that they did not commit, and their have been many cases where this has been proven later. | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/8/2008 8:56:39 AM | At least this man was set free and able to get on with his life. If he'd been executed, he wold not be able to get his life back. The death penalty is final, and not a good way to go in light of such incidents of this man being in jail only to be found innocent.
Massachusetts has a reparation law in place that issues money and provides services for those who are found innocent. I hope that Texas has such a law so that this man can get on with his life in peace and not have to go through alot of hassle. Lord knows this man has had enough hassles already!!!
Kudos to packagedealx3 for an excellent post. Well said!! | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/8/2008 9:20:07 AM | I dont see what your point is ? We live in an imperfect world, we are flawed and our institutions invariably make mistakes. Sure it sucks for him, but I'm sure it wasn't
a deliberate act by a DA who suddenly woke up one morning and said, "Hey, you know
I think I'll railroad an innocent man today for kicks"
The reality is that evil people commit a lot of savage and horrendous crimes and
lie about it. Other people have to sort through all the lies, games and bullshit and try and protect society and bring the scumbags to justice. How could mistakes not be made?
Actually, our system, more than any other, is actually slanted in favor of the
offender. In many systems, unlike our own, the offender is considered guilty from the
outset, has to prove they are innocent, reasonable doubt doesn't exist, and they can wait
years for a trial.
Hopefully with the new tools of DNA and lie detection systems in development, the
day will come when mistakes like this can be avoided. are no longer an issue
and we can exterminate the predators and criminals among us.
Imagine living in a Muslim country where your fate would be essentially be
decided according to the demented fantasies of a 6th century pedophile and killer,
such as the recent case where a young woman was sentenced to be lashed because
she was unfortunate enough to be gang raped.
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/8/2008 9:29:31 AM | And all I can say is .. DNA time and time again will prove someone did not commit a crime but yet the IDIOT jury that was on the O.J. case said they didn't believe the DNA...
If you want to be sickened read the book the Goldman's put out "If I did it"
the beginning is mostly the Goldman family talking but then it goes into the actual transcript of that was written for OJ...it will make you sick! The way he justifies everything he is..
But on the topic..I feel very sorry for anyone wrongly accused and "framed" by the court system... | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/8/2008 10:42:49 AM | OP, its sickens me...
My friend got out after 24 yrs, also innocent. His ‘number was tore up’ in AZ. He's an absolute mess, and not. I've referred to him as 'Humpty Dumpty Man'…so many broken pieces being put back together again...
First day we met, he had such a profound heaviness I innocently said 'my God, you are a wounded animal' (I didn’t know yet). He had no idea he was a 'boy interrupted' (he was 18). This was the beginning of his rehabilitation…
He often says “I cant make it out here…please help me’ in such anguish!!! My heart wrenches. Then there are days he’s called, screaming into phone ‘I’m ready to commit a crime, any crime, I need to get back with my own kind’ and I’ve gone into overdrive to re route his thinking…and yes, save innocent lives.
After reading him this whole thread last nite, he point blank asked me if Msg 6 was a white man from Texas…I went and looked at his bio…stunned (that he remembered every word). yes, how’d he know?
He told me to tell y’all this (bare with me, gonna paraphrase a bit): ‘…former inmate is in more trouble than ever. Texas does not like it when someone beats the system, innocent or not. He will be watched like a hawk, while he‘s free (which wont last long), waiting for any slip up…and yes ‘they’ will make him slip up…they want him back inside…
He will never see the money…in fact don’t even try…that will make his life a living hell. Texas runs things their way or no way’. Oh, forgot, when asked what was innocents charge….the sound he made…whew ..he said ‘tell the posters…his days are numbered…just expect/accept it…innocent or not’
He said it more harsh, too the point, but you get general idea.
Poor inmate(s).
At least he is only 47 and not 74 and still has time to salvage a family.
only if their lucky enough to find someone like me…or you…it’s a job!! | |
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| Imprisoned 26 years, then found innocent
Posted: 1/8/2008 10:53:04 AM | So he was innocent. And did jail time.
How many guilty people are still out there that got off because of a techncality? Can not be retried?
Go both ways.
Inocent people in jail and guilty people living in freedom. | |
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