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Subscribe to RSSA California man who was wrongly convicted of murder was exonerated and set free after serving 19 years behind bars. KNBC's Kim Baldonado reports.
A Los Angeles man imprisoned for 19 years for a murder he didn't commit was exonerated and set free from prison on Monday.
Cheers erupted in the courtroom as the judge exonerated John Edward Smith of a drive-by shooting in 1993, NBC's Los Angeles affiliate NBC4 reported. Late Monday, Smith left Los Angeles Men's Central Jail.
"I'm just thankful the same system that made the error was able to find the same avenue to get me out," Smith said to a throng of reporters who met him outside the jail Monday night.
"I'm not bitter at all. That ain't gonna get me nowhere, you know. I gotta move forward," he said, according to NBC4.
When asked what he was going to do next, Smith replied: "I'm gonna go home and hug my grandmother."
Read the story on NBCLosAngeles.com
Smith, who The Associated Press described as a former gang member, was convicted of killing a man during a 1993 drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. Another man survived and was the single witness to the alleged crime. Two years ago, he recanted the testimony that led to Smith's 1994 conviction for first-degree murder and attempted murder.
Smith was 18 when he went to prison. He told authorities he was at his grandmother's house with family when the shooting took place in a gang-infested area.
He said he knew nothing about the crime until his mother called to tell him about it.
The 37-year-old was scheduled to be released on Friday, but the judge was out due to illness. But Smith was all smiles on Monday as Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg released him after nearly two decades behind bars: "Mr. Smith, you are now free."
The ruling evoked mixed emotions from Smith's family.
"I'm happy. I'm sad. But the part of me that was in there with him, I'm free now, too," said Laura Neal, Smith's grandmother and primary caretaker.
"I was hoping and praying that before I die he will be with me again," she said.
Smith's sister, Tiana Goodman, 25, said he would be meeting nieces and nephews who were born while he was in prison. "This is a big day for our family," she said, tears running down her cheeks.
"I'm just so happy to have my brother back. My grandma's been sick and she's been holding on so she can see my brother, so this is a really big day for our family and we're just so happy."
'Broken system'
Smith's case spurred the creation of Innocence Matters, a non-profit organization whose pro-bono legal team has been at the helm of his exoneration for three years.
"We actually became a non-profit in a hurry so that we could have him be our first client," founder and Smith's lawyer Deirdre O'Connor told NBC4 on Friday.
The only eyewitness, Landu Mvuemba -- a victim who was shot and survived -- met with Innocence Matters representatives in 2010 and immediately blurted out that he had lied at the trial, O'Connor said.
Mvuemba said police pressured him to identify Smith as the shooter. Prosecutors told the judge they now believe he lied, and Schnegg found the conviction was based on perjured testimony.
"Within the first two minutes of the interview, Mvuemba recanted," O'Connor said. Mvuemba was 16 at the time of the shooting.
He told representatives of Innocence Matters, "The police told me they knew who did it," a defense motion stated.
O'Connor said Smith wept when she called him with the news about Mvuemba. "He said, 'Why did he do it? Why did he lie?'" O'Connor recalled.
Mvuemba said police pointed to Smith, whom he had known in elementary school, and told him other witnesses had identified Smith as the shooter. Mvuemba said he also was shown a photo of his friend DeAnthony Williams, who died in the shooting.
"I felt a lot of pressure to go along with it," Mvuemba said.
The two victims had been on the street examining the scene of another shooting the night before when a car pulled up and someone opened fire.
Mvuemba said he tried three times to tell authorities that he didn't see enough to testify, but his pleas were ignored.
"Mvuemba knew it was wrong to identify Mr. Smith as the man who shot him," according to the defense motion. "But when he saw his deceased friend's crying mother in the courtroom, he felt as if he had no other choice."
Mvuemba is currently imprisoned on a rape conviction.
Schnegg said she held many meetings with the defense and prosecution in the year since the recanting was disclosed. The judge said they lacked sufficient information to declare Smith factually innocent, but she vacated his convictions for murder and attempted murder, and ordered him released.
O'Connor said Smith's trial was undermined by ineffective assistance of attorneys who failed to investigate the case properly at trial and on appeal.
"We have a bit of a broken system and the fact that we can come in and make some systemic changes like this and help prevent it from happening to somebody else, it means the world," said Jessica Farris with Innocence Matters.
Smith, meanwhile, said the first items on his agenda now that he's free is to get a license and find a job.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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This is why we must end capital punishment in our country. If this man had been convicted of a capital crime, he'd be dead before proven innocent. Our judicial system is not perfect and it cannot be trusted with the power to end life.
The ones that put him there should do double the time
Guarenteed they were doing high five and celebrated when they sent this man to rot, its not only him what about what his family went through and friends and children if any this can never be paid back what a sick system
Why not put an end to dishonest and lying cops? That was the problem in this case. Make the punishment for this type of abuse by persons of authority (policemen) as severe as possible, up to and including the death penalty.
I am still for the death penalty, but I would make it a requirement that DNA be present to tie the convicted to the crime.
There are some crimes that overwhelmingly deserve the death penalty.
This is one clear-cut case where there should be some kind of punishment for court appointed lawyers that do not even try to prove their clients are innocent. The judge basically said, if his attorney had investigated the case, he could have showed Smith didn't do it. On appeal, his lawyer did nothing but collect his paycheck. How many more people are in prison because court appointed lawyers just jam as many cases through the system as they can, because the more cases they get the more money they make.
An intelligent man. Wasted in prison, now that is sad. He wants to move on.
This was not all the Cops and his Lawyer. He was positively identified by a witness. Be happy for him.
It doesn't matter if you are in a gang or not. A similar case was featured on NPR's "This American Life" where a Trinidadian-American spent 18 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit and knew NOTHING about. What's even worse, the actual shooter who pretty much confessed spent only about 3 years in prison (he was a minor) and despite the police having the actual shooter, identified by SEVERAL witnesses and putting up very little defense (he pretty much acknowledged he did it but wouldn't take the plea bargain), because they had forced people to say it was the first guy and had a "star witness", they just lumped them together and no one along the way made any separation. The police's star witness that identified the innocent man changed his story significantly, 3 times, then acknowledged this on the stand and STILL the jury convicted the innocent man. The police pulled the same tactic where they forced the witness to pick this man out of a group of photos, then forced the victim's brother to say he knew the man (which would make a connection of some sort). Then the statue of limitations for prosecuting the police officers had expired and due to some technicality, the man couldn't sue the city and received absolutely no money.
It's just so scary, sad and disappointing that this sort of thing happens. And of course it's not just black folks that it happens to (although I'm sure it happens to us more), but the recent movie with Hilary Swank (based on real events) highlighted a similar scenario.
Westerner-
Where exactly in the article does it say that John Edward Smith was in a gang?
i COMPLETELY agree...i mean i would be FOR the death penalty if EVERY person sentenced to it was FOR SURE guilty...but if there is a possibility of even ONE innocent person being put to death then we shouldn't have the death penalty...can you IMAGINE being innocent and railroaded to your death? wow
If you want to get pissed off at our system, here are a couple of stories (not all murder):
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/430/very-tough-love
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/282/diy
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/210/perfect-evidence
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/143/sentencing
I swear there are some incredibly absurd moments in some of those stories where it is so hard to believe that that happened and no one did anything.
Emanuel, some of us get it. The problem is that most people are just sheep. they can't imagine cops being bad. The media has spent so much time making blacks and Hispanics out to be demons and criminals. They watch tv shows like cops, and watch news like fox. need i say more. I hope there is a god, and I hope this guy is standing behind the cops, on judgement day, so he can see true justice.
"It's all about getting convictions to keep the system ticking" .....
Prosecutors are "evil".... they will do anything to get a conviction, and are destroying the intent of the justice system ... and the police are the "feeders" of the system ... and do what it takes to push the "cattle" through it ...
And "Liars" are the juice of the system... Everyone has their own interest at stake .. and have little guilt and have no guilt about lying and sending a innocent man to jail.
Thank God for this mans family ... who stuck by him all these years ... His Grandmother is a very special person ....
Oh, another one of these.. Seriously our court system needs a complete makeover!
NO WONDER OUR GOVERNMENT IS LOSING MONEY!
Millions of trials every year, and a handful of poorly handled cases means the system is broken. I love it. the system isn't broken, it is infiltrated by liars, thieves and crooks; politicians lawyers and lawyers. The system would work better if people were more honest, and had no agenda but to enforce the laws. At the same time, there are more people trying to get away with more, with more and more lawyers trying to ensure the people don't get caught.
The system works fine, it's we the people who keep f'ing it up.
Emanuel get is and no, the system is not entirely broken. Let's remember this was nearly 20 years ago and DNA testing was still in its infancy. DNA, at that time, when tested had to be in larger amounts than when tested now. I wonder if there was DNA present for that shooting. It does mention "eyewitness" testimony, which we know is notoriously wrong. It also mentions the eyesitness recanted and felt pressure by the police. Police pressure is prevelant in many cases, still. Eyewitnesses and victims WANT to feel they have "done the right thing" by finding the "bad guy". When the police mention someone is in custody, is that pressure not enhanced? Of course it is.
In order to find "justice" for everyone (the victim, the accused, the family), it is important to step back and remember that not always is it immediate that "justice" is swift and not always does "justice" happen the way we desire. For example, this man spent years in prison for a crime he knew he never committed. In California (where he served), he can file for $50,000/year compensation for each year he served. I would actually call that justice.
My feeling is that if conclusive DNA is not present at the crime scene, and we are relying on eyewitness testimony, or "jailhouse testimony" there is no case. Considering the financial compensation due, it's simply too expensive.
This is a prefect example of why I fear our court system....and my neighbors.
Honestly, we can blame police, blame prosecutors, of which both have some fault sure, but the primary blame always lays at the feet of the jury. 12 'peers' that decided to punish a man for a crime he didn't commit. Most of this country is not my 'peers' and any jury pulled at random selection from a pool of driver's licenses wouldn't even come close to being my 'peers'. Fear the sheeple, for they are the true danger to everyone's freedom at all times.
Westerner--You don't know that, you assume a lot.
I lost all respect for cops when they not only lied about me in a traffic case, but that they also told three witnesses what to say. Coaching them. I certainly was no gang member, my crime was I drove a distinctive care and the only other one in town was owned by a drug dealer (I found this out later from a cop I knew in a neighboring jurisdiction) I had wondered why they tore my car apart searching it when I was accused of a traffic violation. I won't go into all the other very odd parts of what occurred both that day and in court. But that cop lied his arse off. It has been about 25 years and I will never forget it. Nor will I ever trust the cops again.
FYI I am a white businessman who was wearing a suit on his way to work that day. I do not deal drugs, I do not do drugs, I do not even drink. I was going to work late 11AM as I had been sick and was doing only half days and taking it very slow and easy. No way was I running stop lights, going 70 MPH in a historic part of my city, weaving in and out of traffic. IF anything i was going too slow. i was on no medications though i had them prescribed (Pain Killers) I just would not take them.
always be suspicious of a single eye witness, always look for other direct evidence, single eyewitness testimony is very unreliable.
@Westerner8933, Must you be cynical? You know nothing about his personal life in it's entirety. Are you an innocent lamb Sir/ Madam? What happened to him was an injustice and that not only makes him innocent it also meant that he was sacrificed like a lamb if we must go there. And where does it says that he is sweet? The fact that he said the first thing he wanted to do was hug his Mother makes him sweeter than your comment. Your comment is a load Of Horse****!
@SteveR, No. Capital Punishment should be here to stay. The ONLY problem that needs fixing is the Court system itself. THAT is the main thing that is sending these potentially innocent people to jail. The process that decided innocence vs guilt was flawed. Once that is repaired, we can correctly determine without a doubt that a man is guilty. If guilt cannot be proved, then nothing can be done. If guilt CAN be proven, then the murderers/rapists/whatever, must be put to death!
I place this squarely in the laps of the cops. They lied to the witness, telling him that other witnesses had identified Smith, when none had.
Is there a particular reason they're not being charged with lying? Let's not mince words here: cops lie all the time. They're trained to lie. They're encouraged to lie. They support each other's lies. They're officially insulated from the consequences of lying. This is not trivial. In fact, this is such an egregious violation that it made "the big 10" (thou shalt not bear false witness).
"Smith, meanwhile, said the first items on his agenda now that he's free is to get a license and find a job."
He will probably get enough money from the government that he will likely never have to work again.'
As a 'former' gang member, I wonder what his previous record was, and what prompted the police to 'get him'?
@Frankly True, you do plenty of assuming and generalizing as well. You get in one bad experience with a couple of over-zealous cops and you assume ALL of them must be the exact same way. If ever you get robbed by a couple of black guys, are you gonna start assuming all blacks are a bunch of crooks too and distrust every single one you meet from thereafter? See how stupid that way of thinking seems!
Mvuemba changed his story now to free Smith. How do we know he's not lying now. And who coerced Mvuemba into changing his story. The reason Smith might not be bitter is he knows who the shooter was? Was he in the car that night too? There are too many of these cases where someone tells a different story now. Was he in prison for the wrong crime? Maybe this time he was but, who's to say that Mvuemba is not changing his story for some payday now too. Smith's people know he'll get some big bucks and could pay off anyone.
Best part of the story..."Smith, meanwhile, said the first items on his agenda now that he's free is to get a license and find a job." Its gotta take a real stand-up guy to have that be the first thing on his agenda after being wrongfully imprisoned for nearly 20 years, most people these days would flip out and go sue-crazy, make a lot of money real fast, spend a lot of money even faster, and then live off of welfare with the "government owes me" frame of mind.
Ebeneser,
In this case though the government does 'owe' him. It 'owes' him a lot more then it can ever conpensate him properly for, but a few million, tax free, is a good start.
Wow, this man has class...just moving on. I hope he writes his story in a novel and makes millions.
Good for him, now it is time for someone to give him some money and help. I have trouble with the judge being sick and not letting the guy out. If he is innocent let him out now.
Folks:
Hope he gets fair compensation for these exceptionally embarrassing faux pas by the entire legal system and the police.
The portion of his life that was wasted would be the best times of your life...like when you may decide to get an education, or start a career, or fall in love, perhaps marry and start a family....sure he can start now, but he'll be forty before he gets any traction, so his life is basically a write off.
Give him and his family several million....earned the hard way!
I am sure the people who put him in there were promoted to much higher position. It has happened in NJ, NY and elsewhere that I know of. Believe it or not, majority of the African Americans who went to prison for crime they did not commit happened at the false testimony of other minority alleged witnesses. To make the matter worse the evidence against some them was manufactured by minority investigators and minority forensic technicians.
WTF! What kind of "judge" is THAT!
He couldn't drag himself to court for 1/2 hour to free an innocent man, or at the very least have another judge free him!
Disgusting. You'd think a judge could have ordered the guy to be released over the phone!
Judges issue all kinds of orders over the phone!
Creepy. Movie studios can get an injuction over night, between 5 p.m. and MIDNIGHT to stop a film from being released. That Judge could have, and should have called the Sheriff's Dept. and ordered that man to be released IMMEDIATELY!
Sickening miscarriage of justice!
Justice delayed is justice denied!
It is easy to see why this happens. Police are allowed to lie to get witnesses to point to their suspect without any corroborating evidence. Lawyers are allowed to negotiate plea deals to save themselves the trouble of actually mounting a defense, and prosecutors are, by law, immune from prosecution for any misconduct. When participants in the system are allowed to cheat and lie with no possibility of being held accountable for their actions, innocent people will suffer undeserved penalties.
Prosecutors who have repeatedly withheld evidence that would absolve the accused of any guilt become judges and politicians. The problem is not that our system is broken, it is that people who are sworn to uphold the principles of justice are corrupt. Of course people will make mistakes, but in our system deliberate malfeasance on the part of police, lawyers, and judges is allowed to go on without any accountability.
That puts everyone of us at the mercy of corrupt officials and susceptible to unwarranted persecution for a crime we didn't commit.
westerner89333...sounds like a low life Republican and a douchebag.
westerner8933:
NO, you are not an "innocent lamb"! Lambs are sweet and gentle, which evidently you are not! Just because you have "no record" does not necessarily mean you are sweet and innocent.....just means you were never caught! Are you sure you're not my ex? He had no record and everyone he knew thought he was the most wonderful person in the world, but behind closed doors, he was a totally different person. I was horribly abused by him on a regular basis. So please westerner, until you actually know this man, DON'T JUDGE!!!
Did I say you abused me? NO!! Just trying to make a point! But evidently you're to ignorant to realize that! Many times those who claim to be innocent, law abiding citizens are the ones you can't trust! You SEEM like (and I'm not saying you ARE) a raging racist!
As a person who has had long hair for half my adult life and been in a mixed relationship for the last 13 years - I have experienced how judgemental many of you are, first hand.
Some of you even intentionally move to communities that hold dearly to their right to persecute others on just looks...ain't that right Kingman Arizona. I spent 3 hours at Kennedy airport - after getting the evil-eye the entire time - I will never return to New York.
Some of you are just plain screwed up - having to live with your self is punishment enough for me.
I would like to see one good cop.......show one and I might believe there is one.......these days they are as scarce and hard to find as Bigfoot!
Bit of a broken system....what an huge understatement.
19 years ago, The Right Wing of the GOP where Shouting (FRY his A$$) Thank god his was not in Texas, They would of had to dig up his grave to tell him he was innocent
This is precisely the reason that Canada abolished the death penalty many years ago. Too many innocent people were going to jail for crimes they did not commit. As is stated in this article DNA wasnt what it is today and I believe that while you can still get a conviction on a circumstantial case - I dont think you should be able to get the death penalty on one. That is why Casey Anthony got away with murder - the jury didnt understand how to judge a circumstantial case and didnt feel they wanted to chance her getting the death penalty if maybe, just maybe she didnt do it. One of my biggest fears has always been getting charged with a crime I didnt commit and then having some big-wig lawyer manipulate the law (cause that is what they do) in a way that makes me look guilty. Because if you follow a lot of the court cases that is exactly what they do. They take the law and bend and twist it every way they can and as far as finding the *truth* in a case anymore - that isnt their job. Their job is to either convict or exonnerate the person using whatever methods they can come up with - truth doesnt even enter into their tactics. And under these circumstances I dont think anyone should be put to death.
Ask ANY Prosecutor or Defense attorney and they will tell you....
If you want to find the largest gathering of liars, all you need to do is to go into a courthouse.
I heard Superman stopped fighting for the American way.
If he was given the death penalty and killed, this whole case would have been forgotten and the truth would have never been known.
Most cops know better than to show a picture to the victim and ask "is that the guy?" You can easily convince some that when they have been victimized and under a lot of stress.
You've got that right. Pressure, pressure, pressure. As long as they get somebody to take the rap. Black, white, red, green. I don't care what color one is. When you've been wronged, the system owes. We recently had an individual do twenty years and then was found innocent by the work of this very same organization. He was awarded millions for being incarcerated unjustly.
This guy deserves the same. Even though the man cannot get his life back, the millions that he deserves will soften the blow. I personally have been incarcerated unjustly by a county drug treatment court for having elevated THC levels in my urine that were not due to use, but due to making my life better through strenuous bicyling, but I don't stand a chance of the system admitting it and making ANY type of restitution, but they DID admit "it can happen".
I commend this individual for having the attitude and posture that he has. I cannot get myself to hold the same feelings and posture, and for that, I again commend this man.
Now, justice system ---- PAY THE MAN ...
Peace.
sue the frickin joke...err...judicial system.
The problem is that the people who arrest, testify, prosecute, and convict a person for a crime they did not commit are not held accountable for their mistakes. Start putting police officers in prison for pressuring incorrect testimonies out of weak-minded people and that crap will stop. Prosecute everyone involved in these cases of wrongful incarceration and we can put an end to it.
Only when it can be proved that attorneys and officers deliberately falsified evidence should they be prosecuted, law enforcement wouldnt prosecute anyone if they felt they could be prosecuted for any reason if they pursue convection's. Presuring weak minded people isnt wrong IF they get the right person.
I would definitely hold the cops accountable, but there is a major problem with holding the perjurer accountable, and that is that they then have a very significant reason to continue not telling the truth: Because they will be punished.
Like it or not, we have to continue to give them a pass since the alternative will be that more innocent people will sit in prison longer, perhaps forever.
Exactly, and make the liars pay; the Prosecutor, witnesses, and the judge, must serve the double time, AND they and their unions must pay this man one million Dollars a day for punishment, I bet it would not take long then before this harassment in this so called Western Country would get fixed. And if in the mean time these idiots have been "promoted" to political office (very often), they must pay back all the money they received in salary based on their lies to get there, as in how they have "cleaned up the streets" by counting how many they have put in jail!- Many of these idiots are actually proud of how many they put into jail (like a quota). It is estimated we have over 30,000 in jail now that had little to do with the crime, but the police/procecutor (soon to be govenors) needed to show they found someone to get the racists to be happy!
He should make a complaint to international human rights convention!
Just look at Casey Anthony in Florida in jail for a bounced check for 2,5 years, where even I have received 2 bounced checks over the years from state governments and hundreds from businesses------
My brother was 14 years old when he was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to 2 years. The police knew he didn't do it but his best friend did, they couldn't find his friend so they told my brother either tell us where he went or we are going to blame you, he told them that he didn't know where he went, so my brother was charged with armed robbery with a stick, and given 2 years. In court the victim, also 14 changed his story by police orders, and said my brother robbed him. The police can make the young and scared people get anybody they want covicted of a crime that they know didn't do it.
Mo-563393 are you for real?!!!! did you read the same article i did?!!!! those dirty ass cops badgered a 16 yr old CHILD into saying exactly what they wanted him to say...they should all go to prison for 19 years...every cop involved...two adult seasoned detectives trained to interrogate against an immature kid...he was no match...in my opinion those detectives are MONSTERS and they should get the same punishment this innocent man suffered!!!!
19 years ago, The Right Wing of the GOP where Shouting (FRY his A$$) Thank god his was not in Texas, They would of had to dig up his grave to tell him he was innocent
Capital Punishment must be abolished because they ain't all guilty (best reason among many).
WASHINGTON DC: The White House just responded. "This, like EVERYTHING else, is the fault of George W. Bush!"
With regards to this also being G. Bush's fault, I agree --- it probably was. The guy is one of the biggest, smug crooks living in this country, and probably other countries. The damage that one person can do sometimes, baffles the hay out of me....
what a great comment....put those bastards behind bars....i bet alot of false testimony or false information would cease and desist. of course then there wouldnt be many lawyers or police officers around..sad
No one should have the right to take a life, legal or otherwise.
We are supposed to behave above the minds of criminals, but the death penalty only brings us down to the criminal's level.
What a great attitude this guy has! Not bitter at all- wow!
He's still young enough to enjoy a long life of freedom- I wish him well.
Be forewarned: these types of wrongful convictions are about to explode exponentially as the Prisons for Profit system expands. Inmates + Years in Prison = Enormous Corporate Profits.
It doesn't matter who speaks against it, as long as profit is the motive and corporations are exempt from any criminal accountability even when knowingly killing, crippling and maiming innocent people you will never stop them. What's the worse that will happen? Pay a relatively small fine in comparison to the BILLIONS being made to turn the US into a nation of felons. These "bottom line" men and women of Corporate America will laugh their way to the bank as the average man, woman and child pay the horrific price for their greed.
40,000 New Laws in 2012:
msnbc.msn.com/id/45819570/ns/us_news-life/t/new-laws-toughen-rules-abortions-immigrants-voters/
Two radically different sources about the evils of Prisons for Profit:
cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2012/May/Nation-of-Criminals-Selling-Prisons-for-Profit/
commondreams.org/view/2012/04/25-7
Yep...wasn't it about 3 months ago that some judges got busted for taking bribes to send kids to juvy that didn't deserve to be there?
Prosecuters are politicians, period! They don't care about justice, only getting that conviction to further their little political agenda! They stairstep their way to the top of the system. I want the real criminals found, tied and sentenced, but would love to see a prosecuter who avoids prosecuting someone because he may be innocent. And yes, court appointed attorneys for the most part are too busy to represent someone for free. They lack the finances to properly investigate or to represent, or else dont really care so they let the system take over. Somewhere along the line we need a better way for poor people to be represented. But cops and prosecuters who actually hold back information just to get a case out of the way need to be prosecuted themselves. No statue of limitations. Let them face prison time in general population if they circumvent the law themselves.
Gee you mean there are crooks everywhere....go figure. Just look in Congress and you'll see a bunch...not to mention right on up the ladder!
I agree Larry starting with Eric Holder. He deserves to be in the federal pen.
"Smith, meanwhile, said the first items on his agenda now that he's free is to get a license and find a job."
If you were innocent, I am happy for you. But a lot has changed in 20 years, like being able to get a job. I, for example, have never been in prison, have 2 masters and a law degree and am seriously under-employed. I have a job, but it's the kind of job that you, with probably no or little education, would get if you NEVER went to the pen.
The drivers license, on the other hand, should be a snap. Oh wait, you'll need 2 forms of government issued ID (passport & birth certificate), a health insurance card and / or a credit card for that ... that's if you're in NJ ... see there was this little thing called 9/11 and republicanism that just F'd everything up.
Heck, you might want (or need) to actually commit a crime to get housing and 3 squares a day.
OK, that's harsh, I am sure those lawyers will foot-the-bill, that is until you're unlawful imprisonment settlement comes through. I'm sure the middle-class taxpayers, that are already way, way over-burdened won't mind that extra cost though. It's only fair. Right? Because the Rich in this country hardly pay any tax because well, they are really busy...creating jobs.
Ya, right. That's the ticket. They are creating jobs. Like more police and homeland security jobs (don't worry you'll find out what that is) to make sure they are safe, fat and happy in their gated communities.
Shoot. Too bad, I wasn't false;y convicted of something 19 years ago, then "found innocent." I would never have incurred this incredible student loan debt ($166,000.00) and I'd be leaving the slammer to a pay-day (of what? at least a million or two) and I bet we're the same age 40 something.
Isn't life grand?
He doesnt need a job. He says he is just happy to be free. I am sure lawyers are lined up at his house with the multi-million dollar law suits against the city. And rightfully so. He should be compensated for forced false testimony
The article stated he is entitled to $50,000 per yr. that comes to $950,000 if my math is correct.
If I were wrongfully convicted for 20 years, I would be suing the @!$%# out of everyone who made it happen. I'd settle at a minimum of 4 or 5 mill, although I'd have my sights on maybe 14 mill. There's nothing like being locked in cage for something that wasn't even your fault. I'm surprised he managed to stay sane. I doubt I would.
That is wonderful, but it should be more! TAX FREE!
Ryanb21:
The problem is, the real criminals are exempt from those lawsuits and will never be held accountable.
We don't have a just justice system and any real justice is only attainable with money. Even the guilty are set free as long as they have enough money. Money is the only language justice speaks.
This man needs some counseling, immediately! There is something wrong with someone who spends nearly 20 years of his life locked away like an animal, and not feel bitter. I understand about forgiveness but you should not have to forget. Of course, I would feel a lot better with about a billion bitter dollars in my pocket. Just one man's opinion!!!
the billion dollars would still not be justice
Perhaps he has wisdom you don't have. Through no fault of his own, he was imprisoned for nearly twenty years. You think it is appropriate and normal for him to throw away the remainder of his life by choosing to remain in a psychological prison?
God, and only God, can make an innocent man, who wrongfully spent nineteen years in jail, come out with no animosity towards those who put him there. God's word constantly talks about forgiveness. Although this man did not mention it, I'm certain he found God while imprisoned. I don't know if he was able to finish high school or not, but if he didn't, that should be his first plan of action, and then, hopefully earn a degree in a chosen field. I pray that he will find the good life that he was robbed of at such an early age, and not return to prison since the recidivism rate in America is outrageous.
It's quite possibe that he had God before; also quite possible that he studied while in prison, and may, in fact, be quite employable.
He probably will need counselling because of instatutionalising, and all the changed that have happened in the 19 years he's been out of touch with society. Things were a lot better in 1993...
Good for him, I wish him well. Say hi to Grandma for me!
His settlement with the system should be done quickly. He could even start a business. He could start a food truck and get counseling and put one foot in front of the other and have a better life. God Bless him and his family!
Can't you give him credit for being able to forgive and move on?
"...police pressured him to identify Smith as the shooter."
Why is this not so hard to believe?
It's a common practice for some police investigators and prosecutors to influence witnesses. Any one else influencing witnesses and it's call "Witness tampering" and people go to jail for it. Since there is no statute of limitations on murder, I wonder if the justice system will pursue charges of perjury against the investigators?There is big difference between politics and justice. No doubt politics will keep perjurers, in this case, out of the prison system. Too bad equal justice isn't applied here!
typical LA police..hope he sues the city for big money
Unfortunately, he is not the only innocent man in prison.
Also,not all innocent incarcerated men are their because they did not get a fair or just trial.. Many, Many innocent men are in prison because they took a plea deal or a light sentence because they feared they may not get a fair trial because of too much "made up, speculated, or he said/she said type of evidence or that they were wise enough to know that it is a "bit of a broken system".. far too much guilty until proven innocent going on.
I would rather walk the streets with murders and rapist than see ONE innocent man convicted and imprisoned.
DOT-1722169 ... Good Post!
DOT- It's easy to say that now. Try saying if after (heaven forbid) you or your mother or your sister are raped or murdered and find out the attacker had previously been arrested and tried but was free because the court was more worried about his rights than keeping future victims safe. I don't want innocent people going to jail either. But I don't want the dangerous, guilty ones walking the streets with me. The system is broke, for sure, but because it is run by humans it will never be perfect.
do your relatives a favor. a .380 makes a great xmas gift.
How can those of you be so sure that the witness who recanted his story is now telling the truth
now? Yet, you quickly put the judicial system on trial.you are a troll.
You're trolling for trolls.
When are we going to start prosecuting police for knowingly putting innocent people in jail especially for a crime like murder when the guilty one is left on the street to kill more innocent and non-innocent people. Shameful and weakens the justice system. Another question why is it always a innocent black guy that gets put away for 20 years surely there are plenty of guilty black guys to pin a murder rap on if you just want to get a guy off the streets let it be a criminal? Either way it weakens the justice system.
Guilty until proven innocent! Cops lie all the time for the prosecutor. They all have to make a name for themselves as doing good. Punish the prosecutor for false info.
I wonder if cops lie more often than criminals do?
Unfortunately I think police pressure people into confession. I follow the Innocence Organization and they have exonerated 100s of innocent people due to false testimony. More and more you are hearing about police forcing people into a false confession........
PutoIsAPlanet-3101621, A criminal does not have to take an oath to honor and protect......a cop does so if they do lie even once that is one time too many!!
First thought is too bad for this man who was falsely imprisoned.
Second thought is good to see that at the moment he is not so bitter that he can't forgive.
Third thought is hope that he doesn't end up like some in his position that after a long falsely imprisonment and then released ends up in trouble with the law. There was a similar story a number of years ago and after a couple of years out of prison the guy began to get into trouble and went back to jail.
I hope he gets the help he'll need to readjust to the new found freedom he will hopefully enjoy for the rest of his life.
If he was indeed falsely imprisoned, I hope you're right.
This guy has a hard row to hoe, with the money he probably will get from LA and his past gang life plus 19yrs in prison suspect his chances of making good decisions are small.
square dude -
Why do you assume that he was in a gang? It does not say that he was in a gang in the article...perhaps you should re-read the article...
GetOver It..The story says that The Associated Press describes him as a former gang member..whether or not he was we don't know..
Sixth paragraph - first sentence - "a former gang member" maybe not current - but .......
The article did say he was a former gang member, you need to reread the story getoverit.
Some may ask, is the witness is telling the truth now. I would assume so because even if in prison now, there will undoubtedly be a perjury charge and added years/sentence. That's the first thing that needs to happen. Also, in most States, the innocent man released, should be able to collect several thousand dollars. It's usually a couple hundred thousand in cases like this. Then they could take a look at the cops invloved in the case and what they may have done.
and of course the judge had to be "sick" the first day he was to be released.........this is what arrogant people do when they and their "ways" are proven wrong or corrupt, they lash out in any little way they can.
That judge probably had nothing to do with the original sentence. And another judge wasn't available on a Friday.
Please Bail out....exactly! It's what power trippers do.....these people in positions such as this always abuse their power just because they can!!
My main issue with this story is that there are people that will read this story and the MANY similar ones and STILL think there's nothing wrong with our judicial system and that those that are in jail deserve to be there. Still for the death penalty after hearing about innocent people being prosecuted and found guilty?
Prosecutors, Mayors, Governors, Sheriffs, Detectives ALL advance their careers by making sure they lock SOMEONE up for crimes committed. All too often it's easy to send poor and minorities to jail because they don't have the means and resources (money) to fight charges brought forth. Crime is rampant in all neighborhoods and demographics, it's just that some are prosecuted at a higher rate than others for reasons that are obvious by now.
When people are screaming injustice at a corrupt judicial system , they aren't crying because they want to get away with crime, they are crying because others get away with the same crimes all the time.
The people that pursued to put him in jail should be dealt with. Take their pensions and give it to him along with several million dollars . I feel bad for this guy.
I couldn't agree with you more and more than likely someone became higher in the ranks because of his arrest they should lose everything but you can believe that will never ever happen.
We will never know how many innocent people, especially minority people, there are in jail or who have been murdered by the same system that knew they were innocent. Judges and prosecutors who know when a defendant is innocent should be heavily fined and spend some time behind bars themselves! This man and others like him should get at least $1M for their erroneous imprisonment.
In the California system, people of Mexican descent, or other Latinos, fill up better than 50 percecnt of the prisons, yet we always seem to hear of the wrongful convictions of blacks almost exclusively. No one seems to hear from the whites, asians, or the Latinos about these issues
Being neither of Mexican extraction nor black, if in the California system, people of Mexican descent, or other Latinos fill up better than 50 percent of the prisons, yet we always seem to hear of the wrongful convictions of blacks almost exclusively, a logical conclusion to draw is that more blacks are wrongfully imprisoned than are people of Mexican extraction. In other words more Mexican guys are demonstrably guilty and more black guys are demonstrably framed. I have no dog in this race; I merely elaborate on your comments. Do you have some other reason why the Mexican guys stay in the slammer?
They want to put all minorities away......this is one of their sick forms of population control!!!
This is done frequently and then they let loose with the "statistics"...smh!
This man is amazing! Being wrongly convicted, spending 2 decades in prison, and he has the wisdom not to be bitter. If he is innocent (you have to question the guy who lied, did he lie then or is he lying now?) I hope that he is able to find a good job (it's nearly impossible in today's economy), and I hope that the rest of his life is wonderful. This is why all police interrogation rooms should be recorded 24/7, no turning it off to coerce or threaten to get what they want.
How would you know what goes on in police interview rooms? You pose a good question, is he lying then or is he lying now? Everybody gives the dude a pass except for his victim that he raped. I think the guy is out because he did not do it, but there is more to it than the kool aid version here.
I think that the man is free because he did not do it, but I also believe the convicted rapist is not so telling the truth when he says the police coerced him, I think there is another reason that had to do with the politics of the hood they were from. Ther is more to be said than meets the eye here.
sad and unfortunate but black men have been falsely imprisoned for many years in this country. The FBI in Chicago arrested the former police capt. because in the 60'and 70's he was forcing black men to confess to crimes that they did not commit. If there is a silver lining at least he was not sentences to death like so many black men that were falsely accused of crimes. I see why the governor of illinois removed over 200 men from death row. God bless him and others that they might find peace.
Its also another unfortunate fact that hispanic and black men do the majority of crime in our country. In both minorities education is seen as unpopular, Ive even heard of student minorities who are seen to do well in class are harassed where they have to hide how well they do in school.
and its also a fact that thousands of white men have gotten away with killing blacks over the years
Square dude -
It is numerically impossible for latino and black men to complete most of the crimes in our country. You should probebly refrain from making bigoted comments before researching your "assumptions".
I think it is not a bigoted statement if true. I think he might have mis-phrased it. It is incontrovertible that the percentage of criminals among minorities is much higher than the percentage of criminals among the whites. Do you dispute this?
I don't agree at all......the minorities just get targeted more!!
And square dude is white and believes all those "statistics" that have put innocent people in jail...typical.
I truely don't know why he was found guilty at the time of the crime but now the record has been set straight. No amount of money will correct this wrong but I imagine he will sue for this wrong.
But the question is what evidence was brought forward to free him that wasn't brought forward at the time of the crime those are things all of need to know.
The sad thing is he spent so many years in prison for something he never did and that is truely sad.
"I truely dont know why he was found guilty"....Answer white cops, white prosecutor, and white juror enough said.
I agree with you on that one. America is the only country in the world that has the highest prison population...Cops should only be allowed to stay on the force for about 10 years only.
Did the story mention the race of the cops, DAs and judges?
meworld - "Answer white cops, white prosecutor, and white juror enough said..."
And I am sure at the time this originally took place in 1992 there were other simple-minded morons such as yourself that were screaming that the 'white cops' and 'white prosecutors' were not taking this crime seriously because it was a black-on-black gang-related crime. When a crime involving violence against blacks goes unsolved, the "racist system" didn't work hard enough. When the individual convicted is black, the system is "racist" because they convicted a black person. Which is it, the apathy makes them racist or the pressure to solve a crime is racist?
Funny thing is I see plenty of little middle class white punks being tossed into squad cars in my city, and plenty of good ol' boy white trash as well. The perjured testimony of the black 'witness' in this case has nothing to do with racism, just simple universal human stupidity (but I suppose you are going to say that racism had a hand when Landu Mvuemba was later convicted of rape). I suppose you can also say with absolute certainty that every one of the 12 people on the jury pooled from the residents of Los Angeles was a white racist as well.
Guess what simple minds, mistakes happen, sometimes grievous ones, but it doesn't mean that the big ol' boogie man of racism is to blame for everything ("damn racist ATM stole my card"...I kid you not, I ACTUALLY heard that one once, had to just shake me head...). I thought the almighty Lord-God-King Obama was supposed to end all this stuff, to be the first 'post-racial' President; is it me or has it only become worse? It is REALLY time to take that overused, utterly frayed-edge race card out of the deck people, way overplayed since 1968.
Eye witness testimony should never be used as the only evidence in any case. It's proven to be faulty 99% of the time. It's just an easy out for lazy investigators.
I TOTALLY Agree! This guy was not given the proper attention by his lawyer.All too common with Public Defenders. These corrupt cops just seen a chance to close a case, Right or not. This man was profiled, As a black former gang member, They pressured , and lied to get this man convicted. IMO these cops should be charged. At LEAST his attorney should be charged for ineffective representation. And should have to explain himself to the Bar Association. The more times we let these as*holes get away with it , the more they will do it.
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California is now the second best place to commit murder - right behind Florida.
Obama / Biden 2012
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You're on the wrong board aren't you?