Man cleared by DNA free after 27 years

[rpannier]

DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- A Dallas man who spent more than 27 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit was freed Tuesday, after being incarcerated longer than any other wrongfully convicted U.S. inmate cleared by DNA testing.

snip

Woodard, cleared of the 1980 murder of his girlfriend, became the 18th person in Dallas County to have his conviction cast aside. That's a figure unmatched by any county nationally, according to the Innocence Project, a New York-based legal center that specializes in overturning wrongful convictions.

snip

Overall, 31 people have been formally exonerated through DNA testing in Texas, also a national high. That does not include Woodard and at least three others whose exonerations will not become official until Gov. Rick Perry grants pardons or the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals formally accepts the ruling of lower courts that have already recommended exoneration.

link:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/29/dna.exoneration.ap/index.html

[malaise]

1. One more life wasted for 27 years

Good fucking grief!!!

[rpannier]

2. The rush to arrest and convict

Who cares if they're guilty?

I mean, when you have an AJ of the US Supreme Court blithely say, "Innocence is not a bar to conviction" like it's ok that it happens, rather than it being tragic. It's no wonder so many people are wrongfully convicted each year.

Whatever happened to Tho. Jefferson's "Better a thousand guilty men go free, than one innocent man spend a night in jail." axiom?

[rdenney]

3. Prosecutors should go to jail if it can be proved they suspected he was innocent...

and yes I know they are immune from such actions, but who says it has to stay that way?

[Richard Steele]

6. I agree. Time and again, we've seen that prosecutors have DELIBERATELY FRAMED innocent people.

That's what is often so striking about these cases-
that it WASN'T an honest mistake that put the exonorated
person behind bars.

Time and again, we've seen prosecutors ignore and HIDE
evidence that proves innocense. We see them PAYING criminals
and "jailhouse informants" for custom-scripted testimony.

But when these actions are uncovered, there are no consequences.

And that is truly CRIMINAL.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. Once again, he's black.

Says something about the juries in this country, I think.

[rpannier]

5. And poor

Which speaks volumes about our judicial system

[hvn_nbr_2]

7. Gee, who would have guessed that a falsely convicted person was black?

Probably poor too.

[Subdivisions]

8. As a resident of Texas, I would like to apologize to you,

Mr. Woodard, for the injustice done to you by the State of Texas. There's nothing that is sufficient to make up to you the loss of 27 years of your life. I am profoundly ashamed.