Another Innocent Man Freed From Death Penalty (http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/07/another_innocent_man_freed_fro.php)

Posted on: July 10, 2009 9:30 AM, by Ed Brayton (http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/)
Balko has the details (http://www.theagitator.com/2009/07/08/this-week-in-innocence-8/) on yet another man convicted of multiple murders and sentenced to death and later found to be innocent. The evidence against him included a coerced confession and a jailhouse informant who was bribed by the police. He lost 19 years of his life.

To read more;

http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/07/another_innocent_man_freed_fro.php


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFSw5To3Qa0

Finally free after 18 years

Noreen McNulty reports on the exoneration of two prisoners whose wrongful convictions were the result of torture in Chicago police stations.



To read more;
http://socialistworker.org/2009/07/08/finally-free-after-18-years

This is amazing!! I wish people that believe that the police are always arresting the right people would read about these cases. A confession is worthless if it is coerced. Why can't law enforcement get that?

Confessions should NEVER be used to convict, on there own. If someone confesses then corroborating evidence should always be produced too. Confessions are as unreliable as eye witness accounts!!

Confessions should NEVER be used to convict, on there own. If someone confesses then corroborating evidence should always be produced too. Confessions are as unreliable as eye witness accounts!!

That's why they needed the perjured jail house snitch testimony...
Sorry, bad joke...

I get your point there thinkink!

Cases like these should serve as a warning to the public. Police officers need to be better trained in interview tactics and better educated in general. They need to weed out the bad ones.

Wow being from another country I had never heard of this Burge person but just read about it. I am shellshocked at what this guy got away with and everything related to it and yet he is still free.

Which side of the bars should everyone really be worried about.

Thanks for posting this.
What B.S! though. The system is soooo corrupt! This is the same thing that happened to my boyfriend!!! And this is nothing new. My boyfriend got convicted by an illegal immagrant that was given rights to stay in this country if he testified against him. He also purgered himself and accused my boyfriend of extreme charges that carry life in prison. Those were later dropped, but nothing was done to the "victim" for perjury. He was able to convince a jury even after lying and got my man 12 yrs in prison. This happens a lot more often than we think. I'm glad this guy is free now, but my only question is why the F*** does it take them 9 years to figure out he's innocent. It's as if the lawyers are milking it for the money too!

How sad that this seems to keep on happening. It seems like sometimes all the law cares about is getting a conviction whether the person is innocent or not !!!!

Thanks so much for posting this. Congrats to all involved. Hope Mr Kitchen is living life to the full.
It gives me hope to know that this is possible

Thanks for posting this.
What B.S! though. The system is soooo corrupt! This is the same thing that happened to my boyfriend!!! And this is nothing new. My boyfriend got convicted by an illegal immagrant that was given rights to stay in this country if he testified against him. He also purgered himself and accused my boyfriend of extreme charges that carry life in prison. Those were later dropped, but nothing was done to the "victim" for perjury. He was able to convince a jury even after lying and got my man 12 yrs in prison. This happens a lot more often than we think. I'm glad this guy is free now, but my only question is why the F*** does it take them 9 years to figure out he's innocent. It's as if the lawyers are milking it for the money too!

I think 9 years is not the worst. My friend, who is innocent, is already on DR since almost 30 years and they still did nothing to correct their mistakes yet.
This all is just sickening. Even 9 years of a life wasted is far too much. Nothing paid in money can compensate that. It is so sad, really. And I hope he will be able to find happiness in his life again.

It takes so long (and sometimes never happens) because the DA and the police never want to admit they were wrong. They've tried holding people even after DNA exonerates them. DA's have said the defendant must be a "nonsecreting co conspirator!"

Ronald Kitchen was actually wrongfully imprisoned for 18+ years.

Gypsy, I am so sorry for the lost years of your friend.