Man wrongfully jailed for 20 years is finally released

[nist7]

Charges are to be dismissed today against a 39-year-old Goldsboro man who has spent nearly two decades in prison for a 1987 rape.

DNA testing has excluded Dwayne Allen Dail as the man who entered through the window of a Goldsboro home and raped a 12-year-old girl in 1987, Wayne District Attorney Branny Vickory said late Monday.

Vickory got the test results from the State Bureau of Investigation on Monday afternoon and plans to ask a judge to dismiss the charges against Dail today.

"The science has proved that Mr. Dail is innocent," said Vickory, who worked in the district attorney's office when Dail was prosecuted. "He didn't do it. The evidence is so overwhelmingly strong, there's no need to wait."

The exoneration follows a lengthy inquiry by the nonprofit N.C. Center for Actual Innocence, which uncovered evidence that authorities thought had been destroyed after Dail's trial.

Dail was sentenced to two life sentences plus 18 years in 1989 on charges of first-degree rape and other charges stemming from the incident. The victim identified him, and hair found at the scene was found to be consistent with his.

But even prosecutors wondered about the case, Vickory said. The trial took place in the days before DNA testing, and the hair test could have been a match with many other Caucasian males.

Vickory said the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, Donald Strickland, and Dail's defense attorney had both singled Dail's case out as one that troubled them.

"They both over the years have talked about that case," Vickory said. "[Strickland] has mentioned several times that was the one case that always seemed to worry him the most."

The victim identified Dail from among a group of men she saw near her home days or weeks after the rape, Vickory said.

"The way everybody described it, she just froze and said 'That's the man, that's the man,' " Vickory said. "That led to very powerful evidence with the jury."

Dail never admitted guilt. Chris Mumma, director of the innocence center, said he had turned down a plea bargain that would have given him three years of probation.

"The jury thought he was arrogant in court," Mumma said. "He told me, 'Of course I was arrogant. I knew I was innocent.' "

The center, staffed by law and journalism students at several Triangle universities, took on the case in 2001. All of the students who looked into the case believed strongly in Dail's innocence. But Wayne County authorities were convinced all physical evidence had been destroyed.

Years later, Mumma decided to try one more time. A helpful clerk told her that one police officer, already deceased, had kept evidence from all of his cases. It turned out that officer had worked Dail's case, Mumma said.

A box with a nightgown, sheet and other evidence turned up in a bicycle closet, Vickory said.

Mumma said the lab has already matched DNA found on the nightgown to someone currently in prison.

She commended Vickory for his prompt response once her group approached him about the case.

"We get a thousand letters a year, and we have 12 on our chalkboard," Mumma said. "Dail was one of them."

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/cri...ry/684642.html


1) Still support the death penalty?

2) What would YOU do at this point if you were that man? Sue the state+fed government for all they're worth? Can you really put a price tag on twenty years of your life lost? Not to mention the rest of your life is probably ruined too. Even if you are acquitted, everyone will probably refer to you as that rapist who was freed.

[jetsetter]

1) Still support the death penalty?

Yes. Actually even more so.

[jayhawk]

I still will not support the death penalty. My religious beliefs are mostly why, and also that I feel that no human has the right to take away another's life.

What would I do if I were him? Move on with my life, and know that I will be judged fairly when I pass away.

[thedguy]

I find it funny that many who are Pro-life also support the death penalty...

The problem I have with the use of the death penalty is there are many cases of prosecutors getting a bug up their ass and wanting to get the first suspect convicted just so their record looks a little better, or to get the case closed.

Also a LOT of cases recently have been overturned and prisoners granted freedom because the companies contracted to do the DNA testing weren't doing their job right, everything from falsifying reports to mixing up samples...when my life is on the line, I don't want to worry that I may get convicted because some guy was in a rush to get home to his family and mixed up my blood test with someone else.

As I've said before, I support the "3 or more credible witnesses" idea that Texas had/has but death penalty based purely on evidence or the word of 1 person against the suspect should automatically diminish the sentence.

Originally Posted by jetsetter

Yes. Actually even more so.

Why more so?

[cdbob]

Hmmm I was also thinking what 20 years of your life is worth not just wasted but in prison. I think if anyones able to sue for a lot of money it's this man.

[cvrefugee]

Originally Posted by thedguy

I find it funny that many who are Pro-life also support the death penalty...

I find it funny than many who are pro-abortion are against the death penalty. They must be thinking "We shouldn't murder criminals, only innocent unborn children". Makes sense, right?

[MXM]

Originally Posted by cvg

I find it funny than many who are pro-abortion are against the death penalty. They must be thinking "We shouldn't murder criminals, only innocent unborn children". Makes sense, right?

Yes, makes perfect sense. No need for sarcasm, that alone doesn't make you look smart. It's not the "innocent unborn children" (what an oxymoron), it's the fetus in it's early stage.

And usual argument agains death penalty is not about not killing criminals, it's about not killing innocent people because we can not be 100% sure if someone is guilty in many cases.

Think about "innocent _unborn_ children" these men would have if you hadn't kill them!

[the Interceptor]

Then what about death penalty for those we are 100% positive they did it?

[essentialatom]

Originally Posted by cvg

I find it funny than many who are pro-abortion are against the death penalty. They must be thinking "We shouldn't murder criminals, only innocent unborn children". Makes sense, right?

Yeah, but they might grow up to be criminals, so really, it's nipping it in the bud.

[nomix]

Originally Posted by the Interceptor

Then what about death penalty for those we are 100% positive they did it?

So, what about someone wanting to die, but not being able to kill themselves? If I HELP someone commit suicide, I will be arrested for murder, or something comparable, if I am not mistaken.

[marcos_eirik]

Originally Posted by nomix

So, what about someone wanting to die, but not being able to kill themselves? If I HELP someone commit suicide, I will be arrested for murder, or something comparable, if I am not mistaken.

Commiting suicide is not punishable in Norway, but it is in Britain, well only if you fail that is...

Complicity to commiting suicide is punishable in Norway. (strl § 236) You won't be punished for murder (overlagt drap tidl. mord), though but only for complicity to killing.

§ 236. Den, som medvirker til, at nogen berøver sig selv Livet eller tilføier sig betydelig Skade paa Legeme eller Helbred, straffes som for Medvirkning til Drab eller grov Legemsbeskadigelse, øvet mod en samtykkende.

Straf kommer ikke til Anvendelse, naar Døden eller betydelig Skade paa Legeme eller Helbred ikke er Indtraadt.

The danes could understand this as well...

[the Interceptor]

Originally Posted by nomix

So, what about someone wanting to die, but not being able to kill themselves? If I HELP someone commit suicide, I will be arrested for murder, or something comparable, if I am not mistaken.

Well, I wouldn't put the death penalty on one of those cases.

[Lilleput]

Originally Posted by jayhawk

I still will not support the death penalty. My religious beliefs are mostly why, and also that I feel that no human has the right to take away another's life.

What would I do if I were him? Move on with my life, and know that I will be judged fairly when I pass away.

What kind of fairy land are you living in?

You'd just move on with your life because your pretty much just waiting to die to meet something that does not exist? Wow.. I know it's difficult to think about but heres the kicker! When you die, nothing happens. (Your dead)

[nomix]

Originally Posted by marcos_eirik

Commiting suicide is not punishable in Norway, but it is in Britain, well only if you fail that is...

Complicity to commiting suicide is punishable in Norway. (strl § 236) You won't be punished for murder (overlagt drap tidl. mord), though but only for complicity to killing.

That was what I was talking about.

Originally Posted by the Interceptor

Well, I wouldn't put the death penalty on one of those cases.

I wasn't putting the death penalty on it, I was COMPARING them.

Why is it legal to kill someone against their will, when killing someone because they WANT you to do so, is illegal?

...

[YF19pilot]

Originally Posted by Lilleput

What kind of fairy land are you living in?

You'd just move on with your life because your pretty much just waiting to die to meet something that does not exist? Wow.. I know it's difficult to think about but heres the kicker! When you die, nothing happens. (Your dead)

What kind of fairy land are you living in?

People believe in religions, God, and heaven. I know it's difficult to not errupt into an atheistic rant about 'the invisible man' everytime someone mentions the "g" word, bu here's the kicker! Some people on this board believe in religion.

Respect that, and lets not turn a political issue into an endless religious debate. Besides, do you know 100% that when you die, someone isn't going to be there to poke you with a pointy stick? Let's leave it be, okay?



Back on topic, in regaurds to the over zealous prosecutors and judges; this is why we need to work on weeding that sort of behaviour out. I think if prosecutors were more worried about upholding the law than keeping their jobs, they'd be more effective. Also, longer appeals times would help, but that's another whole mess together...

[Lilleput]

Originally Posted by YF19pilot

do you know 100% that when you die, someone isn't going to be there to poke you with a pointy stick?

Yes, it's called Science and rational thought.

[the Interceptor]

Originally Posted by nomix

Why is it legal to kill someone against their will, when killing someone because they WANT you to do so, is illegal?

I agree there's little sense in that, which is why the law should be changed. On the other hand, I'm not going to get the death penalty in Germany anyway.

[cvrefugee]

Originally Posted by MXM

Yes, makes perfect sense. No need for sarcasm, that alone doesn't make you look smart. It's not the "innocent unborn children" (what an oxymoron), it's the fetus in it's early stage.

And usual argument agains death penalty is not about not killing criminals, it's about not killing innocent people because we can not be 100% sure if someone is guilty in many cases.

Think about "innocent _unborn_ children" these men would have if you hadn't kill them!

If changing the term from an unborn child to a developing fetus makes it easier for you to justify killing it, that's your cross to bear. I would rather take a guilty man's life than a "fetus in it's (sic) early stage".

[Cobol74]

Originally Posted by marcos_eirik

Commiting suicide is not punishable in Norway, but it is in Britain, well only if you fail that is...

Complicity to commiting suicide is punishable in Norway. (strl § 236) You won't be punished for murder (overlagt drap tidl. mord), though but only for complicity to killing.

The danes could understand this as well...

Point of information:

Suicide is not now an offence in the UK - aiding and abetting a suicide is.

"in England it took even longer: ignominious burial wasn't abolished until 1823 nor property forfeiture till 1870, and the deed itself remained a crime (albeit only a misdemeanor, and a rarely prosecuted one at that) until 1961."

[nomix]

Can you still receive a prison sentence if you try to commit suicide by jumping from a federal building in the US? Think I picked it up once, might be wrong.

And if that is the case, there is no need to incline that I am an idiot, and that my IQ could be measured on one hand, just correct me, I am actually asking. Thank you very much.