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Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: Dos Equis on January 04, 2011, 07:16:09 AM
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The Innocence Project is just a great organization. Tragic that the guy lost so much of his life in prison, but glad they finally got it right.
DNA clears Texas man who spent 30 years in prison
By JEFF CARLTON,Associated Press
POSTED: 10:12 p.m. HST, Jan 03, 2011
DALLAS — Prosecutors declared a Texas man innocent of a rape and robbery that put him in prison for 30 years, more than any other DNA exoneree in Texas.
DNA test results that came back barely a week after Cornelius Dupree Jr. was paroled in July excluded him as the person who attacked a Dallas woman in 1979, prosecutors said Monday. Dupree was just 20 when he was sentenced to 75 years in prison in 1980.
Now 51, he has spent more time wrongly imprisoned than any DNA exoneree in Texas, which has freed 41 wrongly convicted inmates through DNA since 2001 — more than any other state.
"Our Conviction Integrity Unit thoroughly reinvestigated this case, tested the biological evidence and based on the results, concluded Cornelius Dupree did not commit this crime," Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins said.
Dupree is expected to have his aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon conviction overturned Tuesday at an exoneration hearing in a Dallas court.
There have been 21 DNA exonerations in Dallas since 2001, more than any other county in the nation. Only two states — Illinois and New York — have freed more of the wrongly convicted through DNA evidence than Dallas, according to the Innocence Project, a New York-based legal center representing Dupree that specializes in wrongful conviction cases.
Dallas' record of DNA exonerations is unmatched nationally because the county crime lab maintains biological evidence even decades after a conviction, leaving samples available to test. In addition, Watkins has cooperated with innocence groups in reviewing hundreds of requests by inmates for DNA testing. Watkins, the first black district attorney in Texas history, has also pointed to what he calls "a convict-at-all-costs mentality" that he says permeated the DA's office before he arrived in 2007.
Dupree's 30 years in prison will surpass James Woodard, who spent more than 27 years in a Texas prison for a murder that he was cleared of in 2008.
Nationally, there are at least two other DNA exonerees who spent more time in prison, according to the Innocence Project. James Bain was wrongly imprisoned for 35 years in Florida and Lawrence McKinney spent more than 31 years in a Tennessee prison. Phillip Bivens was locked up for more than 30 years in Mississippi, but it wasn't immediately clear whether he or Dupree were in longer.
The DNA testing in Dupree's case also excluded a second defendant, Anthony Massingill, who was subsequently convicted in another sexual assault case and sentenced to life in prison. Massingill remains in prison but maintains his innocence. DNA testing in that second case is ongoing.
Dupree was charged in 1979 with raping and robbing a 26-year-old woman and sentenced in 1980 to 75 years in prison for aggravated robbery. He was never tried on the rape charge.
According to court documents, the woman and her male companion stopped at a Dallas liquor store in November 1979 to buy cigarettes and use a payphone. As they returned to their car, two men, at least one of whom was armed, forced their way into the vehicle and ordered them to drive. They also demanded money from the two victims.
The men eventually ordered the car to the side of the road and forced the male driver out of the car. The woman attempted to flee but was pulled back inside.
The perpetrators drove the woman to a nearby park, where they raped her at gunpoint. They debated killing her but eventually let her live, keeping her rabbit-fur coat and her driver's license and warning her they would kill her if she reported the assault to police. The victim ran to the nearest highway and collapsed unconscious by the side of the road, where she was discovered.
About five days later, two men whose descriptions did not match Dupree tried to sell the rabbit-fur coat at a grocery store two miles (three kilometers) from the liquor store, according to court documents. The car stolen from the victims was found abandoned in the parking lot.
Dupree and Massingill were arrested in December because they looked similar to two suspects being sought in another sexual assault and robbery. The 26-year-old woman picked both men out of a photo array, but her male companion did not identify either defendant in the same photo array.
Dupree was convicted and spent the next three decades appealing. The Court of Criminal Appeals turned him down three times.
The Innocence Project, which took on his case in 2006, obtained DNA testing last summer on biological evidence taken from a vaginal swab. In July, shortly after Dupree's release, the test results cleared Dupree and Massingill.
The hearing is happening now because authorities needed additional testing to confirm that the 30-year-old biological material was a DNA match to the victim.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/112850214.html
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horribl what happened to this guy.
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"Dupree was charged in 1979 with raping and robbing a 26-year-old woman and sentenced in 1980 to 75 years in prison for aggravated robbery. "
Another failure on Jimmy Carter's watch...
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Clearly solid argument against the death penalty!
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Clearly solid argument against the death penalty!
Executing a guilty man is a solid argument in favor of the death penalty.
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Executing a guilty man is a solid argument in favor of the death penalty.
Problem is the justice system can't seem to tell the two apart when they need to.
The time to distinguish is at the time of accusation, ...not 30yrs later, ...if at all.
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Problem is the justice system can't seem to tell the two apart when they need to.
The time to distinguish is at the time of accusation, ...not 30yrs later, ...if at all.
Sure it can, and does the overwhelming majority of the time. No system is perfect. The system failed this guy, but the system, overall, works.
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Sure it can, and does the overwhelming majority of the time. No system is perfect. The system failed this guy, but the system, overall, works.
I don't think so... What basis do you have to say this?
Has the system worked for you?
I see flaws in it constantly.
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I don't think so... What basis do you have to say this?
Has the system worked for you?
I see flaws in it constantly.
The fact the overwhelming majority of the people who are tried, convicted, and whose convictions are upheld on appeal, are guilty.
The system works for me by getting criminals off the streets, holding people accountable for breaking the law, helping maintain order, etc.
I see flaws, too, but I said that already.
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The fact the overwhelming majority of the people who are tried, convicted, and whose convictions are upheld on appeal, are guilty.
The system works for me by getting criminals off the streets, holding people accountable for breaking the law, helping maintain order, etc.
I see flaws, too, but I said that already.
Guilty of "what" is the question I have to ask.
When something like 6 percent of inmates are in because of drug possession, I'm kind of thinking that 6 percent of the system has a flaw in it.
But that's not what this is about.
Personally I believe that I'd rather have 100 guilty men go free than to take the freedom of one innocent person.
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Guilty of "what" is the question I have to ask.
When something like 6 percent of inmates are in because of drug possession, I'm kind of thinking that 6 percent of the system has a flaw in it.
But that's not what this is about.
Personally I believe that I'd rather have 100 guilty men go free than to take the freedom of one innocent person.
Guilty of whatever crime they have been convicted of.
I don't see convicting drug users as a flaw in the criminal justice system. That's more of a public policy problem. I think the main problem is how money creates a huge advantage or disadvantage for criminal defendants. That's why OJ was free for so long.
I'd rather we lock up guilty people and not charge innocent people with crimes. But it happens. We just have to do a better job.
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Guilty of whatever crime they have been convicted of.
I don't see convicting drug users as a flaw in the criminal justice system. That's more of a public policy problem. I think the main problem is how money creates a huge advantage or disadvantage for criminal defendants. That's why OJ was free for so long.
I'd rather we lock up guilty people and not charge innocent people with crimes. But it happens. We just have to do a better job.
People have been saying they will "do a better job" for 400 years... Still the same thing.
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People have been saying they will "do a better job" for 400 years... Still the same thing.
So what is your solution?
And we have done a much better job. That's why we're talking about this now. A wrongfully convicted man has been exonerated. That's progress.
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So what is your solution?
And we have done a much better job. That's why we're talking about this now. A wrongfully convicted man has been exonerated. That's progress.
I don't think 30 years really counts as "exonerated" to be honest.
Might make you feel warm and fuzzy, but the dude spent his entire life in a prison for no reason.
Sorry, but I wouldn't feel too good about that.
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I don't think 30 years really counts as "exonerated" to be honest.
Might make you feel warm and fuzzy, but the dude spent his entire life in a prison for no reason.
Sorry, but I wouldn't feel too good about that.
What happened to him is a tragedy.
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What happened to him is a tragedy.
Too many things like this happen.
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Too many things like this happen.
What is your solution?
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I think this stuff happens way more than people think. I keep watching these trials where people are convicted with no real evidence against them or just based on the word of one person and think, WTF, so much for "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" If you're ever accused a major crime, I wouldn't put great faith in the system working for truth. lol, you might want to consider another option.
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I think this stuff happens way more than people think. I keep watching these trials where people are convicted with no real evidence against them or just based on the word of one person and think, WTF, so much for "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" If you're ever accused a major crime, I wouldn't put great faith in the system working for truth. lol, you might want to consider another option.
One of the main problems with justice systems around the world today is that laymen are allowed to influence the outcome of a verdict.
The idea of a jury scares the shit out of me. Would we accept laymen to perform surgeries? I doubt it. But we somehow accept that Joe Blow decides whether a guy is innocent or guilty "beyond reasonable doubt". That is apparently not something that needs any education whatsoever?
Even the idea of elected officials to the court system is a big issue with me.
Instead of the most competent judge or district attorney, you'll get the most popular?
I doubt it will get you many votes to promise to NOT prosecute when there is no case.
But rather, what will get you votes, is to promise to "get tough" on crime and get convictions.
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One of the main problems with justice systems around the world today is that laymen are allowed to influence the outcome of a verdict.
The idea of a jury scares the shit out of me. Would we accept laymen to perform surgeries? I doubt it. But we somehow accept that Joe Blow decides whether a guy is innocent or guilty "beyond reasonable doubt". That is apparently not something that needs any education whatsoever?
Even the idea of elected officials to the court system is a big issue with me.
Instead of the most competent judge or district attorney, you'll get the most popular?
I doubt it will get you many votes to promise to NOT prosecute when there is no case.
But rather, what will get you votes, is to promise to "get tough" on crime and get convictions.
A criminal defendant has the option of being tried by a judge or a jury.
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looking around the world, it could be a hell of a lot worse. We have some major problems that it sure would be nice to see fixed but thank god we don't have China's or Saudi Arabia's judicial system...
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looking around the world, it could be a hell of a lot worse. We have some major problems that it sure would be nice to see fixed but thank god we don't have China's or Saudi Arabia's judicial system...
Agree.
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Problem is the justice system can't seem to tell the two apart when they need to.
The time to distinguish is at the time of accusation, ...not 30yrs later, ...if at all.
thats the old system before today dna, and forensic technology....some people just deserve to die...
bench
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he was probably guilty of something else anyway
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thats the old system before today dna, and forensic technology....some people just deserve to die...
bench
agreed, anyone of the ppl in this thread advocating doing away with the death penalty think that the guy who killed those ppl in arizona including the 9 year old girl in cold blood deserves to live?
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agreed, anyone of the ppl in this thread advocating doing away with the death penalty think that the guy who killed those ppl in arizona including the 9 year old girl in cold blood deserves to live?
Whether or not he deserves to live is not my call. I just believe no one has the right to determine who deserves to live and die. I believe only a barbaric society would legislate the murder of their citizens.
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Whether or not he deserves to live is not my call. I just believe no one has the right to determine who deserves to live and die. I believe only a barbaric society would legislate the murder of their citizens.
He already did decide who deserves to live or die INCLUDING A 9 YEAR OLD GIRL
I think its idiotic and pretentious of a society to believe that by letting this man live they are somehow better than would put him down like the cancer he is...