DNA frees Florida prisoner after 35 years
The release of a Florida man who had served 35 years in prison for a rape he did not commit is setting off a fresh wave of self-examination by the legal profession in America about the dangers of faulty testimony, which can result not just in wrongful incarceration but possibly also the execution of the innocent.Bain was 19 when he was convicted. New laws in 2001 enabled Florida prisoners to seek DNA testing to try to prove their innocence. Bain filed four motions to have his results tested. All four were denied. A fifth attempt in which he was assisted by the Innocence Project of Florida succeeded.James Bain, 54, was released at a court hearing in Bartow, in central Florida, on Thursday after DNA tests showed he could not have committed the rape of a nine-year-old boy for which he was imprisoned in 1974. Of the 246 inmates across the US who have been exonerated by DNA testing since it first became available, none has been in prison longer than Mr Bain. He lost two-thirds of life to the drudgery and privations of prison.
It was drama until the last moment. Minutes before Thursday's hearing, results from the state laboratories came in corroborating the results of Innocence Project tests that the DNA on the victim's underwear did not match that of Mr Bain. "You are a free man," Circuit Judge James Yancey declared. "Congratulations." The conviction of Mr Bain for the kidnapping and rape of the boy rested largely on his being singled out by the victim from an identity parade. He had no prior criminal record and he has always insisted that he had been watching television with a sister at the time of the rape.Here is Walter's original story.Shoshona Walter | The Ledger
This story lacks answers to some real reportorial questions. Where, one might ask, is the comment from the rape victim who falsely identified Bain now? Is he sorry for ruining someone's life? Even an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny little bit?
Was "Congratulations" the very best Yancey could offer this victim of yet another miscarriage of Florida justice?
Oh, that's right.
Yancey was appointed to the bench by then-Gov. Jeb Bush. Bain should probably consider himself lucky to get that much.
posted by Tom Nadeau at 5:53 AM
1 Comments:
Read about that here in Florida. What a travesty! You got that part about Bush right!!
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