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For the First Time, a Prosecutor Will Go to Jail for Wrongfully Convicting

468 点作者 fahimulhaq超过 9 年前

40 条评论

vishnugupta超过 9 年前
I was contemplating about this in the context of many similar posts on HN (Aaron Swartz [1] being a prime one). And I realized the power that lawyers&#x2F;prosecutors wield over accused is enormous. To <i>win</i> a case they can design outrageous plea bargains - plead guilty and get 5 years, don&#x27;t plead and face death if convicted. Even if lawyers representing accused try to educate him that the chances of conviction are less than 1% the fear of facing death penalty is so enormous that accused typically end up pleading guilty. And not without a reason. Loss aversion plays a big role when a human arrives at a decision. And just like that the prosecutor who initially had a very little chance of winning the case ends up winning it.<p>I know that I&#x27;m sort of oversimplifying here but the key take away here is that prosecutor has absolutely nothing to lose! Well OK, he could end up <i>losing</i> the case but that&#x27;s nothing compared to what accused stand to lose. There needs to be a counterbalance to the power wielded by prosecutors, and this is a good start!<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=7998287" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=7998287</a>
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balabaster超过 9 年前
Did I miss a bit in this article - the innocently convicted man did 25 years. The prosecutor, knowing his innocence, withheld the evidence that allowed this conviction to pass but only did 500 hours (approx. 3 months) of community service and 10 days in prison.<p>An innocent man lost 25 years of his life and the man who caused this eventually, after a reasonably successful career lost what may as well equate to some vacation time...<p>Am I the only one who is horrified at this? Okay, so he got more than a slap on the wrist, but what the fuck is this?! That&#x27;s bullshit! Pardon my linguistics, but my horror at this injustice leaves me short for words.<p>The only restitution that would make this even marginally okay is if the prosecutor&#x2F;judge had been required to:<p>- House the convicted man.<p>- Set him up with training that would allow the convicted to re-integrate meaningfully into today&#x27;s society.<p>- Assist the man to find meaningful and gainful employment.<p>- Set him up with a pension plan that would have been equivalent to see him through retirement.<p>- Set him up for success in the manner in which he would have been able to provide for himself had he been a free man.<p>- Feed him, clothe him and pay his utility bills until such a time as his income would allow him to successfully stand on his own two feet.<p>Even then, he owes this man 25 years of his service to make up for what was taken from him. If that bankrupts his accuser, so be it.
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trevmckendrick超过 9 年前
It appears he only served 5 of the 10 days.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.statesman.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;news&#x2F;local&#x2F;ken-anderson-released-from-williamson-county-jail&#x2F;nbtKN&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.statesman.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;news&#x2F;local&#x2F;ken-anderson-releas...</a><p>(The original post is from 2013)
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smegel超过 9 年前
American justice is bizarre. It seems so dependent on the prosecutor doing the &quot;right thing&quot; it makes you wonder why they bother with a defense team, judge or jury at all. Just let the prosecutor decide who&#x27;s guilty!
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spodek超过 9 年前
See After Innocence (free on YouTube <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=ZWyaolBlXVc" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=ZWyaolBlXVc</a>) for a disturbing portrayal of wrongful convictions in the United States.<p>The men exonerated by the Innocence Project (99% proven wrongfully convicted are men) serve an average of thirteen years before exoneration, sometimes years after the exoneration happens.<p>The documentary shows prosecutors keeping people in prison, and therefore guilty people free, with impunity.<p>The Innocence Project: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Innocence_Project" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Innocence_Project</a>
kriro超过 9 年前
There&#x27;s a libertarian argument that I&#x27;ve always found interesting. If you convict someone you are liable to receive X% (usually X&gt;=100) of the exact punishment if it somehow turns out the conviction was wrong. I couldn&#x27;t see this working on a large scale but it&#x27;s an interesting thought experiment (would there be a death penalty, would there be any convictions at all etc.). It&#x27;s usually linked to the idea that only victims should be able to sue and that there is no such thing as a victimless crime.<p>I&#x27;ve always thought that a probabilistic justice system of sorts would be interesting. Something along the lines of &quot;the default punishment for this is 10 years however we are only 60% certain about the conviction thus the verdict is X years (maybe something logarithmic, certainly not 6 years)&quot;
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afandian超过 9 年前
10 days isn&#x27;t &#x27;a slap on the wrist&#x27;, or &#x27;a good start&#x27; it&#x27;s tantamount to immunity.
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tsotha超过 9 年前
It&#x27;s really past time to get rid of the qualified immunity doctrine. It&#x27;s yet another &quot;law&quot; made up by the supreme court from whole cloth.<p>Prosecutors should be fully liable for illegal actions they take even when they&#x27;re performing official duties. This guy should be serving a sentence years long, not days.
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rayiner超过 9 年前
I think we need to punish prosecutorial misconduct more aggressively. That said, you can better understand the status quo if you think of the criminal justice system in terms of interconnected problems.<p>First problem: making sure prosecutors are held personally liable for the X% of convictions that are wrongful and arise from prosecutorial misconduct.<p>Second problem: ensuring that people are freed for the Y% of convictions that are wrongful and don&#x27;t result from misconduct.<p>Third problem: ensuring that the system can function to uphold the (100 - Y - X)% of convictions that are not wrongful.<p>The fact of the matter is that Y is a small number. And X is a much smaller number than that. Yet, the (100 - Y - X)% of convicts who are really guilty have no less incentive to appeal or sue for misconduct than the X% of people who have a valid case. Consequently, the justice system is awash in frivolous appeals and habeas petitions.<p>If it was just an issue of holding prosecutors liable in X% of cases, then this would be a much easier problem. But you have to do that without giving the (100 - Y - X)% of the justly-convicted a powerful tool to harass and abuse prosecutors who engaged in no wrongdoing. That makes the problem much harder.
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6d0debc071超过 9 年前
Community service, ten days in jail, and losing his law license. For wilfully sending an innocent man to jail for twenty five years - having resigned anyway. That&#x27;s a fucking joke.<p>&quot;What&#x27;s newsworthy and novel about today&#x27;s plea is that a prosecutor was actually punished in a meaningful way for his transgressions.&quot;<p>I&#x27;m sure we&#x27;d all like to be so &#x27;meaningfully&#x27; punished for serious crimes. It&#x27;s better than nothing - which seems to be the usual state of affairs - but it&#x27;s clearly one law for the rich and one law for the poor.
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colin_jack超过 9 年前
I&#x27;m not an expert on the UK legal system but one thing I enjoyed about the Serial podcast was getting an insight into just how crazy the US system can be.<p>Anyway 10 days is obviously nothing, especially when he&#x27;s cost a man 25 years, but at least it&#x27;s an attempt to hold someone responsible for a despicable act.
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catshirt超过 9 年前
10 days is completely fucking negligible. i&#x27;d put myself in jail for 10 days just for the experience.<p>disgusting.
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vaadu超过 9 年前
Anderson should get life without parole. A message needs to be sent to government officials that abuse there powers.<p>Taking 25 years from this innocent man is just the tip of the iceberg. He also took 25 years from his relatives. And this is probably not an isolated incident for him.
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currentoor超过 9 年前
Oh come on! He should at least be sent to jail for the same number of years he took away from an innocent man.
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pmontra超过 9 年前
10 days deserved vs 25 years undeserved? It&#x27;s a joke. He should serve at least 25 years too.
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function_seven超过 9 年前
For <i>10</i> days. I suppose it&#x27;s a start, though.
IndianAstronaut超过 9 年前
I&#x27;m curious if there is a startup opportunity here to bring defense law to the masses. There is legal zoom for paperwork type issues, but could better knowledge of the law in the hands of a common man be a way to go?
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raverbashing超过 9 年前
It&#x27;s a start, but 10 days is a slap in the wrist
simonh超过 9 年前
Does anyone know if the wrongfully convicted victim has the right to sue the former prosecutor in civil court? I&#x27;d have thought so, but there&#x27;s no mention of this possibility in the article. If so, there would be a difference between the criminal offence of withholding evidence versus the civil offence of selling the victim down the river.
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spuz超过 9 年前
This article is from 2013.
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maxxxxx超过 9 年前
I don&#x27;t understand why the punishment is not much tougher. People like prosecutors, cops and judges are entrusted by society with power over people&#x27;s lives. Illegal behavior in such a role should be viewed much more severely. A government can&#x27;t work if it doesn&#x27;t operate to the highest standards.
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s_dev超过 9 年前
&quot;Let the punishment fit the crime&quot; - works both ways. Putting an innocent man in prison is far far worse than than letting a guilty man basically go free as is the case here. An important precedent but far far from ideal or whats necessary.
jccc超过 9 年前
I really, really appreciate this accountability (such as it is), but the moral standard people are seeing here is too high.<p>The convicted man&#x27;s guilt or innocence should not matter at all when judging the conduct of the prosecutor.
corvus_sapiens超过 9 年前
I don&#x27;t get the point of discussing a two-year-old article about an event that also occurred two years ago. Can someone enlighten me? Has something changed?<p>Edit: You can check for yourself. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20150522105521&#x2F;http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.huffingtonpost.com&#x2F;mark-godsey&#x2F;for-the-first-time-ever-a_b_4221000.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20150522105521&#x2F;http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.huffin...</a><p>The article wasn&#x27;t updated. The only addition is that &quot;Prison Tattoos&quot; thing at the bottom.
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bluesilver07超过 9 年前
Michael Morton&#x27;s book on the whole ordeal is a fascinating (and sometimes depressing) read - <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Getting-Life-Innocent-25-Year-Journey&#x2F;dp&#x2F;147675683X" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Getting-Life-Innocent-25-Year-Journey&#x2F;...</a>. His answers on Quora - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.quora.com&#x2F;profile&#x2F;Michael-Morton-8" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.quora.com&#x2F;profile&#x2F;Michael-Morton-8</a>
akshat_h超过 9 年前
Not sure if this has been raised somewhere else in this thread, but if prosecutor didn&#x27;t disclose evidence, did the defense also not know about the evidence, considering it was the child of the accused. Is the balance of power in favor of prosecution?<p>Also, now that the the accused in the case has been declared not guilty, will there be an investigation into who actually committed the murder?
known超过 9 年前
&quot;Diverse society will fail&quot; --Putnam;<p>Let black Police deal with black Culprits;<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.boston.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;globe&#x2F;ideas&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2007&#x2F;08&#x2F;05&#x2F;the_downside_of_diversity&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.boston.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;globe&#x2F;ideas&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2007&#x2F;08&#x2F;05&#x2F;t...</a>
joesmo超过 9 年前
10 days in jail? How about start with 25 years and then work your way up from there? That&#x27;d be justice, but in the US that won&#x27;t happen. We can always hope he gets murdered in jail though, but they&#x27;ll probably put him in solitary. I&#x27;m still hoping though ...
kelvin0超过 9 年前
Wow, nice slap on the wrist for having someong rot in prison for 25 years. And justice for all ...
jhwhite超过 9 年前
10 days in prison is not enough.
Gonzih超过 9 年前
10 days in prison... how fair...
aagha超过 9 年前
Whew! Thank goodness he got that community service time and 10 days in jail for ruining a man&#x27;s life for 25 years!
xacaxulu超过 9 年前
Equal time served should be the punishment here. That would act as a deterrent to such malicious behaviour in the future.
kabdib超过 9 年前
A slap on the wrist. The prosecutor should have gone to jail for MUCH longer.
vincentleeuwen超过 9 年前
Wow. 10 days vs 25 years. This seems like real justice...
maskedinvader超过 9 年前
this was really really depressing to read. Feel bad for the man and I hope the prosecutor suffers the rest of his days
hawleyal超过 9 年前
5 days for 25 years, seems legit
davidgerard超过 9 年前
2013
MaxFrax超过 9 年前
cool, this is really interesting
GPGPU超过 9 年前
Didn&#x27;t Mike Nifong <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Mike_Nifong" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Mike_Nifong</a> go to jail for wrongfully _prosecuting_ those Duke Lacrosse players?<p>I didn&#x27;t understand the title because only a Judge and&#x2F;or Jury can convict people.