Just The Facts

What haven't we learned yet? The cost of innocence is not only represented by the loss of one’s liberties as a result of a wrongful conviction; but also by the financial struggle of affording a good defense that is many times over-powered by the unlimited budgets and resources of local prosecutors. Conviction stats generate funding and political support that translates into “credibility” of the system and it’s process. Coupled by the collusion that exists between local agencies such as law enforcement, social services, contracted “experts” and others that all have a financial gain with their relationships to one another. For example if a contracted counseling agency doesn’t produce “favorable results” for the prosecutors office, that contract may get replaced by one that does. And as we continue to watch the number of exonerations climb and hear more about defective lab testing, expert testimony and shoddy police work; how can the common citizen have faith and confiden...

http://www.987kissfm.com/OpenLine/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10114667 It's been 8 long years since they were exonerated and the city still refuses to compensate these five for their wrongful convictions! Please read the information at the link above and sign the petition and let justice be rightfully served for these men!

I somehow envision that the scales of justice should not sit at “top dead center” or in the perfect balance position but rather “one element “out of balance” for the automatic presumption of innocence. This way it takes more than one element such as mistaken eyewitness identification or merely the victim’s word, to tilt the scale past center to the side of guilt. I also believe that bias and prejudice should always be in favor of the accused rather than to be used as an element to convict them.