So here is the situation. 15 years ago I got picked up off the street because I fit the description of a rapist on the lose. To make a long story short, the woman said I did it, it was a long trial, I’m in the slammer for 20 years.
The problem is that I didn’t commit the crime and am an innocent man. Because I felt like I deserved freedom, I escaped from prison 5 years ago (at the 10 year mark). Maybe my mother’s basement wasn’t as great a hiding place as I thought, and they caught me. Since escaping from prison is a felony everywhere (I assume), I am back in the Big House for another say… 10 years added on.
Tomorrow they are wrapping up all sorts of DNA re-investigations, and they will find out that I am a innocent man from all those years ago. Am I free, or do I still have to serve time from the prison escape when I never should have been in prison anyway?
For the time being, I will keep it that simple. I will ignore other possible problems like stealing clothes off a clothes line when I was on the run and “resisting arrest” when they recaptured me.
Escaping is still a crime. It’s possible/likely that the state will refrain from prosecuting you, especially given that it would be a bargaining chip in negotiations about your impending lawsuit against them.
However, if they wanted to, they could certainly punish you for escaping.
In the OP’s scenario, he isn’t cleared of his rape until long after he’s sentenced for his escape. So there isn’t really an option for the State to not prosecute.
Plus, if the DA went ahead and prosecuted, it would seem to be the sort of situation where the Governor would step in and issue a pardon to score PR points if you became a cause celebre. Which would likely happen, if you appeared sympathetic in the media coverage of the case.
Simplicio is right. My escape and escape conviction were several years ago. I still have more years to serve on my rape conviction and then the escape conviction years will begin.
As others have said, your actual guilt or innocence in your original conviction has nothing to do with your escape conviction. If the judge signed the sentencing order, you were being lawfully imprisoned. And escaping from lawful imprisonment is a crime. And one you’re genuinely guilty of.
Think of it as the equivalent of resisting arrest. Suppose the police officer mistakenly thinks you committed a crime and arrests you. You know you’re innocent. So you jump out of the back of the police car and make a run for it. At the trial for your first crime you’re found innocent. Then you go to your second trial, where you’re convicted. You were under arrest and you did resist - you’re genuinely guilty of breaking that law.
No jail lawyers in there to help you with this? Public defender?
Review the case of Dr Richard Kimball. he escaped and proved his innocence, I don’t think he as charged with escape.
virtually yours,
Virtually Yours
In Germany you might get away with it. Escaping from prison as such is not a crime under German law. However, you can be prosecuted for any crimes (bribing the director of the prison, overpowering a guard, damage to property like filing through bars, etc.) committed during the escape. The reasoning behind this seems to be that wanting to be free is such a fundamental human response that it should not be punished. But of course the police will try and get you back.
Also, please note that inciting a mutiny to escape, resisting a LEO in the execution of their lawful activities, helping somebody else escape, jaywalking while running from the cops, etc. are crimes and misdemeanors.
If you served 10+ years for the rape conviction, which has now been quashed, and you were sentenced to 10 years for the jailbreak, would you be released as you have already served your 10 years?
Do the 10 years you served for the crime you did not commit count towards the 10 years you got for breaking out?
I remember years ago reading in one of the Wallechinsky Book of Lists series a list of wrongful convictions. One guy was jailed for being the accomplice in a crime although he was innocent. He found out who the real culprit was, escaped from prison, caught him and took him to the police where he got him to confess. He was then sent back to prison because, despite the fact that the authorities had proof that he didn’t do it, his conviction and sentence were still legally binding.
I saw the movie Stir Crazy when I was a teenager. Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor are wrongly convicted of a robbery and go to prison. Wacky hijinks ensue. (I’m not spoiler-boxing a 30-year-old film, so beware.)
Eventually they are cleared of the charges and released. But while incarcerated, they befriend some of their fellow inmates and then help them escape. I remember thinking, wait a minute, they might not have been criminals before, but they sure as hell are now. Even though it was just a silly comedy, that always bugged me about that film.
The charge would be escaping from lawful custody. Even if you were WRONGLY convicted you were still lawfully convicted. Remember you’re entitled to a fair trial not a correct one.
As others have said, this is a key reason why pardons exist.
