Exonerated convicts ask Washington to pay up for lost time
SEATTLE -- Former prisoners who were found to be wrongly convicted are asking the state to compensate them for their lost time.
Three exonerated men and the law students who helped free them arrived in Olympia on Thursday to make their case.
Larry Davis served time for a rape he did not commit in northern Clark County in 1993. It took 17 years, but Davis -- with help from the Innocence Project --finally cleared his named.
"When you're innocent, you're innocent, and it will show," Davis said.
A team from the Innocence Project found DNA evidence that proved Davis was not the rapist, and now they're asking state lawmakers to compensate inmates $50,000 for every year lost in prison.
Alan Northrop, Davis' co-defendant in the 1993 Clark County rape case, was also wrongly convicted of rape. He said the worst part of his ordeal was not being able to raise his kids. He, too, was set free when DNA evidence proved his innocence.
Another former convict, James Anderson, was exonerated after the Innocence Project helped him prove he was in California at the time of a robbery for which he served five years in prison.
"When I got released in Washington, no one apologized to me," Anderson said.
King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said that is wrong.
"We think when the government makes a mistake, we should say we're sorry," he said.
Similar proposals to compensate exonerated prisoners have come up before, and while they've found support from lawmakers, no one has been able to find money in the state's tight budgets.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Tina Orwall, hopes this will be the year the bill passes.
"I do have more hope this year," said the SeaTac Democrat. "I think there are a lot more people advocating for the bill."
Currently, only four former inmates would qualify for compensation, but the Innocence Project is working on a few dozen other cases for prisoners they believe are innocent.
This is why the state usually cuts a deal " We see that you are in fact innocent, now, so if you change your plea to guilty, we will let you out. But then you can't sue us. "
Who wouldn't want to be compensated. I knew Dennis Fritz, a man that was convicted and served 20 years for a murder he never committed. John Grisham wrote a book about it Called "The Innocent Man". This is just wrong and yes, these men should be compensated.
$50,000 for every year. If that was me I would want no less then two more zero's on that amount per year.
I agree with this. Â They should be compensated for life, not just for the time they spent in prison. Â Their lives will NEVER be the same again. Â The government ruined this. Â The responsible parties SHOULD be held accountable, just as doctors are held accountable for their mistakes. Â Why should lawyers and such be exempt?
The should also sue the crud out of anyone that testified against them.
 @trololol Only if they did it maliciously. Eyewitness testimony is inherently flawed (http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/features/2011/getting_it_wrong_convicting_the_innocent/how_eyewitnesses_can_send_innocents_to_jail.html) and has resulted in many innocent people convicted of crimes they did not commit. Because of that, you don't completely want to rule out their testimony but it needs to be approached with caution.
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On the other hand, if the person provides testimony to intentionally harm the person who is on trial, or to protect someone who the witness knows to be guilty, then, yes, they should be held accountable. The difficulty is in determining exactly what happened and why.
make it 100K not 50K and if they cant find the funds take it from the tweeking welfare queens who breed like rats.
How about the take the money they pissed away on putting gender neutral references in all the laws and compensate these guys? What a shame and what a horrible thing was done to them. MAKE IT RIGHT!!!!
There's A Reason Cops Lie In Court
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-police-lie-2013-2
I think $50,000 for every year is cheap they had better jump on that deal I would want a hell of a lot more then that for 17 years of lost freedom.
See what'll happen if we get rid of capital punishment?
one time the police came to my door put me on the ground,beat me, placed me under arrest. it was found that they came to the wrong address. they lied in court. needless to say one cop didnt lie. becouse of the 1 cop that told the truth and the fact they were at the wrong address i was found not guilty. i still was locked up for 3 weeks for something i didnt do. no im sorry from the courts and i could find no lawer that wanted to fight for me being locked up. they said they didnt want to take on the state like that. this was 28 years ago. i know this type of thing happens. and for the people that say cops are not crooked you are very blind. lawers for the state are the same these people should get their money and they should not have to ask for it but be told it will be in you bank in 3 days!! im sure it took no time at all to place them in jail! give them what is theres ...
 @bcoe Kudos to the cop who told the truth in your story. I wonder if s/he is even still working for the force. I'll bet it made their life a heck of a lot more complicated simply for doing what they are supposed to do. If that person has remained a peace officer, I certainly hope they've held their moral high ground and continued to promote justice.
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While I know there are good cops and bad cops out there (just like good and bad prosecutors, litigators, judges, etc.) I'd like to think there are more good than bad. Otherwise my opinion of reality really starts to fall apart. I've had personal experiences of Portland Police and with Multnomah County (in each instance, I was the victim) and I'll take Multnomah County Sheriffs any day!
 @CTWU This kind of sounds like the same thing as our, "Rogue" LAPD officer, without the killing of course.....
They are OWED MILLIONS....EACH!
 @August100 Good point..
And now from someone who is a complete waste of space..
And a total waste of breathable airÂ
The state should charge them for room and board, That would be about $50k a year, so their even.
@sortbait charge a person for room and board? for a place they didnt want to be but was forced? maybe you should be locked up for a bit. see then what you might say.
Only if the state had a belief that the person being prostituted was indeed innocent (such as prosecuting someone to âget a conviction at any costâ), OR if the state acted in any way to pervert the course of justice (i.e. hiding things from the defense).
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Otherwise it's not the state's fault and that's what compensation is about, fault.
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 @Repoman WRONG
 @Repoman Please tell me you meant prosecuted, not prostituted.
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 @AmiM I was thinking the EXACT same thing...
 @Repoman I am not sure I agree...as a society I think we need to all pay for the mistakes of those we put in charge and taking 17 years of someones life away is something no amount of money could ever return. I think they are owed something regardless of who's fault is was if anyone.
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Take a 17 year chunk of your life and pretend it you were locked up during the period and think about all you missed out on...wife?, kids?, vacations?, helping sick family, funerals?, on and on...
 @FreedomRocks  @Repoman I know I was married for 20 years. lol
@Repoman so if you put a person to death and find after he is killed by the state that he was not the person that committed the crime just bring him back and alls good? and again the state is not at fault.