Dallas, DNA target wheels of bad justice
13th exoneration since '01 expected

From Tribune news services
Published April 10, 2007


DALLAS -- A remarkable campaign in Texas to right the justice system's wrongs moved forward Monday with a court recommendation that is expected to lead to the exoneration of the 13th person -- and 10th African-American -- based on DNA evidence in Dallas County since 2001.

James Curtis Giles, 53, has spent nearly half of his life, including 10 years in prison and 14 years on the sex offender registry, trying to prove his innocence in a 1982 rape case.


The spotlight of wrongful conviction investigations, which once shone glaringly on Illinois, has been turned to Dallas County, where a newly elected prosecutor, Craig Watkins, has forged an unusual alliance with the Innocence Project, a New York-based group that uses DNA testing to challenge certain convictions.

Watkins, who took office Jan. 1 as the first black elected as a district attorney in Texas, heads an agency with a history of racial discrimination. It once had a staff manual for prosecutors that described how to keep minorities off juries.

The new district attorney is taking aim at the many disputed convictions during the law-and-order tenure of the late Henry Wade, who was top prosecutor from 1951 to 1987 and is known nationally for his role in Roe vs. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortion.

"The mentality of the office at that time was, 'I don't care if there is some doubt, let's make sure we keep up our conviction rate,'" Watkins said.

The new prosecutor, who is 6-foot-5 and soft-spoken, acknowledges that critics call his approach "hug-a-thug." But he says, "We're not being soft on crime. We're being sure we get the right person going to jail."


Exodus of the old guard

Watkins, the first Democrat to hold the job in 20 years, has shaken up the office, firing or accepting the resignations of almost two dozen high-level white prosecutors.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...ationworld-hed


So lets see 20 years of republicans in power and low and behold we have case after case of wrongfully convicted minorities....proof postive that IF minorities really are welcome in the "big tent" of the RNC they are probably the there as servants!

But seriously, is it any wonder that minorities have turned their backs wholesale on the RNC? Is it any wonder that they are seen as the party of rich white folks?

Facts is facts and it seems the facts in this case along with 12 others shows that republican prosecutors in Texas have clearly been targeting blacks for crimes they did not commit so that they could say they were keeping the streets safe while letting the real rapists and killers walk....

Is it any wonder then why many of us see the RNC as being less then able to keep America let alone a single county safe?

JUSTICE NEVER SLEEPS.

Peace.

__________________
E.Pluribus Unum

People of power have NO good will and people of good will have NO power.

If you think Education is Expensive try Ignorance.

Fine---IF he's releasing TRULY innocent people. DNA doesn't prove everything....and he is going against judges and juries who had a hand in the decisions. BTW, those juries in Dallas were most likely all-black juries, so I don't see how you can blame it on "racist" Republicans.

There was a recent case where a man was released on DNA for rape and within a couple years raped and murdered a young woman. How do you think her family feels about the fact he got released?


"Man Who was Released from Jail After DNA Proved He was Wrongfully Accused of Rape, Kills Woman
By Katherine M.
Published March 18, 2007

Sunday, a jury convicted Avery of first degree murder of 25 year old Teresa Halbach. The young photographer was killed on Halloween in 2005 and her burned remains were found outside of Steven Avery's home. As a result he will be sent back to prison, this time with a life sentence."
http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...ail_after.html

Dallas' D.A. Watkins also came into his job-----after promising not to make many personnel changes---and started firing lawyers and replacing them with African Americans who he felt had helped get him elected. So, I'm not so sure who the racist is here. (And they say Gonzales and the U.S. Justice Dept was being political!!! )

Right now there is a serial raptist loose in the Dallas area. Watkins better hope it isn't someone he got released.

__________________
"This is a time for a national imperative not to fail in Iraq." Condoleeza Rice, January 11, 2007

So you don't have a problem with an innocent man spending half is life in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Ever thought that might turn someone into a criminal?

Peace.

__________________
E.Pluribus Unum

People of power have NO good will and people of good will have NO power.

If you think Education is Expensive try Ignorance.

Yeah, who cares if we got the right guy or not. Let's keep him in jail because he might commit a crime if we let him out.

__________________
Man up.

Above all, they are just black guys.

__________________
EAM-ELAS-MELIGALAS

Am I the only one who sees a problem in the logic of calling these exonerations proof of racism?

__________________
Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. It's a dumb question... skip it.

No, you are not the only one.

__________________
EAM-ELAS-MELIGALAS

Huh? If anything the number of minorities in the Republican party is INCREASING, not decreasing. Several Republicans on this very forums (including me) have said they would vote for Condi Rice. Who is not only black, but also a woman. You have even more saying they would vote for Powell.

Regardless of how many minorities you think are in the Republican party, it is obvious that the number (by percentage) is not dropping. It is only increasing. There are more black people in the party now than at any point in modern history.

You are attributing that action to an entire party. That seems unreasonable to me.

Since when is actual proof required for any liberal? Their opinion is all the "proof" they need.

__________________
My Political Blog (Last post Feb 14) - My MySpace Page

They are humen they make mistake...

__________________
EAM-ELAS-MELIGALAS