Wrongful Imprisonment NON-compensation

[plthijinx]

this is ridiculous. Anthony Graves spent 18 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit, like me, albeit not as long.

whole story from The Houston Chronicle.

GALVESTON — The Texas Comptroller's Office has denied state compensation to Anthony Graves, who spent 18 years behind bars before a special prosecutor determined he was innocent and authorities dropped capital murder charges against him, Graves' attorney said today.

The state determined that Graves, 45, who would have received $1.4 million had he been deemed eligible, should receive nothing because the word "innocence" was not used in the document ordering his release, according to Graves' attorney, Nicole Casarez.

that is ridiculous! because they did not use the word ''innocence" they denied him? i'm outraged for the man! when and if i pursue exoneration for my case this makes me not want to go for wrongful imprisonment compensation. hell i bet if they refile and use the word "innocence" the jack ass state lawyers would find another word or way to not pay the man. the state was wrong. he was right. pay the man.

now here's a real catch-22:

Graves can't seek a pardon from Gov. Rick Perry, Casarez said, because he has nothing to be pardoned for and asking for a pardon would be tantamount to admitting guilt. She said a civil suit seeking compensation was one of several options that would be discussed with attorneys who specialize in that particular type of law.

ffs. please.

i really hope everything works out for Graves.

Casarez said other attorneys had assured her that the comptroller's office could approve the compensation because of the public statement's prosecutors had made about his innocence.
"Even though the order didn't contain those magical words ... I was certain the Comptroller's Office would take a very full look at it," she said.

[Gravdigr]

I was guilty as hell myself...

[Shawnee123]

Should've gone to Shawshank...everyone in there is innocent, or so I've heard.

[Sundae]

I went to see a play called The Exonerated.
It's actors using the real words of people held on Death Row before being freed. As far as I remember none of them received compensation. It's incredibly moving.

Culled from interviews, letters, transcripts, case files, and the public record, The Exonerated tells the true stories of six people sent to Death Row for crimes they did not commit. In this 90 minute, intermissionless play, we meet Kerry, a sensitive Texan brutalized on Texas' death row for 22 years before being freed by DNA evidence; and Gary, a Midwestern organic farmer condemned for the murder of his own parents and later exonerated when two motorcycle gang members confess to the crime. We are introduced to Robert, an African-American horse groomer who spent seven years on Florida's death row for the murder of a white woman before evidence emerged that the victim was found clutching hair from a Caucasian attacker. We hear from David, a shy man with aspirations to the ministry, bullied into confessing at 18 to a robbery/murder he had nothing to do with, scarred from a youth spent in prison and struggling to regain his faith; and from Sunny, a bright-spirited hippie who spent 17 years in prison, along with her husband, for the murder of two police officers while another suspect had written a confession that was repeatedly discounted by authorities. And we meet Delbert, a poet who serves as the play's center, convicted of a rape/murder in the Deep South of the 1970s and later freed when evidence surfaced suggesting that he was not even in the state when the crime occurred. Moving between first-person monologues and scenes set in courtrooms and prisons, the six interwoven stories paint a picture of an American criminal justice system gone horribly wrong and of six brave souls who persevered to survive it.

[Shawnee123]

I figured they'd be compensated just as a matter of course. Really amazing, our society. "Oh, gee, so sorry..."

Unfair.

[Spexxvet]

I'm not sure that I agree that anyone who is exonerated after the fact should be compensated for the time they were in prison. They should if there's law enforcement or prosecutorial misconduct, but if the cops and prosecuters do their jobs ethically, and the individual is defended adequately and convicted by a jury, I'm not sure that tax dollars should be given to the person for the mistake. Could he sue individual cops, lawyers, and jurors, or the person who is eventually (hopefully) convicted?

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

I'm not sure that I agree that anyone who is exonerated after the fact should be compensated for the time they were in prison. They should if there's law enforcement or prosecutorial misconduct, but if the cops and prosecuters do their jobs ethically, and the individual is defended adequately and convicted by a jury, I'm not sure that tax dollars should be given to the person for the mistake. Could he sue individual cops, lawyers, and jurors, or the person who is eventually (hopefully) convicted?

I think it would cost less, in the long run, to have some kind of compensation schedule: OK, we stole X number of years of your life, wrongly, let's help you get back on your feet with X number of dollars.

It's not like making a mistake with their taxes or something.

Or, we could get more sue-crazy.

[SamIam]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

I'm not sure that I agree that anyone who is exonerated after the fact should be compensated for the time they were in prison. They should if there's law enforcement or prosecutorial misconduct, but if the cops and prosecuters do their jobs ethically, and the individual is defended adequately and convicted by a jury, I'm not sure that tax dollars should be given to the person for the mistake. Could he sue individual cops, lawyers, and jurors, or the person who is eventually (hopefully) convicted?

I am sure honest mistakes can happen, but too often the DA is under pressure to solve the crime quickly and get another quilty verdict to notch up come re-election time. Cops have been known to fixate on the first suspect whom they investigate who looks good for the crime to the exclusion of anyone else, including the real murderer.

It's not like making a typing error or something. When a person is wrongfully acquiited, something went badly wrong with the system somewhere, and, in addition, the real criminal is still at large - no doubt waltzing around committing further crimes.

"Good enough" should not be the standard for the US Justice System. Victims of a mis-carriage of justice should be compensated as a matter of course.

[kerosene]

This makes me think of this local case (not for the faint of heart!). He did successfully sue the city, though for their error.

[plthijinx]

well i;ll be....check this out....from the chronicle

GALVESTON — Gov. Rick Perry said that Anthony Graves' capital-murder conviction was a "great miscarriage of justice" and pledged to assist in the effort to win the state compensation denied to Graves by the Texas Comptroller's Office.
Perry said he would help Graves, who spent 18 years behind bars before charges were dropped in October, either through legislative action or "directly with the comptroller's office."

The governor's office has been consulting with Graves' attorneys, Nashed said.
"We understand that Anthony Graves is innocent, and have been in contact with his lawyers, who are pursuing every available option to ensure that he is granted the restitution he deserves," she said.

i knew the amount per year was up there and they had increased it while i was on hiatus but wow....

The comptroller's office last week notified Graves' attorney Nicole Casarez that it had rejected his petition for compensation because the court order dismissing the capital murder charges did not contain the words "actual innocence." The law provides for $80,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment.

[Sundae]

Derek Bentley was both posthumously pardoned and had his murder conviction revoked.
For those who don't know (esp non-Brits) here's a quick precis (Wiki but it appears accurate).

It is often cited in anti capital punishment cases.
It might not seem like much, but his sister fought hard for it and I respect her for that.
I first learned of the case via Elvis Costello's Let Him Dangle, Christopher Ecclestone's wonderful portrayal in Let Him Have It and The Mary Whitehouse's sketches. Not sure of the chronology of those tbf.

For years Dads said he deserved it - to him, associating with someone who carried a gun was the same as shooting someone yourself.
Imagine the jollity that ensued when two of his mates from the old days came to his 70th and were talking about Mad So-and-so, partially called that because he always carried a knife. I won't let Dad forget that for a while (not meant to spark any debate about weapons carrying, just my way to gently bait Dad about being hypocritical).