26 Years Later, DNA Clears Man of Rapes (Florida he will not see a dime

[wakeme2008]

over this... :grr:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Rapes-DNA-Exoneration.html

August 3, 2005
26 Years Later, DNA Clears Man of Rapes
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 4:22 p.m. ET

MIAMI (AP) -- A man who spent 26 years behind bars as Florida's ''Bird Road Rapist'' was released from prison Wednesday after DNA evidence cleared him in two of the attacks and cast doubt on whether he was responsible for any of the crimes.

''Victory,'' 67-year-old Luis Diaz said as he walked out of a courthouse a free man.

Circuit Judge Christina Pereya-Shuminer threw out his five rape convictions at the request of both Miami-Dade County's chief prosecutor and lawyers for the Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization that works to get inmates exonerated via DNA.

..more at link...

[Talismom]

1. I saw this earlier today and it's just a nightmare! n/t

[geomon666]

2. Yeah thanks for nothing.

His life is already ruined. What is he supposed to do? Start over at 67 years old?

[Judi Lynn]

3. Damned civilized of them to let him go!

(Click for photo)
,0,4355723.photo?coll=sfla-home-headlines

Free at last
Flanked by sons Jose Antonio, left, and Alberto, Luis Diaz raises his hands as he is freed from prison on Wednesday. Diaz was convicrted in 1980 of eight counts of rape and nicknamed Miami's "Bird Road Rapist." DNA tests proved his innoncence.
(Sun-Sentinel/ Angel Valentin)

Diaz, who is married with three children, was convicted of some of the 25 sexual assaults that occurred between 1977 and 1979 in the Bird Road area of Coral Gables, south of downtown Miami. The convictions were based on identifications made by eight different victims, even though some of them initially described a much heavier and taller Hispanic attacker who spoke English. Diaz, a Cuban-American, spoke little to no English and, because of his work as a fry cook, smelled of onions _ something no victim mentioned.
(snip/...)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl83freedbydna,0,3745283.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

(Story available from this source without registration)

[arwalden]

4. Good Thing None Of The Victims Was Murdered... He'd Be Dead Now Too.

And you can't release a DEAD MAN.

[ashling]

10. Texas Death row inmate released -

Death row survivor now takes no chances
Web Posted: 07/24/2005 12:00 AM CDT

Maro Robbins
Express-News Staff Writer

FORT STOCKTON — With enough cash to make bail and a careful eye on the speed limit, Ernest Ray Willis embarked last week on a road trip into his past.

***

Eventually, Willis plans to find work. He might start a business with the money he is receiving from the state fund that pays wrongly convicted inmates about $25,000 for every year they languished in prison.

When the final check arrives next year, the state will have given Willis a total of $429,166.

The money has clearly eased his re-entry, but no one was calling it lavish pay for more than 17 years of confinement in a solitary cell three paces long.

"I wouldn't trade this country for any other country or live in any other country," Alton Willis said, "but I think there's a lot of laws that need adjustment."

-

[arwalden]

5. And How Long Have We Been Able To Compare DNA??

So what took so long getting HIS compared?

[SouthernDem2004]

6. Most likely cost. DNA test are not cheap.

[rocktivity]

8. What price innocence? What price justice?

Do DNA tests cost less than keeping someone incarcerated for a year? Why NOT be absolutely sure?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Kraklen]

9. A few thousand dollars.

No, incarcerating a prisoner costs a lot more.

Still, the government doesn't like to do the tests. It makes them look bad every time somethinglike this happens.

[Wilber_Stool]

7. My guess would be

that they don't want to pay for his health care.