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egill11

- 2 years ago

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I'm Free! Now What?

I came across this article this morning (see below) about a man from Texas being exonerated after being incarcerated for 30 years. I'm sure the man is elated to be a free man, but now what does he do? How do you get 30 years of your life back? I realize that it's an imperfect system and that DNA analysis technology wasn't available when he was convicted. It still bothers me. What does he do now? How do you feel he should be compensated?

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110104/ap_on_re_us/us_dna_exoneration_texas

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Well what does happen is they get paid a few bucks for every year they spent in the system and its not possible to sue the system to get compensated for more. His story will last as long as a match because the government will only allow it so. What he will end up doing is cowering like he's been trained to in jail for 30 years and take his losses. If It were me, by that time, I would probably do the same thing.

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Lol thats what its like being black... reperations

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"Under Texas compensation laws for the wrongly imprisoned, Dupree is eligible for $80,000 for each year he was behind bars, plus a lifetime annuity. He could receive $2.4 million in a lump sum that is not subject to federal income tax."

At his age, that's well over and above "never work again" money. If it was me, I think I'd be setting something up to run that money out over the next 30-40 years on a combination of paying myself a nice salary and providing funding to the Innocence Project.

I'd also be getting a biography written, to raise awareness of what happened to me, as a form of further fundraising for that cause.

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That is pretty crazy. Well it says he's eligible for $80,000.. I'd take the money, start a family and a new chapter of my life. What's done is done and he seems like he's just happy to be out, ready to move on with the rest of his life. If he gets bitter about the 30 years he was in prison, he'll just waste more years of his life. It will always be a scar, though.

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I think the outcome here might depend on the reason or reasons behind his wrongful conviction. If there is evidence that the police or prosecutors ignored exculpatory evidence, allowed perjured testimony, or falsified evidence in order to convict, than he is entitled to a huge financial settlement. This would have to include 30 years of lost wages, plus a hefty sum for punitive damages. If his attorney was negligent or incompetent, than he should be entitled to sue them for similar damages.
But no matter what financial restitution he may or may not be able to seek, there is no way he can get those 30 years back. We hear these kind of stories too often, even with the advent of DNA testing and other sophisticated forensic technologies. And I can't help but wonder how many innocent people have suffered a similar fate without ever being vindicated. How many have been put to death?

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