Posted on 05/13/2016 9:43:41 PM PDT by Theoria
A man is asking for $10 million after spending 529 days in jail for a crime he says he didn't commit.
Darrick McDuffie was accused of shooting a man in 2012 in DeKalb County, but he says he didn't do it and the victim backs up the story.
At one point, police thought McDuffie was responsible for shooting another man so they arrested him and booked him in jail, but there is no mention of him in the initial police report.
"It's a fundamental miscarriage of justice," said Adam Klein, who is McDuffie's attorney. "He was just barely 20-years-old when he went in and he'll never get those two years back."
Klein said his client spent 529 days in jail for a shooting that happened at the Ivey Place Apartments on Clairmont Road. Just two months after his arrest, the victim who was shot in the head shared stunning information with authorities in a sworn affidavit, saying "Darrick McDuffie was not responsible for my injuries..."
"If they're holding someone in jail, they have an obligation to pursue the case or dismiss it and release him," said Klein.
In this case, McDuffie remained in jail for a year and a half before being released. Klein said the county failed to act on the affidavit stating that his client was innocent.
"As far as we know, there was no further investigation, there was nothing else pending, there was nothing being done by the police or prosecutors during that whole time," Klein said. "They had the affidavit and the file went in the drawer and there it sat."
Klein is now seeking $10 million for his client and as far as he is aware, no one else was ever charged with a crime.
(Excerpt) Read more at wtvm.com ...
Not sure what to think. I know I would be very mad spending any time in jail if I was innocent.
I also realize that just because the victim and the lawyer says he didn’t do it, doesn’t mean he didn’t do it.
I can see that he deserves some compensation, but the sum mentioned is preposterous.
Good. He should get it.
You don't keep an innocent man in jail 1 second longer than is absolutely necessary.
This was a mockery of justice, a crime in and of itself, and those who are responsible for such gross negligence should be fired. We need maximum accountability.
"They had the affidavit and the file went in the drawer and there it sat."
His lawyer should be seeking the disbarment of this man’s public defender as well.
His defense council should have known about this affidavit, should have known that he was being held without charges and should have been filling habeas corpus appeals.
His defense lawyer is at least as guilty of offending justice as the prosecution.
Let's have you spend a year and a half in jail because someone tossed a file into a drawer, and see how you feel about compensation once you get out.
$10 million is reasonable enough. It should definitely be well over a million a year for such an injustice, IMHO. Inflation, don't you know...
Spending almost a year and a half in jail would wreck havoc on the man’s family, career, community standing etc. What about his kids if any. He deserves the ten million for sure.
Iff’n the government can charge you $75000 a day for having an illegal pond, 20K a day for illegal detention doesn’t seem excssive
“Hey, say I didn’t do it and I’ll toss some of my ghetto lottery money your way”.
Well I am far more inclined to believe it when the victim says a person was not the person that attacked them.
I am too but the black community behaves differently when snitching on other blacks. They will at times go to great lengths to keep another black out of jail.
I know of one that committed murder against a WWII veteran and all kinds of phony witnesses came forward to keep him out of jail.
First thing I thought of. I hate being cynical.
529 days and no one at the jail thought “Hey, you know that guy still hasn’t even been charged with anything. I wonder if we should have someone at the DA’s office look at this situation?”
A complete and total violation of the 6th amendment:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
“...the victim and the lawyer say he didn’t do it, doesn’t mean he didn’t do it.”
What?
But if the victim says he did it, means he did do it?
Your logic makes no sense.
“I can see that he deserves some compensation, but the sum mentioned is preposterous.”
The guy deservers the moolah. Any employer is going to see this, and not hire him.
Your logic makes no sense.
—
Sorry if it escapes you. It shouldn’t be overly difficult for one to grasp.
My point is that a lot of times the victim will cover for the guilty.
I agree that they should have released him.
That kind of malfeasance should be penalized and heavily. If you are training an ass, sometimes you have to smack it with a two by four to get its attention. Does he deserve 10 million? Maybe not. But the folks that did not do their job need a good kick in the ass.
If it were me I would ask for 100 million and then settle for 20 million. What if it was you...
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