Good, but depressing movie
I watched a movie called After Innocence last night. It is about people that were wrongly convicted of a crime then later, after they were in jail, the DNA evidence (or in some cases other means) proved them innocent. The movie follows them now that they are out and trying to rebuild their lives.
Some interesting things in the movie:
1. Many states won't expunge your record. A guy was wrongly convicted of rape and 16 other sexual assault charges and after 12 years in prison the DNA proved it wasn't him. He was exonerated of all charges, but they won't remove them from his record so it still shows him has a convicted rapist and it was almost impossible for him to get a job or a place to live.
2. Many states don't have any kind of compensation law. After 15 years in jail for a crime you didn't commit they set you free just throw your ass out. No help getting a place to stay, no money, nothing.
3. In Florida a guy served 19 years for rape. The DNA evidence proved he didn't do the crime. The DA fought to keep him in jail arguing that even though the evidence shows he probably didn't do the crime, they did not present the evidence properly so he shouldn't be let free. He did 3 more years while they worked to get him out.
4. In the cases where the conviction was made based on eyewitness accounts and then later the DNA proved the eyewitness was wrong, 88% of the time the eyewitness makes an incorrect identification of someone.
It's a pretty good movie, but a little depressing. Makes you a little worried. One guy got arrested for rape because he had long hair and was wearing a red sweatshirt which was what the victim said her attacker was wearing. He did nothing wrong, he was just walking down the street. They picked him up, the woman said it was him and he went to jail for 23 years for a crime he didn't commit against a person he had never seen in his life.
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