A school mate of my daughter was sent to prison for life, after his lowlife cousin, the only “father figure” he had in his life, went into a McDonald’s and shot and killed a man, then planted the gun in the kid’s bedroom. Had a very unfair trial, with the judge not allowing the manager, an eyewitness, tell the jury that the kid was definitely NOT the shooter, (he wasn’t even there) plus several other unfair practices. A few years after the trial, one of the jurors, who was now married to an honorable judge, who helped her research the trial transcripts, notified the Northwestern University Innocence Project about the behavior of the judge and testimony being suppressed. His cousin, in prison for life for another murder, admitted he’s the one who killed the McDonald’s guy. They worked for several years, and finally, after 25 years in prison, his case was appealed, and though current prosecutor, plus the prosecutor from his trial had a real hyssie fit, the state was not willing to have another trial, and he was set free. My daughter told me at the time of the murder, “Mom, I know he couldn’t have done it. He was always such a sweet, well behaved kid.”
I’m glad an innocent man was set free due to the hard work of those who cared about him. It’s horrible that he won’t get those 25 years back. And it is awful to hear how utterly corrupt judges can be.