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Author Topic: What if this was you?  (Read 2690 times)
Guru-In-Vegas
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« on: April 12, 2008, 11:35:29 pm »
This is terrible.  An innocent guy is locked up for murder and the guy who really did it confessed it to his lawyer.  The lawyer was bound by ethics to not "rat his client out" so a guy rots away 26 years later in jail for something he didn't do.  Imagine if you were that lawyer.  Now imagine if you were the innocent inmate?  HORRIBLE!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080412/ap_on_re_us/the26_year_silence
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YoFuggedaboutit
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« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2008, 11:39:40 pm »
If they finally let him out after 26 years, I'd kill to be the lawyer who represents him in a lawsuit against the state.
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Thundergod
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« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2008, 05:37:13 am »
I'd murder that lawyer.   Wink
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Sunstroke
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« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2008, 12:03:05 pm »

Locked up for 26 years for a crime I didn't commit?

They'd all die... The dude who really killed the original victim, his lawyer, my lawyer, the judge, the prison warden, everyone. I'd give myself carte blanche on the mayhem with zero thought of repercussions.
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SCFinFan
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« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2008, 03:16:59 pm »
That would be a tough, tough situation.

I don't know what I'd do. You're risking your status with the bar to come forward with evidence against your client...
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Dave Gray
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« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2008, 03:34:26 pm »
I don't blame the lawyer at all.  He has a responsibility to his client, and besides, the confession wouldn't be admissible in court anyway.  The flaw is with the system, not the lawyer.
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« Reply #6 on: April 13, 2008, 03:38:19 pm »
The guy who really did it confessed to his lawyer because he knew his lawyer couldn't say anything?  Way to lay your shit on other people.  If he really felt bad about it, he would have confessed to the authorities.  I would hunt down the asshole and save us all some tax dollars.
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run_to_win
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« Reply #7 on: April 13, 2008, 03:51:25 pm »
Quote from: SCFinFan on April 13, 2008, 03:16:59 pm
That would be a tough, tough situation.

I don't know what I'd do. You're risking your status with the bar to come forward with evidence against your client...
So his job was more important than this man's life?

No, not tough at all.  This lawyer was scum, gives all lawyers bad name, and should have to forfeit every dime he made during those 26 years. 

============= 

The "innocent" guy ... what was his criminal history?   How was he convicted of a crime he did not commit?   Has he ever had a previous run in with the law?
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run_to_win
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« Reply #8 on: April 13, 2008, 03:54:21 pm »
Don't abide by a broken system.  Do what's right. 

In Nebraska (?) the traffic law governing an unmarked intersection read, "...niether car can go until the other has gone."  Would these f-ing lawyers sit there for the rest of their lives?
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Dave Gray
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« Reply #9 on: April 13, 2008, 05:05:15 pm »
It doesn't matter if the lawyer told anyone or not.  It would not be admissible.  It wouldn't change anything, and the lawyer would get disbarred on top of it.
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run_to_win
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« Reply #10 on: April 13, 2008, 07:21:21 pm »
Quote from: Dave Gray on April 13, 2008, 05:05:15 pm
It doesn't matter if the lawyer told anyone or not.  It would not be admissible.  It wouldn't change anything, and the lawyer would get disbarred on top of it.
It would not be admissable in the trial of the man who actually did the deed.

Whether or not it's admissible in the trial of the innocent man doesn't matter.  It should have been said.  To the judge, the jury, the authorities, the media - whoever would listen.

From the story:
Quote
But bound by legal ethics, they kept quiet.
That's gotta be the oxy-moronic line of the year!
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Guru-In-Vegas
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« Reply #11 on: April 13, 2008, 07:40:48 pm »
Quote from: run_to_win on April 13, 2008, 03:51:25 pm


The "innocent" guy ... what was his criminal history?   How was he convicted of a crime he did not commit?   Has he ever had a previous run in with the law?

That is all irrelevant to the situation, don't you think? 

So what if he has previous run ins?  That doesn't change the fact that he is innocent of the crime he was charged with and consequently punished for. 

Imagine how many other times this has happened.  Pretty scary.
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run_to_win
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« Reply #12 on: April 13, 2008, 10:23:08 pm »
Quote from: Guru-In-Vegas on April 13, 2008, 07:40:48 pm
That is all irrelevant to the situation, don't you think?
To the courts?  Yes.  Of course, it was also irrelevant to them that someone else confessed to this crime.

What testimony/evidence was there that got 12 of his peers to convict him?


Quote from: Guru-In-Vegas on April 13, 2008, 07:40:48 pm
So what if he has previous run ins?
Theoretically, innocent 'til proven guilty is nice.  Realistically, if you have dozens of prior convictions (which usually equates hundreds of crimes for which you weren't caught) it doesn't automatically make you guilty of this crime, but it makes it less unlikely. 

If this guy NEVER had a spot of trouble and now you're telling us he murdered someone?  There'd have to be some pretty concrete evidence - which would be impossible in this case since he was innocent. 
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SCFinFan
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« Reply #13 on: April 13, 2008, 11:10:27 pm »
Well, Run, think... what if the lawyer was making a fine living, had a family, a mortgage, etc etc. That's a lot to give up. True, from a purely moral standpoint, I think the lawyer or his client ought to have come forward. But who knows why he didn't? Fear of loss of job? Perhaps "pressure" from his guilty client? Concern for acquiring adequate employment after breaking the code of ethics in such a public manner?

I mean, how exactly, even if the lawyer wasn't disbarred, does one regain the trust of a) any member of the community who needs to confide in him, or b) the rest of his clients that, should they have something to tell him, he won't go blab it to the closest courthouse that has jurisdiction?

In a way, I agree, the system is flawed. I wish that there was some way to cut out the bad, and leave only the good (i.e. blab on your guilty clients, but protect the innocent ones). But, I don't know of one.

The laws of men will always be ugly and faulty. This is an unfortunate example.
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