DNA is an incredible tool.
Its amazing how many prosecutors don't want to use it.
Its amazing how many prosecutors don't want to use it.
What's so amazing? Persecutors are out to score convictions; why would you be surprised that they avoid things which might impair that aim?
I can't disagree with your comments.
It's a shame innocent people have get their lives ruined by a narcissist.
x-prosecutor of exonerated death row inmate pens apology
March 25, 2015
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - It was a long journey of conscience for a former Louisiana prosecutor. He went from celebrating a death sentence with rounds of drinks three decades ago to writing an anguished, open letter of apology after the convicted man was recently declared innocent and set free.
"I apologize to Glenn Ford for all the misery I have caused him and his family," A.M. Stroud III wrote in a letter published in The Times of Shreveport. "I apologize to the family of Mr. Rozeman for giving them the false hope of some closure."
Ford is the exonerated prisoner released earlier this month from the Louisiana State Penitentiary after serving just shy of 30 years on death row. Isadore Rozeman was the elderly victim who was killed in a 1983 robbery.
Stroud's letter was more than just an apology. It was a condemnation of the state's decision to oppose compensating the now cancer-stricken Ford for three decades' lost. It was also a firm statement against capital punishment.
"Glenn Ford deserves every penny owed to him under the compensation statute," Stroud wrote. "This case is another example of the arbitrariness of the death penalty. I now realize, all too painfully, that as a young 33-year-old prosecutor, I was not capable of making a decision that could have led to the killing of another human being."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/us...-exonerated-death-row-inmate-pens-6157323.php
March 25, 2015
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - It was a long journey of conscience for a former Louisiana prosecutor. He went from celebrating a death sentence with rounds of drinks three decades ago to writing an anguished, open letter of apology after the convicted man was recently declared innocent and set free.
"I apologize to Glenn Ford for all the misery I have caused him and his family," A.M. Stroud III wrote in a letter published in The Times of Shreveport. "I apologize to the family of Mr. Rozeman for giving them the false hope of some closure."
Ford is the exonerated prisoner released earlier this month from the Louisiana State Penitentiary after serving just shy of 30 years on death row. Isadore Rozeman was the elderly victim who was killed in a 1983 robbery.
Stroud's letter was more than just an apology. It was a condemnation of the state's decision to oppose compensating the now cancer-stricken Ford for three decades' lost. It was also a firm statement against capital punishment.
"Glenn Ford deserves every penny owed to him under the compensation statute," Stroud wrote. "This case is another example of the arbitrariness of the death penalty. I now realize, all too painfully, that as a young 33-year-old prosecutor, I was not capable of making a decision that could have led to the killing of another human being."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/us...-exonerated-death-row-inmate-pens-6157323.php
more details for case against Glenn Ford ....
==========
Alabama inmate free after 30 years on death row. How the case against him unraveled.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...y-hinton-on-death-row-for-30-years-unraveled/
Anthony Ray Hinton was one of Alabamas longest-serving death row inmates, having spent more than half his life incarcerated. Now, after three decades of insisting that he is innocent in the 1985 murders of two men, the 58-year-old Hinton is finally a free man.
His freedom came down to the same four bullets that put him in jail to begin with.
I shouldnt have (sat) on death row for 30 years, he told reporters according to CNN. All they had to do was to test the gun.
Hinton was convicted of two separate killings of restaurant workers the Feb. 25, 1985, slaying of John Davidson, and the July 2, 1985, killing of Thomas Vason even though there were no eyewitnesses linking Hinton to the crimes, no fingerprints linking him to the scene, and no other physical evidence except for the questionable link between a set of bullets and a gun found in Hintons home.
For years, Hintons lawyers have questioned whether the bullets could be conclusively linked to the weapon. The gun belonged to Hintons mother, with whom he shared a home.
Subsequent tests of the only physical evidence in the case raised serious doubts about whether the weapon in Hintons home had fired those bullets and it even called into question whether the bullets were all fired from the same gun.
The ballistic evidence combined with eyewitness testimony from someone who was present at a similar crime that Hinton was never charged with comprised the entirety of the states case against him.
==========
Alabama inmate free after 30 years on death row. How the case against him unraveled.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...y-hinton-on-death-row-for-30-years-unraveled/
Anthony Ray Hinton was one of Alabamas longest-serving death row inmates, having spent more than half his life incarcerated. Now, after three decades of insisting that he is innocent in the 1985 murders of two men, the 58-year-old Hinton is finally a free man.
His freedom came down to the same four bullets that put him in jail to begin with.
I shouldnt have (sat) on death row for 30 years, he told reporters according to CNN. All they had to do was to test the gun.
Hinton was convicted of two separate killings of restaurant workers the Feb. 25, 1985, slaying of John Davidson, and the July 2, 1985, killing of Thomas Vason even though there were no eyewitnesses linking Hinton to the crimes, no fingerprints linking him to the scene, and no other physical evidence except for the questionable link between a set of bullets and a gun found in Hintons home.
For years, Hintons lawyers have questioned whether the bullets could be conclusively linked to the weapon. The gun belonged to Hintons mother, with whom he shared a home.
Subsequent tests of the only physical evidence in the case raised serious doubts about whether the weapon in Hintons home had fired those bullets and it even called into question whether the bullets were all fired from the same gun.
The ballistic evidence combined with eyewitness testimony from someone who was present at a similar crime that Hinton was never charged with comprised the entirety of the states case against him.
here's a another one ... why would prosecutors want to prevent testimony that would set an innocent man free?
======
Detroit hit man says he, not teen, responsible for 4 deaths
Apr. 15, 2015
Detroit Hit Man Teenager
In this photo provided by the Michigan Department of Corrections is imprisoned hit man Vincent Smothers. Professors from law schools trying to overturn the murder conviction of Davontae Sanford filed a affidavit in court Wednesday, April 15, 2015 from Smothers who says he committed the four murders in Detroit that Sanford pleaded guilty to in 2008 when he was 15. Smothers has long expressed a willingness to help Sanford, but a judge refused to allow him to testify during an earlier effort to throw out Sanford’s conviction. (Michigan Department of Corrections via AP)
DETROIT (AP) - An imprisoned hit man has signed a chilling affidavit taking responsibility for four murders at a Detroit drug house in a renewed effort to free a young man who pleaded guilty to the same killings at age 15, attorneys said Wednesday.
Davontae Sanford was just 14, illiterate and blind in one eye when he walked up to police at the murder scene in 2007 and immediately became a suspect. He eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sent to prison, but a new legal team from two law schools wants the conviction thrown out.
The affidavit from Vincent "Vito" Smothers, who has long expressed a willingness to help Sanford, goes into extraordinary detail about the Runyon Street murders, noting the victims were watching a football game on television when he fired an AK-47. He said he scouted the house for weeks, even playing catch one day with a buddy so he could get a feel for the neighborhood.
Smothers expressed deep frustration that prosecutors refuse to acknowledge that the wrong man is behind bars.
"I have nothing to gain from testifying about my commission of the Runyon murders," said Smothers, who is serving 52 years in prison for killing eight other people, including the wife of a Detroit police officer.
"I only want to tell the truth in order to prevent an innocent kid from serving time for crimes that I committed," he wrote in the in 26-page affidavit. "I hope to have the opportunity to testify in court to provide details and drawings of the crime scene that could only be known by the person who committed the crime: me."
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f916...hit-man-says-he-not-teen-responsible-4-deaths
======
Detroit hit man says he, not teen, responsible for 4 deaths
Apr. 15, 2015
Detroit Hit Man Teenager
In this photo provided by the Michigan Department of Corrections is imprisoned hit man Vincent Smothers. Professors from law schools trying to overturn the murder conviction of Davontae Sanford filed a affidavit in court Wednesday, April 15, 2015 from Smothers who says he committed the four murders in Detroit that Sanford pleaded guilty to in 2008 when he was 15. Smothers has long expressed a willingness to help Sanford, but a judge refused to allow him to testify during an earlier effort to throw out Sanford’s conviction. (Michigan Department of Corrections via AP)
DETROIT (AP) - An imprisoned hit man has signed a chilling affidavit taking responsibility for four murders at a Detroit drug house in a renewed effort to free a young man who pleaded guilty to the same killings at age 15, attorneys said Wednesday.
Davontae Sanford was just 14, illiterate and blind in one eye when he walked up to police at the murder scene in 2007 and immediately became a suspect. He eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sent to prison, but a new legal team from two law schools wants the conviction thrown out.
The affidavit from Vincent "Vito" Smothers, who has long expressed a willingness to help Sanford, goes into extraordinary detail about the Runyon Street murders, noting the victims were watching a football game on television when he fired an AK-47. He said he scouted the house for weeks, even playing catch one day with a buddy so he could get a feel for the neighborhood.
Smothers expressed deep frustration that prosecutors refuse to acknowledge that the wrong man is behind bars.
"I have nothing to gain from testifying about my commission of the Runyon murders," said Smothers, who is serving 52 years in prison for killing eight other people, including the wife of a Detroit police officer.
"I only want to tell the truth in order to prevent an innocent kid from serving time for crimes that I committed," he wrote in the in 26-page affidavit. "I hope to have the opportunity to testify in court to provide details and drawings of the crime scene that could only be known by the person who committed the crime: me."
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f916...hit-man-says-he-not-teen-responsible-4-deaths
Attachments
An evidence photo shows a Chevy Malibu that Cleveland police officers riddled with bullets after a chase that ended in the deaths of an unarmed man and woman. Officer Michael Brelo, who investigators say fired 34 shots at the car and then climbed on the hood and fired 15 more through the windshield, is on trial on two counts of voluntary manslaughter.
Thousands dead, few prosecuted
Among the thousands of fatal shootings at the hands of police since 2005, only 54 officers have been charged, a Post analysis found. Most were cleared or acquitted in the cases that have been resolved.
April 11, 2015
On a rainy night five years ago, Officer Coleman Duke Brackney set off in pursuit of a suspected drunk driver, chasing his black Mazda Miata down rural Arkansas roads at speeds of nearly 100 miles per hour. When the sports car finally came to rest in a ditch, Brackney opened fire at the rear window and repeatedly struck the driver, 41-year-old James Ahern, in the back. The gunshots killed Ahern.
Prosecutors charged Brackney with felony manslaughter. But he eventually entered a plea to a lesser charge and could ultimately be left with no criminal record.
How the analysis was done: The 54 criminal prosecutions were identified by Bowling Green State University criminologist Philip M. Stinson and The Washington Post. Cases were culled from news reports, grand jury announcements and news releases from prosecutors. For individual cases, reporters obtained and reviewed thousands of pages of court records, police reports, grand jury indictments, witness testimony and video recordings. Dozens of prosecutors and defense attorneys in the cases were interviewed, along with legal experts, officers who were prosecuted and surviving relatives of the shooting victims.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2015/04/11/thousands-dead-few-prosecuted/
Thousands dead, few prosecuted
Among the thousands of fatal shootings at the hands of police since 2005, only 54 officers have been charged, a Post analysis found. Most were cleared or acquitted in the cases that have been resolved.
April 11, 2015
On a rainy night five years ago, Officer Coleman Duke Brackney set off in pursuit of a suspected drunk driver, chasing his black Mazda Miata down rural Arkansas roads at speeds of nearly 100 miles per hour. When the sports car finally came to rest in a ditch, Brackney opened fire at the rear window and repeatedly struck the driver, 41-year-old James Ahern, in the back. The gunshots killed Ahern.
Prosecutors charged Brackney with felony manslaughter. But he eventually entered a plea to a lesser charge and could ultimately be left with no criminal record.
How the analysis was done: The 54 criminal prosecutions were identified by Bowling Green State University criminologist Philip M. Stinson and The Washington Post. Cases were culled from news reports, grand jury announcements and news releases from prosecutors. For individual cases, reporters obtained and reviewed thousands of pages of court records, police reports, grand jury indictments, witness testimony and video recordings. Dozens of prosecutors and defense attorneys in the cases were interviewed, along with legal experts, officers who were prosecuted and surviving relatives of the shooting victims.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2015/04/11/thousands-dead-few-prosecuted/
I'm not a prosecutor, and I don't know if I'd want to be, but it seems to me that they're kind of getting a bum rap in this thread. I know several assistant district attorneys and most of them area fair minded, reasonable people. They have a tough job. They have to decide whether or not to prosecute TONS of cases. The folders just keep coming.
Prosecutor's don't typically decide to prosecute if they don't believe there's good reason. Why shouldn't they hold the cards in the plea deal process? A plea deal is only obtained through a plea (on the part of the defendant) of "guilty" or "no contest." If a defendant is admitting guilt, or that they couldn't win (introduce reasonable doubt) their case against the state, then why shouldn't the people charged with upholding the law (an expression of the will of the people) have the lions share of the deal making power?
Plea deals are necessary. Plain and simple. There are just too many cases. If they all went to trial, the dockets would be hopelessly backlogged. Is there anecdotal evidence of prosecutorial abuse or of defendants getting convicted on weak evidence? Sure there is, and there's a hell of a lot of it. That being said there are a hell of a lot more cases where the right person got convicted or the prosecutor did the right thing. It's easy to overlook the overwhelming quantity of good product when there are a few examples of bad product.
Prosecutor's don't typically decide to prosecute if they don't believe there's good reason. Why shouldn't they hold the cards in the plea deal process? A plea deal is only obtained through a plea (on the part of the defendant) of "guilty" or "no contest." If a defendant is admitting guilt, or that they couldn't win (introduce reasonable doubt) their case against the state, then why shouldn't the people charged with upholding the law (an expression of the will of the people) have the lions share of the deal making power?
Plea deals are necessary. Plain and simple. There are just too many cases. If they all went to trial, the dockets would be hopelessly backlogged. Is there anecdotal evidence of prosecutorial abuse or of defendants getting convicted on weak evidence? Sure there is, and there's a hell of a lot of it. That being said there are a hell of a lot more cases where the right person got convicted or the prosecutor did the right thing. It's easy to overlook the overwhelming quantity of good product when there are a few examples of bad product.
Witch Hunt (2013) 36 wrongly convicted of child molestation in the 1980s. Narrated by Sean Penn
Last edited by a moderator:
DA Kari Brandenburg Says She Fears for Her Safety after charging two Albuquerque police officers with murder
Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg fears for her safety because of her decision to charge two Albuquerque police officers with murder in the fatal shooting of homeless camper James Boyd last year, she told ABQ Free Press.
The DA said she’s been told by friendly APD officers that she’s a target of forces who want her out of office and punished for daring to challenge the police department.
Brandenburg4loIn a wide-ranging interview, Brandenburg told ABQ Free Press that she knows who those forces are but isn’t yet willing to go public with their names and motives. But she says her fear is real.
“I fear for my safety because other Albuquerque Police Department officers have told me that I should,” Brandenburg said. “I don’t think they’re going to kill me, but I have been told to fear for my safety.” ~
http://www.freeabq.com/?p=1673
Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg fears for her safety because of her decision to charge two Albuquerque police officers with murder in the fatal shooting of homeless camper James Boyd last year, she told ABQ Free Press.
The DA said she’s been told by friendly APD officers that she’s a target of forces who want her out of office and punished for daring to challenge the police department.
Brandenburg4loIn a wide-ranging interview, Brandenburg told ABQ Free Press that she knows who those forces are but isn’t yet willing to go public with their names and motives. But she says her fear is real.
“I fear for my safety because other Albuquerque Police Department officers have told me that I should,” Brandenburg said. “I don’t think they’re going to kill me, but I have been told to fear for my safety.” ~
http://www.freeabq.com/?p=1673
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