Man being released for crime he didn't commit after 42 years in prison

I hate to wish ill on another human, but dam to those who did that to him. They all can die a slow painful death and eternal punishment thereafter.

 

It is possible that he committed the crime. It just doesn't seem that there was evidence worthy to back up such an assertion.

 

ehh, prosecutorial discretion is highly valued in the US legal system. Unless the people involved did something blatantly malicious or illegal, suing would have been a waste of time.

 

you mean like stick him in prison for half his life then only let him out if he signed a confession? That might not be illegal but something definitely stinks. Maybe it's this thinking that IS the problem with the legal system. Indiscretion is more like it. There's plenty of cases where suing is a waste of time, but this guy had 42 years to think about it. I wonder how much 42 years is worth. All friends gone, no property, no equity, no skills but jailhouse skills.

 

By blatant illegality, I mean things like knowingly lying to a judge or falsifying evidence.

I agree it sucks, but there will never be criminal system without wrongful convictions. It's always a balance between letting guilty people go and convicting the innocent. In comparison to the rest of the world, the US as a whole, with all it's criminal procedures and criminal rights, actually leans toward the risk of letting guilty people go.

Again, I know that to the one guy in thousands that is wrongfully convicted, the above means jack***** and is profoundly unfair, but it is what it is...

 

Wrongfully convicted man released after 42 years

Louis Cuen Taylor was driven away from a Tucson prison this afternoon, ending 42 years behind bars for the deadly Pioneer Hotel fire.

“It’s a tale of two tragedies, the Pioneer Hotel fire and my conviction,” Taylor said briefly just after 2:30 p.m. as a group of his lawyers was about to drive him away from the state prison complex on South Wilmot Road. Taylor — dressed in a blue T-shirt and jeans rather than prison-issue orange — said he would have more to say about his case Wednesday during a news conference.

Just hours earlier, Taylor stood in a courtroom where he pleaded no contest in the massive blaze in which 28 people died in 1970 when flames swept through the downtown Tucson high-rise. Another person died from fire-related injuries later.

Tuesday morning the courtroom was overflowing with relatives of some of the victims, court staff and curious bystanders wanting to see Taylor set free.

“Welcome back Mr. Taylor,” Superior Court Judge Richard Fields, said after accepting Taylor’s plea this morning, which sets aside his original conviction — 28 counts of felony murder and a life sentence — and gives him credit for time already served.

Taylor, dressed in an orange Arizona prison-issued T-shirt and orange pants, was 16 years old when he was sent prison.

He has spent 42 years behind bars. Taylor was still being processed for released today and it was not immediately known how long it would be before he is out of custody.

“Mr. Taylor, I stand in front of you today to say I harbor no feeling of ill will or vengeance against you,” said Paul E. d'Hedouville II, the only person to speak at the hearing on behalf of the victims.

D'Hedouville was 4 years old when his father, an attorney, was killed in the fire. He told Taylor of events his father missed, like graduations and weddings and holidays. d'Hedouville who lives in Washington, D.C., told Taylor the justice system worked, both in his conviction and eventual freedom.

 

This was the main story of the recent 60 minutes

 

This was the main story of a recent thread as well.

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=236306

 

Holmes reminds me of bigtexxx