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"Exonerated," Not Necessarily Innocent

By Kent Scheidegger et al.

The anti-DP crowd is crowing over another "exoneration," once again obscuring the distinction between inability to reprosecute and actual proof (or even evidence) of actual innocence. DPIC, for example, has this description of the case of Levon Jones in North Carolina. The headline begins "Innocence" even though the text of the story does not claim he is actually innocent. The district attorney's press release is here. It turns out the witness recantation is only in an affidavit prepared by defense counsel. That is the weakest of all forms of evidence. It is not unusual for a person to sign a statement under pressure from a persistent lawyer or investigator only to say something quite different when speaking in his or her own words on neutral ground...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime and Consequences on May 05, 2008 (boomark / email).