6 Responses to “Another Exoneration in Dallas”

1. #1 |  Packratt |  May 1st, 2008 at 2:43 am

   It really gives me hope to see that there is a prosecutor out there who gets it… and that there were people who understood the idea of justice enough to elect him. The prosecutor’s job, in fact, the entire justice system’s job is to seek justice, not convictions.

   …and he’s right, wrongful convictions are a problem everywhere, not just Dallas county. Now it’s just a matter to get people to care enough about the issue to change the way we seek justice so that it isn’t so unjust.

   So many people just don’t seem to care, don’t seem to understand just how easy it is for the same thing to happen to them. What would you do if you were wrongfully accused and punished for something you never did? To have that portion of your life and dignity wrongfully stolen from you by the state? I wish more people could understand that feeling… so that fewer people were forced to suffer it.

   Thanks for sharing stories like this that give us some hope…

      +1
2. #2 |  pam |  May 1st, 2008 at 9:50 am

   that’s the best interview I’ve read in a long time. It was straight.

      +0
3. #3 |  pam |  May 1st, 2008 at 9:50 am

   can someone pass that on down to Mississippi?

      +1
4. #4 |  Nick T |  May 1st, 2008 at 11:03 am

   Everyone should remember too how rare DNA evidence is in any criminal matter. For these 18 great/sad stories there are probably 10x that many people who are innocent and will never ever be exonerated because their cases don’t involve any DNA.

      +2
5. #5 |  Whim |  May 1st, 2008 at 11:29 am

   There is no DNA exonerations for convictions based on eye-witness mistaken identity.

   Those who fall prey to mis-identification will not ever be freed. Police and psychologists/sociologists know that incidents of mistaken identify escalate when a witness of one race is trying to ID a perpetrator of another race.

   Living in the harsh neighborhood that they do, the Russians have an apt proverb concerning eye-witnesses:

   “He lies like an eye-witness”.

      +1
6. #6 |  Frank |  May 1st, 2008 at 6:36 pm

   So when should we expect the prosecution of the former DA involved, the police, the crime lab that said there wasn’t enough DNA to test and the members of the judicial systems who declared this innocent man a ‘pest’ and ‘an abuser of the legal process’?

   Not holding my breath, but it seems to me there are plenty of folks in Texas court system that need a trip behind the woodshed for the ass-whipping Daddy never gave them.

      +2

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