# Gross miscarriage of justice - the omnibus thread

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-miscarriage-of-justice-the-omnibus-thread/772097>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [November 15, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-miscarriage-of-justice-the-omnibus-thread/772097 "2016-11-15T21:30:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-miscarriage-of-justice-the-omnibus-thread/772097/1 "2016-11-15T21:30:51Z")

</div>

[Man jailed for 28 years because neighbor ‘had a dream’.](http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/denver-man-jailed-28-years-for-rape-based-on-victims-dream-found-innocent/ar-AAkikoN)

What the ever-loving fuck???

> [@](#):
>
> Defense lawyers argued that the new evidence combined with shifting stories from the victim, who initially identified three different men as the culprit before testifying that Moses-EL’s name came to her in a dream, merited overturning his conviction.

How, in the name of all that is Holy, could that have been enough to convict anybody???

> [@](#):
>
> “It was the right thing to allow a jury - not public opinion - to make the decision in this case,” she said.

I certainly hope that there is more to this. I mean, it looks a little like the jury didn’t need any evidence to convict. His name coming to her in a dream is one step above her picking names at random from the phone book.

> [@](#):
>
> In addition, DNA evidence that might have cleared Moses-EL was mistakenly destroyed by Denver Police, the defense said.

No DNA? This trial was in 1986. DNA testing was available!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-miscarriage-of-justice-the-omnibus-thread/772097/2 "2016-11-15T21:40:59Z")

</div>

There’s a section of Forensic Files shows that are miscarriage of justice ones…I can’t watch them. They make my blood pressure go up.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-miscarriage-of-justice-the-omnibus-thread/772097/3 "2016-11-16T00:21:15Z")

</div>

How about this one?

[Murder charges dropped after man has served 20 years](http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/bronx-da-drops-murder-charges-against-man-locked-up-for-20-years/ar-AAkhvfS)

> [@](#):
>
> Rosario maintained he wasn’t the person who shot and killed Collazo — and that he was actually 1,000 miles away in Florida at the time of the slaying. Over a dozen witnesses backed up his claim, but only two of the alibi witnesses were called at trial.

Thank Heaven for DA Darcel Clark:

> [@](#):
>
> Clark sent investigators to Florida to interview more of the witnesses, including a sheriff’s deputy and a federal corrections officer.
> 
> Afterward, Clark found Rosario had not received a fair trial and recommended he be released from prison.

I mean, if you have _a dozen people_ that say you were 1000 miles away when a crime occurred, that ought to be enough to not even charged, shouldn’t it??? It doesn’t if the Sheriff’s Deputy and Federal Corrections Officer were among the dozen. But if they were, why did they even prosecute this guy?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-miscarriage-of-justice-the-omnibus-thread/772097/4 "2016-11-16T09:51:56Z")

</div>

> [@Typo\_Negative](#):
>
> No DNA? This trial was in 1986. DNA testing was available!

The first person to be convicted through DNA evidence was [Colin Pitchfork](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Pitchfork) in 1987.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-miscarriage-of-justice-the-omnibus-thread/772097/5 "2016-11-16T14:29:02Z")

</div>

_“It doesn’t matter who does the crime as long as someone does the time.”_ – Your average prosecutor/police officer.

The [West Memphis Three](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three) should be the poster children of this thread.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-miscarriage-of-justice-the-omnibus-thread/772097/6 "2018-07-03T15:04:01Z")

</div>

[Baltimore man exonerated of murder after 30 years in prison](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/baltimore-man-exonerated-of-murder-after-30-years-in-prison/ar-AAzvdEt)

> [@](#):
>
> The shooter admitted to the crime in 2000, prosecutors say, and said Johnson wasn’t there.

> [@](#):
>
> Outside the courthouse, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby thanked Taylor’s family for supporting the exoneration.
> 
> \<snip\>  
> Mosby apologized publicly to Johnson.

It’s good that State has apologized.

But hell!  
Witness against him changed her story, defense wasn’t notified of the inconsistency.  
Alibi witness came forward 21 years ago, says Johnson was somewhere else. Still imprisoned.  
The shooter admitted he shot the guy 18 years ago and said Johnson wasn’t there. Still imprisoned.
