MSM Xmas Gifts: To American Convicts
"Wrongful imprisonment suit dismissed; Judge says police are not to blame" by Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff | January 7, 2010
James Haley spent 34 years in prison before a judge overturned his 1972 murder conviction and set him free, ruling that he didn’t get a fair trial because critical evidence had been withheld from his lawyer.
Happens all the time; prosecutors like to pitch shutouts.
But last week Haley, 63, of Cambridge, lost his bid to be compensated for the years he spent behind bars. On New Year’s Eve, a federal judge dismissed a wrongful imprisonment suit that Haley filed last year against two Boston police detectives, who have died, and the City of Boston.
How do you truly compensate for time and experience?
No amount of money can really do that.
It helps, but it can never replace time taken.
US District Judge Richard G. Stearns rejected Haley’s claims that the detectives, John B. Harrington and Joseph Kelley, deliberately withheld inconsistent statements made by key witnesses. He found that prosecutors - not police - were responsible for disclosing evidence to the defense and that in 1972 the law wasn’t clear on whether the state was obligated to share the statements with Haley’s lawyer. “We’re gratified that the reputations of these two officers have been vindicated,’’ said William F. Sinnott, Boston corporation counsel, adding that it’s difficult for the city to defend itself against lawsuits brought decades later.
Hey, DON'T TURN this into a "city is the victim" story!
This guy just got the ole Massachusetts shaft again!
But Haley insisted yesterday that he is innocent of the 1971 slaying of 25-year-old David Myers, and his lawyers said they will ask a federal appeals court to overturn last week’s ruling and reinstate the civil suit. “I don’t care if it was 50 years ago, if somebody did something wrong and someone like me ended up going to prison for over half their life for something they didn’t do, there should be some compensation,’’ said Haley, who lives on disability payments.
How did he keep his sanity?
Chicago attorney Jon Loevy, who represents Haley in the civil case, said: “Basically what the judge said is this happened so long ago that the law wasn’t yet clear that people had a constitutional right to exculpatory evidence. We don’t agree with that.’’
Haley was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life without parole for allegedly breaking into his sister-in-law’s Dorchester apartment on July 11, 1971, and fatally stabbing and shooting Myers, her boyfriend.... In 2006, after filing a public records request, Haley learned that police interviews had not been turned over to his lawyer. They indicated that the day after Myers’s slaying, Brenda Haley and Custis told Kelley and Harrington that they had last seen him a month before the killing.
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office agreed the new evidence should have been turned over at trial and filed a motion in December 2007 to vacate the conviction.
Related: Suffolk prosecutors record 95 percent conviction rate
Just took another L.
Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle dismissed the conviction and freed Haley on Jan. 18, 2008. Prosecutors later announced they would not retry Haley.
That is an admission that he is innocent right there, and that the authorities who are supposedly serving you (by framing people and costing you precious resources?) are deceivers!
--more--"
