Imagine being imprisoned for a crime that you did not commit. It’s shocking to think that hundreds of people are locked away that are law abiding citizens, According to the Innocent Project 387 people of which 30 on death row, where wrongfully convicted of a crime. DNA evidence has exonerated most of these cases and led to the arrest of the person responsible for the crime. You often hear of inmates saying that they are not guilty of any crime, but most of the time I would not believe them. However, as a society how do we know without a shadow of a doubt if someone is guilty or not. Ronald Cotton was convicted of rape in 1985 and in 1987 and sentenced to life in prison plus 54 years. Mr. Cotton spent 10 years behind bars for a crime that he never committed. He was convicted by witness testimony and some items found in his home …show more content…
Many people are convicted on witness testimony, circumstantial evidence or basically no rock-solid proof at all. Do we require DNA evidence, forensic evidence, or complete admission of guilt before we lock someone away? The judicial system says innocent until proven guilty, however 387 people are proof that this is not always the case. How many more men and women that are in prison could be or currently falsely jailed. How many families are torn apart and people’s families and imagine are tarnished. It may only be a few people, but one person wrongfully convicted is morally wrong. I don’t have the answer to this problem and wish I did, nothing in life is perfect. However, I believe with organizations like The Innocence Project, advancement in DNA evidence, better forensic analyst and better trained crime scene detectives not as many people will be wrongfully jailed. I for one highly doubt the court system will ever be 100% right, but do believe that they try to be fair and hope more people can in a way listen to those that claim
Ron’s old boss from Somer’s Seafood, Mr. Byrum, who was a Native American, said that he saw Ronald wearing white gloves when he rode his bike. Ronald did wear white gloves, but he cut off the tops of them. Ray then said that Ronald was always messing with the waitresses by touching them, but Ronald said he Ray always thought he was messing with the waitresses. He then went onto say that Ron bothered an eighteen year old and a forty-seven year old. Ray then said that the waitresses were white. After three and a half years, Ronald found out that Mary Reynolds, the other victim, picked him as her attacker. She claimed that she knew it was him all along, but was too afraid to identify him. He was then charged with her rape. He told his cellmate, Fearnow, about the lineup and he told it to Mr. Moseley, his defense attorney. Fearnow was trying to make a deal for himself to get Ronald into even more trouble.
sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. The case against him was largely
On January 11th 1982, Clifford Olson pleaded guilty to 11 counts of murder. For this he was sentenced to 11 concurrent life terms in prison.
“The number of wrongly convicted persons cannot be known with certainty, because no federal or state agency keeps track of exonerations, let alone wrongful convictions (Criminal Justice, p.1).” Wrongful convictions occur when an innocent person is found guilty. Our justice system tries to reveal the truth but not always in the best way. Wrongful convictions will most likely to happen because of how our justice system deals with cases. Our Justice System gets innocent people to confess to the wrongdoings that they have not committed. They also use jailhouse informants to fabricate a story that can convict the accused. Tunnel vision is also a big part of why people are getting wrongfully convicted. The injustice of being convicted for a crime
By the age of 14 he was stealing cars. In his teens he took part in stealing tires, running stills, bootlegging, and armed robbery. In 1922, he was committed to a boys home for auto theft. Two years later he was released on parole, but returned in 5 months for a similar charge. He meet Helen Wawzynak in 1928, and later married her. In January of 1931 he robbed a bank in Chicago, Illinois, and was sent to prison for one year to life.
Within the book picking cotton, the alleged rapist Ronald Cotton is sentenced to life in prison and 55 years. During his sentence he finds himself being placed in solitary confinement, and while there Ron finds the experience rather beneficial as he explains that being in there presented him with the chance to meditate and reflect. Now there are many rumors about the infamous solitary confinement. These rumors debate whether or not it helps prisoners, allowing them to spend the time as Ronald Cotton as seen it, as an opportunity to self-reflect, or if it is a cruel and unusual punishment due to the drastic effects it has on convicts. The initial intent of solitary confinement was to isolate convicts as a way for them to self-reflect and improve
"Forgiveness" and "racism" are two words that usually do not go together. Surprisingly enough Picking Cotton tells the story of how Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton showed the upmost forgiveness for a wrongful conviction that in part was caused due to the racism. Racism was surely present in the South in the early 1900 's, but historically one does not think racism was a major issue in the 80 's. In one man 's opinion, Ronald Cotton, the Burlington police had racist views that contributed to him serving a life imprisonment for a crime he never committed. In 1984 when two white women were raped by a black man, race played a role in convicting the wrong black man in Burlington, North Carolina. Ronald Cotton was wrongfully convicted by racism
...verdict and sought Mrs. Donald's forgiveness. Mrs. Donald forgave Knowles for everything he did. has done to his son after he asked her for forgiveness. Cox was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1989.
Ronald Cotton was convicted of burglary in the first degree and rape in the first degree after Jennifer Thompson accused him as her attacker. On July 28, 1984, Jennifer Thompson was rape a knifepoint.
Raymond Towler and Dean Cage both spend time in jail for crimes they didn't commit. Dean Cage spent nearly 12 years in jail for the crime he was accused of ("Dean Cage"). Raymond Towler is charged with a life sentence plus 12-40 years in jail on the day of September 18, 1981. The craziest thing ever is he served 30
Criminal Law declares what conduct is illegal and proscribes a penalty. Although, we rely on our court system to administer justice, sometimes the innocent are convicted (Risinger). Most people would not be able to imagine a person who is convicted of a crime as innocent, sometimes that is the case. Imagine what a variance that is: an innocent criminal. In an article by Radley Balko he asks the question, “How many more are innocent?” In his article, he questions America’s 250th DNA exoneration and states that it raises questions about how often we send the wrong person to prison. The other issue that follows is the means of appealing the court’s decision and who they can turn to for help.
This is a petition for post-conviction relief filed by Petitioner, Mr. Douglas W. Curtis (“Petitioner”), on January 24, 2018, and opposed by Respondent, the State of Tennessee (“the State”). The Court heard the Petition on May 22, 2018, taking the matter under advisement. Mr. Curtis alleges that he received ineffective assistance of counsel in his trial and is, accordingly, entitled to post-conviction relief.
According to Innocent Project (N.D.), officers who were white interrogated Marvin a black man, and the officers automatically made Marvin a possible suspect for a rape case and he was sentenced to 210 years in prison. In addition, Marvin was convicted of a false identity that was created by the cops. He served 15 years in prison before his charges were overturned. DNA evidence was the key element that overturned Marvin's charges. He was identified as the only black man who committed the crime.
Eleven years of struggling in jail and trying to find ways to prove your innocence at the same time is no easy feat. Ronald managed to do this and was still able to move on with his life after the whole incident. All it took to turn his whole life around for the worse was just a simple point of a finger (39-40). Most people would lose their patience or just give up trying to prove their innocence, not Ronald Cotton. Ronald kept trying to find ways to prove that he is innocent; like asking to take the DNA test to prove his virtue. Eleven years of jail is not easy, Ronald had to deal with a lot of things li...
There is nothing more final than death, and being so we should be cautious that our desire for justice does not lead us to commit the very crime we wish to punish - murder. In the last decade technology and DNA testing has proven that many convicted of murder were in fact not guilty of the crime. Some were alive and released after decades in jail others unfortunately died in jail. Can we in fact be 100% sure they were guilty? Was the crime justifiable or what were the circumstance leading to the crime? Was the person in their right mind, and are they ever when they murder? Is it an act that that person would repeat? All states should have the death penalty so that they have the option, they don’t necessarily have