Posted on 08/27/2012 7:33:28 PM PDT by Altariel
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – After serving 24 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, today a North Texas man received an apology from a judge and a standing ovation in the courtroom.
David Lee Wiggins was freed from jail Friday after DNA tests proved he wasn’t the person who raped a 14-year-old girl back in 1988.
Wiggins was convicted of Aggravated Sexual Assault in 1989 after the teen victim identified him. The person who assaulted the young girl had covered her face for during most of the attack. Police showed the girl a photo lineup, then a live lineup and the girl said Wiggins looked familiar.
“He [Wiggins] was the only person who was both in the photo array and in the lineup, so of course she recognized him,” said Nina Morrison, an attorney with the Innocence Project of New York.
As he left the courtroom today he said he had no animosity toward the victim who mistakenly identified him.
“It was never he fault. She didn’t do nothing… I know that,” he said. “She was a victim. I’m sorry about what happened to her and I want her to know it.”
The Innocence Project nonprofit group successfully obtained the DNA test that proved Wiggins definitely wasn’t the girl’s attacker.
Recalling the day he got word about the test results Wiggins said, “They [the Innocence Project] called me again and said that the results are in and I’m innocent. It was kind of like ya know when I first got the life sentence. I was numb. I couldn’t really believe it.”
(Excerpt) Read more at dfw.cbslocal.com ...
Yes, we should. The double line up (photo and then physical with only their choosen “perp” in both) is classics manipulation. They knew what they were doing, and they (wrongly) decided guilt and then ensured a verdict. To be blunt, it was a complete subversion of our judicial system and Constitution.
They’re scum. May God have mercy on their souls, because I certainly wouldn’t.
24 years, my friend, and $80,000 a year does NOT compensate him for his unjust incarceration. It is not ‘not bad’ as you put it...are you willing to spend 24 years in HELL for a measley $1.9 million?
More information here.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/08/23/v-lite/2266092/dna-evidence-expected-to-clear.html
The DNA came from semon from the rape kit.
You’re welcome. It really sheds some light on how this happened.
That’s why I like the biblical standard of two or more witnesses for a death penalty. One witness will not suffice. DNA and other evidence can be counted as a witness, in my opinion.
This man was convicted by the testimony of ONE witness, not sufficient for conviction in my book. One witness can certainly be right, but it is not enough for a just society.
Hmm, KansasGirl, between the two of us, we appear to have killed this thread. Given some of the posts here, I feel just fine with that.
One type of hell on earth is being a innocent man in prison. I can’t even imagine it. That man has more compassion and ideals than I could ever muster.
Similar to treason. The Constitution requires at least two witnesses for that. Unless a confession in open court. Seems reasonable and just.
It's possible, and overwhelmingly likely, that she honestly believed he was the rapist (egged on by police/prosecutor manipulation of course).
This is the problem with people having all of their knowledge of criminology being from TV shows and movies.
Eyewitness testimony isn't some Gold Standard - it's horrifically unreliable and people have trouble identifying other people correctly (and studies show it's worse if the other person is of a different race - they really do "all look alike" (but it's true of every race).
People have this weird idea that a perp misidentification has to be the result of a lying witness.
Nifongism is about winning (or simply closing) cases.
It’s a long standing problem with prosecutors everywhere. Some were known to get suspects to cop a plea to several outstanding crimes of a similar nature in exchange for consideration on the one they were being prosecuted for.
“clearing the plate” is not justice.
“You want to put a rape victim ( that was 14 years old at the time she was raped) in jail?”
The victim was only a juvenile for 4 years after that stunt...
Sperm not belonging to Wiggins was found on the shorts worn by the fourteen year-old girl when she was sexually assaulted.
What “stunt”?
She was a *minor* who was a victim of a crime and thanks to the *adult* police officers and prosecutors who led her to single out the man, mistakenly identified him.
Blaming either of the victims is inappropriate, wrong, and unjust.
The rapist who committed the crime, the police who worked on the case, and prosecutors involved in the trial should be jailed.
“It’s possible, and overwhelmingly likely, that she honestly believed he was the rapist (egged on by police/prosecutor manipulation of course).
This is the problem with people having all of their knowledge of criminology being from TV shows and movies.
Eyewitness testimony isn’t some Gold Standard - it’s horrifically unreliable and people have trouble identifying other people correctly (and studies show it’s worse if the other person is of a different race - they really do “all look alike” (but it’s true of every race).
People have this weird idea that a perp misidentification has to be the result of a lying witness”
Indeed.
That was very gracious of him, so she wouldn't feel bad about what happened to him.
I’m sure they’ve been storing this man’s sperm in liquid nitrogen since 1988.
All law enforcement has this magical power.
she had no control who was in the lineup, how it was run, nor how the prosecution ran the trial...
oh, and she had been brutally attacked and raped at age 14.....
before dna, we seemed to be able to arrest people, take them to trial , and convict them on opportunity, motive,eye witnesses,etc...
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