I thought this was pretty cool. My wife first got this process going by squeezing the prosecutors to have DNA testing done in this case when she was working at the Innocence Project with Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld.... http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/05/14/dna.rape/index.html MEMPHIS, Tennessee (CNN) -- A man who spent half his life in prison for a crime he did not commit said Tuesday he felt no anger over what had happened to him, and blamed his conviction on "human error." Clark Jerome McMillan, 44, spoke with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on live television less than two hours after he walked out of a Memphis prison. McMillan spent 22 1/2 years behind bars for a rape conviction which was vacated on May 2 because DNA evidence proved he was not guilty of the crime. "I'm not angry," McMillan replied when asked about his wrongful conviction and incarceration. "I'm really overjoyed." McMillan appeared on television along with Peter Neufeld, a co-founder of the Innocence Project, a group that used DNA technology to clear McMillan. The group is using DNA technology to test hundreds of suspect convictions, most of them made before the technology was widely available. Neufeld blamed McMillan's plight on "sloppy identification procedures that were utilized by the police, the same kind of procedures that are utilized by the police in Memphis, all over Tennessee, and frankly, all over the United States today." During the interview McMillan appeared calm and expressed almost no emotion, and never uttered more than one sentence in answers to questions. McMillan later said the ordeal had left him "hurt" because "it was an unbelievable experience that something like that would happen to me." When asked who he blamed, McMillan replied, "Human error." According to the Innocence Project's Web site, McMillan was arrested October 30, 1979, for the rape and robbery with a deadly weapon of a 16-year-old girl. McMillan is African-American. The victim is white. She and her boyfriend had been forced out of their vehicle in Memphis, Tennessee, by a man wielding a knife. Both were forced into nearby woods, forced to disrobe and then lie on the ground. Both were robbed and the girl was raped. Her jeans, containing sperm deposits, were taken into evidence. 119 years Both gave similar descriptions of the victim but failed to mention a limp, according to the Innocence Project Web site. McMillan had been shot two years earlier, wore a leg brace, and walked with a limp. At trial, the limp was added to the victim's description. The victim and her companion also failed to identify McMillan in a photo array. The girl identified McMillan in a line-up, but her boyfriend chose a different person. Both, however, identified McMillan in a line-up at the trial. McMillan's sister and girlfriend supported his claim that he was with them at the time of the crime, but he was convicted nonetheless and sentenced to 119 years in prison in May 1980. All his appeals were denied. McMillan contacted the Innocence Project in 1996, which spent years tracking down files and evidence. Eventually, semen on the girl's jeans was tested and in April McMillan was ruled out as the rapist. Of the 108 people cleared by the Innocence Project using DNA testing, McMillan has served the longest time in prison. Neufeld blamed McMillan's plight on "sloppy identification procedures that were utilized by the police, the same kind of procedures that are utilized by the police in Memphis, all over Tennessee, and frankly, all over the United States today." He said the Innocence Project often can't help people like McMillan because evidence is destroyed. Neufeld said the Innocence Project is pushing legislation that would ensure compensation for people who were wrongly convicted and the preservation of evidence. McMillan said he hoped that he could receive some type of compensation, but Neufeld said Tennessee has no compensation statute. At the end of the interview, when asked what he plans to do now, McMillan said, "I'm just gonna live and take each day at a time."
Damn, I'd be so pissed off, but releaved to get out of gaol!! I'd sue everyone who was involved for millions of dollars. But it's good to see that he at least shows no hard feelings.
HARD FEELINGS . . .22 yrs in the hole I'd be beyond hard feelings ESP FOR SOMETHING I DID NOT DO!!!!! Man . . . I might do something to put me back in the hole 22 yrs. . .that is a life time. . gone . . . taken . . STOLEN!!! no amount of money can bring that back it is ridiculous Rocket River
Wow........that is incredible. The guys lost 22 years of his life, I cannot even imagine that. I wonder if the state will have to pay some type of restitution? I hope they do the right thing and help the guy out after all he`s been through
That dude deserves to be a multi-millionare and retire for the rest of his life. He should become a full-time gamer and buy all the newest arcade video games...not to mention all the consoles and every game on them. If he gets nothing, then he royally got screwed. Amazing how he cannot be angry after all that....the guy probably has two personalities now.....the nice guy who is forgiving...and the mean SOB who wants his 22 years back.
I saw the interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN ... He may have still been in shock (he had just gotten out), but the dude was like a robot. Blitzer was trying to get him to blame someone or be mad and the guy just wouldn't do it. He asked him outright "who do you blame for this mess" (paraphrased) and the guy said "Human Error". That's it -- all his answers were like that, just a couple of words. It was kind of funny actually, but if I was the interviewer, I wouldn't know what to ask next. The attorney who helped him get out was also on and he was more pissed, talking about the injustice, etc. I think the guy was just in shock, though. Can you imagine, half your life? Last time he was free was in the 1970's -- so much has changed that he's going to have to adjust to.
Both gave similar descriptions of the victim but failed to mention a limp, according to the Innocence Project Web site. McMillan had been shot two years earlier, wore a leg brace, and walked with a limp. At trial, the limp was added to the victim's description. The victim and her companion also failed to identify McMillan in a photo array. The girl identified McMillan in a line-up, but her boyfriend chose a different person. Both, however, identified McMillan in a line-up at the trial. I wonder if anyone will interview either of these dumbasses.
Kind of reminds you of the Shawshank redemption. The cops that changed the report during the trial should be charged with tamporing. DaDakota
I hope he doesn't...it sounds like he's found some peace with this. He's putting an awful chapter of his life behind him and beginning a new one. What amazing perspective and peace this guy must have to have this attitude after being wrongfully imprisoned for half his life. There needs to be a system in place...enacted through legislation in each state...that provides some formula for calculating compensation for these guys when DNA evidence proves that the jury was wrong. That would avoid the expenses of litigation and all that unnecessary cost to society.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by Major I wonder if anyone will interview either of these dumbasses. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by Space Ghost They should throw them in jail for 22 years! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yeah, don't blame the investigators, don't blame the prosecutors, don't blame the jury. Blame the rape victim. Who are the dumbasses again?
Who are the dumbasses again? The people who changed their story, which resulted in an innocent man losing 22 years of his life.
You don't think that there was just a teensy little bit of pressure on them from the prosecutors? You don't think that after a few months of having prosecutors show them his picture & saying "This is the guy." that their memories of an unbelievably traumatic event might get just a little skewed? Do you really think they knowingly misidentified him at the trial? Eyewitness testimony is always flawed & unreliable, and prosecutors know this yet utilize it anyway. That's where the real blame lies. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dna/
What do you say to a man you locked up for 22 years and now find out he was innocent? There are no words, No amount of money, no amount of happiness can restore this man's life. Cleary all he could think about all those years was if would ever see his loved ones again. I'm sure seeing the faces of the family he lost for so many years was all the reward he ever wanted. Wherever this guy goes when he dies, Im sure he will be given true justice.
You don't think that there was just a teensy little bit of pressure on them from the prosecutors? I have no idea. I'm not going to just assume they did. I *do* know that the victim and her boyfriend changed their testimony to fit the victim. I do know that they added a limp to the description after the fact. I do know that the boyfriend didn't think it was this guy initially. I don't care how much pressure there is, I have no sympathy for people who fudge evidence to get a guy. That includes attorneys, judges, and the rape victim and her boyfriend. We won't find out if there was prosecutor pressure until these two dumbasses are interviewed. There may still be more dumbasses involved, but that doesn't excuse these two.
I wonder how the police came to see this guy as the suspect in the case. It says he was in the original photo array and the police continued to pursue him a suspect after the victims failed to identify him. Reading about the case, it appears that the Feds added insult to injury by continuing to hold McMillan after his conviction was overturned because he had a 2-year weapons conviction outstanding. It took an extra two weeks before the Feds decided that maybe serving 22 years was good enough to satisfy the 2-year sentence. But at least they did finally come around (relatively quickly) and let him go. Another sad part is that a rapist did go free and possibly raped again. I don't know. It's a sad case all around. And knowing there are more cases like this out there, including many cases where the incarcerated has the right to get evidenced DNA tested but the evidence has been destroyed.
Hell this poor guy probably has gotten raped not only by the system . . . but literally I think their should be some kind of substantial penalty against the prosecutors, cops and judge I mean . .. a simply. . MY BAD is not good enough something needs to be done to stop the prosecutors from being overly zealous Rocket River
