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Ask HN: Just got an innocent man out of prison. What now?

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Re: Ask HN: Just got an innocent man out of prison. What now?

#151
I read this post earlier and then just read this City Journal article where the founder of the company America Works describes his history with the war on poverty and welfare to work programs. The focus is to get people entry level jobs and he apparently has a good track record of doing it.

Good luck!

http://www.city-journal.org/html/what-i-learned-poverty-war-...

Re: Ask HN: Just got an innocent man out of prison. What now?

#152
post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He was an infantryman. Kicked down doors in Iraq going room-to-room searching for insurgents. Until the charges are formally dismissed, it's hard to imagine any employer will actually be willing to hire him. The DA's office is really making his life hard by refusing to just immediately stipulate that he's an innocent man.

I suspect you could probably convince smaller businesses to be ok on the background check, with disclosure. If I were hiring, I'd do it on his merits (Iraq vet makes up for the extra hassle with a background investigation, at least for me.) (Also, fuck the DA. What is it with SoCal and horrible DAs?)

s/SoCal/USA/

It's not really a surprise; no decent person would voluntarily sign up to send pot-smokers to prison.

Re: Ask HN: Just got an innocent man out of prison. What now?

#153
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but I can't talk about them because it's part of an active investigation.

Also, was there one piece of evidence that really proved he couldn't have done it? I read a bunch of it, and it sounds like you can't prove anything beyond a reasonable doubt, but that he still might have done it (meaning, there just isn't much to go on).

Are you by chance a cop?

Re: Ask HN: Just got an innocent man out of prison. What now?

#154

How about a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for a self-published book? You two can be co-authors that way people get to read his experiences as well as your investigation. It is an election year. Perhaps you could introduce him to Clinton's campaign. They could hire him to do campaign related work (so he has a paycheck) while she can use his story to make a case for reforms in the legal system.

I would definitely buy this book, and (Army vet here) a lot of my former platoon members probably would too. One of my former squad leaders is a cop now, and another platoon member is at the police academy. Anecdotally I can say that, since a lot of vets end up in the LE community, interest in this story would be there.

Re: Ask HN: Just got an innocent man out of prison. What now?

#156
> A year ago, I saw a Dateline NBC episode about an Iraq-war vet, Sgt. Ray Jennings, who allegedly killed an 18-year-old girl in a parking lot. The evidence didn't persuade me, so my dad and I started our own investigation.

You're amazing!

I donate to The Innocence Project, because I think putting innocent people into jail is just about the worst thing you can do to someone short of rape/kill them.

Re: Ask HN: Just got an innocent man out of prison. What now?

#157
post #21
post #8

Military > Prison > Military? You mean to vent his rage?

Meaning if he ran cat5 cables for the Army he can run cat5 cables for anyone else. Unfortunately I can't imagine many private companies are in need to of the skills one learns in the infantry.

I was a sergeant in the infantry and went to Iraq as well. There is no better preparation for managing a team to solve a problem under intense pressure. I ran my own development business for many years and intend to do so again. The US Army Infantry is responsible for who I am today. I am confident the Army gave Ray Jennings skills he will be able to use for the rest of his life.

Re: Ask HN: Just got an innocent man out of prison. What now?

#160

I know this is off topic to the direct question at hand but his case, assuming the talking points found on this page I found[1] are true, is scary. No evidence whatsoever, including fingernail DNA that excluded him? What the actual fuck. >> Mr. Jennings voluntarily submitted to hours of police interviews and interrogations and a polygraph test without objection or legal representation. >> The evidence presented again…

Can a plea conviction be appealed / overturned? I admit my law knowledge is from watching Law & Order. :-). But "Lawyer-up" is the take home from that show (and by that token kids - ask for a lawyer not your mum or dad. you don't need a cuddle you need legal help)

Yes, in California a judge can allow a plea to be withdrawn if it "serves the interests of justice." This is the same mechanism used to expunge someone's record after, e.g., completing probation. They are required to set aside guilty pleas if they learn that the party isn't guilty—even if the defendant doesn't ask them to.
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