Brothers Convicted in 1983 North Carolina Murder Are Freed After DNA Tests

But they confessed, they must be guilty.

It this rape/murder had happened now, there would be all sorts of posters here how these two guys should be slowly tortured to death.

And your point?

Should have executed them while they had the chance. 30 years sitting on death row is far too long. If these guys were dead now, this case would never have been re-examined, and there'd be no embarrassment about it now. Just another couple of dead negroes.

depends on the family... if they pushed it may have been re-examined.

System is not perfect

So it's their fault??

Compare this to the opinions on "grooming gang" thread:

When minorities do wrong, race has everything to do with it.

But when they've been wronged, race has nothing to do with it; it gets dismissed with a simple "the systems not perfect", served with a side of blame the victim.

Who would confess to a crime they didn't commit that carried a death sentence?

Someone with the mental capacity of a 9-year-old who is being yelled at by an experienced interrogator.


After they obtained the first confession, they used it as leverage to get the other to confess to avoid the death penalty.

No lawyers back in the 80s?

Are you seriously acting like this is the first time you've ever heard of this?

Jails are full of people tricked or intimidated into making false confessions. Blacks especially. If they even get a lawyer it usually doesn't help.

Ever hear of the Central Park 5?

I think so. I believe they were finally given a pardon.
But again, how is a confession of a mentally deficient man acceptable?

Whatever, never confess to anything you didn't do or even things you did.

So it's their fault??

Compare this to the opinions on "grooming gang" thread:

When minorities do wrong, race has everything to do with it.

But when they've been wronged, race has nothing to do with it; it gets dismissed with a simple "the systems not perfect", served with a side of blame the victim.


I don't remember saying it was anyones fault. Andyt brought up race.

My comments were in regaurd to the so called legal system and the death sentence. It is far from perfect. Cases do get re-opened even after the person convicted is dead.

Personally I would rather have a death sentence than pay to house the Clifford Olson's of the world. I don't think they should get steak in prison either or double points for waiting. I know I'm a horrible person, but I'm ok with that

It actually costs more to kill them than to jail them


.

Yeah they were pardoned 12 years later but after spending multiple years in jail and obviously costly legal defence. The $40 Million dollar settlement offer was just announced this summer.

How is the confession of mentally deficient person acceptable? Welcome to the USA.

Never confessing to something you didn't do is sound advice, but nonetheless it happens, especially to the ignorant and mentally deficient.

Got some links for that?

Not sure it makes a diff to the dead person to be posthumously exonerated. The point is that there's lots of people executed that were innocent, and we'll never hear about it because it's too late.

There have been plenty of cases where extreme doubt was cast on the guilt of the executed people. In some the state actually destroyed the evidence after the execution such as Joseph Roger O'Dell where the Prosecutor had claimed, "it would be shouted from the rooftops that ... Virginia executed an innocent man."

In most cases no one, even advocacy groups, are willing to devote time or money on people whom are dead when there are living innocent people awaiting execution who's lives can be saved.

There are a few cases in the U.S. where actual posthumous pardons were given:

Joe Arridy-72 years later
Thomas Griffin-94 years later
Meeks Griffin-94 years later
Lena Baker-60 Years later

I searched pretty thoroughly and these are the only cases I could find of "formal pardons". In each case long after they were dead.

This seems to be the best source for info:
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/

Edit:

There are a few older cases aswell:

In 1893, Governor John P. Altgeld pardoned Albert Parsons, August Spies,
Adolph Fischer, and George Engel, who were hanged for their participation in the
May 1886 Haymarket Square riot.

In 2001, Governor Parris Glendening granted a posthumous pardon to John
Snowden, a Black ice wagon merchant who was hanged in 1919, for the rape and
murder of the wife of a prominent white businessman.

In 1977, Governor Michael Dukakis granted a quasi-posthumous pardon (he
said he would if had the authority, but wasn’t sure he did, but everyone should treat
the statement as a pardon). The recipients of the quasi-pardon were two Italian
immigrant anarchists: Nicola Sacco and Bartolomew Vanzetti. They were executed
in 1927 for the robbery and murder of the paymaster and a guard at a shoe factory.

In 1987, Governor Bob Kerrey granted a posthumous pardon to William
Jackson Marion, on the 100th anniversary of his hanging. Marion was convicted
and executed for the murder of a man who had disappeared but who turned up
alive after Marion was executed.

In 1979, Governor Milton Shapp of pennsylvania granted a posthumous pardon to Jack
Kehoe, who was executed in 1878 for the murder of a mine foreman.

I think this is all of them 13. This list is just the U.S.

The year of the execution of the last posthumous pardon is 1927.