NC men declared innocent after serve decade on murder charges

[IDemo]

Source: Reuters

By Ned Barnett

RALEIGH, North Carolina | Thu Sep 22, 2011 7:48pm EDT

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - A three-judge panel in Asheville, North Carolina ruled on Thursday that two men who spent a decade in prison after confessing to a murder charge are innocent of the crime and should be immediately released.

The judges ruled after hearing witnesses' testimony and reviewing the facts that led to the convictions of Kenneth Kagonyera, 31, and his co-defendant Robert Wilcoxson, 32.

The two men had maintained their innocence despite their guilty pleas. They said they agreed to plead guilty to second degree murder to avoid being sentenced to the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Chris Fialko, a Charlotte attorney who represented Wilcoxson, walked his client out of the Buncombe County jail about 4 p.m. Thursday.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/22/us-crime-ncarolina-innocent-idUSTRE78L7JX20110922

[Melinda]

1. And this:

"Ken Rose, an attorney with the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, a non-profit law firm in Durham, North Carolina, said the exonerations demonstrate how the threat of the death penalty can lead to wrongful convictions."

"Rose said the exonerations were especially notable a day after a popular outcry failed to stop the execution of Georgia inmate Troy Davis. Davis was executed despite a campaign to have his conviction reviewed after multiple witnesses recanted their testimony against him."

Same link.
=====================================

May Troy Davis' fight against American injustice live on and on and on.
Amen.

[Selatius]

2. Who defended these two in the original trial? nt

[struggle4progress]

3. The Last Lawyer

... Ken Rose has handled more capital appeals cases than almost any other attorney in the United States. The Last Lawyer chronicles Rose's decade-long defense of Bo Jones, a North Carolina farmhand convicted of a 1987 murder. Rose called it his most frustrating case in twenty-five years, and it was one that received scant attention from judges or journalists. The Jones case highlights the thorniest issues surrounding capital punishment, including inadequate defense, mental retardation, mental illness, and sketchy witness testimony. Yet for many years, Rose's advocacy gained no traction, and Bo Jones came within three days of his execution ...

http://www.johntemplebooks.com/book.php

[midnight]

4. K&R.

[EFerrari]

5. K&R

[sasha031]

6. k/r rec.

[Tanelorn]

7. Do you have as compensation system for wrongful imprisonment?

[onehandle]

8. Impossible. The system never fails. nt

[Swede Atlanta]

9. And why the death penalty must be abolished...

You can never fully compensate someone wrongfully incarcerated for the lost years and all the trappings. But it is even worse when we execute someone when there is nearly always a possibility the conviction was in error for a whole variety of reasons. As an attorney I know that the criminal justice system follows process and precedent. It really isn't too concerned with whether we convict the guilty or not. It is really about process.

At least with a wrongful incarceration society can release the wrongfully convicted and offer financial compensation. With those wrongfully executed we have no opportunity to un-ring the bell. The bell has rung and society has blood on its hands no worse than a murderer.

[Hissyspit]

10. "North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission... first of its kind in the nation."

"North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, a state agency that reviews inmates' claims of innocence.

The Commission, the first of its kind in the nation, was created by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2006 and began operating in 2007."

And, if I wrong, please correct me, the ONLY one of its kind in the nation.

[Festivito]

11. NC also has some sheriff investigators sitting in jail.

And, they are still hoping to levy more charges before his sentence finishes. (Ricky Lyall) And, I here there are some judges that need to be deposed.

Not all the sheriffs are like Andy Griffith's sheriff Taylor.

[lsewpershad]

12. Will we ever learn?

[PA Democrat]

13. Recommended. This is just another example of why the DP is wrong.

People think it is acceptable because the accused "confessed," not realizing the circumstances under which a "confession" was coerced.