Posted on 09/09/2015 11:51:57 PM PDT by nickcarraway
It’s cases like this that made me no longer support death penalty. Our standards are too low.
If they'd been found innocent, yes. They were politically exonerated by "a somebody", not "found innocent" following a new trial. Criminal lawyers' Project Innocence means to take down what has been long-studied and fair in our system—which overwhelmingly shields the guilty.
The attorney will probably collect attorney fees in the 42 USC 1983 suit since the law expressly provides for them. They can collect fees from the government since the various state actors admitted they engaged in deprivation of rights, abuse of power, and a gross miscarriage of justice. Most cases you see that shock the public conscience and invoke the reaction of many posters on this thread are, like here, constitutional/civil rights violations. Those things should never have happened in the first place, hence, attorneys get paid to fix it.
Me too. I say DNA can only prove guilt, not innocence. Someone other that them left the cigarette and beer can behind, that does not prove that the two men were not there, just that they did not leave that DNA behind.
The DNA found on the cigarette butt at the scene would not necessarily point to their innocence EXCEPT for the fact that it belonged to Artis Roscoe, who raped several women, and raped and killed an 18 y.o. girl in the same way that Sabrina Buie was killed.
Given that, the odds are very much in favor of the Browns being innocent.
You cannot begin to compensate for so many years taken away from them. Five or ten years, maybe. Thirty, no.
That’s what I thought initially, but see post 26.
Compare what these guys got to what the average family of a murder victim gets when the perp was put back on the street through a warped technicality or simply because it is government policy to refuse to enforce our borders.
Consider that the beer can and cigarette butt may have been the “evidence” pointed to to place the two men at the scene. (I say may because this is speculation)
If so, then DNA and fingerprint evidence that shows these items were not from these two seriously damages the case against them.
Finally, given that the raping and killing of the woman is directly comparable to another woman who was killed a month later, for which another man is in prison, gives another reason why the case should not have taken 31 years to reevaluate.
JMO, of course.
This does NOT prove that the are innocent. What was the actual evidence (circumstantial, witness, etc) that linked them to the crime and earned the conviction?
(If they ARE innocent, then of course this is good news... but the assumption that they were railroaded needs to be more thoroughly investigated. And I no longer trust any modern journalist to give the facts anymore.)
Loss of income? How about loss of liberty?
If they are innocent i agree. There is no way i would spend a year in prison in exchange for $24k. Certainly not for 30 years.
The reality is that no ammount would be enough. Although, about 3x 750k would go along way to begin the healing process.
Problem is that Robeson County is a dirt poor county. Probably the poorest county in North Carolina. Welfare is through the roof and there is a huge tax burden upon land owners.
Without a time machine, you can’t correct for that. And I don’t think any amount of money will compensate. So what I would aim for is financial security for them, so they can get on with life.
That’s not exactly accurate
Frequently the convicted in these cases will take that compromise versus risking it
Even if innocent
Prosecutors are loathe to admit wrongdoing by their office
Nearly all these sorts of cases are dealt with by a judge
Not by the states request
The legislature should step in and make this right.
We make extraordinary efforts to ensure convicting the innocent doesn’t happen.
But there is not perfection in the ways of man.
So make it right. I’m thinking more like $5M each.
Loss of Freedom is infinitely valuable, as we are wont to say on FR.
I’d use the money to buy some guns, then I’d go after the people that did this to me, spaghetti western style.
Good point. An annual stipend on top of the initial lump sum settlement is definitely appropriate in cases such as this.
I tend to agree. And these articles never mention the prosecutor.
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