Posted on 09/06/2009 6:33:51 AM PDT by deport
Wrongly convicted Texans become instant millionaires
New law makes Texas most generous state for payments to cleared prisoners.
DALLAS — Thomas McGowan's journey from prison to prosperity is about to culminate in $1.8 million, and he knows just how to spend it: on a house with three bedrooms, stainless steel kitchen appliances and a washer and dryer.
"I'll let my girlfriend pick out the rest," said McGowan, who was exonerated last year based on DNA evidence after spending nearly 23 years in prison for rape and robbery.
He and other exonerees in Texas, which leads the nation in freeing the wrongly convicted, soon will become millionaires under a new state law that took effect this week.
.........
Exonerees will get $80,000 for each year they spent behind bars. The compensation also includes lifetime annuity payments that for most of the wrongly convicted are worth between $40,000 and $50,000 a year — making it by far the nation's most generous package.
McGowan and the others are among 38 DNA exonerees in Texas, according to the Innocence Project, a New York legal center that specializes in overturning wrongful convictions. Dallas County alone has 21 cases in which a judge overturned guilty verdicts based on DNA evidence, though prosecutors plan to retry one of those.
.........
End snips
Would you actually live in prison for $80K a year?? If someone were criminally inclined enough to do what you're saying, I think they'd probably think they could just take the $80,000 from a bank today without doing the year in prison.
Ya gotta do more'n ring doorbells and run. Shaving rats and dressing them in Barbi clothes may not be enough either!
Now you tell me.
There's half the morning wasted, then.
I trust yer experience in on the issue ......thanks for saving me from wasting my time on that !
...........:o)
What about sod poodles ?
He's a worthy successor to Jesse ("The Mouth") Ventura.
...but when Sarah Palin said "You betcha!" a LOT of Minnesotans said, "Hey! She talks like US!"
Cheers!
Here is what you are missing: the reason these people are exonerated is that 20-30 years ago scientists realized DNA identification was possible, but not yet available. So in cases where identity was an issue, and DNA evidence was available, the DNA was preserved for the future. So in cases where the conviction was based on circumstantial evidence, or eyewitness ID, if the DNA doen't fit, they should've acquitted, and now the innocent guy gets out and gets some compensation for his ordeal.
The idea that some modern day criminal/CSI tech could manufacture a crime scene where, magically, five years later exonerating evindence will appear (remember someone on the outside has to believe he is innocent and take up the case, the prisons are full of guilty criminals who all claim to be innocent) is ludicrous.
So, yes, dumbest post ever. Congratulations.
Thanks for the ping!
I was about to say that humblegunner’s post about the morning being wasted was useless without pics, but then I see Eaker posted one.
No, no, no...ring the doorbell, wait until you hear the person about to answer the door, then run and do a spectacular fake trip-n-fall in their yard. Mutter cusswords under your breath, start to get up and stumble, falling back to the ground.
The poor sucker at the door always has the most interestng expression on his/her face...
So I've heard, anyway.
I don’t think taxpayers should be punished for the bad judges of the state.
Those are the guys who should pony up this cash, not the taxpayers
Yeah, this summer of record heat and little rain made it seem sorta *3rd world*.
We have friends that live out close to Mille lacs and my Wife works for 3M here in Austin.
Funny, many of the Northerners who I know from 3M say they'll never move back because of their hate for shoveling snow.
I won't try and change ya’ll minds. We have enough of a crowd trying to move here.
Please do visit again though.
See it’s catching on ............:o)
Thanks for that pic young lady ! I am gonna frame it !
Certainly Hollywood has an enormous influence on people's thinking, which often muddles their thought processes. Reality is different, however, and I don't see how such a charade could be successfully executed.
Indeed, if the plan required a large conspiracy, that would have to include the police, the prosecutors, the jury, and the witnesses, and they would all have to conspire for the benefit of the criminal and his plan, only for the verdict to be reversed years later. In the end, the payoff is only $80k a year. It doesn't make sense.
Its not necessarily bad judges, cops or prosecutors. Sometimes it is. But unfortunately, lay persons don’t understand that eyewitness testimony is the worst evidence there is. And the other problem is we have strayed far from the principle that “better 10 guilty men go free than one innocent convicted”. Now “beyond a reasonable doubt” has been watered to mean “he’s probably guilty” or “he didn’t prove he didn’t do it” or even “he’s guilty of something, just look at him”.
I don’t disagree. “preponderance of the evidence”? which is pretty meaningless has always bugged me.
My thought though is that taxpayers should not be punished for the actions of judges and prosecutors.
BTW, did you see the story from Jericho Arkansas the other day?? It was wild.
Cheers!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.