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I debated whether to post this in GYY or TV/Movies or Politics. We need a "social sciences" section or something similar. Politics/Society maybe?
video: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/
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In the first of a two-part conversation, Tavis joins Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. and four men who, combined, spent more than 50 years behind bars—despite their innocence.
A 16-year-old Chicago girl accused University of Chicago probationary police officer Ken Berry of abduction at gunpoint and sexual assault. Berry had no criminal record and insisted that sex with the girl was consensual. Convicted and sentenced to 35 years, Berry was later determined innocent and his police and court records were expunged.
Randy Steidl lived in a small farming community in southern Illinois. In a 90-day period, he was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of a newlywed couple. After serving 17 years—12 of them on death row—he was exonerated when it was proven that witnesses fabricated testimony against him.
Marcus Lyons, a 29-year-old Navy vet and member of the naval reserve with no previous police record, was convicted of raping a woman in an apartment complex in Woodridge, IL. He served three years of a six-year term before being released after DNA evidence proved his innocence.
Johnnie Lee Savory was 14 years old when he was whisked away from junior high school and, absent his parents or legal representation, interrogated about the murders of two teenagers in Peoria, IL. He was ultimately convicted of the crimes, sentenced to 50-100 years and served 30 years—two-thirds of his life—in Illinois prisons before being released on parole.
These are just four cases of wrongful conviction that have surfaced in Illinois following investigations by Northwestern University's Innocence Project.
video: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/
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In the first of a two-part conversation, Tavis joins Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. and four men who, combined, spent more than 50 years behind bars—despite their innocence.
A 16-year-old Chicago girl accused University of Chicago probationary police officer Ken Berry of abduction at gunpoint and sexual assault. Berry had no criminal record and insisted that sex with the girl was consensual. Convicted and sentenced to 35 years, Berry was later determined innocent and his police and court records were expunged.
Randy Steidl lived in a small farming community in southern Illinois. In a 90-day period, he was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of a newlywed couple. After serving 17 years—12 of them on death row—he was exonerated when it was proven that witnesses fabricated testimony against him.
Marcus Lyons, a 29-year-old Navy vet and member of the naval reserve with no previous police record, was convicted of raping a woman in an apartment complex in Woodridge, IL. He served three years of a six-year term before being released after DNA evidence proved his innocence.
Johnnie Lee Savory was 14 years old when he was whisked away from junior high school and, absent his parents or legal representation, interrogated about the murders of two teenagers in Peoria, IL. He was ultimately convicted of the crimes, sentenced to 50-100 years and served 30 years—two-thirds of his life—in Illinois prisons before being released on parole.
These are just four cases of wrongful conviction that have surfaced in Illinois following investigations by Northwestern University's Innocence Project.
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