DNA clears Florida man after 35 years behind bars

Submitted by Matt on Thu, 2009-12-17 21:57

Story here. Look everyone, another wrongly-convicted man (and hey, a black one at that!) is exonerated from a rape charge! Quel surprise! Excerpt:

'BARTOW, Fla. - James Bain used a cell phone for the first time Thursday, calling his elderly mother to tell her he had been freed after 35 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.

Mobile devices didn't exist in 1974, the year he was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping a 9-year-old boy and raping him in a nearby field.

Neither did the sophisticated DNA testing that officials more recently used to determine he could not have been the rapist.
...
The jury rejected Bain's story that he was home watching TV with his twin sister when the crime was committed, an alibi she repeated at a news conference last week. He was 19 when he was sentenced.

Florida last year passed a law that automatically grants former inmates found innocent $50,000 for each year they spent in prison. No legislative approval is needed. That means Bain is entitled to $1.75 million.'

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Hopefully he will spend the money wisely, i.e. not all at once. 1.75 million x 3% interest/year = 52.5k/year just on interest.

-ax

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Submitted by axolotl on Thu, 2009-12-17 23:46

35 years of his life equated to money. 35 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. Are we that calous? The mans entire youth was spent behind bars, his prime stolen. I hope that he can get over what has been done to him so that perhaps he can enjoy some of the rest of his life. But, the lesson here is that we should never get over it, as it could have been anyone of us.
David A. DeLong

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Submitted by David A. DeLong on Fri, 2009-12-18 03:39