Would you suspect someone connected like say the judges son or maybe someone the cop who testified knew? Its closer to home them many may suspect. Easier to pin it on a nobody.
And what did they gain by doing this? Maybe a better looking record when it’s time for a raise? Maybe? The casual indifference of cops when knowingly ruining someone’s life is both astounding, and pathetic.
@@seanlowrey6371 Convenience, the cops mean you no harm, they just don't want to be annoyed by dead or cold case, imagine the administrative work! You are but a means to the end, to you, this is the end of the road, to them, it is but Tuesday.
The authorities involved in this travesty should be imprisoned for 35 years. They were incompetent, corrupt, cut corners, lied, conspired, and what else? And by blaming an innocent man, they let the real perpetrator stay free to victimize others. Great work, typical of law enforcement and the justice system.
hindsight is 20:20 . the original victim needed the perp arrested. it's a travesty how they picked this guy . usa started using dna testing in 1987 so it may have been too new to use in this case in 1988. however why it took so long to get the dna testing is the travesty. why not in 2008 when he could have got parole . instead of counseling they should have done a dna test. now do realize that most of the time when they retest the dna it still comes back as a positive match. criminals have nothing to lose in doing a test.
Remember that time George Washington was shooting redcoats because of an over-priced stamp? Id be curious Georges take on this current corrupt incompetent tyrannical Govt that no longer has the consent of the Governed.
This is the problem more then anything else. I think electing our Prosecutors might have been a mistake, perhaps appointed with voter ratification to prevent issues?
I absolutely hate how nobody responsible for this man's wrongful conviction will ever face any personal consequences for it. They stole 35 years from this man and they get off scott-free while the current generation of taxpayers are stuck with the bill. Why are MY tax dollars being used to remedy something that happened when I was 4 years old??? Why am I financially liable for something that happened when I was a toddler???
The money you're paying in taxes today was spent last century, lolol. Its gotten much worse for future generations. In a hundred years all the poor kids will be asking why they have to spend their lives paying for '0bamacare" which no longer exists. Just as everyone with an above room temp IQ warned in 2011.
For the same reason that you are allowed to drive on the roads that were planned that long ago, and go to public libraries and museums that were founded and possibly built that long ago: because you are a member (a body part) of the group.
@@pvtbuddieno. One is for the good of society and the other one is an overreaching tyrannical government. I don't see a library kneeling on someone's neck until they die, and I don't see public roads tazing innocent people and putting them behind bars. That comparison on all levels is dumb. There are PEOPLE behind this. And those PEOPLE should be the ones paying.
@@mtdfs5147 : The question is, why is a member of a society (financially, in this case) responsible for what that society did before he was, as an adult and free moral agent, a member, or even before he existed to be a member. The reason 'why' is the same as the reason why he benefits: because when people act as a group, they scatter seeds as a group, and they harvest and they eat as a group, and they are liable as a group, as well. The gradual and natural changing of the members of the group does not change the rights and responsibilities of the group, anymore than the gradual replacement of the minerals in your bones, for instance, signals a loss to you of all of your assets and your liabilities.
Right. I guess the answer is because it never went to court? He entered his no contest plea (under presumably bad advice) and that was that. The judge took no interest in reviewing the merits and went straight to “how many years should I give this guy”. Complete travesty!
Right? When he asked to withdraw his no contest plea they should have glanced at the evidence, saw there was absolutely none and like made them drop the case...
There is no repercussions for judges, prosecutors, and court appointed attorneys for the corrupt game plan to convict. Guilty or not! Court rooms are just a company meeting on how to secure money paid, by the federal government, for each incarcerated person. You know they are privately owned prisons. And guess who the shareholders are?
Here is the thing.... he had no salary for 35 years. Therefore, he gets no social security, doesn't have the ten qualifying years, or whatever the heck minimum. The one million has to last the rest of his life. Ain't government GREAT?
@@michaell4990 That sounds an awful lot like MGTOW- basically, Men who have been scorned by women, Go Their Own Way and just stop dating/trying to get married and live alone.
I hope there's a financial planner in his area who's willing to work pro bono, or that some sort of organization can carry the cost of it. If the money is managed carefully, it can last. A big problem some exonerees face when they get compensated is the sudden appearance of distant relations and family acquaintances asking for money. And having been locked up for so long, they may have little sense for the worth of money (because of inflation, what would have been a monumental sum 35 years ago isn't so monumental anymore) and little experience managing it. Financial advice should be provided automatically as part of the settlement. Also bear in mind that he's suing some of those responsible for his wrongful conviction. If he succeeds (and that's not guaranteed), he might get more money.
@@michaell4990 He kind of was, even if that’s not literally true, what are your chances of getting a woman to actually like you when you’re locked up and convicted of some horrible crime?
I'm not a CPA, but the first question I had about the $1.75m was whether he'd immediately lose half of it in income taxes. That would be a real bite in the ass.
This is why I absolutely detest the low-effort, lazy investigative tactics so often employed by law enforcement. They end up stealing away the best years of an innocent man's life, and the real perpetrator has been free all this time, and probably has other victims who wouldn't have suffered if the police and "justice" system had done their goddamn jobs right in the first place!
Even more terrifying is the fact that the courts were able to secure a conviction against *somebody who didn't commit the crime;* makes you wonder how many *other* innocent people are sitting in prison at this very moment...
@@ianbattles7290 Far more than they would ever admit to. I've seen cases where the prosecution continues to push for a conviction, even after the truth is revealed. These people are politicians first, and that needs to change!
The man is 65? No, he’s not gonna get his life back he’ll never get his life back. Those bastards literally stole his life out from under him. No amount of money could satisfy 35 years of lost time in the prime of your life. They need to pay.
The injustice here reminds me of the Fells Acres day care case in 1986 when three people were railroaded into prison. The evidence collected by investigators prompting children was completely unbelievable; some children were manipulated into saying they were raped with harmful objects, yet none of them had injuries. Still, it got three innocent people convicted in that era's day care center hysteria. Look it up on Wikipedia. Steve, great work publicizing Institute for Justice. I am a monthly contributor.
I lived in New England when that whole mess went down. I actually worked with a guy who lived in the same neighborhood as the amirault family and they could not believe what was going down. Everybody knows they didn’t do anything wrong and nobody will still remedy the situation
There is a book called _Mean Justice_ by Edward Humes (1999, Simon & Schuster) that documents a similar situation out of Bakersfield CA. I read the library's copy after I first heard about this book. Chilling.
Texas killed an innocent man named Todd Willingham in 1993. That forever changed my view on Govt sponsored death penalty cases. When the infallibility of humans is proven then we can talk about Govts killing people. Since the 90s Govt has only grown larger and more corrupt and incompetent at every level.
"Albion police named Wright as a suspect after an off-duty officer said Wright was seen in the neighborhood before the assault happened. Police claimed Wright confessed, but the interview wasn't recorded and Wright did not sign a confession. The victim wasn't asked to identify anyone nor did police conduct identification procedures, the Innocent Project said." source: USA Today/Innocence Project
We used to have the motto, "better to let 100 guilty men go free than to convict 1 innocent man" And while I express this sentiment, it's also very disheartening to see guilty men go free
@@TheOrangeRoad Yes. It’s sometimes easy to forget about the flip side of cases like this-anytime an innocent person is convicted of a crime they didn’t commit, a guilty person necessarily did go free. But there seems to be no incentives for law enforcement and district attorneys to look for, and admit to mistakes even after they’ve been incontrovertibly proven to have been committed.
This story literally makes my stomach hurt. 35 years 😢!? And WHY the heck did it take so long to DNA Test. Any prosecutor who fights against completing a DNA test should be fired and cases looked into. Makes no sense to deny testing OTHER THAN being worried that innocent people will be freed!
I also always think about how much life people have missed when they were innocently sent to person for that amount of time. I was 16 in 1988 just getting my license & writing stupid notes to girls in class. I realize he was already 30 but they still took away a prime part of his life over a shoddy investigation & 1.75 million should only be the start because that’s just potential lost wages. In that same time I got to go to college, join the military go to grad school make lifelong friends & have a career. They took all of that away from him so now they need to pay for that also.
No amount of money can buy more time, time is the most valuable thing we mortals have. But what's worse is it's only $58k per year roughly. That's not a lot considering some people easily make three times that in my state and we aren't a well off state.
About taking the plead for a crime you didn't commit, my acquaitance was threatened with 99 years, after spending over 20k of his father's retirement, so he took 5 months shock probation and 5 years probation. Best attorney he could find, but, worthless or bought off.
Pleading guilty to a crime you know you didn't commit is TECHNICALLY perjury, *because you are knowingly & intentionally giving false information to the court.*
Great job as always Steve, the truth of the matter is most Americans don’t realize how corrupt our judicial system is to fight them you’re fighting a corrupt system
My dad was a policeman. He told me a lot of things but this one thing, I will always remember. He said "never say, that you did something, if you didn't do it" (don't take a plea deal). Thanks Steve. Great story.
Fuming here. That man is 3 years older. I think back on all the wonderful life I have had. He's a principled, self-disciplined, patient man. I hope life hands him more than dollars.
Problem here is the blatantly guilty repeat violent criminals get ZERO jail time and just walk out of court over and over, 36 year old guy with 20+ violent crime felony convictions pleads guilty and walks AGAIN, after violating probation by kidnapping and other crimes against the woman at gunpoint.
We already have that and way worse. On average, you can murder someone in cold blood and get less than 20 years in prison. What Steve didn't describe (and you don't know) is how bad of a prior criminal arrest record this guy had. Given the high recidivism rate, it's likely this guy had a very long arrest record and the local police knew he had done a bunch more crime but didn't have enough to convict him so they went after the crime they could convict him of. Remember, it was an undercover cop who (incorrectly) ID'd him so he was at least in a bad area at a bad time with bad people. Undercover cops don't do stakeouts unless there's a lot of REALLY serious crime continually going on in an area.
@@itsmatt2105 It doesn't matter if this man was a criminal or not prior to this incident. What matters is if this man was actually guilty of committing the crime for which he was convicted, sentenced for, and then sent to prison (for 35 years). You cannot use the logic that because this man did not get the punishment you, or someone else believed he deserved, it is therefore okay to falsely convict him of a crime he did not commit. Don't you see that?
If not a defense attorney, at the very least, the PROSECUTOR should have had the moral, if not legal, obligation to make sure that the guy wasn't railroaded. Some prosecutors seem to believe that it is their job to get convictions, when their job is actually to assure that justice is done for ALL concerned, both victim and accused.
In 1988 I was working as a custodian in an institution, driving a '68 Dodge Coronet (still have the slant six engine from it), and going to college part-time. Ancient history now.
When some one is proven innocent, especially after being punished, the judge and jurry should be given the same full sentence. ( under the assumption that we keep playing this dumb and childish game of cops and criminals)
How awful! From 30 to 65 just because he may have been seen in the area, a fake confession, messed up arraignment, etc. Glad he gets some compensation and his freedom back, but nobody wants a system that gets the wrong guy.
The American Govt was created specifically so that things like this didn't happen;. Yet here we are with some other form of Govt than the founders envisioned. The same Govt them points guns at all of our heads and steals more of OUR money to pay for the crime they committed against this man.
But somebody does! Prosecutors want wins, not justice. The public wants things solved and they trust the justice system to be fair. We are the problem by our complacency.
@@katiekane5247 Great point! The incentives need to change, and maybe the perspective. The ancient Incas didn't have an adversarial system, for example. Maybe we need to change our philosophy of law. We have railroaded an innocent person far too often and these exonerations based on DNA have demonstrated the need for major reform.
DNA testing was first used to convict a man in England in 1987. Although test results took weeks to months to get results back then, instead of the days or hours it takes now, why was DNA testing done only last summer? Sounds like they had the ability to do DNA testing before he even went to trial.
So much wrong in this. This whole thing where you get out earlier if you admit a crime you didn't do is ridiculous, but it's obvious at least some people would accept that. Disgusting.
The innocent spend far more time in prison than the guilty. And the only ones to blame are the people, as it is the juries that buy the lies of prosecutors, time and time again.
1.75 million USD for 35 years locked up in prison. Not anywhere near enough compensation for this. I think he should file some additional lawsuits against those responsible for him being locked for a crime that he had nothing to do with. This was a disgusting abuse of power by those inside.
Poor investigation efforts and target fixation are a recurring problem with police. Once they focus on a person they rarely reconsider. There was a murder in Northern California where the initial investigation came up with a list of two suspects. one was quickly excluded based on alibi witnesses but they could not actually place the second suspect at the scene of the crime. The police continued to investigate the second suspect causing his wife to leave him, his extended family to disown him and his employer to fire him. Fortunately they did not fake any evidence so no criminal case. Years later advances in DNA testing conclusively showed that the suspect with the alibis was the murderer.
Those responsible for sending that man behind bars for 35 years need to sit their own 35 years behind bars. Policemen, investigators, attorney, judges. All of them. If they cannot serve that time, then all their close relatives must do that for them. Like I do my shopping for my father who cannot do that himself. Unfair? Yes. It was defiínitely unfrair to sentence him. The DNA that did that needs to make that up. How does it sound? Crazy? It was crazy to sentence an innocent man to 35 years in prison in the first place. Those personally responsible must pay their price. Otherwise the society is sick!
I wonder how many innocent people are in prison because of public defenders who are overworked, underqualified, lazy, apathetic, colluding with the prosecution/cops/court, or some combination of those factors.
@@MonkeyJedi99 - Many defense attorneys have other clients that need plea deals, and prosecutors will often retaliate against a defense attorney who defends their client more than usual. This means one innocent person gets thrown under the bus, so that 20 guilty people can get a better plea deal.
@@arthurwintersight7868 And many times people take the plea deal for things they didn't do because they are threatened by prosecutors. "If you take the deal I'm offering, you'll do maybe (take not of the maybe!) a year. If you go through the full process you can get ten. The deal expires when I leave the room." So you get lies, fake promises carefully avoided by careful word use, and fake time pressure.
I myself have pled guilty to a crime I did not commit because I was caught in ambiguous circumstances and had no real way to "prove my innocence". The cops said I did it, I said I didn't...and who was a jury going to believe???
A good example why the convicted should always be able to introduce new evidence and appeals. I think some jurisdictions have statute of limitations and deadlines on new evidence and appeals.
And I bet he'll have to pay tax on that $1.75M. Dude should be given (in addition to the 1.75M) $50k/yr tax-free and should not have to pay taxes on anything in the state of MI for life.
It's a joke that the court finally asked the question, "you mean the victum has not identified the suspect yet?". Regarding compensation, the state has a cap on compensation it seems for just any condition. This person claimed not guilty for 30+ years, he was asked many times to consent to being guilty to get out of prison sooner ! After all of the times he was asked to do this or do that to get out sooner, he said no, I'm not guilty. So, the state now finds he is not guilty....I would have to say the state needs to pay this person much more compensation because he was in fact not buying the justice system ideas. 35 years for telling the truth !! Less for telling a lie !!
He should be able to collect the minimum amount of social security in a few years. Hopefully, he lives within his means the rest of his life. Perhaps they will allow him to pay SS a lump sum based on that $50K/year, and then collect based on that. Seems to me, the state of Michigan owes the social security administration a lump sum based on that payout. It's essentially very hard earned income.
My point is that he was a "professional prisoner" for 35 years, earning a $50K per annum salary. There should be a way of paying social security tax, which would qualify him for SS retirement based on that "work history".
It blows me away that a jury could convict someone with such little evidence of such a heinous crime... I served on a statutory 🍇 case and all of us jurors came to the conclusion that it was highly possible if not likely that they had a 'relationship' of some kind however the state presented no evidence or witnesses... I can't even believe it made it to trial. Good on the man for sticking to his guns and I figure the inmates likely believed him else he might not be with us anymore 😅
I remember getting suspended for repeatedly asking 'What if an innocent person is put in jail?' We are taught if a person is convicted then they are guilty 'case closed'. I recently learned from a friend of mine who had children there they are STILL doing this. Edit: A U T O C O R R E C T deleted the word school
The public pretender was probably trying to move the case along as fast as possible. Some guy was using women to commit check fraud. They were not aware of what he was doing. My sister was one of them. Our family paid for an attorney and the charges were dropped against her. All of the other women went to prison. Witnessing that is something you never forget. I would sell everything I own to hire a private attorney in criminal cases because if I went to prison I would lose it all anyway and if I didn't go then I could begin recovering sooner. $1.75M doesn't begin to account for the wages and investments I would lose in 35 years. The time lost with friends and family would be even more valuable. I hope he gets his $100M.
We've been letting guilty people go free on technicalities since our inception. It's the price we pay to PREVENT wrongful convictions. Seems we have paid the price and not gotten what we paid for.
A court appointed attorney is on the same payroll as the prosecutor, and judge. I wouldn't trust them to have my best interest in mind. $50,000.00 a year for false imprisonment is a complete joke.
This video reminds me of the movie The Shawshank Redemption. The warden had that one inmate shot and killed by the guard because he actually saw who murdered Andy's wife and her lover and was about to testify about this in court. Since the warden and his guards needed Andy to continue to do the illegal activity with the bank transactions in regards to the prison books, they killed the witness to the murder of his wife and her lover and continued to keep an innocent man behind bars.
In the movie we are never certain if he did or not. The narrator is, red, seems to believe he was innocent and that blatch did it. But as the audience, we can never be certain.
@@lrmackmcbride7498 True. However, the warden was still wrong for having him killed. Not only was it a perfect example of corruption in the prison system, but it was such a heinous
@@lrmackmcbride7498 It was such a heinous act of selfishness and cruelty on the warden's part so that he could keep an innocent man behind bars in order to have him continue to carry out the illegal bank transactions with the prison books and the guards. They weren't the least but concerned about finding out the complete truth. It was all done over money.
Whenever a person is found to be liar that gets someone incarcerated, the liar should be sent to prison for a period of not less than the time the other person was incarcerated. The time counting starts when the person was first picked up to be taken in, and it ends when the person finally gets out and is free to go clear from the location of incarceration. However, that time is how long the liar spends in the jail cell. They don't count any out of cell time.
The difficulty with this is how do you know someone is lying? That person "lying" could've been given a signed confession and then had it taken away. It could've been a fake confession and someone else wrote the lie. It quickly devolves into "If you're wrong you go to jail so just be quiet."
35 years in prison is basically taking your life away. That's basically me born in prison and still being in there for a bit longer. The only justifiable thing is to trade a life for a life of whoever screwed you, whether it's their children or grandchildren.
People (rightfully in some cases) get tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in personal injury cases. This is arguably so much worse. Wrongfully convicted people should be compensated enough that it becomes SO EXPENSIVE for the state, that they are financially obligated to ensure they're not putting the wrong people in prison.
$50K annually is nowhere near enough. While it's true that that amount was a darn good wage in 1988, it truly sucks today, AND there should be interest compounded daily from the first day of incarceration at, say, twice the maximum prime during the whole period. That's before the entirely appropriate punitive damages, which should be not less than treble. And not only should the state pay that, but it should be dollar-for-dollar matched by any individuals, such as prosecutor, police, and judge, who can be shown culpable of misfeasance or negligence in handling the case. Of course, these same people may well be guilty of associated criminal charges, Federal or state, or both. It's hard to say which is more important, making it clear (clear enough truly to frighten any future perpetrators off) that you can't treat a man like this, or making him as whole as can be done. We want both. The worst of it is that the intensity/expense of punishment imposed on perpetrators under color of law itself buys little. The time machine is broke and we can't roll back. It may be that the most culpable people are deceased, or unable to pony up, and impoverishing such folk in THEIR old age, or taking from their estates - meaning perhaps impoverishing their families, who had nothing to do with the matter . . . Then there's culpability, and culpability. Some folk are just dumb at their jobs and should never have been hired for them, while others, well, like the song says, "Supper's at home and I gotta get to it," which attitude is obviously inexcusable, even to the stupid. I still think my calculation must be at least 10x what he'll be paid, and I think every penny should be paid regardless of how distributed. And I guess I should give my answer to folk, who, like me, would ask why it should fall on the taxpayers: we are the voters, and as We The People, we have the responsibility to throw the rascals out, and to demand good laws and fair enforcement. We employ these guys, and employers are responsible for employees' misbehavior. Our best remedy is to ensure we vote for those who honor the Constitution and due process. And, BTW, we have elections at hand.
$1.75M.... That's just $5.71 per hour of prison time. That's not just compensation for the time, let alone destroying someone's life and reputation. It should be in the 7 figures range, not barely over 6 figures.
The criminal justice system does not do its due diligence. I recently took an Alfford because my PD would not argue my case even though my actions are backed up by state law, Suoreme Court affirmation and Federal Circuit case law. No one wants to do their jôb and would rather see an innocent persons life ruined or imprisoned just so the state does not have to be held accountable for its actions. Judgements should be based in law not feelings and political motivations. Chàrges dealing with Supreme Çourt ruliñgs should be automatically reviewed when the precedent changes. It's not fair that the courts çan openly defy the USSC while enforcing unconstitutional statutes until they can pack the court to get their way. Such is the disproportionate tiered justice system we live under.
My only question is, what happened to the police that stitched him up for a crime that he had nothing to do with ??????????????? I would bet that the answer is, NOTHING.
He needs to sue everyone involved including the victim and there should be RICO charges against the police officers involved and the judge and prosecutor.
So the guilty criminal has possibly on the streets for the last 35 years.
Would you suspect someone connected like say the judges son or maybe someone the cop who testified knew? Its closer to home them many may suspect. Easier to pin it on a nobody.
You noticed that too.
Exactly!
@Imlosep that sounds like a reasonable theory
Maybe the "off duty cop" that "saw" him in the area did it....
a 30 year old loses his life when cops lied.
Back the blue, until it happens to you.
Those responsible need to do time. Maybe 30 years
All cops lie.
And what did they gain by doing this? Maybe a better looking record when it’s time for a raise? Maybe?
The casual indifference of cops when knowingly ruining someone’s life is both astounding, and pathetic.
@@seanlowrey6371 Convenience, the cops mean you no harm, they just don't want to be annoyed by dead or cold case, imagine the administrative work!
You are but a means to the end, to you, this is the end of the road, to them, it is but Tuesday.
The authorities involved in this travesty should be imprisoned for 35 years. They were incompetent, corrupt, cut corners, lied, conspired, and what else? And by blaming an innocent man, they let the real perpetrator stay free to victimize others. Great work, typical of law enforcement and the justice system.
Maybe the real perpetrator was that off duty cop looking to cover his tracks
hindsight is 20:20 . the original victim needed the perp arrested. it's a travesty how they picked this guy . usa started using dna testing in 1987 so it may have been too new to use in this case in 1988. however why it took so long to get the dna testing is the travesty. why not in 2008 when he could have got parole . instead of counseling they should have done a dna test. now do realize that most of the time when they retest the dna it still comes back as a positive match. criminals have nothing to lose in doing a test.
"WHY YOU HATE POLICE?!?!?!" WHAR "JUST COMPLY?!?!?!" "BACK THE BLUE!!!" "BLUE LIVES MATTER!!!"
Blech.
Typical USA justice system.
Usa olice and justice system are a laughingstock for the rest of the world
Why can't we punish these cops 35 years later? If I murdered someone and didn't get caught for 35 years, I would still be prosecuted...
Prosecutors want wins, not justice.
Remember that time George Washington was shooting redcoats because of an over-priced stamp? Id be curious Georges take on this current corrupt incompetent tyrannical Govt that no longer has the consent of the Governed.
Exactly!
🎯
This is the problem more then anything else. I think electing our Prosecutors might have been a mistake, perhaps appointed with voter ratification to prevent issues?
100%!
I absolutely hate how nobody responsible for this man's wrongful conviction will ever face any personal consequences for it. They stole 35 years from this man and they get off scott-free while the current generation of taxpayers are stuck with the bill. Why are MY tax dollars being used to remedy something that happened when I was 4 years old??? Why am I financially liable for something that happened when I was a toddler???
The money you're paying in taxes today was spent last century, lolol. Its gotten much worse for future generations. In a hundred years all the poor kids will be asking why they have to spend their lives paying for '0bamacare" which no longer exists. Just as everyone with an above room temp IQ warned in 2011.
END QUALIFIED IMMUNITY
For the same reason that you are allowed to drive on the roads that were planned that long ago, and go to public libraries and museums that were founded and possibly built that long ago: because you are a member (a body part) of the group.
@@pvtbuddieno. One is for the good of society and the other one is an overreaching tyrannical government. I don't see a library kneeling on someone's neck until they die, and I don't see public roads tazing innocent people and putting them behind bars. That comparison on all levels is dumb. There are PEOPLE behind this. And those PEOPLE should be the ones paying.
@@mtdfs5147 :
The question is, why is a member of a society (financially, in this case) responsible for what that society did before he was, as an adult and free moral agent, a member, or even before he existed to be a member. The reason 'why' is the same as the reason why he benefits: because when people act as a group, they scatter seeds as a group, and they harvest and they eat as a group, and they are liable as a group, as well. The gradual and natural changing of the members of the group does not change the rights and responsibilities of the group, anymore than the gradual replacement of the minerals in your bones, for instance, signals a loss to you of all of your assets and your liabilities.
This man definitely deserves much more than $1.75M for the loss of his liberty during his most productive and healthful years of his life!
That should be 1,75M annually
Think I read about someone being incarcerated for 40 years getting 25 million or so.
Sounds like they said oh if he had a job for those 35 years this is how much he would get. Didn’t even account for the suffering of being innocent!!!
And that award comes out of a taxpayer's Pockets unfortunately. It should come out of the prosecutor's personal pocket.
It doesn’t matter how much green paper he gets. 35 years are lost.
How is this even a thing? How do you not get laughed out of court with, "He totally confessed but we didn't record it or write it down."
Small-town good-ol'-boy network among the judges, prosecutors, and cops.
Right. I guess the answer is because it never went to court? He entered his no contest plea (under presumably bad advice) and that was that. The judge took no interest in reviewing the merits and went straight to “how many years should I give this guy”. Complete travesty!
Right? When he asked to withdraw his no contest plea they should have glanced at the evidence, saw there was absolutely none and like made them drop the case...
Those who framed this guy and wrongfully convicted him need to do hard time themselves.
Assuming any of them are even still alive... Remember, this happened in 1988!!!
When crooked cops and prosecutors are sent to prison for the same amount of time they send innocent people for, then MAYBE things will change. Maybe.
There is no repercussions for judges, prosecutors, and court appointed attorneys for the corrupt game plan to convict. Guilty or not! Court rooms are just a company meeting on how to secure money paid, by the federal government, for each incarcerated person. You know they are privately owned prisons. And guess who the shareholders are?
He should have gotten 10x that amount for 35 years in prison, that's pathetic.
Yes!
There was a family in Colorado who just got a larger settlement after being wrongfully detained for a mere two hours!!!
Clearly the cops lied. The prosecutor lied and was negligent. Holy fling 35 years. Thos people need to spend some time in jail... like 35 years
Police have qualified immunity, but prosecutors are virtually untouchable.
Here is the thing.... he had no salary for 35 years. Therefore, he gets no social security, doesn't have the ten qualifying years, or whatever the heck minimum. The one million has to last the rest of his life.
Ain't government GREAT?
@@michaell4990 That sounds an awful lot like MGTOW- basically, Men who have been scorned by women, Go Their Own Way and just stop dating/trying to get married and live alone.
I hope there's a financial planner in his area who's willing to work pro bono, or that some sort of organization can carry the cost of it. If the money is managed carefully, it can last.
A big problem some exonerees face when they get compensated is the sudden appearance of distant relations and family acquaintances asking for money. And having been locked up for so long, they may have little sense for the worth of money (because of inflation, what would have been a monumental sum 35 years ago isn't so monumental anymore) and little experience managing it. Financial advice should be provided automatically as part of the settlement.
Also bear in mind that he's suing some of those responsible for his wrongful conviction. If he succeeds (and that's not guaranteed), he might get more money.
@@michaell4990 He kind of was, even if that’s not literally true, what are your chances of getting a woman to actually like you when you’re locked up and convicted of some horrible crime?
I'm not a CPA, but the first question I had about the $1.75m was whether he'd immediately lose half of it in income taxes. That would be a real bite in the ass.
@@henrybrandt1057 damage awards are not taxable.
This is why I absolutely detest the low-effort, lazy investigative tactics so often employed by law enforcement. They end up stealing away the best years of an innocent man's life, and the real perpetrator has been free all this time, and probably has other victims who wouldn't have suffered if the police and "justice" system had done their goddamn jobs right in the first place!
Even more terrifying is the fact that the courts were able to secure a conviction against *somebody who didn't commit the crime;* makes you wonder how many *other* innocent people are sitting in prison at this very moment...
@@ianbattles7290 Far more than they would ever admit to. I've seen cases where the prosecution continues to push for a conviction, even after the truth is revealed. These people are politicians first, and that needs to change!
The man is 65? No, he’s not gonna get his life back he’ll never get his life back. Those bastards literally stole his life out from under him. No amount of money could satisfy 35 years of lost time in the prime of your life. They need to pay.
Nothing but a working time machine can properly compensate this man. All the money on Earth cannot turn back the hands of time.
@@ianbattles7290 Yea, time is priceless. Once lost nothing can get it back.
The injustice here reminds me of the Fells Acres day care case in 1986 when three people were railroaded into prison. The evidence collected by investigators prompting children was completely unbelievable; some children were manipulated into saying they were raped with harmful objects, yet none of them had injuries. Still, it got three innocent people convicted in that era's day care center hysteria. Look it up on Wikipedia. Steve, great work publicizing Institute for Justice. I am a monthly contributor.
I lived in New England when that whole mess went down. I actually worked with a guy who lived in the same neighborhood as the amirault family and they could not believe what was going down. Everybody knows they didn’t do anything wrong and nobody will still remedy the situation
Remember, the commonwealth can not do any wrong.
There is a book called _Mean Justice_ by Edward Humes (1999, Simon & Schuster) that documents a similar situation out of Bakersfield CA. I read the library's copy after I first heard about this book. Chilling.
Again...ask me why I am against capital punishment.
I am too, most people don't agree with me.
Agree 100% Eddie!
Texas killed an innocent man named Todd Willingham in 1993. That forever changed my view on Govt sponsored death penalty cases. When the infallibility of humans is proven then we can talk about Govts killing people. Since the 90s Govt has only grown larger and more corrupt and incompetent at every level.
Around one in twenty, in the US are not guilty
"Albion police named Wright as a suspect after an off-duty officer said Wright was seen in the neighborhood before the assault happened. Police claimed Wright confessed, but the interview wasn't recorded and Wright did not sign a confession. The victim wasn't asked to identify anyone nor did police conduct identification procedures, the Innocent Project said."
source: USA Today/Innocence Project
If only our society got as angry over innocent people being punished as they do when guilty people don’t…
You mean the cop/ lawyer?
We used to have the motto, "better to let 100 guilty men go free than to convict 1 innocent man"
And while I express this sentiment, it's also very disheartening to see guilty men go free
@@TheOrangeRoad Yes. It’s sometimes easy to forget about the flip side of cases like this-anytime an innocent person is convicted of a crime they didn’t commit, a guilty person necessarily did go free. But there seems to be no incentives for law enforcement and district attorneys to look for, and admit to mistakes even after they’ve been incontrovertibly proven to have been committed.
@@TheOrangeRoad
When an innocent man is convicted-railroaded more often than we believe-the guilty man does go free.
@@TheOrangeRoad Ten not one hundred and it wasn't our motto it was something a founding father said.
Why did it take 35 years to test the DNA? That is a crime that it took that long.
Because the Cooley Law School Innocence Project just looked into this. The justice system didn't.
@@dannylgriffin So Albion is even more of a disgrace that was even covered in the video. Damn.
@@bastardferret869 yes.
This story literally makes my stomach hurt. 35 years 😢!? And WHY the heck did it take so long to DNA Test. Any prosecutor who fights against completing a DNA test should be fired and cases looked into. Makes no sense to deny testing OTHER THAN being worried that innocent people will be freed!
Most likely it took so long because the corrupt, lazy prosecutor was far more interested in his golf game and CYA than justice.
I’m 40 years old. I can’t imagine. God bless this person.
I don't know how this guy isn't consumed by grief and anger. He missed out on an entire lifetime because somebody lied about him...
I also always think about how much life people have missed when they were innocently sent to person for that amount of time. I was 16 in 1988 just getting my license & writing stupid notes to girls in class. I realize he was already 30 but they still took away a prime part of his life over a shoddy investigation & 1.75 million should only be the start because that’s just potential lost wages. In that same time I got to go to college, join the military go to grad school make lifelong friends & have a career. They took all of that away from him so now they need to pay for that also.
The police, prosecutor, and judge that handled the original case should be put in prison and if he had an attorney that attorney should be disbarred.
You know, that undercover cop needs to be held to account.
It's been 35+ years; he's probably either retired or deceased by now.
@@ianbattles7290 True. If he is deceased he is facing a reckoning for any lies he told in his career.
I'm not sure any amount of money could repay you for what you had to endure in prison for that length of time.
exactly.... freedom is priceless :(
No amount of money can buy more time, time is the most valuable thing we mortals have.
But what's worse is it's only $58k per year roughly. That's not a lot considering some people easily make three times that in my state and we aren't a well off state.
About taking the plead for a crime you didn't commit, my acquaitance was threatened with 99 years, after spending over 20k of his father's retirement, so he took 5 months shock probation and 5 years probation. Best attorney he could find, but, worthless or bought off.
Pleading guilty to a crime you know you didn't commit is TECHNICALLY perjury, *because you are knowingly & intentionally giving false information to the court.*
The prosecutor should be charged with conspiring against this man and violating his civil rights.
No amount can compensate for 35 years of any person's life.
If a few cops, prosecutors and judges were jailed when one of these cases came to light I bet they'd all be a lot more careful.
If you're not certain enough to risk your own life, *you're not certain enough to gamble with somebody else's life.*
This sounds like getting the basis for guilt by reading the police report and taking it at face value.
Great job as always Steve, the truth of the matter is most Americans don’t realize how corrupt our judicial system is to fight them you’re fighting a corrupt system
My dad was a policeman. He told me a lot of things but this one thing, I will always remember. He said "never say, that you did something, if you didn't do it" (don't take a plea deal). Thanks Steve. Great story.
Fuming here. That man is 3 years older. I think back on all the wonderful life I have had. He's a principled, self-disciplined, patient man. I hope life hands him more than dollars.
Need a justice system that allows 10 guilty to go free instead of being able imprison an innocent.
Problem here is the blatantly guilty repeat violent criminals get ZERO jail time and just walk out of court over and over, 36 year old guy with 20+ violent crime felony convictions pleads guilty and walks AGAIN, after violating probation by kidnapping and other crimes against the woman at gunpoint.
We do have that system! The only problem is that you'll have to be a politician, or a homeless junkie.
Everyone else in between has the opposite
@@ghostshadow9046please, give me a single example of that happening. I'll wait.
We already have that and way worse. On average, you can murder someone in cold blood and get less than 20 years in prison. What Steve didn't describe (and you don't know) is how bad of a prior criminal arrest record this guy had. Given the high recidivism rate, it's likely this guy had a very long arrest record and the local police knew he had done a bunch more crime but didn't have enough to convict him so they went after the crime they could convict him of.
Remember, it was an undercover cop who (incorrectly) ID'd him so he was at least in a bad area at a bad time with bad people. Undercover cops don't do stakeouts unless there's a lot of REALLY serious crime continually going on in an area.
@@itsmatt2105 It doesn't matter if this man was a criminal or not prior to this incident. What matters is if this man was actually guilty of committing the crime for which he was convicted, sentenced for, and then sent to prison (for 35 years). You cannot use the logic that because this man did not get the punishment you, or someone else believed he deserved, it is therefore okay to falsely convict him of a crime he did not commit. Don't you see that?
This innocent man should at least $20 Million dollars in awards. The police / prosecutors should get 35 years in prison !!!!
If not a defense attorney, at the very least, the PROSECUTOR should have had the moral, if not legal, obligation to make sure that the guy wasn't railroaded. Some prosecutors seem to believe that it is their job to get convictions, when their job is actually to assure that justice is done for ALL concerned, both victim and accused.
A prosecutor's job should be to get a fair verdict, and that INCLUDES dismissal or exoneration when it becomes apparent that a suspect is innocent.
It’s not enough money
No its not
no even close
All the money on Earth wouldn't be enough money; time is irreplaceable and priceless.
In 1988 I was working as a custodian in an institution, driving a '68 Dodge Coronet (still have the slant six engine from it), and going to college part-time. Ancient history now.
When some one is proven innocent, especially after being punished, the judge and jurry should be given the same full sentence. ( under the assumption that we keep playing this dumb and childish game of cops and criminals)
"judge and jury" ? Why not also the prosecutor, the cops, and the "witnesses" ?
How awful! From 30 to 65 just because he may have been seen in the area, a fake confession, messed up arraignment, etc. Glad he gets some compensation and his freedom back, but nobody wants a system that gets the wrong guy.
The American Govt was created specifically so that things like this didn't happen;. Yet here we are with some other form of Govt than the founders envisioned. The same Govt them points guns at all of our heads and steals more of OUR money to pay for the crime they committed against this man.
But somebody does! Prosecutors want wins, not justice. The public wants things solved and they trust the justice system to be fair. We are the problem by our complacency.
@@katiekane5247 Great point! The incentives need to change, and maybe the perspective. The ancient Incas didn't have an adversarial system, for example. Maybe we need to change our philosophy of law. We have railroaded an innocent person far too often and these exonerations based on DNA have demonstrated the need for major reform.
It's terrifying to know that the actual perpetrator was never caught!!!
DNA testing was first used to convict a man in England in 1987. Although test results took weeks to months to get results back then, instead of the days or hours it takes now, why was DNA testing done only last summer? Sounds like they had the ability to do DNA testing before he even went to trial.
My daughter was five in '88, my grandson is 17. That's a lifetime lost!
I'm surprised they didn't send him a bill for lodging... that's how upside down the justice system has become.
If he’s innocent that means the actual perpetrator got away. At 65 my life is already over.
Yeah, you're not getting out of prison at the age of 65 and starting a new career and/or a family.
So much wrong in this.
This whole thing where you get out earlier if you admit a crime you didn't do is ridiculous, but it's obvious at least some people would accept that. Disgusting.
The innocent spend far more time in prison than the guilty. And the only ones to blame are the people, as it is the juries that buy the lies of prosecutors, time and time again.
"Jury of our peers" What a laugh. If we do not get to chose them; they are not our peers.
No matter how much money, he will never be able to adapt to freedom. Very sad.
35 years ago someone got away with a disgusting crime and this poor victim was never avenged. The legal system failed everyone here
NOT ENOUGH! Oh, he's suing for more, GOOD!
My question is: what will be with person and family who accused him, and judge that convicted him?
Love your take on these cases Steve.
1.75 million USD for 35 years locked up in prison. Not anywhere near enough compensation for this. I think he should file some additional lawsuits against those responsible for him being locked for a crime that he had nothing to do with. This was a disgusting abuse of power by those inside.
I keep saying this is why I'm absolutely against capital punishment. I cannot trust the state.
Poor investigation efforts and target fixation are a recurring problem with police. Once they focus on a person they rarely reconsider. There was a murder in Northern California where the initial investigation came up with a list of two suspects. one was quickly excluded based on alibi witnesses but they could not actually place the second suspect at the scene of the crime. The police continued to investigate the second suspect causing his wife to leave him, his extended family to disown him and his employer to fire him. Fortunately they did not fake any evidence so no criminal case. Years later advances in DNA testing conclusively showed that the suspect with the alibis was the murderer.
Crooks with friends will ALWAYS have an alibi. "My boy was over here, drinking with me and four other buddies, all of whom will vouch for him!"
Those responsible for sending that man behind bars for 35 years need to sit their own 35 years behind bars. Policemen, investigators, attorney, judges. All of them. If they cannot serve that time, then all their close relatives must do that for them. Like I do my shopping for my father who cannot do that himself. Unfair? Yes. It was defiínitely unfrair to sentence him. The DNA that did that needs to make that up. How does it sound? Crazy? It was crazy to sentence an innocent man to 35 years in prison in the first place. Those personally responsible must pay their price. Otherwise the society is sick!
I might plead no contest if the police are so determined to get me that they fabricate a confession.
I wonder how many innocent people are in prison because of public defenders who are overworked, underqualified, lazy, apathetic, colluding with the prosecution/cops/court, or some combination of those factors.
@@MonkeyJedi99enough to keep Steve busy for years.
@@MonkeyJedi99 - Many defense attorneys have other clients that need plea deals, and prosecutors will often retaliate against a defense attorney who defends their client more than usual. This means one innocent person gets thrown under the bus, so that 20 guilty people can get a better plea deal.
@@arthurwintersight7868 And many times people take the plea deal for things they didn't do because they are threatened by prosecutors.
"If you take the deal I'm offering, you'll do maybe (take not of the maybe!) a year. If you go through the full process you can get ten. The deal expires when I leave the room."
So you get lies, fake promises carefully avoided by careful word use, and fake time pressure.
I myself have pled guilty to a crime I did not commit because I was caught in ambiguous circumstances and had no real way to "prove my innocence". The cops said I did it, I said I didn't...and who was a jury going to believe???
A good example why the convicted should always be able to introduce new evidence and appeals. I think some jurisdictions have statute of limitations and deadlines on new evidence and appeals.
The person who is mostly responsible for putting them in jail should have to finish his sentence
I wonder if the cops and prosecutors get nervous about payback when innocent people get released.
And I bet he'll have to pay tax on that $1.75M. Dude should be given (in addition to the 1.75M) $50k/yr tax-free and should not have to pay taxes on anything in the state of MI for life.
It's a joke that the court finally asked the question, "you mean the victum has not identified the suspect yet?". Regarding compensation, the state has a cap on compensation it seems for just any condition. This person claimed not guilty for 30+ years, he was asked many times to consent to being guilty to get out of prison sooner ! After all of the times he was asked to do this or do that to get out sooner, he said no, I'm not guilty. So, the state now finds he is not guilty....I would have to say the state needs to pay this person much more compensation because he was in fact not buying the justice system ideas. 35 years for telling the truth !! Less for telling a lie !!
did you even pay attention to the video ? the court never asked anything
@@firstname4337Yes I did. Just exactly who was it that went through the file and asked that question?
1988 is the year I graduated from high school, and began attending Georgia Tech. That's been a minute. 😂
I remember thinking how bad things were, lolol. All those idiots with pink hair.
$1.7M for 35 stolen years??? A family in Colorado just received $1.9M after being wrongfully detained *for a mere two hours!!!*
He should be able to collect the minimum amount of social security in a few years. Hopefully, he lives within his means the rest of his life.
Perhaps they will allow him to pay SS a lump sum based on that $50K/year, and then collect based on that. Seems to me, the state of Michigan owes the social security administration a lump sum based on that payout. It's essentially very hard earned income.
He may not be eligible for SS payments - or if he is, they'll be vanishingly small. He wouldn't have worked enough quarters to be eligible.
My point is that he was a "professional prisoner" for 35 years, earning a $50K per annum salary. There should be a way of paying social security tax, which would qualify him for SS retirement based on that "work history".
It blows me away that a jury could convict someone with such little evidence of such a heinous crime...
I served on a statutory 🍇 case and all of us jurors came to the conclusion that it was highly possible if not likely that they had a 'relationship' of some kind however the state presented no evidence or witnesses... I can't even believe it made it to trial.
Good on the man for sticking to his guns and I figure the inmates likely believed him else he might not be with us anymore 😅
I remember getting suspended for repeatedly asking 'What if an innocent person is put in jail?' We are taught if a person is convicted then they are guilty 'case closed'. I recently learned from a friend of mine who had children there they are STILL doing this.
Edit: A U T O C O R R E C T deleted the word school
Suspended from what? What we? Taught what in what profession ?
@@SuperMadman41 school damn A U T O C O R R E C T
There should be a law where the prosecutor goes to prison for the same term served.
The public pretender was probably trying to move the case along as fast as possible. Some guy was using women to commit check fraud. They were not aware of what he was doing. My sister was one of them. Our family paid for an attorney and the charges were dropped against her. All of the other women went to prison. Witnessing that is something you never forget. I would sell everything I own to hire a private attorney in criminal cases because if I went to prison I would lose it all anyway and if I didn't go then I could begin recovering sooner. $1.75M doesn't begin to account for the wages and investments I would lose in 35 years. The time lost with friends and family would be even more valuable. I hope he gets his $100M.
That’s terrible that this happened, you know the guy had an awful time too Chomos get messed with HARD CORE
I know a couple of ex cons. If you have a chomo charge, and can provide good proof to the inmates that you didn't do it, they won't mess with you.
@@lynchkid003same. Sadly, many prisoners are more understanding of a railroad job than the general public.
50k a year would be fine if the police,prosecution, and judge were punished accordingly... like general population in Jackson 😅
We've been letting guilty people go free on technicalities since our inception. It's the price we pay to PREVENT wrongful convictions. Seems we have paid the price and not gotten what we paid for.
I would've gotten even with the corrupt people responsible being locked up.
A court appointed attorney is on the same payroll as the prosecutor, and judge. I wouldn't trust them to have my best interest in mind. $50,000.00 a year for false imprisonment is a complete joke.
Keep in mind that not only was this man's life taken but the victim never saw justice because the case was probably closed.
Ben in between the sword hilt and book case on the right.
They might have let him out, but after 35 years, are you truly "free"?
I have always felt, that prosecutors and Police who hide evidence, or withhold exculpatory evidence.
This video reminds me of the movie The Shawshank Redemption. The warden had that one inmate shot and killed by the guard because he actually saw who murdered Andy's wife and her lover and was about to testify about this in court. Since the warden and his guards needed Andy to continue to do the illegal activity with the bank transactions in regards to the prison books, they killed the witness to the murder of his wife and her lover and continued to keep an innocent man behind bars.
In the movie we are never certain if he did or not. The narrator is, red, seems to believe he was innocent and that blatch did it. But as the audience, we can never be certain.
@@lrmackmcbride7498 True. However, the warden was still wrong for having him killed. Not only was it a perfect example of corruption in the prison system, but it was such a heinous
@@lrmackmcbride7498 It was such a heinous act of selfishness and cruelty on the warden's part so that he could keep an innocent man behind bars in order to have him continue to carry out the illegal bank transactions with the prison books and the guards. They weren't the least but concerned about finding out the complete truth. It was all done over money.
Whenever a person is found to be liar that gets someone incarcerated, the liar should be sent to prison for a period of not less than the time the other person was incarcerated. The time counting starts when the person was first picked up to be taken in, and it ends when the person finally gets out and is free to go clear from the location of incarceration. However, that time is how long the liar spends in the jail cell. They don't count any out of cell time.
The difficulty with this is how do you know someone is lying?
That person "lying" could've been given a signed confession and then had it taken away. It could've been a fake confession and someone else wrote the lie. It quickly devolves into "If you're wrong you go to jail so just be quiet."
35 years in prison is basically taking your life away. That's basically me born in prison and still being in there for a bit longer. The only justifiable thing is to trade a life for a life of whoever screwed you, whether it's their children or grandchildren.
The police and the judge should be in prison instead
Get a conviction at any cost... Where are the police officers and DA who did this today?
They all sent their kids to the Ivy League and are dead now.
Institute for Justice is the best defense against this corrupt incarceration company that has been created. Donate!
Where is the accountability for the officers and judicial officials?
No witness identification done?
This is why support The Innocence Project, and not law ENFORCEment.
People (rightfully in some cases) get tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in personal injury cases. This is arguably so much worse. Wrongfully convicted people should be compensated enough that it becomes SO EXPENSIVE for the state, that they are financially obligated to ensure they're not putting the wrong people in prison.
I hope his money is tax free!
$50K annually is nowhere near enough. While it's true that that amount was a darn good wage in 1988, it truly sucks today, AND there should be interest compounded daily from the first day of incarceration at, say, twice the maximum prime during the whole period. That's before the entirely appropriate punitive damages, which should be not less than treble. And not only should the state pay that, but it should be dollar-for-dollar matched by any individuals, such as prosecutor, police, and judge, who can be shown culpable of misfeasance or negligence in handling the case. Of course, these same people may well be guilty of associated criminal charges, Federal or state, or both. It's hard to say which is more important, making it clear (clear enough truly to frighten any future perpetrators off) that you can't treat a man like this, or making him as whole as can be done. We want both.
The worst of it is that the intensity/expense of punishment imposed on perpetrators under color of law itself buys little. The time machine is broke and we can't roll back. It may be that the most culpable people are deceased, or unable to pony up, and impoverishing such folk in THEIR old age, or taking from their estates - meaning perhaps impoverishing their families, who had nothing to do with the matter . . . Then there's culpability, and culpability. Some folk are just dumb at their jobs and should never have been hired for them, while others, well, like the song says, "Supper's at home and I gotta get to it," which attitude is obviously inexcusable, even to the stupid.
I still think my calculation must be at least 10x what he'll be paid, and I think every penny should be paid regardless of how distributed. And I guess I should give my answer to folk, who, like me, would ask why it should fall on the taxpayers: we are the voters, and as We The People, we have the responsibility to throw the rascals out, and to demand good laws and fair enforcement. We employ these guys, and employers are responsible for employees' misbehavior. Our best remedy is to ensure we vote for those who honor the Constitution and due process. And, BTW, we have elections at hand.
I be suing everybody involved
$1.75M.... That's just $5.71 per hour of prison time. That's not just compensation for the time, let alone destroying someone's life and reputation.
It should be in the 7 figures range, not barely over 6 figures.
The criminal justice system does not do its due diligence. I recently took an Alfford because my PD would not argue my case even though my actions are backed up by state law, Suoreme Court affirmation and Federal Circuit case law. No one wants to do their jôb and would rather see an innocent persons life ruined or imprisoned just so the state does not have to be held accountable for its actions.
Judgements should be based in law not feelings and political motivations. Chàrges dealing with Supreme Çourt ruliñgs should be automatically reviewed when the precedent changes.
It's not fair that the courts çan openly defy the USSC while enforcing unconstitutional statutes until they can pack the court to get their way.
Such is the disproportionate tiered justice system we live under.
My only question is, what happened to the police that stitched him up for a crime that he had nothing to do with ???????????????
I would bet that the answer is, NOTHING.
No one who is convinced & innocent should never be released from prison. They will commit crime when they get out.
What on earth are you trying to say?
Could you imagine going to prison for something you didn't do 40 years ago and come out in America 2024
This is why opposed to the death penalty in general.
I was 9 when this guy got put in prison. Poor dude.
Sue his f'ing lawyer or his/her estate.
He needs to sue everyone involved including the victim and there should be RICO charges against the police officers involved and the judge and prosecutor.
Logically, the undercover cop is on the record as being in the vicinity of the crime. Sounds like they should be investigated.