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#1 |
Serious Business
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: New York
Moto: 1993 ZX-11 2008 CBR1000rr
Posts: 9,723
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Man exonerated, freed from prison after 35 years
STORY HIGHLIGHTS James Bain, 54, released from prison after more than three decades behind bars Bain was convicted in 1974 of abducting and raping a 9-year-old Florida boy DNA testing excluded Bain from crime, authorities say His case was reopened after his fifth request to use DNA evidence Bartow, Florida (CNN) -- After more than three decades in prison, a Florida man was set free Thursday after a DNA test showed he did not kidnap and rape a 9-year-old boy in 1974. "I'm not angry," James Bain, 54, told reporters after a brief hearing in Bartow, Florida. Bain was 19 when he was convicted on charges of kidnapping, burglary and strong-arm rape. He received a life sentence. He will be allowed to go home for the first time in 35 years. "I got God in my head," said Bain, surrounded by supporters and wearing a T-shirt with "Not Guilty" across the front. "I knew one day he will reveal me." Of the 245 people in the United States whom DNA testing has exonerated, none has spent more time behind bars than Bain, according to the Innocence Project, a national organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through such testing. In 2001, Florida passed a statute allowing cases to be reopened for DNA testing. Bain submitted handwritten motions four times seeking such testing but was denied each time. His fifth attempt was successful after an appeals court ruled he was entitled to a hearing. On Thursday, state attorney Jerry Hill told the judge that DNA testing had excluded Bain from the crime. "He's just not connected with this particular incident," Hill said. "You are a free man," the judge told Bain. CNN's Rich Phillips contributed to this report. Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/17/...ion/index.html |
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#2 |
AMA Supersport
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 4,756
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#3 |
Serious Business
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: New York
Moto: 1993 ZX-11 2008 CBR1000rr
Posts: 9,723
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#4 |
Vrooom
Join Date: Nov 2008
Moto: 06 ZX6R
Posts: 4,427
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Stories like this always sadden me.
There is clearly fallacies in the judicial system (both in the US and Canada) and it makes me question how people can be so in favour of the death penalty. I'm not saying he was this great person or anything. But 3 decades behind bars for a crime you didn't commit? Jesus! |
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#5 |
cruiser
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: on the run
Moto: '09 HD superglide, 16 Yamaha FZ 09
Posts: 2,749
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#6 |
Moto GP Star
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 12,156
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245 people where DNA testing has exonerated? Makes you wonder how many other people that are wrongly convicted where DNA testing can't prove or disprove because there is no DNA evidence. Not sure how this guy can ever be repaid. 35 years? That's half a lifetime and his entire adult life.
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#7 |
Kneedragger
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: PDX
Posts: 170
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Wow. I can understand people being wrongly convicted. The system is NOT perfect. But in a case like this he should NEVER be denied DNA testing. For those years at minimum I would be very angry
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#8 | |
Follower
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,549
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I know that everyone in prison is "innocent" but if there is exonerating DNA available, he should have at least been allowed a hearing.
__________________
Racing For Smiles |
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#9 | |
Custom User Title
![]() Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Central NY
Moto: 2003 SV650S
Posts: 14,959
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__________________
I'm not "fat." I'm "Enlarged to show texture." Handle every stressful situation like a DOG: If you can't eat it or hump it, pi$$ on it & walk away. |
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#10 |
Aspiring Rapper
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Halifax, NS
Moto: '12 CB1000R
Posts: 3,569
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Or they can't think far enough ahead to realize it could have been them.
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