Fla. man exonerated after 35 years behind bars

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: AP

James Bain used a cell phone for the first time Thursday, calling his elderly mother to tell her he had been freed after 35 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.

Mobile devices didn't exist in 1974, the year he was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping a 9-year-old boy and raping him in a nearby field.

Neither did the sophisticated DNA testing that officials more recently used to determine he could not have been the rapist.

"Nothing can replace the years Jamie has lost," said Seth Miller, a lawyer for the Florida Innocence Project, which helped Bain win freedom. "Today is a day of renewal."

Bain spent more time in prison than any of the 246 inmates previously exonerated by DNA evidence nationwide, according to the project. The longest-serving before him was James Lee Woodard of Dallas, who was released last year after spending more than 27 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h-Io4q44R7xoFi78PEyLMe8G1qzQD9CL7P0G0

[FLAprogressive]

1. K&R -- Hopefully one day we will never have to hear stories like this.

[mainer]

2. 50% of DNA tests exonerated arrested suspects

That's what a criminalist told me. When DNA testing was first being used, he said that of all suspects who'd been arrested, about half ended up being shown innocent by DNA tests, and were therefore released.

Which is a horrifying statistic. It means that, in the era before DNA testing, 50% of arrested suspects were innocent. How many of them were subsequently convicted?

Thank god for DNA tests.

[HopeforChange]

3. how many innocents were executed

I attended a Crime Subcommittee Hearing where Conyers was outraged to learn that 50% to 60% of the people who are in prison and who requested and got DNA testing were found to be innocent.

What has happened to America ???
What has happened to our Constitution ???

[Turbineguy]

5. Well, there is this;

Defense lawyers should ensure that defendants get a fair trial and that prosecutors are held to a high standard of evidence. Instead it's a game to get the guilty off no matter what. Opposing this is the Notch-in-the-Gun Prosecutor who wants a conviction no matter what.

That's not Justice and these figures show that.

[Tsar_Bomba]

10. We are still paying

for mistakes made after the civil war. I can't post anything else I'm so angry.

[psychopomp]

44. I'm with you on that

At least today, we have a victory.

[Pushed To The Left]

42. This is why I now oppose the death penalty.

While I don't have any sympathy for murdererers, I don't want innocent people to be executed.

[TheWraith]

7. It's not that simple.

"Which is a horrifying statistic. It means that, in the era before DNA testing, 50% of arrested suspects were innocent. How many of them were subsequently convicted?"

Assuming that what the criminologist told you was correct, that does NOT mean that 50% of all the people arrested before DNA were innocent. It just means that out of the people SPECIFICALLY TARGETED for DNA testing after the fact, i.e. the cases where there was serious doubt about the validity of the conviction, 50% were exhonorated. But that sub-set targeted for testing isn't representative of the entire prison population.

[thereismore]

11. Exactly right. That guy does not know statistics. nt

[pitohui]

17. well nothing's ever simple -- MOST crimes can't be cleared by DNA

think abt crimes such as a robbery, embezzling, etc

i was accused of such a crime of theft, that i didn't commit, and there would never be any way for me to prove myself innocent, in MOST cases an innocent person has no defense and mumbling, "hey, i didn't do it and i don't know who did" is not gonna work real

i think only a fool would be willing to take their chances on having their life changed/destroyed by a jury, esp. if you are not a popular/pretty/rich person who can game the system

me? i hid out until they got tired of looking for me and found better things to do, if i stood around and allowed myself to be picked up or voluntarily turned myself in, i don't doubt for a minute that i would have been wrongly convicted of something i didn't do, with lifelong bad impact on my life

i know several people personally who have been wrongly convicted or pled guilty to something they didn't do because they couldn't figure out how to protect themselves from being wrongly convicted -- the statistics may be up in the air, but if you get out there in the world at all, it doesn't take long to figure out that the jury system doesn't work, it's stacked against people who have anything different about them (aren't physically attractive, wrong race, etc) -- your lawyer will often tell you flat out, it doesn't matter if you're innocent, you would be better to plead guilty because the judge sentences people who request a trial much more harshly than those who settle -- you are put in prison not for the crime but for trying to point out that you didn't do it apparently, which upsets judges

we CAN'T know the true figures because most wrongly convicted people will just be fucked and never be able to prove they were innocent, only crimes where there is DNA evidence such as rape/murder will this ever be possible and of course it's most important anyway to clear those cases, because you're talking abt taking a person's whole life for nothing while the real doer walks away -- but every false conviction changes a life and means a person is pretty much unemployable in any decent job, faces all kinds of obstacles and more accusations in the future, and so on...it is not a tiny problem for anyone who is falsely accused...

[pitohui]

12. trial by jury CAN'T work effectively, you CAN'T vote on matters of fact

if DNA proves anything, it proves that a trial by jury is worthless -- it's a matter of luck, race, and money who is cleared and who is convicted

you would not accept a vote of a jury "of your peers" on whether the sun revolves around the earth or vice versa, you would only accept the decision of scientists

matter of fact, guilt, and crime need to be decided by specialists with scientific and forensic training, not by any joe blow off the street voting in a popularity contest that "sure, yea, the black dude did it"

it will require a complete overhaul of a system but at some point if we want justice, we should be demanding a science based system, not a popularity contest based system

trial by jury is a popularity contest, pure and simple, OF COURSE IT DOESN'T WORK -- there is NO REASON it SHOULD work -- maybe it's the best they could think of in 1300 and even in 1776 but you know what? it's the 21st century

we need to be demanding that decisions that cost people's lives and youth are made by forensic scientists, not by grand-standing show trials in a court room

[WriteDown]

18. You're exactly right. We need an e-jury machine...

like e-voting machines.

[pitohui]

23. we need science, sorry if that upsets you

i'm tired of seeing lives destroyed, seen too much of it up close and personal

maybe you have never been wrongly accused and maybe you have never known anyone wrongly sent to prison, and that's the difference between us

the jury system is destroying lives and it picks out who to destroy at random, not based on science or on what actually happened

the sooner we're honest about this, the better -- at least for those of us who aren't pretty, rich, and white with millions to spend on our defense -- and you'd better have ALL OF THE ABOVE, the millions to defend yourself with being, of course, the most important indicator of your innocence under our current system

if this dude was white and a millionaire, he never would have gone to trial on such shitty "evidence"

[WriteDown]

25. What is more scientific than a computer...

The evidence is inputted and it reaches a decision based on probability. How can you object to that?

[KamaAina]

29. We techies have a saying: "Garbage in, garbage out"

So, who inputs the evidence?

[WriteDown]

33. Government officials of course. nt

[HopeforChange]

43. A Trial by Jury with Scientific Data Properly Presented is the Solution

You cannot take away the right to a jury trial.

[rasputin1952]

24. The really crappy part...

the perpetrator got away...how many more lives were ruined because a case was "closed" with a bad conviction...:grr:

[superconnected]

26. But the truth, if you read further into dna testing, is that the test only shows that their dna

wasn't found on the swap the crime team used. It doesn't mean the guy didn't commit the crime. Remember the one let out last year because of a dna test that killed someone right after.

It's highly unlikely that half of all criminals in prison are innocent. It's more likely that a few are but most aren't, yet they don't have the dna to prove it. That's why I'm against ever making dna required. Half of all criminals would be free by your estimates. I don't think that's a good idea.

[USA_1]

34. DNA isn't fool proof

After all, police are known to have planted evidence and no DNA test can exonerate an innocent victim when that happens. That's why Mark Fuhrmann types are still laughing and boasting of all the innocents they sent to prison after all these years

[fl_dem]

4. another bittersweet story

I'd like to know what kind of evidence they used back in 1974 to convict him. It is so sad that a childs life was so cruelly taken and knowing a sexual predator/child killer walked away to continue offending while another man paid for his crime.

[Demoiselle]

9. The little boy didn't die.

And he identified Mr. Bain as the rapist. The story offers the possibility that the victim was encouraged by the police to name Bain. It's a horrible story all round, and I hope the little boy was able to get on with his life. And, of course, that Bain will enjoy his freedom for a long time.

[fl_dem]

27. Well that one mistake I'm glad to be called on

I'm glad he survived the attack, but I can't imagine how he is feeling right now.

[Demoiselle]

38. Agreed.

To say "Thank goodness he was only kidnapped and raped but survived" rings kind of hollow, doesn't it?
Poor kid. And how terrible that the real attacker was never prosecuted.

[fl_dem]

54. Yes indeed it does

but that was not what I said but obviously how you perceived it. I'm not heartless. I am a mother, a grandmother and a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. What happened to him should have never happened, but it did, nothing can change that, he survived were many don't and THAT was my point.

[pitohui]

14. they used eyewitness testimony by a child, which is of proven scientific valuelessness

even adults wrongly ID a stranger who attacks them under stress, if someone you don't know and your first contact with them is that they are raping, stabbing, or killing you, then memories of their exact face don't form properly

DNA has proven, over and over again, that eyewitness testimony of an attack on a person, by a stranger, is completely worthless

how much more worthless when the eyewitness testimony is by a child, subject to trying to please those who are questioning him -- it is CLEAR that it was the suggestion of an adult (the principal) that this man was the doer and a hurt, frightened child tried to please by going along w. the suggestion, as is simple child psychology

this many years after mcmartin, we need to be clear that children do have imaginations and children do respond to suggestions by adults

a man's life should not be taken away based solely on eyewitness testimony of a 9 year old

it has also been shown that when the accused is of a different race, it is even more likely that the victim can't properly make an eyewitness ID of a stranger

[WriteDown]

19. I think a good idea would have all jury decisions be approved by you..

then you can make the "right" decision.

Talk about baseless theories in your post.

[Sultana]

6. I hate you, America!!!!!!!!!!

b4 clicking the link, I knew Mr. Bain is a black man. :(

What the fuck is wrong with this country?

[WriteDown]

20. And everyone knows that 9 year olds hate Black men.

:eyes:

[Sultana]

47. You are ridiculous!!!

[proteus_lives]

30. Idiot post.

[Sultana]

46. Kiss my ASS!!!!

[kath]

8. Gee, this man is BLACK! Who'da thunk it? I'm shocked, SHOCKED, I say!!1!

[WriteDown]

21. Damn 9 year old racists.

:eyes:

[Doremus]

35. What's your point?

Cause if you're trying to say that 9 yos are incapable of assigning negative connotations based on skin color, there are several studies that say you're wrong.

If that isn't your point you may want to skip the sarcasm and try making it a little clearer.

[WriteDown]

36. I am saying there is probably a MUCH more likely scenario...

A kid who was very scared and traumatized accused someone who resembled his attacker. He probably was even convinced it was him.

Also, if you were 9 and raped by an Asian man, do you think you would have negative connotations toward Asian men?

[Doremus]

41. Negative connotations are exactly that, regardless of their cause(s).

Broadbrush assumptions are rarely accurate.

[superconnected]

31. Course if you look in the paper, blacks are most likely to commit the crime, at least in my area.

Personally the blacks I know work in the tech industry so I know they're not all like that. I just notice a whole lot of gang violence is black in my area. I expect to see a black mans pic everytime I click on an article where someone was killed. I'm surprised many times to see it's a white person, but, only surprised because most of the time, it's not.

[superconnected]

32. This is a racist and sexist view that I contend is REAL

When I look in the news every day I see:

1. Women always killed by men in my local news. Rarely a woman kills a man (but not even a 10th of the time)
2. It's nearly always a white man killing the woman.
3. Man killing man where nearly always it's a black man killing a black man. (rarely does a black man kill a white man and far more rarely does a white man kill a black man unless he's a cop.)
4. Small children being killed, kidnapped, molested, by white men.
5. Women getting raped by white men but the blacks are now getting to a point where it's a back man some of the time.

That's just the sexist racist pattens I notice.

Now go to your local news, look at the murders and see who killed who.

[WriteDown]

37. I love anecdotal evidence. nt

[crim son]

39. I think you are not wrong in your perceptions

but none of these trends defines a rule, and therefore every person must be judged by reliable evidence. I know you agree but I'm just clarifying your point.

edited b/c I'm so tired I wrote something that made no sense, not even to me

[crim son]

40. We may have the "best" system of justice in the world yet it is still

terribly flawed and one flaw is trial by jury of one's peers. Such a thing, an impartial jury of peers, is damned hard to come by and lawyers are permitted to make sure one isn't picked. It's only one problem of many, of course and it's long past time for a major overhaul of our justice system as it appears to be badly broken.

[winyanstaz]

13. hopefully he can sue their asses off for wrongful imprisonment...

The guy might have been a bazzilionair on the outside by now...they distroyed a lot of his life.

[pitohui]

16. there's an automatic payment of $50K a year in his state, as stated in the article

he will receive $1.7 million, however, i rather wish they hadn't published this, as he will undoubtedly find himself targeted by experts at extracting $$$ from the naive -- and we can't seriously expect a man in prison since for 30-plus yrs since age 19 to know how to protect his finances

i hope he will be able to find some trustworthy neutral party or financial advisor to help him hold onto his money, because it's unlikely at his age that he'll ever be able to find decent employment -- trouble is, it's florida, the predatory financial advisors (who are already there to rob the old) probably greatly out-number the decent ones

i'll be praying for him that his attys who helped him win freedom will also help him find good advisors

he's entitled to party after that long in captivity but he also needs to think about providing for his late middle age and old age, the going back to college idea is fine, but i don't think employers will be lined up to give great high paying jobs to someone who was in prison for that long, even tho he was innocent, his knowledge of life and his social abilities must be severely impacted

[winyanstaz]

48. Do you happen to know if there is a statue of limitations on suing for wrongful inprisonment?

And would that also vary from state to state?

[DatManFromNawlins]

55. He deserves all of that

AND a state pension.

You can't expect a 55 year old man who has been locked up for the majority of his adult life to go out and find work. If the state has crippled his ability to take care of himself in his advanced age, then they have the duty to make sure that he has a means of retirement.

And that doesn't take into consideration whether or not he'll have to pay federal taxes on that money.

[Uncle Joe]

15. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, AlphaCentauri.

[Kevin Cloyd]

22. the problem is that few juries have the guts to say the cops and prosecutor are full of crap.

In this case the jury took the word of a nine year old over the word of the guy's sister that he was at home watching TV. At least he will get enough money to build a new life for himself, $1,750,000.00.

As other comments above indicated almost no prosecutors do their duty to seek justice, rather they always fight for a conviction no matter how shallow the evidence against the accused is. Given the standards to find someone guilty there should be many acquittals at trial, after all, our founding fathers were quoted as saying that it would be better that 10 guilty should go free than one innocent man be found guilty.

[depakid]

45. That and Americans' obsession with a pound of flesh- anyone's flesh

Someone has to pay, ya know.

[garybeck]

28. WATCH THE VIDEO >>> made me cry!

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/17/florida.dna.exoneration/index.html

[demoleft]

49. US man freed by DNA evidence after 35 years in prison

Source: bbc

A US man has become the longest-serving prisoner to be freed after DNA evidence proved he was innocent of the crime he was convicted of three decades ago.

James Bain spent 35 years in jail after being found guilty of kidnapping and raping a nine-year-old boy in 1974.

On his release from prison in Florida on Thursday, he told the BBC he was not angry and his faith had helped him.

He has always maintained his innocence, but was only allowed a review of his case following an appeal.


Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8419854.stm

[Number23]

50. Wow!

he told the BBC he was not angry and his faith had helped him.

He's a bigger man than most, that's for sure.

[spicegal]

51. Good reason to consider abolishing capital punishment

I can't imagine too many things worse than being wrongfully convicted and forced to rot in prison your entire life OR executed for something you didn't do. I used to be in favor of the death penalty, but not so much anymore. While our system is certainly one of the best, it's imperfect and not applied equitably. Too many people have been exonerated with DNA evidence, which should tell us something.

[demoleft]

52. yes, so many cases should tell us something. welcome to DU...

... :hi:

[Mad_Dem_X]

53. My God...35 years...

I cannot even begin to imagine. At least he's out now, but that doesn't take away the 3 1/2 decades he's lost.