Innocence Project Pulls Photo of Avery from Web Site (Freed by DNA, Now On Trial for Murder)

Well, I wouldn't rely on the paternity test example if I were you. That's a difficult area of law, although I know it torques the fathers' rights advocates on FR.

We had several cases here in Georgia that involved kids who were already teenagers. The only fathers they had ever known, the men who raised them believing they were the dads, turned out not to be the bio-dads because the mothers cheated on them.

In GA, paternity and custody cases turn on 'best interest of the child'. In cases like these, that rule runs head-on into the rule that biology is destiny.

The compromise that the courts came up with is this: if the apparent father had reason to believe that the mother was unfaithful but failed to investigate, then he gave up his right to contest paternity. The best interest of the child demands that he keep on being the father, despite the DNA, because for all practical purposes he IS the father. (And this is true of a lot of legal issues, from car accident claims to contract disputes. If you "sleep on your rights" after you have notice of a problem, you waive any claim.)

It's not perfect -- but it's not necessarily corrupt. It may be that the dad didn't act in a prompt manner and lost his right to contest paternity.

hmm weird, well maybe the innocence project is messing around with evidence or incorrect samples are being mixed up with other cases. Maybe that is a possibility.

Did the guy already in jail for rapes whose dna was matched confess to the rape that Avery was exonerated of or does he deny he did the 1985 rape?

I think where you live, and where I live, are the exceptions, and not the rules.

This may be like that thing Rush Limbaugh keeps talking about . . . they poll people about the economy, and they know that THEY are doing o.k. themselves, but they worry about other people, because the media keeps saying that the economy is bad, so SOMEbody must be having a tough time . . .

Unfortunately any system tends to overprotect its members for too long - at the same time, false accusations can become a problem if the system rushes to judgment. It's a bit of a balancing act, root out the bad actors without harassing the good guys too much.

It's absolutely undisputed,"

And absolutely no one has ever proved or admitted someone removed or manipulated the contents of sealed evidence, said S. burglar.

If someone didn't tamper with DNA belonging to either party, I'd be shocked. I'd be shocked if they had more than one lock between the evidence room and the rest of the world!

But to maintain the integrity of the system, corroborated evidence stands. But undisputed? Not to me.

It's an imperfect world, but I think most folks do the best they can. I haven't known too many really bad people, but I've known a few, and they were very, very unhappy. Most people don't want to live like that.

I've had the same thought more than once. I can't understand how people could stand to live that way, day after day.

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