Freed Missouri Death Row Inmate Sues Prosecution, Law Enforcement

[NNN0LHI]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBXTSWO92E.html

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A man exonerated after spending 17 years on death row for the slaying of a fellow inmate filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit against prosecutors and other officials Thursday, accusing them of framing him.

Joseph Amrine was freed in July 2003 after the Missouri Supreme Court overturned his conviction and death sentence, finding that no credible evidence remained from his 1986 trial to support the conviction. Prosecutors declined to refile charges. snip

Amrine, 48, of Kansas City, had between 18 months and seven years left to serve on a 15-year sentence for robbery, burglary and forgery when he was sentenced to death for the stabbing death of a fellow inmate, Gary Barber. Key testimony came from three former inmates who later recanted.

The suit alleges the men were promised "significant benefits" if they testified against Amrine, and were threatened with legal action or being placed in a "dangerous situation" if they did not testify. Also, their testimony was coached, the suit says.

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[knowbody0]

1. go Joseph!

let this expose the corruption and abuse in our prison system.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

2. ...and let people give a damn.

Here in MD a guy on Death Row was exhonerated after I can't remember how many years. The government gave him $100,000 (wasn't that generous?) and he returned home to be harassed by family members of the little girl he had been wrongly convicted of murdering.

They don't even care whether the person being punished was the right person. They only want someone else to die.

[knowbody0]

3. IMO

abu ghraib is a mirror of our own prison system and the treatment endured by inmates.