Post by CCADP on Apr 8, 2006 8:17:02 GMT -5
Justice delayed
FACTBOX
review - After Innocence
Friday, April 07, 2006
MARC MOHAN
"I'm one of the strongest human beings ever created," Nick Yarris says without a hint of ego.
He's entitled to the claim. After spending 23 years on Death Row in solitary confinement for a crime he didn't commit, to be functional and sane at all is a Herculean accomplishment.
Yarris is one of seven men profiled in "After Innocence," a documentary by Jessica Sanders that powerfully explores the struggles faced by those whom DNA testing has exonerated after years behind bars. With no more than an apology, if that, these victims of an imperfect justice system are thrust back into the world to try to reconnect with lives and families rudely interrupted by fate and incompetence.
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The film shows how the organization the Innocence Project (www.innocenceproject.org), started by attorneys Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, has helped wrongfully convicted inmates (175 to date) obtain their freedom. But it also focuses on the challenges faced by those exonerated once they're plunked back in the real world. Shockingly, being freed from prison doesn't automatically mean their criminal records are expunged. This means that a guy like Vincent Moto, who served more than 10 years for a rape and robbery he didn't commit, still can't find steady work because officially he's a convicted felon.
There's also the issue of compensation; it's disturbing to learn that very few states have laws requiring financial payment to those who've been victimized this way. The time lost, the earning power forever diminished, the social stigma of being a convicted rapist -- frequently, none of it is worth a dime. There seems to be a general reluctance on the part of prosecutors and governments to even acknowledge their errors, much less try to make up for them.
This is demonstrated most forcefully in the story of Wilton Dedge, sentenced in 1982 to life in prison for sexual battery, whom "After Innocence" follows on his Kafkaesque quest for justice. Dedge requested DNA testing in 1996, which proved in 2001 that the pubic hair found at the crime scene was not his. Still, the state of Florida refused to acknowledge his innocence, arguing on procedural grounds and at one point insisting he should not be released even if they knew he was absolutely innocent.
Seeing Dedge, and especially his stoic parents, deal with this nightmarish scenario is both appalling and inspiring. Realizing that the stories told in this film are the ones with relatively happy endings is horrifying. After all, only crimes with biological evidence, generally sexual assaults, are eligible for post-conviction DNA testing. Even most of those freed through testing surely don't adjust as well as these seven. And how many who could have been exonerated were executed? We may never know.
That the criminal justice system is flawed should surprise no one. But the scope of the problem, with likely thousands of innocent people incarcerated thanks mostly to errant eyewitness testimony, should give pause to anyone who thinks that life is as simple as black and white, innocent and guilty.
FACTBOX
review - After Innocence
Friday, April 07, 2006
MARC MOHAN
"I'm one of the strongest human beings ever created," Nick Yarris says without a hint of ego.
He's entitled to the claim. After spending 23 years on Death Row in solitary confinement for a crime he didn't commit, to be functional and sane at all is a Herculean accomplishment.
Yarris is one of seven men profiled in "After Innocence," a documentary by Jessica Sanders that powerfully explores the struggles faced by those whom DNA testing has exonerated after years behind bars. With no more than an apology, if that, these victims of an imperfect justice system are thrust back into the world to try to reconnect with lives and families rudely interrupted by fate and incompetence.
Advertisement
The film shows how the organization the Innocence Project (www.innocenceproject.org), started by attorneys Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, has helped wrongfully convicted inmates (175 to date) obtain their freedom. But it also focuses on the challenges faced by those exonerated once they're plunked back in the real world. Shockingly, being freed from prison doesn't automatically mean their criminal records are expunged. This means that a guy like Vincent Moto, who served more than 10 years for a rape and robbery he didn't commit, still can't find steady work because officially he's a convicted felon.
There's also the issue of compensation; it's disturbing to learn that very few states have laws requiring financial payment to those who've been victimized this way. The time lost, the earning power forever diminished, the social stigma of being a convicted rapist -- frequently, none of it is worth a dime. There seems to be a general reluctance on the part of prosecutors and governments to even acknowledge their errors, much less try to make up for them.
This is demonstrated most forcefully in the story of Wilton Dedge, sentenced in 1982 to life in prison for sexual battery, whom "After Innocence" follows on his Kafkaesque quest for justice. Dedge requested DNA testing in 1996, which proved in 2001 that the pubic hair found at the crime scene was not his. Still, the state of Florida refused to acknowledge his innocence, arguing on procedural grounds and at one point insisting he should not be released even if they knew he was absolutely innocent.
Seeing Dedge, and especially his stoic parents, deal with this nightmarish scenario is both appalling and inspiring. Realizing that the stories told in this film are the ones with relatively happy endings is horrifying. After all, only crimes with biological evidence, generally sexual assaults, are eligible for post-conviction DNA testing. Even most of those freed through testing surely don't adjust as well as these seven. And how many who could have been exonerated were executed? We may never know.
That the criminal justice system is flawed should surprise no one. But the scope of the problem, with likely thousands of innocent people incarcerated thanks mostly to errant eyewitness testimony, should give pause to anyone who thinks that life is as simple as black and white, innocent and guilty.