Pardons For Wrongfully Convicted
For years, the Center for Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University, in Chicago, Illinois, has been taking on the cases of persons who claimed to have been mistakenly convicted of crimes. A few days ago, the governor of that state pardoned four such inmates who had already been freed by the courts as a result of the Center’s work.
Michael Evans and Paul Terry served 27 years in prison after being convicted of raping and murdering a 9-year-old girl Both men were 17 years old when the crime occurred. DNA tests have since proven their innocence.
Lafonso Rollins spent 11 1/2 years in prison for the attempted rape of a 78-year old woman. He was also 17 years old at the time the crime occurred, and has now been cleared by DNA tests.
Dana Holland was convicted of rape and attempted murder. He served 10 years in prison until DNA tests excluded him as the perpetrator.
Each of the pardoned men is entitled to seek compensation from the state, but that compensation is severely limited under law.
Wrongful convictions are not limited to Illinois. Every state has had some. Hundreds have been exonerated years after their convictions, and a few after their executions.
The problem was so obvious that in 2002 the governor of Illinois commuted the sentences of everyone on that state’s death row rather than know he had allowed the execution of innocent persons.
Anyone who sits on a criminal jury should be ever-mindful of these terrible errors in our criminal justice system. It is not enough for a juror to say to himself “I think this guy probably did it”. That is guesswork; it is not proof “beyond a reasonable doubt”.
If the death penalty is imposed, when the error is later discovered it may be too late.