This was a publicized case. This innocent, law abiding man (I read about the case at the time), would have been put to death had it not been for the efforts of the usual outside (non-DA; law enforcement is happy to have a case closed. They are going to "prove" their convictions erroneous? Please!) volunteers, in this case Centurion Ministries.
Bill, why can't you "see" that there are those whom Centurion Ministries can't get around to, who die. It's there to be seen, unless you are among those who see what they want to see:
In 1980 a black high school janitor, Clarence Brandley, and his white co-worker found the body of a missing 16-year-old white schoolgirl. Interrogated by the police, they were told, "One of you two is going to hang for this." Looking at Brandley, the officer said, "Since you're the nigger, you're elected." In a classic case of rush to judgment, Brandley was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. The circumstantial evidence against him was thin, other leads were ignored by the police, and the courtroom atmosphere reeked of racism. In 1986, Centurion Ministries – a volunteer group devoted to freeing wrongly convicted prisoners – came to Brandley's aid. Evidence had meanwhile emerged that another man had committed the murder for which Brandley was awaiting execution. Brandley was not released until 1990.39
[Bedau] |
