tagged w/ wrongful arrest
-
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 his office before he arrived in 2007. No, really??? in Texas??? How can that be!!
I wonder what her accuser is going to say after all this time?? I'm sorry? oops? She should be sent to jail to experience what this man has!!
**************************************
DALLAS – A Texas man declared innocent Tuesday after 30 years in prison could have cut short his prison stint twice and made parole — if only he would admit he was a sex offender.
But Cornelius Dupree Jr. refused to do so, doggedly maintaining his innocence in a 1979 rape and robbery, in the process serving more time for a crime he didn't commit than any other Texas inmate exonerated by DNA evidence.
"Whatever your truth is, you have to stick with it," Dupree, 51, said Tuesday, minutes after a Dallas judge overturned his conviction.
Nationally, only two others exonerated by DNA evidence spent more time in prison, according to the Innocence Project, a New York legal center that specializes in wrongful conviction cases and represented Dupree. James Bain was wrongly imprisoned for 35 years in Florida, and Lawrence McKinney spent more than 31 years in a Tennessee prison.
Dupree was sentenced to 75 years in prison in 1980 for the rape and robbery of a 26-year-old Dallas woman a year earlier. He was released in July on mandatory supervision, and lived under house arrest until October. About a week after his release, DNA test results came back proving his innocence in the sexual assault.
Click image to see photos of Cornelius Dupree Jr.
A day after his release, Dupree married his fiancee, Selma. The couple met two decades ago while he was in prison.
His exoneration hearing was delayed until Tuesday while authorities retested the DNA and made sure it was a match to the victim. Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins supported Dupree's innocence claim.
Looking fit and trim in a dark suit, Dupree stood through most of the short hearing, until state district Judge Don Adams told him, "You're free to go." One of Dupree's lawyers, Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck, called it "a glorious day."
"It's a joy to be free again," Dupree said.
This latest wait was nothing for Dupree, who was up for parole as recently as 2004. He was set to be released and thought he was going home, until he learned he first would have to attend a sex offender treatment program.
Those in the program had to go through what is known as the "four R's." They are recognition, remorse, restitution and resolution, said Jim Shoemaker, who served two years with Dupree in the Boyd Unit south of Dallas.
"He couldn't get past the first part," said Shoemaker, who drove up from Houston to attend Dupree's hearing.
Shoemaker said he spent years talking to Dupree in the prison recreation yard, and always believed his innocence.
"I got a lot of flak from the guys on the block," Shoemaker said. "But I always believed him. He has a quiet, peaceful demeanor."
Under Texas compensation laws for the wrongly imprisoned, Dupree is eligible for $80,000 for each year he was behind bars, plus a lifetime annuity. He could receive $2.4 million in a lump sum that is not subject to federal income tax.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110104/ap_on_re_us/us_dna_exoneration_texasWatkins, the first black district attorney in Texas history, has also pointed to what... more
-
-
KSirys
-
added this
-
1 year ago
- |
-
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 his office before he arrived in 2007. No, really??? in Texas??? How can that be!!
**************************************
DALLAS – A Texas man declared innocent Tuesday after 30 years in prison could have cut short his prison stint twice and made parole — if only he would admit he was a sex offender.
But Cornelius Dupree Jr. refused to do so, doggedly maintaining his innocence in a 1979 rape and robbery, in the process serving more time for a crime he didn't commit than any other Texas inmate exonerated by DNA evidence.
"Whatever your truth is, you have to stick with it," Dupree, 51, said Tuesday, minutes after a Dallas judge overturned his conviction.
Nationally, only two others exonerated by DNA evidence spent more time in prison, according to the Innocence Project, a New York legal center that specializes in wrongful conviction cases and represented Dupree. James Bain was wrongly imprisoned for 35 years in Florida, and Lawrence McKinney spent more than 31 years in a Tennessee prison.
Dupree was sentenced to 75 years in prison in 1980 for the rape and robbery of a 26-year-old Dallas woman a year earlier. He was released in July on mandatory supervision, and lived under house arrest until October. About a week after his release, DNA test results came back proving his innocence in the sexual assault.
Click image to see photos of Cornelius Dupree Jr.
A day after his release, Dupree married his fiancee, Selma. The couple met two decades ago while he was in prison.
His exoneration hearing was delayed until Tuesday while authorities retested the DNA and made sure it was a match to the victim. Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins supported Dupree's innocence claim.
Looking fit and trim in a dark suit, Dupree stood through most of the short hearing, until state district Judge Don Adams told him, "You're free to go." One of Dupree's lawyers, Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck, called it "a glorious day."
"It's a joy to be free again," Dupree said.
This latest wait was nothing for Dupree, who was up for parole as recently as 2004. He was set to be released and thought he was going home, until he learned he first would have to attend a sex offender treatment program.
Those in the program had to go through what is known as the "four R's." They are recognition, remorse, restitution and resolution, said Jim Shoemaker, who served two years with Dupree in the Boyd Unit south of Dallas.
"He couldn't get past the first part," said Shoemaker, who drove up from Houston to attend Dupree's hearing.
Shoemaker said he spent years talking to Dupree in the prison recreation yard, and always believed his innocence.
"I got a lot of flak from the guys on the block," Shoemaker said. "But I always believed him. He has a quiet, peaceful demeanor."
Under Texas compensation laws for the wrongly imprisoned, Dupree is eligible for $80,000 for each year he was behind bars, plus a lifetime annuity. He could receive $2.4 million in a lump sum that is not subject to federal income tax.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110104/ap_on_re_us/us_dna_exoneration_texasWatkins, the first black district attorney in Texas history, has also pointed to what... more
-
-
KSirys
-
added this
-
1 year ago
- |
-
The Bay Area Rapid Transit system, which has been under fire since a transit officer was videotaped killing an unarmed passenger early this year, faces renewed controversy from a video that shows a man crashing into a plate glass window as he was being arrested.
The officer had removed the man from a train because he allegedly was intoxicated and yelling profanities and racial slurs at other passengers, the transit agency said. The video, shot Saturday by a passenger on a BART train in Oakland, shows the officer holding the suspect and pushing him across a platform toward the window. The suspect's upper body strikes the window, shattering the pane and showering both men with shards of glass.
It is unclear from the angle of the video whether the officer shoved the suspect into the window or whether the suspect punched the glass with his right arm, causing it to break.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/22/california.transit.police.scuffle/index.html
More at the link....The Bay Area Rapid Transit system, which has been under fire since a transit officer... more
-
-
KSirys
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
-
WEST MEMPHIS, AR-- Last Monday, cops in West Memphis brought back pro-active policing on the city's eastside. Now, one week later, there's another allegation of police brutality in that part of town.
Two weeks ago, West Memphis Police Chief Bob Paudert pulled resources from the city's eastside because he said he was tired of his officers being criticized every time they made an arrest there. They were being accused of police brutality.
Tonight-- it's like nothing ever changed.
This weekend, Tammy Morgan says her brother-in-law needed protection from the people who are supposed to protect the public-- West Memphis police.
Nathaniel Morgan was approached Saturday night by cops while outside at his eastside home.
From there, the two sides of this story differ.WEST MEMPHIS, AR-- Last Monday, cops in West Memphis brought back pro-active policing... more
-
-
KSirys
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
An Upstate officer accused of beating a teen with a flashlight has been fired and is now under investigation.
Veteran Sgt. Eddie Webb was fired from the Honea Path Police Department after the police chief saw the video of the incident.
In his report, Webb said several young people were driving an all-terrain vehicle without lights and wouldn't pull over, even when the officer turned on his siren.
From dashcam video, Webb can be seen using a flashlight to knock a teenage suspect off the ATV.
The 16-year-old was hit two more times before Webb pulled out his handcuffs.
It was Aug. 15 when the teenagers were first spotted on Sanders Street at 3 a.m.
When Webb's blue lights came on, dashcam video showed that the teenagers didn't stop, but they did pull over for a moment.
A chase lasted for about two minutes.An Upstate officer accused of beating a teen with a flashlight has been fired and is... more
-
-
KSirys
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
Mobile police used pepper spray and a Taser on a deaf and mentally disabled man Friday after they were unable to get him to come out of a bathroom at a Dollar General store, authorities said.
After forcibly removing Antonio Love from the bathroom of the Azalea Road store, officers attempted to book the 37-year-old, on charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and failure to obey a police officer, but the magistrate on duty at the jail refused to accept any of those charges.
Love's family members said they had no idea where he was during the time that police had him in custody.
Brodrick Love said the officers dropped his brother off in the parking lot of their apartment building without saying what happened or why his brother had been missing for six hours.
Love's family members have filed a formal complaint against the officers.
Christopher Levy, a Police Department spokesman, said the officers didn't find out that Love had a hearing impairment until after they got him out of the bathroom and found a card in his wallet indicating he was deaf.
The officers' decision to take Love to jail — even after they discovered his disability — as well as their conduct throughout the incident is still under investigation, Levy said.
Use of the Taser and the pepper spray appear to be justified according to the department's policy, he said.
Love, whose family said his mental abilities are about that of a 10-year-old, wrote them a narrative of the incident as he recalled it.Mobile police used pepper spray and a Taser on a deaf and mentally disabled man Friday... more
-
-
KSirys
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
A GARAGE manager is demanding an apology from police who he claims wrongfully arrested him during a row with a customer.
Darren Tandy, of Mr Clutch garage in Gateshead, carried out work on a Land Rover but when the customer came to collect his car he put the brakes on paying the quoted bill of £1127.
When Mr Tandy, 34, refused to agree to a lower fee for the work, he says the car owner called in police, who arrested him and put him in a cell for three hours before releasing him without charge.A GARAGE manager is demanding an apology from police who he claims wrongfully arrested... more
-
-
RonenA
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |