Posted on 06/23/2003 7:29:48 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Wrongfully convicted man struggles outside prison FREED INMATES DESERVE STATE'S HELP, CRITICS SAY By Joe Biesk ASSOCIATED PRESS
FRANKFORT - The day he was freed for a rape he didn't commit, the state gave Herman May a $25 check.
May walked out of prison with little more than the clothes on his back -- he was the second person in Kentucky freed based on DNA testing.
Today, May has little money, no college education, one kidney and no health insurance. Unlike other inmates in the prison system, May said, he wasn't provided with a support system or regimen to help him adjust to his new world.
"I think it's wrong. I think there should be something," May, 32, said in an interview at his home last week. "I'm not saying that every person that gets found innocent and gets thrown out of prison should be able to get $100 million from the state or anything like that. But there should be something."
May was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison for raping a woman who later admitted she had consensual sex before allegedly being attacked.
Testing found May's DNA did not match the semen of the alleged attacker. It was inconclusive for the man with whom the woman acknowledged having intercourse.
After serving 13 years of his sentence, May was released from prison in September. Within the span of about an hour, May went from watching a soap opera in his cell to waiting for a ride home on the prison steps.
Earlier this month, a Franklin County judge agreed to a plea agreement dismissing the rape and sodomy charges. As part of the agreement, May had to plead guilty to stealing a guitar, a felony charge that was part of his original indictment.
Now he is a convicted felon who can't sue for damages.
The state should do better than that, said Beth Albright Louis, cofounder of the Truth in Justice Foundation.
"I mean if the state's done him wrong, then they at least owe him to help him," she said. "I don't know that I would say give somebody $20,000 cash. But they ought to offer him something."
Debbie Davis, also a co-founder of the Truth in Justice Foundation in Kentucky, said society should be doing more to help restore a person's life after they have been wrongly convicted.
"What is society's burden in that?" Davis said. "If we make an error, how do we correct that?"
Inmates freed under conditions like May's should at least be afforded help in counseling, medical assistance and finding a job, Louis said.
Since his release, May admits, he has had run-ins with the law.
He has been charged twice with possession of marijuana and twice with shoplifting. He has also had four speeding tickets within six days in his hometown of Frankfort, he said.
Last week, May spent six days in jail before pleading guilty to drunken driving. He said his blood-alcohol level was .088. The legal limit in Kentucky is .08.
Part of his problems have been with readjusting to society after spending almost his entire adult life locked in prison, Louis said.
"They get $25 and the clothes on their back, and they're told 'adios.' Within minutes to an hour, they're out of the system," said Louis, who as a student with Davis helped get May freed. "When you're out because you're innocent, you have no help because you don't fit in the system anymore."
For now, May said he just wants help with two things he can't afford: medical treatment for his kidney problem and counseling. He said he is haunted by the memories of being an innocent man convicted of rape.
"I believe I could use counseling a whole lot, for real, because I've still got inner demons I need to deal with," May said. "It wasn't an easy life for me."
Last week, May spent six days in jail before pleading guilty to drunken driving. He said his blood-alcohol level was .088. The legal limit in Kentucky is .08. >
Yeah... he's going to need an attorney allright.
She lied; she should be doing time now.
Hmmmmm...did he have a lawyer during this plea agreement?
He has been charged twice with possession of marijuana and twice with shoplifting. He has also had four speeding tickets within six days in his hometown of Frankfort, he said.
I'm sorry, but I don't care if the state did take 13 years of his life...he can't blame this part on the state, this is his own damn fault. But they should have done more for him than given him $25.
May said he just wants help with two things he can't afford: medical treatment for his kidney problem and counseling.
Doesn't he qualify for Medicaid?
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