A bad evening for pro-death penalty crowd. Miss. judge frees 2 men wrongly jailed 30 years.

[devilgrrl]

Miss. judge frees 2 men wrongly jailed 30 years
SHELIA BYRD
From Associated Press
September 16, 2010 2:28 PM EDT

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — A judge on Thursday freed two men who spent three decades in prison before DNA evidence showed they didn't rape a woman and cut her throat in a grisly 1979 attack.

A crowded courtroom erupted in applause after Forrest County Circuit Judge Robert Helfrich's ruled to set aside the men's guilty pleas, ending what some described as a 30-year ordeal for the imprisoned men.

Helfrich said the case was marked by a series of tragic events — from the violent attack on the woman to the years the men spent in prison for a crime they didn't commit.

"The common thread in this case is tragedy," Helfrich said.

Helfrich ruled on a petition filed by the Innocence Project on behalf of Bobby Ray Dixon and Phillip Bivens. He'll rule later on a posthumous petition for Larry Ruffin, who died in prison in 2002.

The three men were convicted in the 1979 rape and murder of Eva Gail Patterson, whose 4-year-old son watched her be killed.

more: http://enews.earthlink.net/article/us?guid=20100916/6c083102-8e19-4df9-998e-4166179b421b


Too bad it took so long to prove their innocence. What a shame that they weren't zapped a few years after they were falsely convicted! :sarcasm:

[Fumesucker]

1. Eh, I'm sure they were guilty of *something*..

So if they had been executed it would have been OK..

How dare they embarrass our justice system so, they should be executed just for that.

:eyes:

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Yer dam rite.

We cud solve mosta these problems if we just hung em rite after the trile. Or maybe B4 the trile an save the cost of persecutin em.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. kick.

[uncommon]

3. I have a really hard time understanding how anyone could confess to a crime

they didn't commit. I know the reasons, it's just really hard for me to wrap my head around.

Also, this is concerning: "Bivens and Dixon later pleaded guilty to murder in 1980 and were sentenced to life in prison. They testified that Ruffin had actually raped and killed Patterson." How did they know this? Were they there, but didn't commit the actual crime? Because that's still unconscionable.

[prolesunited]

4. Here's an interesting article

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-07-11/news/ct-met-forced-confessions-20100711_1_confess-dna-evidence-interrogation

[Jackpine Radical]

9. Check out Richard Leo's book on false confessions.

http://www.amazon.com/Police-Interrogation-American-Justice-Richard/dp/0674035313/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1284668348&sr=8-1-fkmr0

Richard Leo (2008). Police interrogation and American justice.

Here are two reviews of the book by two well-respected forensic psychologists:

Dr. Karen Franklin:

Richard Leo brilliantly analyzes the function of police interrogations within the larger adversarial system of U.S. criminal justice. Whereas interrogations are presented as a neutral tool for truth-seeking, Leo shows how in reality police function as an unmonitored and unchecked arm of the prosecution, targeting both guilty and innocent suspects alike in a ruthless and fraudulent game of psychological manipulation in which they hold all the cards. Leo uses a historical lens to show how today's psychologically coercive techniques evolved from the widespread "third-degree" practices outlawed in the 1930s. Whereas the third-degree was visibly vicious and lawless, modern interrogators hide behind a façade of science and professionalism that allows them to wield enormous unchecked power and influence over criminal justice outcomes.

Popular belief in the "myth of the psychological interrogation" - that only the guilty confess and that confession statements are reliable - prevents judges and jurors from understanding is that the extreme and sophisticated psychological coercion tactics wielded in some interrogations, especially in serious or high-profile cases, can make almost anyone feel helpless enough to falsely confess, Leo argues. He explains how the final product is jointly scripted by the police and the hapless suspect into such a compelling narrative that a fair trial is rendered impossible.

One of the book's many strengths is its focus on topics that are rarely studied in much depth, such as this topic of how the postadmission narrative is constructed. Another rarely highlighted topic is the corrupting effect of systematic police deception in reports and court testimony about what goes on in the interrogation room. Leo also analyzes the state of the Miranda warnings, which he argues have been transformed into a "public relations coup" and gutted to the point that they serve not as a protection for suspects but as yet another tool of law enforcement. And he provides timely discussion of the limitations of applying artificial laboratory research to the real world of law and order.

Leo concludes by arguing that we are entering the "Era of Innocence," as symbolized by DNA testing exonerating hundreds of innocent convicts, in which reforms can be undertaken to transform police interrogation from an adversarial to a truth-finding practice. His proposed reforms include mandatory electronic recording, requiring probable cause to interrogate, prohibiting promises or threats, protecting vulnerable populations such as the mentally retarded, mentally ill and juveniles, and allowing expert witness testimony about coercive interrogation techniques.

Throughout this compelling volume, Leo strengthens his arguments using rich examples drawn from his massive collection of firsthand data from research and consultation in actual criminal cases. This cutting-edge book is a must-read for anyone involved in or interested in the criminal justice system.

And Dr. Greg DeClue:

I've been reading Richard Leo's articles and book chapters for years, and I was looking forward to this book to see how he put it all together. I expected a great book, but this is much better than I expected.

The book is, as I expected, essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how interrogations and confessions work. But beyond my expectations, the book provides a mind-expanding view of how the American justice system really works. In many criminal cases, everything that happens after what occurs in the interrogation room is relegated to formalities.

This is must reading for anyone involved in the criminal justice system, including police, courts, corrections, and more.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. That's because you have never been subjected to the Reid Technique

or one of its several variants.

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. Plead guilty, and you live. Don't, and you get the chair. nt

[Pithlet]

12. DNA doesn't lie. n/t

[kirby]

5. Justice Scalia says...

'This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is “actually” innocent. Quite to the contrary, we have repeatedly left that question unresolved, while expressing considerable doubt that any claim based on alleged “actual innocence” is constitutionally cognizable.'

[blondeatlast]

7. "The common thread in this case is tragedy." (Kudos for the SL, btw)

As it always is, regardless of the outcomes.

[Bozita]

8. Bless all those Innocence Project folks