Man blames science for nearly 20 years he spent in prison

Submitted by anthony on Thu, 2009-08-20 23:28

Article here. Excerpt:

'For 20 years Steven Barnes has relived one day over and over in his mind; the scenes sometimes unfold like a filmy, disjointed dream, and sometimes with a stark and painful furor.

It was the day he was arrested, at age 23, for a crime he did not commit.

“When they came to arrest me I was screaming and freaking out saying I didn’t murder nobody,” said Barnes, who is now 43, and was released from prison last November just a few days after his conviction was overturned.

His conviction hinged on what he calls “junk science.” In 1989, Barnes was convicted of raping and strangling to death 16-year-old Kimberly Simon on the evening of Sept. 18, 1985, in Marcy, N.Y. The case against him relied heavily on forensic evidence and he spent nearly 20 years in prison.'

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... it was the incompetent use of scientific study to get a conclusion that was desired: guilty as charged. The use of forensic evidence isn't wrong, but the people misusing it are.

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Submitted by Matt on Fri, 2009-08-21 16:57

So, is ANYONE going to be punished for this crime of him spending 20 years in prison?

Is the state getting ready to fork out a huge settlement? I skimmed the story for it and maybe I missed it, but he deserves TENS of MILLIONS - it's called a DETERRENT. We do it to citizens, time to do the same to our "servants".

How can the woman who did this not be in jail?

Steven

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Submitted by LSBeene on Sat, 2009-08-22 00:01

let's face it. it doesn't take much to get a guy put
behind bars. once accused of rape, abuse, molestation, whatever,
you are just one monkey trial away from incarceration.
any evidence, no matter how flimsy, and you can kiss freedom goodbye.
heck, owing $$ to an X can get you sent up for years.

it is a system looking for $$$.
gotta have people to prosecute. we got judges, lawyers, cops,
jailers, cooks, janitors, and many many others depending on this system, to feed.
women just aren't stepping up.
heck, murder, molestation, rape, abuse?
nah. females are special, just victims. let them go (wrist slap).
and THIS special treatment, once behind bars, is designed just for men.
people laugh when they talk about men getting raped and brutalized in prison.
even proven false accusations by females are not seriously pursued by law enforcement,
and rarely prosecuted. free pass if you gals will help us put some
more men in the system.

see, the gov is good at something. putting innocent men in prison.

how many have been freed by the underfunded Innocence Project now? around 240?
imagine how many have been put to death that were just as innocent.
didn't i see where the average time behind bars for those men freed by DNA and the
Innocence Project is around 12 years? all the while d.a. 's fighting
to keep them behind bars. looks bad for their run for office, i imagine.
can't get to congress w/ too many of those on your record.

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Submitted by daveinga on Sat, 2009-08-22 00:02

manonthestreet

No Steven no one is going to be punished for this crime. I know you did not really expect that anyway. What you might get is the law saying how wonderful it is that it corrects itself and how grateful you should be to live in a free America where justice prevails. And yes the twenty years is just an unimportant detail.

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Submitted by trotter on Sat, 2009-08-22 16:05

I think she is beyond the ability to punish as he was charged with rape and MURDER of the victim. So she was not a false accuser. Someone really did rape and kill her.

Will that person ever be found? Will anyone re-open the case and look for the real killer more then 20 years later? Unlikely. Even if they wanted to there would be a very slim chance of ever finding the real killer.

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Submitted by Paragon on Mon, 2009-08-24 17:52