• DNA test clears American musician after 28 years in jail
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[quote]“You’re going to have to bear with me,” the judge said. “I know you’re anxious.” For a man wrongly convicted of rape almost 30 years ago, Raymond Towler did not look anxious. Perhaps it was because a few more minutes in custody made little difference after so long. Perhaps it was because he had a reasonable idea of what Judge Eileen Gallagher was about to say. In an extraordinary scene, barely noticed in America this week amid coverage of the enormous oil spill and the New York bomb plot, Mr Towler, a 52-year-old musician, walked free from a Cleveland court after spending more than half his life in prison for a crime of which he always maintained his innocence and which DNA analysis proved he did not commit. His case is not unique, but the way it ended was uniquely moving. It may serve to galvanise a national movement of lawyers and activists who have used DNA evidence to free more than 250 inmates since 1992, almost all of them black men, but who have so far lacked the resources to tackle thousands of other cases in which experts’ fear of “junk science” and racial bias have produced unsafe convictions. The moment of truth came just after 9am on Wednesday. After a brief recap of his arrest, trial and conviction for the rape of an 11-year-old girl in 1981, Judge Gallagher turned to the results of DNA analysis of skin and semen samples that she ordered two years ago from a lab in Texas. Both samples came from the victim’s underwear. They did not match the girl’s DNA, but they did match each other. “They are consistent with deriving from the same individual, the assailant of the victim,” Judge Gallagher said. “And that individual was clearly not Raymond Towler.” Mr Towler, in a white shirt and black V-neck sweater, blinked and briefly lowered his head. “It’s been a long time coming,” Judge Gallagher noted. Her voice breaking, she then read to the court an Irish blessing more commonly heard at weddings: “May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm on your face, may the rain fall softly upon your fields. May God hold you in the palm of his hand, now and forever.” Wiping tears from her face, the judge stepped forward to shake the hand of a man known to the state of Ohio for more than quarter of a century as Inmate A16468. “Good luck to you, Mr Towler,” she said. “You’re free.” Mr Towler shook hands with his lawyers, a team of three from the Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati, then hugged his brother and sister. Asked how he had been able to get up each morning knowing he had been wrongly convicted, he said: “You’ve got to get up, you know what I mean? Get up with God in your spirit and God will lead the way forward.” Under state law, Mr Towler is entitled to $40,330 (£27,350) for every year of his wrongful imprisonment, not including lost wages and any damages he may win by suing the Ohio Department of Corrections. A previous inmate wrongfully jailed for a shorter period was awarded $1.4 million. Mr Towler appeared to bear no grudge. “Evidently a crime was committed and I’ve got to respect that they tried the best that they could,” he said. “They had the wrong person. It took them a while to straighten it out but all I care about right now is that they did straighten it out.” The authorities still have no idea who the culprit is, but the prosecutor, Bill Mason, said that the case was open and there would be a new examination of crime scene evidence. Outside the court Mr Towler began taking in his new surroundings en route to a pizza restaurant. “Even though I was raised here I’ve still got to do a lot of sightseeing,” he said. Despite pleading not guilty and offering a solid alibi, Mr Towler was sentenced to life without parole on the basis of a Cleveland police officer’s suspicion during a routine traffic stop that he resembled the man sought in a rape that had occurred two weeks earlier. He was later picked out by the victim from an identity parade. “One of the leading causes of these wrongful convictions is witness misidentification, especially with crossracial identification,” Carrie Wood, one of Mr Towler’s lawyers, said. “There is still racial prejudice in our society. Anyone who tells you different just doesn’t have those interactions.”[/quote] Source- [url]http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7120167.ece[/url] Something uplifting for a change?
Wow, I wonder what would make a jury convict a guy based on circumstantial evidence alone, even when he had a solid defense... [img]http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00715/TOWLER_1C_585x350_715251a.jpg[/img] :ms: It's shameful, really.
there's been a lot of these sort of cases like this lately..it makes you wonder how many people are in jail for crimes they did not commit.
I still dont get how people can be wrongly imprisoned. I thought the words "Innocent until proven guilty" meant something in the US. Proof is either there or it isnt, there is no real in between.
Is this late? I could of sworn I read this story and saw that picture weeks/months ago.
Wow, what can you say to a guy who was put in prison wrongly like that. [QUOTE=CobraUnit;21830910]I still dont get how people can be wrongly imprisoned. I thought the words "Innocent until proven guilty" meant something in the US. Proof is either there or it isnt, there is no real in between.[/QUOTE] We didn't have perfect DNA testing a long time ago. [editline]01:46AM[/editline] [QUOTE=Axznma;21830996]Is this late? I could of sworn I read this story and saw that picture weeks/months ago.[/QUOTE] could have
Well the date in the source says May 8th, so I guess it isn't. Still though I remember strongly.
[QUOTE=Spacewolf;21831001]Wow, what can you say to a guy who was put in prison wrongly like that. We didn't have perfect DNA testing a long time ago. [editline]01:46AM[/editline] could have[/QUOTE] Even then though. There was some guesswork and estimating involved in getting that man locked up for half his life for no reason at all.
and death sentence is still has a place in our society?
Imagine the walk to the execution room knowing that you are innocent.
That's sad. Then only good thing is good music is likely to come from this experience.
I am amazed that he's so positive.
The system of justice is pretty fucked anyway, you need money to prove your point, and that point alone means it is fucked.
If this was in europe, he'd got so money he'd be able to rent bill gates as a personal butler. Still, $1.4 millions for 30 years in jail is better than nothing I suppose.
Money has absolutely nothing on lost time.
[QUOTE=Axznma;21832227]Money has absolutely nothing on lost time.[/QUOTE] It has very little, but it means he can live the rest of his life in comfort.
Man 28 years of your life gone, that sucks.
28 years later.
He must be pretty pissed deep inside at how over half his life is just gone. Hopefully he used his time inside effectively for something that can be used in his life outside.
I know the girl, who would now be like 40, was raped but she should feel bad for identifying the wrong guy. I mean, I don't think you can trust kids in that situation.
My school's chapter of Amnesty International actually just brought a man to speak who was on wrongfully on death row and got cleared by DNA evidence, it was pretty cool.
[QUOTE=Axznma;21832227]Money has absolutely nothing on lost time.[/QUOTE] Unless he uses his money to invent a time machine...
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;21830870]Wow, I wonder what would make a jury convict a guy based on circumstantial evidence alone, even when he had a solid defense...[/QUOTE] probably because he's black
If I were him, I'd take it massively to the media and try getting way more cash. 1.4 million is nothing.
good for him, he looks like an honest man [editline]05:15PM[/editline] [QUOTE=Adbor;21838053]If I were him, I'd take it massively to the media and try getting way more cash. 1.4 million is nothing.[/QUOTE] wait nvm, he's getting 40k for every year he was in jail so he really gets about 1.1 million the 1.4 was just what they paid another person who was wrongly convicted
Get rid of prisons and laws, then if you're a pussy you lose.
What shit. He had a rock solid alibi and the only 'evidence' they had was a police officer said he looked like the dude and was picked out in the line (by a traumatized 11 year old girl). He still gets life with no parole. I'd sue if I was him.
[QUOTE=Jessesmith1;21838061]good for him, he looks like an honest man [editline]05:15PM[/editline] wait nvm, he's getting 40k for every year he was in jail so he really gets about 1.1 million the 1.4 was just what they paid another person who was wrongly convicted[/QUOTE] The 1.4 was a legal settlement, so the guy might be getting > 2.5m.
I hope that prosecutor is proud of his conviction rate.
I hope he can somehow deal with it and accept it so he can make the best of what is left of his life.
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