Community | July 31, 2010 | 58 comments

Texas Man Exonerated Of Rape By DNA Evidence, Free After 27 Years In Prison

source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/30/michael-anthony-green-freed-dna-evidence_n_666011.html

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TimALoftis
HOUSTON — Imprisoned for 27 years for a rape he didn't commit, Michael Anthony Green walked out of jail a free man on Friday and in the process was able to leave behind some of the anger that had fueled his survival behind bars.

Accompanied by his attorney, Green walked out of the Harris County Jail and into the arms of about 20 family members who cheered him.

"Live life," Green said, when asked what he is going to do now.

Green, 44, was released after the Harris County District Attorney's Office reopened his case and new DNA tests it commissioned showed he did not commit the 1983 rape of a woman who had been abducted. During a court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that Green be released on a $500 bond, allowing him to be free while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals makes a final ruling on his innocence.

Asked what kept him going the last 27 years, Green said that in part it was his anger.

"I took and channeled my anger into studying the law," said Green, clutching a photograph of his mother, who died while he was in prison. "That's how I lived, day by day ... doing what I did. Get up in the law, try to find me a way out."

Some of the anger that Green had held onto for so many years came to the surface on Thursday, when he had been originally scheduled to be freed on bond. His release was delayed to give him time to calm down after he became upset that he was put in handcuffs and leg restraints one final time as he was taken from the county jail to the courthouse, said Bob Wicoff, his attorney. Green said he got upset because one of the deputies escorting him tightened his handcuffs and threatened him.

Wicoff called it a misunderstanding but said Green was justified in his anger as his life had been taken away. Green entered prison at age 18. Some of the nieces and nephews who greeted him on Friday hadn't been born when he was locked up.

Green said that while in prison, he didn't give up hope, writing to state lawmakers, the Harris County District Attorney's Office and others proclaiming his innocence and asking that his case be reviewed.
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58 comments // Texas Man Exonerated Of Rape By DNA Evidence, Free After 27 Years In Prison

  • randallr01
  • simall08
  • Baliyani
    • +4
      Baliyani  

    • Poor guy... i just wonder how many more poor bastards are stuck in jail and don't have the chance to free themselves with DNA evidence...

    • 1 year ago
  • pluckt007
  • WisconsinNorm
    • +2
      WisconsinNorm  

    • When something like this happens, an address should be provided where average citizens could send him money (maybe some corporations?). Just think if one million people sent just 10 bucks each. It would be no compensation for the wasted time/life behind bars, but certainly a token gesture from all of us to help him make his future years more pleasurable...A gift no attorney could get his grubby paws on as well. The IRS?...that is another matter.

    • 1 year ago
  • Herrin
    • +1
      Herrin  

    • DNA Testing, where possible, should be used to verify current inmates guilt, as well as help catch criminals.

    • 1 year ago
  • Nephwrack
  • estee_arie
  • randallr01
  • cubbyrose
    • +6
      cubbyrose  

    • only a black man would still be handcuffed and put in leg shackles and then threatened after he was proven innocent. the racism implicit here is staggering

    • 1 year ago
  • estee_arie
  • thegeniusjropz
    • +4
      thegeniusjropz  

    • He should get a cool MILLION for every year of his imprisionment..an allegation such as rape is a pretty much a death sentence in prision..the stigma stays with u no matter what..it also effects your family.it's a sad story but unfortunately this happens all the time

    • 1 year ago
  • estee_arie
  • EmperorThan
    • +3
      EmperorThan  

    • "Green, clutching a photograph of his mother, who died while he was in prison."

      How are they going to pay him back for that exactly? Are they going to pay him at all??? They god damn well better! At the VERY LEAST pay him back his $500 'deposit' for leaving jail.

    • 1 year ago
  • estee_arie
  • EmperorThan
    • +5
      EmperorThan  

    • "a judge ordered that Green be released on a $500 bond, allowing him to be free while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals makes a final ruling on his innocence."

      WHAT THE FUCK?!?!!?!?!?! ARE YOU SHITTING ME!?!?!? YOU MOTHER FUCKERS SHOULD BE PAYING HIM $500!!!! Where the fuck is he going to get 500 bucks!?!?! He's been in fucking jail for 27 years!

    • 1 year ago
  • Charles_Sommers
    • +1
      Charles_Sommers  

    • This is the main reason I oppose the death penalty, this man, although he lost a major portion of his life, could be set free. Those who are wrongfully executed stay dead even after evidence exonerating then of their crime is discovered.

    • 1 year ago
  • knightlynight200
    • +1
      knightlynight200  

    • As awesome as this sounds, that man can never get those 27 years back and yeah it might be awesome that he is finally out of jail, but it still sucks that he had to go there in the first place.

    • 1 year ago
  • dariusvons
    • +6
      dariusvons  

    • the prosecuters should have to compensate this man... they probably used this case to "build" their carreer, and should be held responsible to this man.

    • 1 year ago
  • EmperorThan
    • +2
      EmperorThan  
    • dariusvons:

      Good thing it says he studied law in prison, maybe he can sue the shit out of them and be his own lawyer (to save all that lawyer cost bullshit).

      They should just pay him outright as is, but I DOUBT they will knowing Texas...

    • 1 year ago
  • UtopianSky
  • DuhRRell
    • +5
      DuhRRell  

    • i think the american government should give some type of compensation for innocent ppl who have served time for a crime they didnt commit.

    • 1 year ago
  • andreii
  • Omnomynous
    • +3
      Omnomynous  

    • Our racist criminal justice system made to act decent due to DNA. I'd rather they just took the racism out, and did the job right to begin with.

    • 1 year ago
  • Tim_Corrington
    • +2
      Tim_Corrington  

    • ...."another story of "the hurricain." -the man the authorities came to blame. For somethin' he never done. Put him in a prison cell, but one time he coulda been the champion of the world....

    • 1 year ago
  • eden49
  • Buddha2112
    • +5
      Buddha2112  

    • 27 years away from modern society... I don't see how this could be a problem or anything... seeing as he missed some of the most major advances in technology. Hopefully he can still adapt and find a place in the world. This guys life might be fucked up for good, whether or not he was cleared of all charges and released.

      Our justice system sucks, it's set up to be one of the best in the world (for the most part it is), but the people that run it are morons. I shudder just thinking about ever having a jury of my peers... My peers are fucking retarded, i hate my generation, I don't want my life depending a bunch of dip shits that can only think with Google and their education consists of Youtube videos.

    • 1 year ago
  • Kaveh_Kompani
  • im1mjrpain
    • +7
      im1mjrpain  

    • Another case of a man being considered guilty before being proven innocent. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Meanwhile, the real sexual predators are out doing only god knows what for the last 29 years. Even though they have found out who did the crime they can't be convicted because the statute of limitations for this crime is up.
      I can only imagine how the victim of the crime must feel. She was given a false sense of security thinking her attacker was behind bars all this time. Only to find out after all these years the guy is still free, and has been free, to do it again.

    • 1 year ago
  • eden49
    • +2
      eden49  

    • ...well, get those DNA labs workin' their butts off...there has to be MORE...and statute of limitations for rape should be the same as murder...

    • 1 year ago
  • im1mjrpain
  • flyingkick
  • sidewaysclyde
  • andreii
    • +8
      andreii  

    • After District Attorney Pat Lykos was elected in 2008, she formed the Post-Conviction Review Section and it chose Green's case as one of the first to look at. The review team found the only remaining evidence in the case – clothing worn by the victim during the rape – and had it tested. The results excluded Green.

      Authorities were able to identify the four men who abducted the women. But because the statute of limitations on the rape has run out, they cannot be prosecuted.

      "The tragedy in the Green case it not only was an innocent man in prison, the victim was denied justice, society was denied justice and the real criminals were free," Lykos said Friday."

      What the fuck? The justice system is broken...

      I really think there should be some sort of investigation in the way the cops handled this case. It seems like they made no real effort to bust the right man and I'd even go as far as saying there was racism involved in this one... if anything they should be fired. And well it's pretty obvious whoever convicted him fucked up, but this is bad police work overall...

    • 1 year ago
  • dou4u2
  • andreii
  • ArchDruid
  • andreii
  • Omnomynous
  • artemis6
  • fun_size
  • subject_2_change
  • andreii
  • ArchDruid
  • Radical_Centrist
  • Radical_Centrist
  • fun_size
    • 0
      fun_size  
    • Radical_Centrist:

      Woah calm down i was only asking a question. Trust me I know rape is a very serious offense... one of my loved ones was raped and it had a devastating effect on her personality =( I just wasnt sure how many years sentencing someone could get for rape. They gave him 75 years which seems a little excessive unless he killed the woman too...

    • 1 year ago
  • andreii
  • subject_2_change
    • +3
      subject_2_change  

    • It seems to be a little too easy to wrongly convict a black man of terrible crimes such as rape. I'm quite positive that a big part of his conviction was being a young black man from a low socioeconomic background.

      What a sad story.

    • 1 year ago
  • tommic
    • +7
      tommic  

    • I certainly would like to see the makeup of the jury that convicted him. I assure you it was not made up of his peers

    • 1 year ago
  • Radical_Centrist
  • WeBelieve
  • Radical_Centrist
  • reactionforce
  • EdJoyProductions
    • +5
      EdJoyProductions  

    • These stories sadden me to the core of my soul. The inexcusable waste of an innocent person's life out of sheer incompetence, racism, poverty and every other unjust factor in these convictions is unacceptable. My heart goes out to this man and his family.

    • 1 year ago
  • idealist
  • treewolf39
  • reactionforce
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