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A Mississippi Exoneration

By Steve Hall

Today's New York Times reports, "30 Years Later, Freedom in a Case With Tragedy for All Involved."  It's written by Campbell Robertson.  It's a tale of false confessions and the threat of the death penalty as a law enforcement tool. A little after 10 o?clock on Thursday morning, it was all up to Phillip Bivens. Just like that. The judge adjourned the hearing and Mr. Bivens, standing in a red jumpsuit in the corner of the courtroom, could all of a sudden do anything he wanted. After 30 years in prison, he was not sure what that was. ?Take it easy, I guess,? he said. ?Try to ease my mind.? Mr. Bivens, 59, and Bobby Ray Dixon, 53, two men who were serving life sentences, were exonerated by a judge on Thursday morning, their guilty pleas to the charge of murder erased...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on September 17, 2010 (boomark / email).