30 years in prison while innocent.

[Vizardlorde]

A salesperson's job is to sale things. If they don't sale things, they lose their job. A prosecutor's job is to convict people. If they don't convict people they...

The only evidence against these brothers were their coerced confessions which one of them thought he could go home after he finally gave in. Their confessions also implicated two others, who were never charged. If the prosecution were just doing their job and using the evidence presented to them, how come they didn't charge the other two men?

If a salesman doesn't sell 1 item his commission payment is lowered, a salesman can't be fired for failing to sell to a single customer stop spreading lies.

[madmanx]

I'm sorry but I just can't agree with this at all. A prosecutors job is to get a conviction. They aren't there to do the jobs of a crime scene investigator or a lab tech, they are lawyers. Their job is to convict, not investigate, it shouldn't be held against them if they are given witnesses that say X did Y and that ended up not being true.

This is correct if you are talking about an American prosecutor. It is a system that is widely recognized as deeply flawed. Adding an incentive to convicting people no matter what the truth really is must be one of the more insane systems in the world. Not only is it unfair but it is also incredibly expensive. Imagine the financial cost of keeping 2 innocent people locked up and with armed guards for 30 years. I doubt the emotional cost for the 2 guys can be even imagined by anyone that has not been in their situation.

[Vizardlorde]

Lots of people get off for crimes they obviously committed as well. OJ anyone.

Only those with money can either walk free of charge or find an alternative way of paying for the crime without getting the sentence affiliated with the charges.

[Novx]

This is correct if you are talking about an American prosecutor.

Considering this case was from North Carolina I do believe we are dealing with an American prosecutor.

If a salesman doesn't sell 1 item his commission payment is lowered, a salesman can't be fired for failing to sell to a single customer stop spreading lies.

A salesman can be fired for not being able to sell things...what? If a salesman doesn't sell 1 item there is no commission payment to lower in the first place.

[Vizardlorde]

Considering this case was from North Carolina I do believe we are dealing with an American prosecutor.



A salesman can be fired for not being able to sell things...what? If a salesman doesn't sell 1 item there is no commission payment to lower in the first place.

I said 1 item or sale not every single sale.

[Forgottenone]

Unfortunately he cannot be given back his 30 years, the best they can and should do is compensate him handsomely because they ruined his life. As someone said things have changed a lot over 30 years so less innocent people are being sent to prison, it still happens but at least it is decreasing each year.

[SpcGuts]

If a salesman doesn't sell 1 item his commission payment is lowered, a salesman can't be fired for failing to sell to a single customer stop spreading lies.

Nothing I said was a lie.

[Wildtree]

Actually follow the constitution? Make officers and judges have to follow the same rules we do?

Punish officials who wrongly decide the fate of others with little to no, or even conflicting evidence?

The same thing we should do for cops who run over people while texting and go unpunished. The same thing we should do to judges who get money for judgements by other parties.

Actually have some accountability so the people with authority don't abuse on a regular and consistent and predictable basis.

Of course, I'm aware this won't happen, probably ever.

Amen.... and why won't it happen?
Because justice has shifted from being that, justice to be a business.
Incarceration has turned from justice decision to revenue.
Booking people translates into income and profits..

Anyhow.. I am glad this event took place now, just at the right time.
The voices for shortcuts to the capital punishment procedures appeared to become louder lately, along the line with the problem solving as to how to execute people properly. Too much focus was on these aspects instead of simply abolishing capital punishment and with that catching up with the rest of modern days societies/countries.

[DarkstarG]

"The ruling was the latest twist in a notorious case that began with what defense attorneys said were coerced confessions from two scared teenagers with low IQs. McCollum was 19 at the time, and Brown was 15. There was no physical evidence connecting them to the crime."

Confessions being the reason for imprisonment, coerced being the bad wrong bit.

The problem is coercion. This is just like torturing people to get information from them...How can you trust that information? People under those conditions will say anything you want to stop the torture.

[Deleted]

Murderers get executed in the state where this happened.

What the cops, who coerced (by shouting at them and threatening them for hours on end) these 19- and 15-year old mentally disabled boys into confessing to these crimes they didn't commit, did, is worse than premeditated murder. They actively sought to destroy the lives of two innocent people, and eventually ended up putting those two through three decades of a torturous existence. Well, where's the death sentence to those police officers? Where's the death sentence to the prosecutor and judge who accused and convicted these guys?

Oh no. No punishment for those assholes. Just white knights on the forum, defending them. "Hey yeah who cares if you yell at and threaten a mentally disabled teenager for hours until they confess to something you've got no evidence of them doing, and thus no reason to believe they did do it, and who cares if you threaten a mentally disabled 15-year old with execution, and who cares if those guys get sentenced and have to waste pretty much their entire lives in prison. Who cares!? We have to defend our cops! Cops are awesome!"

Sigh. It would be nice if one could say that things have gotten better as far as what cops are like is concerned. Sadly, they haven't. These days, they just outright shoot you on the spot. Then again, I guess that's better than wasting away in prison for the rest of your life.

[Zoranon]

Sad and yet not so unique story. What to do with it?

Well I would say a good start would be to make confessions made to the police inadmissible, unless they are repeated before the court, thus getting rid of the problem of forced confessions.

[BRUCE-LEE-Lee]

Poor man, cannot be given back his 30 years. And there are other people enduring the same thing every year.

[Themius]

On average, 5% or one in twenty people who get sentenced to prison are innocent. Why would it be surprising that also among those who get imprisoned for live are some innocent?


Source? All I know is that public prosecutors (in my country) have vowed to be objective.

How many husbands have vowed to be faithful, while they pork other women? A lot of politicians lie and prosecutors are basically politicians, and lawyers!

[Ghostpanther]

This is a little too extreme, honestly the fair solution to these types of crimes is a less punishing, rehabilitative prison environment.

Reduce sentence times but actually give prisoners the tools they need to put their lives back together.

I think the Japanese do it really well and its part of the reason why Japan is so safe. Their system is basically ultra strict, no talking, you work and study and eat their nutrition based diet. You exercise and mediate, if you misbehave you go straight into solitary. They managed to introduce order into the system without any violence. Its really amazing to be honest.

Thinking that will happen in the US is just wishful thinking though. America = $$$

It will not happen in the US not because of mainly money, but cultural differences. The Japanese traditionally have a high honor system within a strong family system and a low crime rate anyway. I agree it is a good system, just not convinced it would work as well here.

[jaykaywhy]

Not sometimes, always.

Bullshit. I'm a prosecutor in a huge city (5 million+). I've dismissed countless cases when there was insufficient evidence, or I believed the Defendant wasn't guilty, or I knew I couldn't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

[SpcGuts]

Bullshit. I'm a prosecutor in a huge city (5 million+). I've dismissed countless cases when there was insufficient evidence, or I believed the Defendant wasn't guilty, or I knew I couldn't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

A city in the US?

[lookperfection]

The reason might be the policy want to end the cases quickly and they do not have to have much pressure.