Time for a little quick math. 5 million for 17 years of Mr. Rodriguez's life. Figure 15% of that will go to taxes -- that is $750,000. That leaves $4,250,000. Figure 30% for attorneys fees. That comes out to 1,275,000. That leaves $2,975,000. That comes out to $175,000 a year, for those 17 years.
City attorneys wanted to pay $760,000. That comes out to just $44,705 before taxes, attorneys fees and court costs. For those in the Houston area, at least now you know what the city attorneys think your life is worth.
Why do I have the feeling that Mr. Rodriguez would trade it all to have that time back to be with his family?
George Rodriguez Sues For Wrongful Imprisonment
HOUSTON -- A jury reached a verdict on Thursday in the case of a man who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit and sued the city of Houston for millions, KPRC Local 2 reported.
George Rodriguez was sent to prison for raping a child in 1987 based on false evidence supplied by the HPD crime lab. He was released in 2004 after DNA testing proved his innocence.
He sued the city of Houston for $35 million in damages. Jurors reached a verdict that gave him $5 million.
Jurors began deliberations Tuesday afternoon. They sent out a note at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday saying they were unable to agree on a key question in the case.
Judge Vanessa Gilmore urged them to continue to try and reach a verdict.
Deliberations resumed Thursday at 9 a.m. The panel reached the verdict shortly after 4 p.m.
Rodriguez said he lost 17 years with his family.
"I feel great. I feel good this is over with. I'm glad that it's over with. Now I can try to get back with my family, try to make their dreams come true, try to be the best father I can right now," Rodriguez said.
Attorneys for the city agreed that Rodriguez should be compensated for his ordeal. They suggested damages closer to $760,000.
Link:
http://www.click2houston.com/news/19859745/detail.html
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Just think of all of the innocent men who are never compensated, who spent 15-20 years in prison.
Think of the innocent men who never will see any compensation.
The states compensate female victims, "victims" even, but have no interest in compensating male victims of false accusations that result in ruinging,destroying and sometimes,ending their lives. Smells like gender bias to me. What they may consider fair and just compensation for all of what they and the liar put him thrugh, is a very cruel joke.
Guided to Injustice? the Effect of the Sentencing Guidelines on Indigent Defendants and Public Defense
Journal Article Excerpt
Guided to injustice? The effect of the Sentencing Guidelines on indigent defendants and public defense.
by Joseph S. Hall
"The effect of all system is apt to be petrification of the subject systematized."(1)
I. INTRODUCTION
A popular prison joke among inmates is that no one really committed the crime they are serving time for; they are there because their lawyers blundered.(2) And while this is understood as a shared laugh among prisoners, this Note illustrates how this situation is increasingly true for a subsection of defendants under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (the "Guidelines")--namely those defendants who were represented by public defenders.
With the transition to the Guidelines in 1987, the defense lawyer's role in sentencing fundamentally changed.(3) A defendant's sentence is now determined, in large part, by the prosecutor's decisions and the public defender's adeptness in manipulating the Guidelines, as compared with the previous system in which the judge was almost solely responsible for the sentence.(4) Constraints upon defense resources as well as the prosecutor's zeal in attempting to secure a plea, or a high sentence in the absence of a plea, now effectively determine the length of a defendant's sentence.
With this change, those represented by public defenders are especially disadvantaged. Since the public defender may not have the time, resources, or facility with the Guidelines to advocate effectively for a shorter sentence, she must ration her time between trial preparation and efforts aimed at minimizing a sentence. Under the Guidelines, these efforts at sentencing frequently do not overlap with the issues the defender must present at trial, hence requiring additional research and investigati...
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5001888889
Does a Broken Country Have a Future?
The Criminal Injustice System
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
Ronald Cotton spent 11 years in prison because Jennifer Thompson provided eye witness testimony that he was the person who raped her. On March 9, National Public Radio revisited the story.
It turned out that Thompson was completely wrong, DNA evidence indicated that it was not Cotton but another man who had bragged about the rape.
Thompson asked Cotton for forgiveness, and he gave it. The two became friends and have collaborated on a book. On NPR Thompson said that eye witness testimony is incorrect 70 percent of the time.
I am familiar with psychological studies that conclude that eye witness accounts are wrong half of the time. That is enough to discredit eye witness testimony as evidence; yet, police and juries always bank on it.
Rape victims tend to be angry, and they want someone to pay. When shown mug shots or a lineup, they tend to pick someone, naively believing that if it is the wrong person the police investigation will clear the person.
Witnesses to crimes who are not themselves victims want to be helpful to the police. Consequently, they also tend to deliver up the innocent to justice.
And then there is the
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts03112009.html
Larger Inmate Population Is Boon to Private Prisons
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122705334657739263.html
You've go to be kidding - he has to pay taxes on it? I knew that was true of lottery winners, but didn't know it applied to lawsuits.
re eyewitness testimony,
I learned way back in a psychology class in school, that there were experiments done that showed that when the person who actually committed a crime is not in a 'line-up', the victim tends to pick the person who looks most like the perpetrator, rather than saying "I don't see him". I think the studies did not just apply to rape, or maybe not to rape at all, but you get the point.
That's probably at least part of the reason they don't use line-ups anymore. At least I don't think they do, do they?
I think they, depending on what prosecutors want to do and what public defenders allow to be done, still do them here in Tennessee.
Anonymous said...
A popular prison joke among inmates is that no one really committed the crime they are serving time for
interesting.
That's a popular joke among inmates -- in the movies.
Also, I don't think you have to pay taxes when you win a lawsuit.
Did anybody here about this? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/us/16asylum.html?hp
The US is now importing false rape accusers from other countries! Just make something up and you're in!
anon,
your link above doesn't work, at least not right now.
Is it the one about 'Russian brides' taking advantage of VAWA by making false DV charges? (That gives them the fast track to citizenship).
This 'foreign women only' group better be careful.
@Norm,
It's a little off topic, but I think it's outrageous that Americans have to pay tax on lottery winnings.
In most countries lottery winnings and gambling profits are not taxed unless you are a professional gambler.
People cannot claim an income tax deduction on the cost of buying lottery tickets or other losses incurred through gambling. Why should you then have to pay income tax if you win?
Nick,
thanks for the info. The IRS will always get you ...just like child support agencies. I read about a case of a man and wife committing suicide together after being relentlessy hounded for $160 or so in back taxes.
"Feminist misinformation is pervasive."
http://www.aei.org/article/100695
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