On the theme of corruption in our legal system:
"DNA clears a man in prison for 26 years. "
Texas leads the country in prisoners freed by DNA testing. Including Chatman, the state will have released at least 30 wrongfully convicted inmates since 2001, according to the Innocence Project.
One of the biggest reasons for the large number of exonerations in Texas is the crime lab used by Dallas County, which accounts for about half the state's DNA cases. Unlike many jurisdictions, the lab used by police and prosecutors retains biological evidence, meaning DNA testing is a viable option for decades-old crimes.
I wonder what North Carolina does.
For here, we have shades of Nifong: District Attorney Craig Watkins also attributes the exonerations to a past culture of overly aggressive prosecutors seeking convictions at any cost.
As for the man whose life was destroyed by those overzealous prosecutors, "I'm bitter. I'm angry," Chatman told The Associated Press during what was expected to be his last night in jail Wednesday. "But I'm not angry or bitter to the point where I want to hurt anyone or get revenge."
But I wonder about that. I expect a lawsuit will follow . . . if there's not a quiet/quickie settlement offered of by the state in order to shut him up. And I expect as the newly free man processes what happened to him . . . the time and opportunities lost/wasted, he will talk about it . . . speak out . . . there could even be a book.
I wonder if anyone will tell him to just "get over it" and "move on".
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5 comments:
Well, what if you were in his position? Would you appreciate being told to "Get over it" and "move on"? A man who had 26 years of his life stolen has every right to be angry.
I agree that he has to get over it to salvage the remaining years of his life without drowning in bitterness, but not if you're implying that any amount of money can be just compensation for such an injustice. I pray he gets rich selling a book. Usually the state is protected and these wrongly convicted inmates get a pittance upon release. I know there is NO amount of money I would have agreed to, as a 20 year old (or any other age), to spend the next 25+ years in jail.
Steve, I agree. No amount of money can compensate for some things. And sometimes righting a wrong is about so much more than money.
And Nic, thanks for making my point . . . one related to my own experience blogging.
My near-decade of fighting (and being royally swindled by) the liars and cheats running my small-town hospital IN NO WAY compares to spending 25 years in jail. But the principles are the same.
When one is cheated of things they rightfully earned - or that were stolen from them - they have the "right" to be angry and to fight for/demand restitution - even if some things can NEVER be fully restored/repaid.
Yet when I came to this blogosphere two years ago, I asked for help in righting a wrong. And I was pretty much told to "just get over it" and "move on". If I didn't, I was an obscessed "whack-job".
As a sidebar, I laughed-out-loud at the notion that a "non-profit" (http://edcone.typepad.com/wordup/2008/01/anyone-wanna-bu.html) should buy the N&R . . . and that things would be any different if one did.
My thoughts are that most of us are wronged at one time or another. This example is very sad and I hope that this person is somehow compensated.
I wonder how often the DNA labwork is messed up and the guilty go free.
I wonder if the guilty that are set free were guilty and that their DNA was not found or the original collection of evidence was handled poorly.
It would be interesting to hear from prosecutors.
I'd like to see lawyers/prosecutors held to the same standards as doctors.
It's not going to happen. And you likely won't hear from any of the prosecutors whose "discretion" was overzealously exercised.
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