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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

#5

Post by stefan_ »

> 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't just withhold information, 13 years after they manufactured a witness with some quid pro quo?

I think there was a crime committed here.

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

#7

Post by avs733 »

pstuart wrote: post #2

Prosecutorial misconduct like that should be punished severely -- there needs to be accountability for destroying other people's lives.

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.

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

#8

Post by codezero »

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'…

The story behind a lot of these innocence project stories is one of corruption and/or incompetence. We don’t punish those things too hard in the US unless the target is poor or brown.

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

#9

Post by ccsnags »

avs733 wrote: post #7
pstuart wrote: post #2

Prosecutorial misconduct like that should be punished severely -- there needs to be accountability for destroying other people's lives.

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.

I’ve always been a proponent of state actors being held to a higher standard like how the UCMJ is an additional judicial code that members of the military have to follow as well as the normal laws.
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