Any protections for judges and prosecutors who KNOWINGLY falsely accuse/prosecute. If this is ever allowed to happen call the auction company to sell everything they own to pay the injured. Those positions carry a higher level of trust and should therefore carry a mighty big punishment for breaking that trust.
I tend to waiver ... this is a discussion of political power being abused ... but ... given you asked nicely
and the fact that there have been similar issues discussed in GD, I'll move it ... 
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An Inconvenient Innocence
Story of prosecutorial abuse in the Duke Lacrosse case, with references to similar cases in the South.
[video=vimeo;111360899]http://vimeo.com/111360899[/video]
Story of prosecutorial abuse in the Duke Lacrosse case, with references to similar cases in the South.
[video=vimeo;111360899]http://vimeo.com/111360899[/video]
someone correct me if I'm wrong .. but don't think that's the way it works.
it's my understanding prosecutors are pretty much insulated from mistakes/errors and in some cases criminal behavior by say hiding evidence that would have cleared defense.
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Another Wrongful Conviction on Death Row, Inmate Released
By Jeralyn, Section Innocence Cases
An unethical prosecutor and a fraudulent lab chemist put Curtis McCarty on death row in Oklahoma, not once, but three times. After 21 years in prison, he's now been exonerated:
The Innocence Project details the case and says:
For anyone who believes the death penalty is being carried out appropriately in this country, and anyone who believes that prosecutors and government witnesses can always be relied on to pursue the truth, this case is a wake-up call, said Peter Neufeld, Co-Director of the Innocence Project. Three separate times, an innocent man was sentenced to die because of the actions of an unethical prosecutor and a fraudulent analyst.
McCarty is the 201st person in the United States exonerated through DNA evidence and the 15th of those 201 who has served time on death row. McCarty is the ninth person to be exonerated by DNA evidence in Oklahoma and the third to be exonerated from the states death row.
As for the prosecutor, it was Bob Macy of Oklahoma City.
Robert H. Macy, who was the Oklahoma County District Attorney for 21 years, prosecuted McCarty in both of his trials. Macy sent 73 people to death row more than any other prosecutor in the nation and 20 of them have been executed. Macy has said publicly that he believes executing an innocent person is a sacrifice worth making in order to keep the death penalty in the United States.
Macy committed misconduct in the manner that he prosecuted McCarty and presented the case to the jury. His misconduct was compounded when he relied on Joyce Gilchrist, a police lab analyst who falsified test results and hid or destroyed evidence in order to help secure McCartys convictions. Gilchrist was the lead forensic analyst in 23 cases that ended in death sentences (11 of the defendants in those cases have been executed).
This is by far one of the worst cases of law enforcement misconduct in the history of the American criminal justice system, said Barry Scheck, Co-Director of the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with Cardozo School of Law. Bob Macy has said that executing an innocent person is a risk worth taking and he came very close to doing just that with Curtis McCarty.
By Jeralyn, Section Innocence Cases
An unethical prosecutor and a fraudulent lab chemist put Curtis McCarty on death row in Oklahoma, not once, but three times. After 21 years in prison, he's now been exonerated:
The Innocence Project details the case and says:
For anyone who believes the death penalty is being carried out appropriately in this country, and anyone who believes that prosecutors and government witnesses can always be relied on to pursue the truth, this case is a wake-up call, said Peter Neufeld, Co-Director of the Innocence Project. Three separate times, an innocent man was sentenced to die because of the actions of an unethical prosecutor and a fraudulent analyst.
McCarty is the 201st person in the United States exonerated through DNA evidence and the 15th of those 201 who has served time on death row. McCarty is the ninth person to be exonerated by DNA evidence in Oklahoma and the third to be exonerated from the states death row.
As for the prosecutor, it was Bob Macy of Oklahoma City.
Robert H. Macy, who was the Oklahoma County District Attorney for 21 years, prosecuted McCarty in both of his trials. Macy sent 73 people to death row more than any other prosecutor in the nation and 20 of them have been executed. Macy has said publicly that he believes executing an innocent person is a sacrifice worth making in order to keep the death penalty in the United States.
Macy committed misconduct in the manner that he prosecuted McCarty and presented the case to the jury. His misconduct was compounded when he relied on Joyce Gilchrist, a police lab analyst who falsified test results and hid or destroyed evidence in order to help secure McCartys convictions. Gilchrist was the lead forensic analyst in 23 cases that ended in death sentences (11 of the defendants in those cases have been executed).
This is by far one of the worst cases of law enforcement misconduct in the history of the American criminal justice system, said Barry Scheck, Co-Director of the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with Cardozo School of Law. Bob Macy has said that executing an innocent person is a risk worth taking and he came very close to doing just that with Curtis McCarty.
Freed Texas day care owners still want exoneration
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Former day care owners who spent 21 years in prison before being freed amid questions over their convictions for child abuse involving satanic rituals are struggling to convince prosecutors that they should be fully exonerated.
Dan and Fran Keller, who divorced in prison, were freed on bond last year when the only physical evidence against them was found to be a mistake. They had been convicted in 1992 after therapists testified that they helped three children recover memories of satanic rituals and sexual abuse at an Austin preschool the Kellers operated.
The Kellers, who always denied the charges, want the courts to throw out their convictions. But a year after they were freed from prison, Travis County prosecutors remain unwilling to proclaim them innocent, the Austin American-Statesman (http://bit.ly/129h789) reported Sunday.
Prosecutors say to overcome a jury finding of guilt, the courts require new evidence that unquestionably establishes innocence something like an ironclad alibi or DNA proof.
"Our responsibility is to make sure the law is properly applied, and, under the applicable standards, we are not satisfied that they have established actual innocence under the law," Travis County Assistant District Attorney Scott Taliaferro said.
That standard seems unfair to Fran Keller, who said there is no way to conclusively prove a negative.
"It's so hard to prove you're innocent when there was never a crime," she said.
The Kellers had been sentenced to 48 years in prison.
During their trial, the only physical evidence came from an emergency room doctor who testified that internal lacerations on one child were evidence of abuse. But in court documents filed in 2013, Dr. Michael Mouw says what he thought were lacerations were actually normal physiology.
That prompted prosecutors in Travis County, which includes Austin, to agree that the case's evidence was faulty and release the two on bond.
The Kellers' claim of innocence will be decided by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, where a core of conservative judges typically takes a skeptical view toward overturning jury verdicts. The court will be guided by the recommendations of Senior District Judge Wilford Flowers, who presided over the Kellers' 1992 trial and their recent appeals and who has already twice ruled that they had failed to prove their innocence.
___
Information from: Austin American-Statesman, http://www.statesman.com
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Former day care owners who spent 21 years in prison before being freed amid questions over their convictions for child abuse involving satanic rituals are struggling to convince prosecutors that they should be fully exonerated.
Dan and Fran Keller, who divorced in prison, were freed on bond last year when the only physical evidence against them was found to be a mistake. They had been convicted in 1992 after therapists testified that they helped three children recover memories of satanic rituals and sexual abuse at an Austin preschool the Kellers operated.
The Kellers, who always denied the charges, want the courts to throw out their convictions. But a year after they were freed from prison, Travis County prosecutors remain unwilling to proclaim them innocent, the Austin American-Statesman (http://bit.ly/129h789) reported Sunday.
Prosecutors say to overcome a jury finding of guilt, the courts require new evidence that unquestionably establishes innocence something like an ironclad alibi or DNA proof.
"Our responsibility is to make sure the law is properly applied, and, under the applicable standards, we are not satisfied that they have established actual innocence under the law," Travis County Assistant District Attorney Scott Taliaferro said.
That standard seems unfair to Fran Keller, who said there is no way to conclusively prove a negative.
"It's so hard to prove you're innocent when there was never a crime," she said.
The Kellers had been sentenced to 48 years in prison.
During their trial, the only physical evidence came from an emergency room doctor who testified that internal lacerations on one child were evidence of abuse. But in court documents filed in 2013, Dr. Michael Mouw says what he thought were lacerations were actually normal physiology.
That prompted prosecutors in Travis County, which includes Austin, to agree that the case's evidence was faulty and release the two on bond.
The Kellers' claim of innocence will be decided by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, where a core of conservative judges typically takes a skeptical view toward overturning jury verdicts. The court will be guided by the recommendations of Senior District Judge Wilford Flowers, who presided over the Kellers' 1992 trial and their recent appeals and who has already twice ruled that they had failed to prove their innocence.
___
Information from: Austin American-Statesman, http://www.statesman.com
This thread, and others like it, only reinforce my belief that capital punishment should be abolished. We used to value innocent life in this country. Clearly, innocent people are being put to death by the courts every year.
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