jdswifey02
05-08-2002, 01:13 PM
> Posted on Sun, May. 05, 2002
Freed inmate: America's death-penalty system is broken
> By Ray Krone
> KNIGHT RIDDER TRIBUNE
>
> I'm not a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist. Or a
> politician. Or the
> head of any organization. I'm simply an average
> American. An average
> American who sat on Death Row.
>
> My name is Ray Krone. I grew up in York, Pa., with a
> loving family and
> many friends. I played Little League baseball, went
> hiking with the Cub
> Scouts and Boy Scouts, attended Sunday school and
> sang in the church
> choir. I graduated in the top 10 percent of my high
> school class and did
> well on my college entrance exams. I decided to
> enlist in the Air
> Force, where I proudly attained the rank of
> sergeant. I served my country
> for seven years and was honorably discharged. My
> last assignment in the
> Air Force was in Arizona. I decided to stay there
> and joined the U.S.
> Postal Service.
>
> I had a normal, good life. Nothing spectacular.
> Then, in an instant, my
> life was turned upside down. I was arrested for the
> stabbing murder of
> a local female bartender. At the time, and quite
> frankly, throughout
> the whole legal process, I truly felt I would be OK.
> After all, I was
> innocent. I reassured my family and friends I would
> be fine without a
> private attorney. How could the system fail an
> innocent man? I was deeply
> mistaken.
>
> It was a bar I frequented, and I did know the
> bartender. Thanks to some
> bad forensic science, bite marks on the body were
> mistakenly said to
> have been made by my teeth.
>
> I spent 10 years behind bars, including two years on
> Death Row for a
> horrible crime I did not commit. It's difficult to
> describe what it is
> like to serve time on Death Row knowing you are
> innocent. All you know is
> that what seems like an awful nightmare is now
> reality, a reality
> beyond comprehension.
>
> I still find it hard to believe that only a few
> weeks ago I was sitting
> in my Arizona jail cell and today I am a free man. I
> owe my freedom to
> the extraordinary efforts of my family, friends and
> volunteer lawyers
> who fought tirelessly for me to obtain the DNA
> evidence from my case.
> The DNA proved my innocence - and a match has now
> been been made with the
> DNA of another man.
>
> What happened to me, unfortunately, has happened to
> many others. True,
> I have recently received notoriety - if it can be
> called that - for
> being the 100th American exonerated, but the fact is
> that being 100 or 99
> or 98 doesn't really matter. What matters is that
> our death-penalty
> system is broken. What happened to me can happen to
> anyone. And it doesn't
> have to be that way.
>
> I've learned a lot in the last few weeks of freedom.
> And one thing I've
> learned is that there are steps our nation can take
> to improve our
> death-penalty system. One important step would be
> for Congress to pass the
> Innocence Protection Act. This act would ensure that
> people who face
> the death penalty have greater access to the DNA
> from their cases. And it
> would also help states provide competent legal
> counsel in capital
> punishment cases.
>
> Curiously enough, I still believe in our system of
> justice. But like
> any system, it can be improved. I'm not asking
> members of Congress to
> change their views on the death penalty. I have to
> believe, however, that
> even those who support the death penalty do not
> support putting
> innocent people to their death - and leaving the
> guilty to roam free.
>
> Ten years ago, I was an average Joe who liked
> delivering the mail.
> Today, I'm still an American but average dreams, but
> I've had a lot more
> time to think about things.
>
> I can't afford to look back at what my life would
> have been like if I
> had obtained access to the DNA from my case years
> ago or if I had
> listened to my mother and hired a private attorney.
> For me, there is no sense
> in dwelling on what might have been. The time has
> come to look at what
> can be. And helping to make sure that what happened
> to me is less
> likely to happen to someone else is a much better
> use of my precious time.
>
> ---------------------------------
> Ray Krone was sentenced to death in Arizona for the
> murder of a female
> bartender a decade ago. He was exonerated by DNA
> evidence last month.
> He wrote this article for the Philadelphia Inquirer
> with the help of his
> attorney, Alan M. Simpson.
Freed inmate: America's death-penalty system is broken
> By Ray Krone
> KNIGHT RIDDER TRIBUNE
>
> I'm not a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist. Or a
> politician. Or the
> head of any organization. I'm simply an average
> American. An average
> American who sat on Death Row.
>
> My name is Ray Krone. I grew up in York, Pa., with a
> loving family and
> many friends. I played Little League baseball, went
> hiking with the Cub
> Scouts and Boy Scouts, attended Sunday school and
> sang in the church
> choir. I graduated in the top 10 percent of my high
> school class and did
> well on my college entrance exams. I decided to
> enlist in the Air
> Force, where I proudly attained the rank of
> sergeant. I served my country
> for seven years and was honorably discharged. My
> last assignment in the
> Air Force was in Arizona. I decided to stay there
> and joined the U.S.
> Postal Service.
>
> I had a normal, good life. Nothing spectacular.
> Then, in an instant, my
> life was turned upside down. I was arrested for the
> stabbing murder of
> a local female bartender. At the time, and quite
> frankly, throughout
> the whole legal process, I truly felt I would be OK.
> After all, I was
> innocent. I reassured my family and friends I would
> be fine without a
> private attorney. How could the system fail an
> innocent man? I was deeply
> mistaken.
>
> It was a bar I frequented, and I did know the
> bartender. Thanks to some
> bad forensic science, bite marks on the body were
> mistakenly said to
> have been made by my teeth.
>
> I spent 10 years behind bars, including two years on
> Death Row for a
> horrible crime I did not commit. It's difficult to
> describe what it is
> like to serve time on Death Row knowing you are
> innocent. All you know is
> that what seems like an awful nightmare is now
> reality, a reality
> beyond comprehension.
>
> I still find it hard to believe that only a few
> weeks ago I was sitting
> in my Arizona jail cell and today I am a free man. I
> owe my freedom to
> the extraordinary efforts of my family, friends and
> volunteer lawyers
> who fought tirelessly for me to obtain the DNA
> evidence from my case.
> The DNA proved my innocence - and a match has now
> been been made with the
> DNA of another man.
>
> What happened to me, unfortunately, has happened to
> many others. True,
> I have recently received notoriety - if it can be
> called that - for
> being the 100th American exonerated, but the fact is
> that being 100 or 99
> or 98 doesn't really matter. What matters is that
> our death-penalty
> system is broken. What happened to me can happen to
> anyone. And it doesn't
> have to be that way.
>
> I've learned a lot in the last few weeks of freedom.
> And one thing I've
> learned is that there are steps our nation can take
> to improve our
> death-penalty system. One important step would be
> for Congress to pass the
> Innocence Protection Act. This act would ensure that
> people who face
> the death penalty have greater access to the DNA
> from their cases. And it
> would also help states provide competent legal
> counsel in capital
> punishment cases.
>
> Curiously enough, I still believe in our system of
> justice. But like
> any system, it can be improved. I'm not asking
> members of Congress to
> change their views on the death penalty. I have to
> believe, however, that
> even those who support the death penalty do not
> support putting
> innocent people to their death - and leaving the
> guilty to roam free.
>
> Ten years ago, I was an average Joe who liked
> delivering the mail.
> Today, I'm still an American but average dreams, but
> I've had a lot more
> time to think about things.
>
> I can't afford to look back at what my life would
> have been like if I
> had obtained access to the DNA from my case years
> ago or if I had
> listened to my mother and hired a private attorney.
> For me, there is no sense
> in dwelling on what might have been. The time has
> come to look at what
> can be. And helping to make sure that what happened
> to me is less
> likely to happen to someone else is a much better
> use of my precious time.
>
> ---------------------------------
> Ray Krone was sentenced to death in Arizona for the
> murder of a female
> bartender a decade ago. He was exonerated by DNA
> evidence last month.
> He wrote this article for the Philadelphia Inquirer
> with the help of his
> attorney, Alan M. Simpson.