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Jonathan Smith walks free after 21 years of wrongful imprisonment

innocenceproject.org

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Re: Jonathan Smith walks free after 21 years of wrongful imprisonment

#111

Post by uzakov »

mikeyouse wrote: post #64
hervature wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I said nothing about illegal immigrants. I’m a non-citizen myself. Here is the relevant law for you and other down voters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_and_Nationality_Ac... Obviously, we’re talking about ICE so my comment was meant towards non official border crossings.

That's all well and good - but ICE doesn't just pursue border-crossers -- they regularly arrest and deport people here on Visa overstays.. Many of the people that OPs friend is complaining about receiving aid from San Francisco "activist lawyers" are from Asia, who obviously didn't enter the country illegally, hence, non-criminals.

> That's all well and good - but ICE doesn't just pursue border-crossers -- they regularly arrest and deport people here on Visa overstays..

Isn't visa overstay illegal? Is it not part of ICE job?

Re: Jonathan Smith walks free after 21 years of wrongful imprisonment

#112

Post by peteretep »

emmelaich wrote: post #94
peteretep wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know what indict means?

It's a reference to this quote: > New York State chief judge Sol Wachtler was famously quoted by Tom Wolfe in The Bonfire of the Vanities that "a grand jury would 'indict a ham sandwich,' if that's what you wanted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_sandwich

Yes, I'm well aware. Indictment is in no way being found guilty by a jury of your peers though and has wildly different standards of evidence.

Re: Jonathan Smith walks free after 21 years of wrongful imprisonment

#113

Post by fouuler »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #101
rytis wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For those not fluent in Latin (I had to look up) "quid pro quo" means "a favour or advantage granted in return for something".

The literal meaning is "what for what?".

Not really. quid/quod can mean `what' or `something'. Here it clearly means `something'.

Re: Jonathan Smith walks free after 21 years of wrongful imprisonment

#114

Post by cygx »

haram_masala wrote: post #63
kmeisthax wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't. What they do want is for immigrants to not fear deportation, so they want to make a stand that they'll fight immigration enforcement every step of the way. Hence why they'll get involved with these kinds of lawsuits. Even if ICE purely deported only people who committed crimes other than illegal entry or overstaying a visa; you'd still have plenty of immigrants afraid of all law enforcement. Yes, even the…

If someone is legally in the US, why would they fear having their life uprooted by having to show their papers?

Allegedly, in the timespan 2003 to 2010, the US detained (in some cases for months) or even deported over 20k US citizen:

https://jacquelinestevens.org/US-Unlawfully-Detaining.Steven...

Re: Jonathan Smith walks free after 21 years of wrongful imprisonment

#115

Post by ALittleLight »

fortran77 wrote: post #17
credit_guy wrote: post #16

Ms Haddaway made a secret deal with the prosecutors and the prosecutors did not reveal this. But did she lie? What this article forgets to mention is that Ms Haddaway wore a wire and got Jonathan Smith on tape that he committed the murder in order to get $60000 [1]. Here's part of the dialog for reader's convenience: "[BH:]Why were you in that field with blood all over ya? And they take, I seen ya goin’up the road th…

I suspect at least half the people exonerated by the Innocence Project are in fact guilty. However, I think that sloppy police work should never be rewarded with a guilty verdict, even if it's likely the defendant is guilty.

I disagree with this. The police aren't made any better off by getting a guilty verdict. They take their salaries home either way. As it should be.

Society benefits when the guilty are in prison and suffers when they go free. If a person is guilty and the police made a mistake, we should correct the mistake the police made, including by firing people responsible or pressing criminal charges if appropriate, but malpractice by the police should not exonerate a guilty person.

Re: Jonathan Smith walks free after 21 years of wrongful imprisonment

#116

Post by avs733 »

bobmaxup wrote: post #81
avs733 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems like a valid use of mandatory minimums to me. State actors should be subject to mandatory minimum life sentences for violating the rights of the public.

Isn't life in prison practically taking someone else's life? Would you even need that strong of an incentive to reduce the occurrence?

Punishment does not work as a deterrent.

I propose this as a demonstration by the system that it is willing to respond to violations of the rules by the system. Such violations are inherently more problematic.

Re: Jonathan Smith walks free after 21 years of wrongful imprisonment

#117

Post by [deleted] »

bobmaxup wrote: post #81
avs733 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems like a valid use of mandatory minimums to me. State actors should be subject to mandatory minimum life sentences for violating the rights of the public.

Isn't life in prison practically taking someone else's life? Would you even need that strong of an incentive to reduce the occurrence?

[deleted]

Re: Jonathan Smith walks free after 21 years of wrongful imprisonment

#118

Post by tyingq »

stefan_ wrote: post #5

> Ms. Haddaway had demanded that the state dismiss unrelated drug charges against her grandson in exchange for her testimony against Mr. Smith and Mr. Faulkner. The recordings also show that the state refused to place that deal in writing to prevent Ms. Haddaway from being cross-examined on the issue. The state, in fact, dismissed the charges three days before Mr. Andrews’s trial was scheduled to begin. So they didn'…

And yet, it's still an Alford plea. He gets out, but no compensation or exoneration unless he leads the effort to clear himself.

Re: Jonathan Smith walks free after 21 years of wrongful imprisonment

#119

Post by unstatusthequo »

codezero wrote: post #49
monoideism wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We don’t punish those things too hard in the US unless the target is poor or brown. Absolutely, which is why Bernie Madoff died a free man.

I’m confused. Bernie Madoff died in prison. Can you clarify your comment? How is it relevant to this thread? His punishment, compared to the economic and personal impact of his crimes was very light in general terms. Try again.

Sarcasm. That’s what. He had 150 years in prison. Read: effective life in prison. What more punishment would you suggest? Oh two effective life in prison sentences? Gulag? Slow torture?

Re: Jonathan Smith walks free after 21 years of wrongful imprisonment

#120

Post by js2 »

Another case of innocence I just listened to is of Myon Burrell sentenced to life in prison for a crime he didn't commit:

https://revealnews.org/podcast/the-jail-tapes-in-the-dumpste...

> Most people serving life sentences don’t have an investigative reporter show up to volunteer at their prison and spend a year reinvestigating their case. Most don’t have ties to a presidential candidate to make their story more appealing to news editors. George Floyd’s killing probably also played a role. Floyd’s death gripped Minnesota and put a spotlight on systemic racism before the eyes of the world. There are efforts around the country to review old cases like Myon’s. About a dozen states have set up sentencing review units or conviction review units. Minnesota is establishing one, but it’s unlikely all the Myons out there will get anyone to give their old cases a second look.

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