Posted on 04/01/2019 5:55:15 PM PDT by Theoria
Kathy Gonzalez knows that many people across the cornfields and cattle ranches of eastern Nebraska believe she is a murderer. It doesn’t change the fact that they owe her millions of dollars.
Ms. Gonzalez was one of six innocent people who collectively spent 77 years in prison for the murder of a 68-year-old woman named Helen Wilson, whose death haunted this rural county for decades. Now, years after DNA evidence exonerated the defendants, they are about to collect a $28 million civil rights judgment against Gage County, which prosecuted them based on false confessions.
But because the county has limited financial resources and a dwindling population, nearly all of its 22,000 residents must foot the bill by paying hundreds or thousands of dollars in higher property taxes. County leaders have pleaded for help from state lawmakers, and even flirted with declaring bankruptcy.
“Do I think it’s fair these people are going to have to pay us off?” Ms. Gonzalez asked. “No. But it wasn’t fair what they did to us, either.”
The $28 million jury award is one of the largest judgments ever levied against such a small place, say experts who study wrongful convictions. It has stirred resentment in the coffee shops and bars of Beatrice, a small town where suspicions about the defendants — known as the Beatrice Six — still linger like an oil stain on the road.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
This happened in my hometown and I know/knew many of the involved parties. Tom Winslow (one of the accused) was in my high school class. Helen Wilson (the lady who was murdered) lived next door to my mom and the murder took place in the apartment next door to where my mom had lived. My mom had moved out of the building about a year before the murders. She used to have coffee with Helen and was quite upset when she was killed. I met Helen a few times and she was a very nice lady.
Jerry DeWitt (the county sheriff who was part of the investigation) was one of my Dad’s golfing buddies. A very good guy who let my sister get out of a couple of high school run ins with the law when he was a Nebraska State Patrolman. Bud Searcy (the main investigator and a sheriffs deputy who forced the confessions) was another guy I knew as a kid as well. I had a few interactions with him during my youthful scrapes with the law and he was always very nice.
All that being said, I am very sorry for what happened to those folks and am just sick that this all took place in my home town and was perpetrated by people I knew and liked. It is a real black eye for Gage county and real travesty of justice.
This crime happened in 1985. If anyone is at all financially liable it would be anyone still alive who lived in that county in 1985. Certainly not the current residents. What these people are looking for is called reparations. Certainly the current county residents are in no way responsible for what happened nearly 30 years ago
Just give them the whole county.
The easiest answer is to start deeding over county owned real estate.
Lurker, I’ve read your comments on this thread and I understand your POV. May I ask if you believe the United States owes reparations to black people today based on the fact their great great great great grandparents were slaves?
I do not believe anyone is owed reparations. Not based on the idea that they descended from slaves nor based on the fact that someone nearly 30 years ago made a terrible mistake.
I believe the example you used to answer L’s questions is totally irrelevant and miss the mark. Reparations is not the same. These people suffered directly because of the actions taken by the prosecutor. Their kids are not asking on their behalf.
I suggest you try again. Because your first try failed miserably. And yes I read both questions L asked and your answer.
You missed the point. No one is saying that these people did not suffer. But why should the children pay for the sins of their parents? This happened well over a generation ago.
“May I ask if you believe the United States owes reparations to black people today based on the fact their great great great great grandparents were slaves?”
Nope. That debt was paid long ago both in blood and treasure. Both the victims of slavery and the perpetrators are all long dead.
“nor based on the fact that someone nearly 30 years ago made a terrible mistake.”
Except it wasn’t a mistake. It was done on purpose to folks who are still alive. The two situations are not analogous.
I’m sorry for the folks who have to cough up the tab here. I really am. It sucks mightily to be them. But maybe, just maybe, a good hard smack upside the financial head will wake the voters of this County up and they’ll pay more attention to the candidates for office.
L
I can’t believe you are arguing for reparations. You are arguing that a current generation of people should pay for the sins and the crimes of their forefathers. Whether this happened in 1985 or 1835. It does not matter. This is reparations. Pure and simple.
It makes no difference if the victims are alive or if they have been dead for 150 years. You are asking that non-guilty people pay restitution and reparations. This is wrong.
“I can’t believe you are arguing for reparations..”
Um, I’m not. I thought we’d covered that.
These aren’t “reparations”. These are what’s known in American law as “damages”. There’s a whole big section on it. Really, you can look it up for yourself.
L
The county doesn’t carry liability insurance? The exonerated should get damages, but why should innocent residents be liable?
They were all considered throwaway people at the time. The fist suspect was picked based on a profiler saying it was probably someone that was into pornography, one of the guys was known to make porn films then they went after people he knew. These people must have had the crappiest lawyers on the planet.
I would say you’re missing the point but you’re not. I would say you’re dodging the point but you’re not. You are running as fast as you can and as hard as you can away from the point. Oh well, if you refuse to recognize the fact that you want non-guilty people to pay for reparations or damages or whatever you want to call it, then fine. Thats your prerogative.
Who’s children? Again you miss the point. Reparations is a completely different area. If you were to use that as an example then you have to assume the children of 6 people who were falsely accused are asking the children of those who accused them to pay up. In this case it’s not.
You have to do better than that. If you were locked up by the government for a crime you didn’t commit, spent 20 years in jail, lost 20 years of earning, how would you feel after the government said you are innocent?
So the DNA implicated only one guy, but somehow at the time they thought it took six people to accomplish?
At least two wind companies are looking at Gage County for wind farms right now... and not surprisingly, they’re being VERY cooperative, hoping for some solid tax revenues from it.
What do you mean “Who’s children”?
I’m talking about the children, the current residents of Gage County, people who didn’t even live there when this happened, the innocent people who are being asked to pay for crimes they did not commit.
Try to keep up.
“Oh well, if you refuse to recognize the fact that you want non-guilty people to pay for reparations or damages or whatever you want to call it, then fine.”
Wow. The entire insurance industry runs on that exact principle. Why should I pay for the idiot who wrecked his car because he was texting?
And it’s not what I want to call it. It’s what our legal system calls it. Go ahead, look it up.
Face it. This County f***** up and they f***** up badly. In our system they, meaning the taxpayers of said County, are on the hook for it. Real living people were seriously hurt because the County f***** up.
So once again for the comprehension impaired, under the American system the County, which is made up wholly of the taxpayers, get to cough up the cash to pay for the damages suffered by the plaintiffs.
If you’ve got a better system rattling around in that pointed little head of yours then you be sure to share it with the rest of us.
Umkay?
Regards,
L
I’m on the hook for the national debt run up before I was even thought of. Sounds odd if ya say it out loud. The problems of the past will always come forward if they aren’t fixed as soon as possible.
I know what you are referring to but your example missed the mark by many miles. Just trying to help you out. It’s not a test
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