# Hypothetical: You are wrongfully convicted of a felony, how would you cope? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797 "2014-11-05T20:17:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/1 "2014-11-05T20:17:26Z")
Prison term: 10 years Probation: 5 years thereafter All appeals have been exhausted and the governor told you to go pound sand when you applied for clemency. For added drama and difficulty, this crime puts you on the publicly accessible sex offenders registry for the rest of your life. You know you didn’t do it, but nobody believed your alibi and so the jury delivered a guilty verdict that was subsequently upheld at all appellate courts. How do people tend to cope when they have been wrongfully found guilty of a crime? How would you cope if you were in such a situation? Something like that would have to be emotionally and psychologically scarring for people who don’t deserve it. Do you think you could you rise above it to live a good life after serving your time? Or would you be focused entirely on revenge? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/2 "2014-11-05T20:19:34Z")
I know plenty of people serve longer than that for crimes they’re innocent of, but I’m not even sure I could manage 10 years. Is this maximum security time, or minimum-security dormitory-type time? ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/3 "2014-11-05T20:37:27Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > I know plenty of people serve longer than that for crimes they’re innocent of, but I’m not even sure I could manage 10 years. > > Is this maximum security time, or minimum-security dormitory-type time? Medium security for the first 9 years, with your last year to be served at a minimum security re-entry facility (work release/half-way house kind of deal). ---
**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 5, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/4 "2014-11-05T21:00:15Z")
My desire for revenge would sustain me. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/5 "2014-11-05T21:03:41Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > My desire for revenge would sustain me. It would be a toss up between this and figuring out how I could escape custody and flee the country. Once safe I would work to prove my innocence. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/6 "2014-11-05T21:07:08Z")
Mentally, one way I’d probably sustain myself would be by thinking of the millions of dollars I could sue for once exonerated. Of course, unlikely to happen, but you have to get emotional strength. The moment you see no hope, nothing to look forward to in life, you die a little inside. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/7 "2014-11-05T21:14:42Z")
Well… my whole career would be down the drain even after I got out. I’d basically be starting from square one at 50 or something. I would be sorely tempted to just kill myself and I don’t really know whether I would or not. But revenge? Who does that benefit? Even if someone intentionally framed me, I just don’t have the stomach to make a bad situation worse by pursuing revenge. I would certainly focus my efforts on trying to prove my innocence, but I don’t think I’m the kind of person to spend 20 years on that effort. After a while, it’s just a matter of seeing what options are available and picking the least bad one. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/8 "2014-11-05T22:52:48Z")
This sounds more like an IMHO than a GD. For my part, after going through the whole denial, rage, bargaining, process, I would deal with hand I was dealt. Do my time as painlessly as possible and see how much of my life I could put back together when I got out. It sucks donkey balls, but what’cha gonna do. Revenge is just going to make matters worse. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/9 "2014-11-05T23:01:28Z")
I’ll try to survive the 10 years somehow, then take revenge when I get out. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/10 "2014-11-05T23:01:52Z")
Suicide. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/11 "2014-11-06T02:13:48Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Once safe I would work to prove my innocence. It depends a lot on the country where you were falsely convicted. Take the United States. Given the tremendously longer sentences handed down to losing defendants who exercise their right to go to trial, a claim of innocence can be a foolhardy move your attorney will advise against. As for proving innocence after you have plead guilty, that’s pretty hopeless. See this article written by a United States District Judge: [Why Innocent People Plead Guilty](http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/nov/20/why-innocent-people-plead-guilty/?insrc=hpss) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/12 "2014-11-06T02:49:24Z")
Nightmarish. My first thought are being unruly, trying to escape, trying to prove my innocence, avenge myself, commit suicide, but the more likely is probably that I would do what most people in this situation apparently do : claim my innocence to anybody who would pretend to listen to me, do my time and trying to somehow rebuild some life after I’m freed. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/13 "2014-11-06T02:57:06Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > [Why Innocent People Plead Guilty](http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/nov/20/why-innocent-people-plead-guilty/?insrc=hpss) Wow! More than 95% of criminal cases end with a plea bargain! I didn’t know trials were so rare. I would have expected 50/50 or something. Then, trials are barely worth mentioning in the American justice system, and the only thing that actually matters are how plea bargains are conducted, and that probably should be the focus for everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/14 "2014-11-06T03:14:41Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’ll try to survive the 10 years somehow, then take revenge when I get out. Then you could always ask that the 10 years you served in error be credited to the new sentence your revenge would bring. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/15 "2014-11-06T03:16:04Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Wow! More than 95% of criminal cases end with a plea bargain! I didn’t know trials were so rare. I would have expected 50/50 or something. > > Then, trials are barely worth mentioning in the American justice system, and the only thing that actually matters are how plea bargains are conducted, and that probably should be the focus for everybody. We would never be able to lock up millions of people if we took the time to try every one of them. And it still takes a long time to execute a plea bargain. If we could institute internet plea bargaining we could lock up millions more every year. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/16 "2014-11-06T03:25:19Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > We would never be able to lock up millions of people if we took the time to try every one of them. In fact it made me feel better about the delays and the backlogs in the French system, where you will wait months at least, possibly years, for your case to be heard. It sure must be quicker if almost nobody ever see the inside of a court. What I wonder now is how it works in other common law systems. The author of the piece states that the USA is peculiar in this approach. So, what % of criminal cases actually go to trial in other countries where the system of plea bargain exists, if anybody knows? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/17 "2014-11-06T07:04:58Z")
I recall reading somewhere a quote that went like "sex offenders generally don’t survive outside of “administrative segregation”, e.g. solitary. Don’t know if it’s true or not. I’d probably keep telling myself that life deals bad cards, and to make the most of what I have. Then I’d move out to the sticks after being released and start a new life. Maybe create a new identity or something. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/18 "2014-11-06T15:59:22Z")
Ten years is not forever. When all hope of an appeal was gone, I would become a gold-star model prisoner to attempt to get parole as early as possible. For example, tutoring other inmates in passing the GED, etc. I would also do everything possible to get computer privliges so I could take correspondence courses from my University to either finish my PhD, or to get a degree in something else - like an MBA, or, well anything. I would study my butt off to keep busy and distracted. I would probably meditate a lot, do tai chi, and teach other inmates the same. I might also write a novel or three. Thankfully, even with trial costs I probably have enough money to comfortably retire upon exiting prison, so afterwards, I am not sure I would try revenge of any sort. I think I would retire back into the world of my spouse, friends, cats, and books. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/19 "2014-11-06T16:11:26Z")
Since getting convicted is for those who are truly innocent a long arduous process, I would do everything in my power to make it as expensive as possible for the prosecution TO convict me. From fighting extradition, to demanding a trial by jury to not accepting any deals, sending me to prison wouldn’t be an easy process. And if I was sent to prison, I would file endless appeals, I would write numerous letters and I would contact multiple media sources to have them look into my conviction. The more static that you create the more it would be that your conviction would be scrutinized the potential it being overturned would be greater. Most people who are in jail, whether or not they are innocent of the crime for which they have been convicted, aren’t known for their work ethic. Most quickly become resigned to their fate and then simply await their release. Myself, I would make those ten years a very long ten years for all parties involved. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/20 "2014-11-06T17:05:21Z")
I would imagine that I would cope fairly well with prison life itself. Read, write, chill - rinse and repeat. So I’d probably make it. As long as my girlfriend, my family and my loved ones knew / believed that I was innocent, that is. Big issue for me, if I had their support or not. > [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](#): > > I recall reading somewhere a quote that went like "sex offenders generally don’t survive outside of “administrative segregation”, e.g. solitary. Don’t know if it’s true or not. [I started a thread about that sort of thing a long time ago.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=621015) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797.md?page=2)