WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS OF CRIMES

  

                 

This is Part One of a two-part series
                              

Back in the mid-1970s I was asked to submit my opinions to the Canadian Parliament with respect to whether or not capital punishment should still be part of Canada’s Criminal Code.

During my research on that subject, I found a case in which a man was hanged for murdering a five-year-old girl. The aunt of the little girl told me that years after the man was hanged, the police told the family that the wrong man was hanged. They found the real killer but couldn’t charge him with the murder since he was insane and was in the province of Ontario’s insane asylum. I also found evidence that the lawyer who represented him was insane.

I was told by former Prime Minister Deifenbaker years later that when he read my report, he called his caucus together to discuss my report. Over 40 members of Parliament wrote me back and one of them wrote that my document would be on his desk when it was time to vote. I was later quoted in Parliament when I wrote in my report that the worst thing that be done to an innocent man is to hang him for a murder he didn’t commit. In 1976, the death penalty was partially abolished and several years later, it was totally abolished.

In 1969, I was invited to be the chairman of a task force to advise the provincial government of Ontario as to whether or not, innocent persons who were convicted of crimes they didn’t commit and were imprisoned, should be compensated. The task force comprised of three legislators, three law professors, two criminal court judges, the chairman of the Law Reform Commission of Ontario, a senior crown attorney (prosecutor)  a former solicitor general of Ontario and three criminal court lawyers, in which one  later became a member of te Supreme Court of Canada, another later became the chief justice of Ontario and the third later became the first Ombudsman in Canada. My report stated that compensation should be awarded to innocent persons convicted of crimes they didn’t commit and even compensation should be given to persons subject to lawyer’s fees in their trials for crimes they didn’t commit. A nurse in Toronto was tried for the murder of six children in the Children’s Hospital. She was acquitted and the government awarded her the money her family paid for her lawyer’s fees that amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ironically, the judge at her trial was previously a member of the task force. 

Compensation later was awarded to many persons in Canada who were imprisoned for murders they didn’t commit and in one case, a man who spent 24 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. was awarded ten million dollars tax free.   

Alas, in the United States, it is estimated that there are as many as 120,000 innocent persons serving time in American prisons.

 In 2014, there were 139 prisoners found to be innocent of the crimes they were convicted of committing. In 2015, there were 149 exonerations in the United States.  Furthermore, the average time in prison for exoneration individuals is 14 years. Studies show that about 1 in 25 people on death row in the U.S. are likely to be innocent.

This begs a pertinent question in the United  States. Shouldn’t the law compensate people who are put behind bars for crimes they didn’t commit?

Many years ago, a man in New York City was accused by a police officer of shooting to death someone else. The man was sentenced to die in the electric chair. Several times, he was removed from the execution room for appeals and then on the fourth time he was scheduled to die, the officer said on his death bed that he framed the man for the murder he didn’t commit. The man was set free and given $2,000 dollars in compensation. (8,000 in 2018 money)  That was the first time an innocent man in the United States was given financial compensation.

Nowadays, Texas state law provides compensation for individuals who have been wrongfully convicted. Additionally, the law gives the exonerated the right to receive free group health insurance. To qualify for compensation, the person must be found innocent and must also have served all or at least some portion of the prison sentence.

Anyone wrongfully convicted of a crime in Texas and later exonerated is entitled to $80,000 per year for every year served in prison. Compared to other states with similar laws, Texas awards the most compensation to those who are wrongfully convicted and later exonerated. Some states, such as Wisconsin, pay as little as $5,000 per year. At the federal level, the exonerated are entitled to $50,000 per year in compensation for a wrongful conviction.

There is an exception in the Texas statute, however. If you were serving a concurrent sentence for a separate criminal conviction, you aren’t entitled to compensation for any years that overlap with your wrongful conviction. Additionally, people who are later found innocent of a crime are entitled to get $25,000 for every year they served parole or were forced to register as a sex offender.

There is also a retirement benefit for people who are later found innocent of criminal wrongdoing. The statute provides that people who are exonerated of crimes receive an annuity for their lifetime.

One might be shocked to learn that 21 states pay nothing to those who are put behind bars for crimes they didn’t commit. In those states, the wrongfully convicted must sue the state in civil court for damages.   

It would be nice to think that the American judicial system is totally infallible, but unfortunately, that’s just not the case. Innocent people are convicted of crimes they didn’t commit more often than anyone would like to admit, and in some cases in the United States, people were later found to be innocent after they had been put to death.

In 1992, Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted of arson and murder in Texas. He was believed to have intentionally set a fire that killed his three kids. In 2004, he was put to death. Unfortunately, the Texas Forensic Science Commission later found that the evidence was misinterpreted, and they concluded that none of the evidence used against Willingham was valid. As it turnd out, the fire was determined to be accidental.

Rubin Cantu was 17 at the time the crime he was alleged of committing took place. Cantu was convicted of capital murder, and in 1993, the Texas teen was executed. About 12 years after his death, investigations showed that Cantu likely didn’t commit the murder. The lone eyewitness recanted his testimony, and Cantu’s co-defendant later admitted he allowed his friend to be falsely accused. He says Cantu wasn’t even there the night of the murder.

Griffin was put to death in 1995 for the 1981 murder of Quintin Moss, a Missouri drug dealer. Griffin always maintained his innocence, and now, evidence seems to indicate he was telling the truth. The first police officer on the scene now says the eyewitness account was false, even though the officer supported the claims during the trial. Another eyewitness who was wounded during the attack was never contacted during the trial, and he says Griffin wasn’t present at the crime scene that night.

In 1989, DeLuna was executed for the stabbing of a Texas convenience store clerk. Almost 20 years later, the Chicago Tribune uncovered evidence that shows DeLuna was likely innocent. The evidence showed that Carlos Hernandez, a man who even confessed to the murder many times, actually did the crime.

Spence was put to death in 1997 for the murder of three teenagers in Texas. He was supposedly hired by a convenience store clerk to kill someone else, but he allegedly killed the wrong people by mistake. The supervising police lieutenant said “I do not think David Spence committed this crime.” The lead homicide detective agreed, saying “My opinion is that David Spence was innocent. Nothing from the investigation ever led us to any evidence that he was involved.”

In 1976, Tafero was convicted of murdering a state trooper. He and Sonia Jacobs were both sentenced to death for the crime. The main evidence used to convict them was testimony by someone else who was involved in the crime, ex-convict Walter Rhodes. Rhodes gave this testimony in exchange for a life sentence. In 1990, Tafero was put to death. Two years later, his companion Jacobs was released due to a lack of evidence…the same evidence used to put Tafero to death.

The oldest case on this issue dates back to 1915. The Griffin brothers, two black men, were convicted of the murder of a white man. The reason they were convicted is because Monk Stevenson, another black man suspected of committing the murder, pointed to the brothers as having been responsible. He later admitted the reason he blamed them is because they were wealthy, and he assumed they had the money to beat the charges. The Griffin brothers were completely innocent, but they were put to death nonetheless.

As you can see from what I wrote about the man who was convicted of murdering a nurse—he was actually innocent.  In Canada, had the death penalty been the punishment for first degree murder then, he would have been hanged even though he was later declared innocent 24 years later and awarded ten million dollars.

Now you can see why I worked so hard to have the death penalty in Canada abolished and compensation given to innocent persons who were imprisoned.  

UPDATE:  A Manitoba man who spent 23 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit was released from prison recently and his conviction was reversed. Information that could have proved his innocence was not given to his lawyer during his trial.