"Congratulations to Mr. Dupree, but what a bittersweet victory to serve a full sentence, earn parole, then be "exonerated" by modern science AFTER being released! "Ooops!" or "I'm sorry" don't seem to cut it in such circumstances, does it?"
GRITS FOR BREAKFAST;
"Grits for Breakfast says it "looks at the Texas criminal justice system, with a little politics and whatever else suits the author's (Jeff Blackburn)fancy thrown in. All opinions are my own. The facts belong to everybody." Its motto: "Welcome to Texas justice: You might beat the rap, but you won't beat the ride."
See Associated Press story following this post:
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"Texas will apparently see another old conviction overturned tomorrow in Dallas based on latter-day DNA testing, AP's Jeff Carlton reports, after the wrongly convicted defendant in question actually made parole this July following a 30 year stint," the Grits For Breakfast post published earlier today begins under the heading, "First Texas DNA exoneration of 2011: Cornelius Dupree Jr."
"A Texas man who spent more time in prison than any other DNA exoneree in the state is expected to have a court overturn his conviction at an exoneration hearing Tuesday," the post continues.
"Cornelius Dupree Jr., 51, was paroled out of prison in July after 30 years behind bars for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. DNA test results that came back 10 days after his release excluded him as the person who raped and robbed a Dallas woman in 1979.
The Dallas County District Attorney's Office said Monday it supports Dupree's innocence claim.
Dupree has spent more time wrongly imprisoned than any other DNA exoneree in Texas, which has freed 41 wrongly convicted inmates through DNA since 2001, more than any other state. His 30 years would surpass James Woodard, who spent more than 27 years imprisoned for a murder that he was cleared of in 2008.
Apparently this was another case of faulty eyewitness testimony secured with flawed photo lineup procedures. I'm told that Michael Keasler, one of the current judges on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals who just won reelection in November, was a prosecutor on the case. Reported the Dallas News:
the rape victim wrongly identified Dupree in a photo array. The man could not pick out Dupree in a photo lineup. At trial, both victims identified Dupree as one of the men who abducted them in court.
Another man, Anthony Massingill, was also cleared in the same case, said Nina Morrison, an attorney with The Innocence Project.
Congratulations to Mr. Dupree, but what a bittersweet victory to serve a full sentence, earn parole, then be "exonerated" by modern science AFTER being released! "Ooops!" or "I'm sorry" don't seem to cut it in such circumstances, does it?"
The post can be found at:
http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2011/01/first-dna-exoneration-of-2011-cornelius.html
ASSOCIATED PRESS STORY FILED EARLIER TODAY BY REPORTER JEFF CARLTON;
DNA clears Texas man who spent 30 years in prison
AP
DALLAS -Prosecutors declared a Texas man innocent Monday of a rape and robbery that put him in prison for 30 years, more than any other DNA exoneree in Texas.
DNA test results that came back barely a week after Cornelius Dupree Jr. was paroled in July excluded him as the person who attacked a Dallas woman in 1979, prosecutors said Monday. Dupree was just 20 when he was sentenced to 75 years in prison in 1980.
Now 51, he has spent more time wrongly imprisoned than any DNA exoneree in Texas, which has freed 41 wrongly convicted inmates through DNA since 2001 — more than any other state.
"Our Conviction Integrity Unit thoroughly reinvestigated this case, tested the biological evidence and based on the results, concluded Cornelius Dupree did not commit this crime," Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins said.
Dupree is expected to have his aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon conviction overturned Tuesday at an exoneration hearing in a Dallas court.
There have been 21 DNA exonerations in Dallas since 2001, more than any other county in the nation. Only two states — Illinois and New York — have freed more of the wrongly convicted through DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project, a New York-based legal center representing Dupree that specializes in wrongful conviction cases.
Dallas' record of DNA exonerations is unmatched nationally because the county crime lab maintains biological evidence even decades after a conviction, leaving samples available to test. In addition, Watkins has cooperated with innocence groups in reviewing hundreds of requests by inmates for DNA testing. Watkins, the first black DA in Texas history, has also pointed to what he calls "a convict-at-all-costs mentality" that he says permeated the DA's office before he arrived in 2007.
Dupree's 30 years in prison will surpass James Woodard, who spent more than 27 years in a Texas prison for a murder that he was cleared of in 2008.
Nationally, there are at least two other DNA exonerees who spent more time in prison, according to the Innocence Project. James Bain was wrongly imprisoned for 35 years in Florida and Lawrence McKinney spent more than 31 years in a Tennessee prison. Phillip Bivens was locked up for more than 30 years in Mississippi, but it wasn't immediately clear whether he or Dupree were in longer.
The DNA testing in Dupree's case also excluded a second defendant, Anthony Massingill, who was subsequently convicted in another sexual assault case and sentenced to life in prison. Massingill remains in prison but maintains his innocence. DNA testing in that second case is ongoing.
Dupree was charged in 1979 with raping and robbing a 26-year-old woman and sentenced in 1980 to 75 years in prison for aggravated robbery. He was never tried on the rape charge.
According to court documents, the woman and her male companion stopped at a Dallas liquor store in November 1979 to buy cigarettes and use a payphone. As they returned to their car, two men, at least one of whom was armed, forced their way into the vehicle and ordered them to drive. They also demanded money from the two victims.
The men eventually ordered the car to the side of the road and forced the male driver out of the car. The woman attempted to flee but was pulled back inside.
The perpetrators drove the woman to a nearby park, where they raped her at gunpoint. They debated killing her but eventually let her live, keeping her rabbit-fur coat and her driver's license and warning her they would kill her if she reported the assault to police. The victim ran to the nearest highway and collapsed unconscious by the side of the road, where she was discovered.
About five days later, two men whose descriptions did not match Dupree tried to sell the rabbit-fur coat at a grocery store two miles from the liquor store, according to court documents. The car stolen from the victims was found abandoned in the parking lot.
Dupree and Massingill were arrested in December because they looked similar to two suspects being sought in another sexual assault and robbery. The 26-year-old woman picked both men out of a photo array, but her male companion did not identify either defendant in the same photo array.
Dupree was convicted and spent the next three decades appealing. The Court of Criminal Appeals turned him down three times.
The Innocence Project, which took on his case in 2006, obtained DNA testing last summer on biological evidence taken from a vaginal swab. In July, shortly after Dupree's release, the test results cleared Dupree and Massingill.
The hearing is happening now because authorities needed additional testing to confirm that the 30-year-old biological material was a DNA match to the victim.
The Associated Press story can be found at:
http://www.aolnews.com/story/dna-clears-texas-man-who-spent-30-years-in-prison/1191347/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
