30yrs In Prison-Declaired Innocent

[MJS]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110104/ap_on_re_us/us_dna_exoneration_texas

DALLAS – A [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Texas [COLOR=#366388 !important]man[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] declared innocent Tuesday after 30 years in prison had at least two chances to make parole and be set free — if only he would admit he was a sex offender. But Cornelius Dupree Jr. refused to do so, doggedly maintaining his innocence in a 1979 rape and robbery, in the process serving more time for a crime he didn't commit than any other Texas inmate exonerated by DNA evidence.
"Whatever your truth is, you have to stick with it," Dupree, 51, said Tuesday, minutes after a Dallas judge overturned his conviction.
Nationally, only two others exonerated by DNA evidence spent more time in prison, according to the [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Innocence [COLOR=#366388 !important]Project[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], a New York legal center that specializes in wrongful conviction cases and represented Dupree. James Bain was wrongly imprisoned for 35 years in Florida, and Lawrence McKinney spent more than 31 years in a [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Tennessee [COLOR=#366388 !important]prison[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR].

I'm glad that this man was set free and that he's getting a settlement. Whats sad is the fact that he spent and wasted 30yrs of his life, before someone realized there was a screw up.

 

[Touch Of Death]

The man willingly spent more years in prison rather than admit to a lie. That took courage.
Sean

 

[billc]

One more reason to make sure that there are a lot of controls over the power of the government.

My thoughts: When the state screws up this badly, the compensation to the innocent person should be staggering. They should recieve lifetime support from the state at this point, including a really nice home, to make up for the one they lost out on all those years, free medical, and This is just the beginning. I know there was one case of this where the guy only recieved 50,000 dollars for each year he was in prison. that needs to change.

 

[LuckyKBoxer]

I was just listening to this story on the news... I was making dinner though, but I could have sworn they said that this was in Texas, and in the last couple years they have overturned 40 other cases where the person was innocent?
Did I hear this correctly, or did I hear incorrectly?
that seems like an insane amount of wrongfully convicted people

 

[Blade96]

That guy spent more time in prison than David Milgaard.

Wow. and milgaard was just as courageous. Wouldnt say he was guilty, because he wasnt.

 

[aedrasteia]

I was just listening to this story on the news... I was making dinner though, but I could have sworn they said that this was in Texas, and in the last couple years they have overturned 40 other cases where the person was innocent?
Did I hear this correctly, or did I hear incorrectly?
that seems like an insane amount of wrongfully convicted people

Yes. You heard right.
http://yahoo.com/s/ap/20110104/ap_on_re_us/us_dna_exoneration

This man is Cornelius Dupree, Jr. He and the others are free due, in part, to the efforts of Craig Watkins, DA of Dallas, the first black District Attorney in Texas. Yes, in all of the state of Texas. And those exonerated are overwhelmingly black and low-income. My family members in Texas, big supporters of the death penalty, swore that this guy was guilty, guilty, guilty and deserved to die. But Mr. Dupree served his sentence, served 30 years and refused to admit guilt. During the process, One of my relatives said she wished he had gotten the death penalty. Then the DNA evidence conclusively proved he had been innocent. Instead of being proud and relieved that an innocent man had been freed, she was smug and bitter..."well, he probably raped _somebody_!"

Mr Dupree said now he just wanted to lead a "quiet, joyful life".
Ahh.... Texas justice.
Let me know what you think Boxer

A

 

[Big Don]

He will, of course, be suing all his former attorneys for malpractice?

 

[LuckyKBoxer]

Yes. You heard right.
http://yahoo.com/s/ap/20110104/ap_on_re_us/us_dna_exoneration

This man is Cornelius Dupree, Jr. He and the others are free due, in part, to the efforts of Craig Watkins, DA of Dallas, the first black District Attorney in Texas. Yes, in all of the state of Texas. And those exonerated are overwhelmingly black and low-income. My family members in Texas, big supporters of the death penalty, swore that this guy was guilty, guilty, guilty and deserved to die. But Mr. Dupree served his sentence, served 30 years and refused to admit guilt. During the process, One of my relatives said she wished he had gotten the death penalty. Then the DNA evidence conclusively proved he had been innocent. Instead of being proud and relieved that an innocent man had been freed, she was smug and bitter..."well, he probably raped _somebody_!"

Mr Dupree said now he just wanted to lead a "quiet, joyful life".
Ahh.... Texas justice.
Let me know what you think Boxer

A

no I knew that... its sad and sucks but the thing that really got me and I would like to know if I heard it right was that there was 40 other cases overturned in the last couple years of men found guilty only to have dna evidence later prove their innocence.
I really dont care what your relatives think of what happened, there are racists and ignorant people everywhere. I could care less what race or economic class this guy came from, to me hes a human being period, hes not a race to me.. I dont think like that.
I am also absolutely a believer in the death penalty, this does nothing to change my mind on the death penalty.

 

[Touch Of Death]

no I knew that... its sad and sucks but the thing that really got me and I would like to know if I heard it right was that there was 40 other cases overturned in the last couple years of men found guilty only to have dna evidence later prove their innocence.
I really dont care what your relatives think of what happened, there are racists and ignorant people everywhere. I could care less what race or economic class this guy came from, to me hes a human being period, hes not a race to me.. I dont think like that.
I am also absolutely a believer in the death penalty, this does nothing to change my mind on the death penalty.

Well... I hope it, at least, gives you insight as to why executions shouldn't be so speedy.
Sean

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Many states have had to radically revamp their laws regarding appeals due to new information, since the introduction of DNA evidence and its acceptance as being definitive. They have also had to radically revamp their system of evidence retention. Not all states have done so. This means that it is still quite possible for innocent men to remain in prison even if the DNA evidence excludes them as the wrong-doer. This means that in many cases, the DNA evidence is unavailable for testing, even though it exists.

Many civilians do not know that there are generally limits to the period of time or number of appeals a person convicted of a crime has. Once convicted, the law presumes guilt, it is a legal fact. One cannot simply say "Well, I'm innocent, so give me a new trial!" There must be something new to introduce, it must conform to state rules regarding appeals, it must be done inside a particular timeframe. In many states still, simply discovering that there is DNA evidence available that was not or could not be tested at the time of the trial is NOT sufficient to get an appeal or a review of the sentence.

It must also be said that DNA evidence is not necessarily proof of innocence in some cases. For example, if a woman is raped and murdered (God forbid), and a man is convicted for it, it may be possible through DNA to exclude him as the one who left that DNA evidence; but that does not mean he did not take part in the rape or that he is not the murderer. It simply means his DNA is not present in the evidence available. It may mean he had an accomplice, or it may mean he did not leave any DNA evidence that is currently in evidence.

I am glad that innocent people are released from prison and are not dead. I hope that prison has not so damaged them that they are unable to function in society. I feel badly for them that they have had a major part of their lives stolen away, and yes, I feel that there should be some form of compensation (many do get compensation now automatically); even thought money will in no way make up for someone wrongfully spending a major part of their lives behind bars. I am certainly in favor of new laws that make police departments retain evidence for longer periods of time, even though there is a price tag associated with that, and for new laws that make it possible for inmates to challenge their convictions based upon the availability of DNA evidence that did not exist at the time of their convictions.

 

[MA-Caver]

This is a sticky to be sure. Many of you know I am a supporter or capital punishment... provided that there is ABSOLUTE PROOF that the accused is guilty.
In many cases there is no doubt what-so-ever, people either saw him do it or there was enough evidence to leave no doubt in anyone's mind.
Yet in this case the accused was convicted of a rape and robbery. Somehow everything pointed to him as being the guilty party.

Details of the case (according to court records... )
Dupree was convicted of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. According to court documents, the woman and her male companion stopped at a Dallas liquor store in November 1979 to buy cigarettes and use a payphone. As they returned to their car, two men, at least one of whom was armed, forced their way into the vehicle and ordered them to drive. They also demanded money from the two victims.
The men eventually ordered the car to the side of the road and forced the male driver out of the car. The woman attempted to flee but was pulled back inside.
The perpetrators drove the woman to a nearby park, where they raped her at gunpoint. They debated killing her but eventually let her live, keeping her rabbit-fur coat and her driver's license and warning her they would kill her if she reported the assault to police. The victim ran to the nearest highway and collapsed unconscious by the side of the road, where she was discovered.

I don't want to get into a long discussion about this particular case but it seems to me unless the true perps were wearing masks then identification of Dupree would've cleared him... there were two witnesses, the man and the woman who was raped. :idunno: Are they trying to say that both of them identified Dupree as one of the perps?

Either way... I do admire the man for sticking to his guns.

"Whatever your truth is, you have to stick with it," Dupree, 51, said Tuesday, minutes after a Dallas judge overturned his conviction.

Sometimes the truth is all that we have.
$2.4 million dollars in compensation ... 30 years in prison... I wonder if that truly is enough?