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Post Info TOPIC: oops....We may have executed the wrong man!


Kenneth Cole

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oops....We may have executed the wrong man!
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This is just some of the story.  You can get the rest from http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/07/12/execution.investigation.ap/index.html


ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- Citing grave concerns that Missouri executed an innocent man, a coalition that includes a congressman, high-profile lawyers and even the victim's family pointed to evidence Tuesday that they said could clear Larry Griffin's name.


Prosecutors have decided to reopen the case of Griffin, who was convicted in 1981 in the murder of Quintin Moss, a 19-year-old drug dealer who was shot to death. Griffin maintained his innocence to the end, but was put to death in 1995.


Now, many people, including some members of Moss' family, believe him.


"What I have heard recently is very troubling and leads me to believe an innocent man was executed for this murder, while the real killers have not been brought to justice," said Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Missouri, who spoke at a news conference Tuesday with other supporters of Griffin.


The news conference followed a report compiled by a University of Michigan Law School professor who discovered new information on the case in the last year. The report suggests that:



  • The first police officer at the scene of the 1980 shooting, Michael Ruggeri, now says that the story told by the supposed eyewitness was false, even though Ruggeri's own testimony at trial supported what the witness said.



  • A second victim of the shooting, Wallace Conners, has said he was never contacted by the defense or the prosecution. Conners, now 52, who was wounded in the attack, said the supposed eyewitness was not present at the shooting.


    "I tell all you all, Larry Griffin did not commit this crime," Conners told reporters. "Larry Griffin definitely wasn't in the car."



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    Kate Spade

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    So scary to think this could happen...

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    Chanel

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    this reminds me of the movie "The Life of David Gale".



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    "i tell you one lesson I learned If you want to be something in life, You ain't gonna get it unless, You give a little bit of sacrifice, Oohh, sometimes before you smile you got to cry.." -The Roots


    Chanel

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    I guess this is why so many people are against the death penalty, b/c you risk situations like this.  It's sad and scary that a possibly innocent man lost his life and the real killers are still running loose on the streets.

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    dc


    Dooney & Bourke

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    NylaBelle wrote:

    I guess this is why so many people are against the death penalty, b/c you risk situations like this.  It's sad and scary that a possibly innocent man lost his life and the real killers are still running loose on the streets.



    That's exactly my reason. It's not that I don't think that some people deserve it, it's that I have little faith that it's correctly or fairly handed down as a sentence.

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    ~ dc "Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination" - Oscar Wilde
    cc


    Marc Jacobs

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    This is so awful. When the governor of Illinois suspended the death penalty a few years ago I think something like 12 death row inmates were exonerated in the 12 years since the death penalty had been in effect.

    ETA: Here are two old CNN articles about the Illinois situation.
    Illinois suspends death penalty
    Death row exonerations inspire debate

    -- Edited by cc at 22:20, 2005-07-19

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