GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT
Jan. 7th, 2011 08:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogITEM: Thanks to science, prosecutors in Texas declared Cornelius Dupree Jr innocent of a rape and robbery a mere 30 years after his wrongful conviction.
I would normally use this as the latest example of why I’m against the death penalty as a concept (the fact that Dupree Jr wasn’t on Death Row notwithstanding). But there’s another angle to the story worth pointing out:
According to the full version of the AP story, Dupree Jr had two chances for parole during his hitch – provided he admitted to being a sex offender as part of a four-step rehab program for sex offenders. Which of course would be an admission of guilt. Dupree Jr refused, sticking to his story that he was innocent.
Which interests me because, according to the AP, Dupree Jr was actually convicted of aggravated robbery, not rape (though the victim was in fact raped). So they were asking him to basically admit to something he hadn’t even been found guilty of doing.
Moreover, if he had enrolled in rehab program, he would also have likely been put on a sex offenders registry – which is a list you do not want yr name on, especially if yr innocent (or even if you aren’t, given the really lax criteria many states have for putting you on it).
I can’t say Dupree Jr knew this when he said no to the sex-offender program. But it’s certainly a case where it pays to stick to yr story and stay in jail than cop a plea and find yrself persona non grata for the rest of yr life.
Free to go,
This is dF
I would normally use this as the latest example of why I’m against the death penalty as a concept (the fact that Dupree Jr wasn’t on Death Row notwithstanding). But there’s another angle to the story worth pointing out:
According to the full version of the AP story, Dupree Jr had two chances for parole during his hitch – provided he admitted to being a sex offender as part of a four-step rehab program for sex offenders. Which of course would be an admission of guilt. Dupree Jr refused, sticking to his story that he was innocent.
Which interests me because, according to the AP, Dupree Jr was actually convicted of aggravated robbery, not rape (though the victim was in fact raped). So they were asking him to basically admit to something he hadn’t even been found guilty of doing.
Moreover, if he had enrolled in rehab program, he would also have likely been put on a sex offenders registry – which is a list you do not want yr name on, especially if yr innocent (or even if you aren’t, given the really lax criteria many states have for putting you on it).
I can’t say Dupree Jr knew this when he said no to the sex-offender program. But it’s certainly a case where it pays to stick to yr story and stay in jail than cop a plea and find yrself persona non grata for the rest of yr life.
Free to go,
This is dF
