After Innocence

[Jims]

I just finished watching the film, After Innocence. It is the story of a few, a very small part of the many, exonerated men and women in this country. They are not all death row inmates, though my friend, Nicky Yarris, (who was on death row for 23 years for a crime he did not commit) is one of the featured ex-inmates.

I highly recommend this film, certainly to our community of supporters. But also, if you could share this film with two or three people (or more) who are not prisoner advocates or prison reform advocates, it might help to educate a public very much in need of education about our justice system.

One of the men was convicted of a rape on the basis of two pubic hairs found at the scene. At his trial, it was concluded that the hairs were consistent with his hair. The prosecutor stated emphatically that if they were his hairs, then he was the rapist and should be convicted. Some 20 years or so later, DNA tests conclusively showed that the hairs were NOT his. The judge was ready to rule in his favor but incredibly, the prosecutor appealed the ruling. They objected to the wording that was used. The man spent more than 3 more years behind bars until his attorneys (led by Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project) were able to get a new hearing which was supposed to argue whether or not IF the new evidence regarding the hairs had been available during his trial, would he have been acquitted. The prosecutor changed course and stated that the hairs really weren't that important. It was the semen that was important and no DNA test had been done on that. He claimed that the hairs could have come from someone other than the rapist. So, the judge ordered DNA testing on the semen; all the while, the guy continued to serve his sentence in a Florida prison.

This film won some awards at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 or 2005. But it has taken some time to get released on DVD. My local Blockbuster just got it in.

It is an outstanding film, and an important one. Like attorney Peter Neufeld (also from The Innocence Project) said in the film, the paradigm is beginning to shift in this country. It is finally, but gradually, shifting away from "guilty until proven innocent" and back to "innocence until proven guilty."

There are estimated to be tens of thousand of innocent men and women incarcerated in this country. Most of them were convicted from eyewitness account (now considered highly unreliable) or false confessions. There is no DNA in the vast majority of cases. But, innocence projects are stretched beyond their capabilities just trying to handle all the cases that DO involve DNA. One of the featured cases was not an innocence project case. It involved an eyewitness identification in a rape case. The victim was absolutely certain she recognized her rapist in a police lineup and identified him as such. Eleven years later, a DNA test revealed that the victim had been wrong. (Here is an article about that case: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=17&did=368)

One more observation about this film. It shows some of the parents, siblings, wives, and children of the exonerated men. Nobody will ever convince me that these people do not suffer as much as family members of crime victims. They may suffer differently, but their pain and suffering as well as the burden they carry is just as great.

[dancer]

My cousin talked about that.   She felt like they had been branded.  Her ex husband and father of her sons had a very public case. 
I think the Innocense projects would be excellent places to donate money,  and will money after your death.  They are little known to those who aren't advocates for inmates. 

[Jims]

The book, "The Death of Innocents" by Sister Helen Prejean (author of "Dead Man Walking") is about two more of her death penalty cases. She is convinced they were both innocent and she makes a very good case for it.

Compelling reading, but a mixture of horror and sadness and complete frustration.

[dancer]

I read a book "Miracle at Sing sing" about a warden at the turn of the last century there.  He loved people,  and it seemed even the hardest of criminals softened.  He and his wife and children lived on the grounds.  His wife died young  and the inmates were very sad.  They did plant gardens also.  He talked about wondering what innocent people he had to execute there.  One of the lockup shows,  in a southern prison,  discussed that also.  The warden said he was pretty positive they had executed a handful of innocent men,  and that he hoped God would forgive him,  since he had no control over it.