Free after 17yrs on death row

[bemildred]

Texas - With little more than the standard $100 in his pocket, Ernest Willis walked out of prison a free man on Wednesday after 17 years on death row for a crime that may have never even occurred.

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n July, a federal judge in San Antonio threw out the conviction, saying authorities concealed evidence and gave Willis anti-psychotic drugs during his trial, leaving him too dazed to confer with attorneys. The judge ordered Willis retried or set free.

"This has been a long and difficult road," said James Blank, one of Willis' lawyers. "We are delighted for Ernest and his wife, and cannot begin to imagine what this newfound freedom must feel like."

When Willis was set free, he was given a plaid shirt, green pants and white running shoes, along with 10 days worth of medication and $100 (81.42), the standard amount given to released inmates.

News24

[maxsolomon]

1. he doesn't need directions to his lawyers office

where he will SUE THE BASTARDS for taking his life away.

one word to summarize: TEXAS.

should have let them stay a separate republic.

[northernsoul]

6. yep, this may be one of the biggest 42 USC 1983 cases in a long time

If a good lawyer goes to town on this, this poor man should get some nominal compensation for the 17 years of his life he lost.

[Ezlivin]

2. Another reason to ban the death penalty

Mike Gray, in his book "The Death Game", makes an airtight case against the death penalty.

Each time another person is freed after wrongful imprisonment, particularly after a stay on Death Row, more evidence accrues that our judicial system is broken.

[Solon]

3. These types of stories piss me off...

this is but one reason why I'm against the death penalty, if this man was released, how many more innocents were murdered by the state to give a bunch of pansy-ass scared people a false sense of security?

[RevolutionStartsNow]

9. According to the stats

There are over 20 cases in the past century where someone was executed while there was "overwhelming" evidence of innocence. This includes 8 in the past 25 years.

Additionally, over 100 death row inmates have been exonerated, before they were able to be wrongly executed.

[sam sarrha]

16. a DNA check in IL showed 17% on death row Innocent. that would make Bush a

Mass murder while Governor of TX, considering how bad Texas is. They execute the mentally ill and the retarded.. even a woman the POPE repeatedly begged Bush not to kill.

one guys lawyer didn't call any of the 8 supporting whiteness for his case ..because his lawyer was drunk all the time and even slept through many court sessions.. and was was even sent home to sober up during one court session.

[Fear]

19. 17 years......what a waste - will he be compensated?

[Gregorian]

4. American judicial system gone wild

"The people that knew I was innocent to start with they'll get theirs," he said, explaining that he was referring to "all of them: prosecutors, all the Pecos County law enforcement."


It's just sick. The judicial system needs to take a back seat and cool down. We also need to learn forgiveness- These are things that most Americans can't even fathom. This business of prosecution is crazy. Most people aren't in need of being behind bars, no matter what they've done. I knew someone who was young, and joined the marines because he didn't know what to do. He and his Marine friends went out one day and killed a homeless person. That kid didn't need jail. He needed a father. We need to crush all of the jails. It's not pollyannish. This country is worse off for all of the jails it built during the 80's and 90's. We'd have been much much better off building schools and paying teachers higher wages. America is fueled by fear. We fear that if we don't jail people they'll commit crimes again. What we need to do is find another way of understanding why people do these things. It's usually obvious. There are very very few people who are just plain bad, and who repeat crimes over and over for no real reason.

[WhereIsMyFreedom]

10. Not all prisons should be crushed just most

The normal sentence for law breaking should be community service--giving back to society when something was taken away. Prison should only be a place to hold criminals (primarily violent offenders) while they are rehabilitated into productive members of society.

And what you say is exactly right. Fighting crime should be about prevention. The majority of crime could be avoided by understanding the underlying reasons for it and addressing those (poverty, lack of good role model, persecution, and many others I'm sure).

Overall, I would expect such an overhaul in our judicial system would significantly reduce the cost to society (both monetary and otherwise).

[ThomCat]

5. And yet, death penalty supporters brush this off.

"A few mistakes are acceptable. Overall the system works."

Bullshit.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

7. No pic, but $100 says Ernest Willis is black. Am I right? (nt)

[Mandate My Ass]

8. I think he's white

IIRC, there was a small pic of him in the Metro paper this morning.

[JohnLocke]

17. No

[Out the Parasites]

11. We live in a sick sad world of fear and hate...it's completely irrational

for us to think that we are infoulable to the point of justifying killing anyone. For the Christian right wingers it's acceptable to live with murdering innocent people on death row.

My Sister is a crazy born again christian right winger. She told me that "not that many innocent people are put to death...after all we're all sinners"! Of course I wanted to punch her in the head over and over again and simply say it was a case of mistaken identity(JK) (I can tease like that cause she's my sister.)

[el_gato]

12. The prosecutors should be put on trial

and sentenced to 17 years in jail.

[bemildred]

13. Criminal charges would do much to discourage this sort of injustice

in the future. We should "make examples of them". At least
in theory the prosecutors are officers of the court and supposed
to have a dispassionate interest in justice being done.

[Amigust]

20. "dispassionate interest in justice being done" - I don't think so

That description is a myth that flies in the face of the operative reality of a prosecutor — build and present a credible case to support your claim of guilt.

[sam sarrha]

14. One reason Texas is so big on the death penalty is that the community the

in which the court is held PAYS FOR ALL EXPENSES. The community money comes out of social support funds.

In El Paso a one week cut and dried, no problem case will cost over 2 million

The city is crumbling and the political climbers use city funds to pad their way to Austin or at least to the top of the local political roost.

it is a failed system

there is literally NO appeal, if a judge allows an appeal they will lose their 6 digit appointed soft job for being soft on crime.

the judicial system in Texas is pathetic, and Bush in his wisdom executed 1.5X the number of senators in the Senate while Governor of a state whose legislature meets only every 2 years.

[FlemingsGhost]

15. Leave the country, Ernest. You're not free.

At the very least, get the fuck out of Texas.

[arwalden]

18. How Many Innocent Folks Were Put To Death?? We'll Never Know...

... the truth.

-- Allen