"UNDER STATE GUIDELINES, THOSE WRONGLY CONVICTED AND IMPRISONED ARE ENTITLED TO BE FAIRLY COMPENSATED FOR TIME LOST. TAYLOR COULD GET $750,000, BUT ONLY IF PERDUE GRANTS HIM A PARDON. A SPOKESPERSON SAYS ONE WON’T BE ISSUED UNTIL THE GOVERNOR SEES MORE EVIDENCE. APPARENTLY, THAT MEANS WAITING FOR TESTS ON CLOTHING WORN BY TAYLOR ON THE NIGHT OF THE CRIME. KEEP IN MIND HE AGREED TO THE TESTS, AND RALEIGH POLICE SAY TAYLOR ISN’T A TARGET OF THE REOPENED PROBE. BESIDES, HE COULDN’T BE RETRIED FOR THE CRIME.
ACCORDING TO THE SPOKESPERSON, BEFORE GRANTING THE PARDON, WHICH SHE SAYS “SHOULD BE AN EASY DECISION,” THE GOVERNOR WOULD LIKE TO REVIEW DNA RESULTS — WHENEVER THAT MIGHT BE.
FORMER STATE SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE I. BEVERLY LAKE, WHOSE WORK LED TO CREATING THE INNOCENCE COMMISSION, FINDS PERDUE’S FOOT-DRAGGING TO BE “OUTRAGEOUS.”
EDITORIAL: THE NEWS-RECORD; Wikipedia informs us that, "The News & Record is the largest newspaper serving Guilford County and the surrounding region. It is based in Greensboro, NC..."
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BACKGROUND: Seventeen years ago, Taylor was convicted of the September, 1991 murder of Raleigh prostitute Jacquetta Thomas, 26, whose body was found dumped on South Blount Street in Raleigh. Taylor, 47, said he spent the night of September 25, 1991 drinking and doing drugs with friends while he drove around southeast Raleigh to buy crack cocaine. Taylor said he believed police latched on to him for the murder because he and a friend drove along a dirt path off the same cul-de-sac where Thomas's body was found. Taylor and the friend smoked crack, but his SUV got stuck as they tried to drive away. They abandoned the SUV and walked to a nearby street to get a ride. Taylor testified they saw what they thought was a body but didn't report it to police. When Taylor returned in the morning to get the SUV, the police were already there. During several days of testimony, a parade of witnesses poked holes in the original evidence against Taylor. A SBI agent testified that while initial tests on some items from Taylor's sport utility vehicle were positive for blood, follow-up tests were negative. Those negative tests were not revealed to the jury that convicted Taylor. A dog training expert testified that the bloodhound that investigators said found the scent of the victim on Taylor's SUV was not trained in scent identification. A jailhouse snitch who said that Taylor confessed his involvement in Thomas's killing to him stood by his original testimony, but did admit that Taylor got the method of killing wrong. Johnny Beck, the man who was in Taylor's SUV on the night of the murder, testified neither he nor Taylor were involved in Thomas's death. Taylor had exhausted his appeals, but the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission reviewed the evidence against him last year and recommended the case to the three judge panel for further review. The commission is the only state-run agency in the country that investigates claims of innocence. Now the Commission has declared him innocent - the first time an inmate has been freed through the actions of the state's Innocence Inquiry Commission.
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"Several days after Greg Taylor was exonerated by the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission, Gov. Bev Perdue vowed, “I will work aggressively to make sure he gets whatever he is owed by the state,” the May 12, 2010 News-Record editorial begins, under the heading, "Greg Taylor deserves timely pardon."
"She hasn’t kept her word," the editorial continues.
"It’s been almost three months since the three-judge panel found Taylor innocent of murdering a Raleigh woman, for which he served 17 years in prison.
Under state guidelines, those wrongly convicted and imprisoned are entitled to be fairly compensated for time lost. Taylor could get $750,000, but only if Perdue grants him a pardon.
A spokesperson says one won’t be issued until the governor sees more evidence. Apparently, that means waiting for tests on clothing worn by Taylor on the night of the crime.
Keep in mind he agreed to the tests, and Raleigh police say Taylor isn’t a target of the reopened probe. Besides, he couldn’t be retried for the crime.
According to the spokesperson, before granting the pardon, which she says “should be an easy decision,” the governor would like to review DNA results — whenever that might be.
Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake, whose work led to creating the innocence commission, finds Perdue’s foot-dragging to be “outrageous.”
Delaying the awarding of compensation to which Taylor is entitled makes his readjustment to life on the outside all the more challenging.
Rather than making amends for a wrongful conviction based on sloppy police work, mishandled evidence and misleading court testimony, the state continues setting up roadblocks. Ed Taylor, Greg’s father and a Greensboro resident, says the DMV has withheld issuance of a driver’s license because of an unresolved DWI case — an odd tactic considering Greg Taylor hasn’t driven for 17 years. That’s longer than any likely license suspension.
As for compensating those wrongly convicted, the General Assembly should give that authority to the innocence commission. Perdue’s performance underscores that a governor shouldn’t be able to impede that process."
The story can be found at:
http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/05/11/article/editorial_greg_taylor_deserves_timely_pardon
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
