The Missisisppi Legislature has passed, and today the governor has signed, this bill:
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR CLAIMS FOR WRONGFUL CONVICTION AND IMPRISONMENT; TO EXPRESS LEGISLATIVE INTENT; TO REQUIRE CLAIMANTS TO PRESENT STATEMENT OF CLAIM FOR COMPENSATION; TO ENACT STANDARDS; TO PROVIDE FOR PRESENTATION OF CLAIMS; TO ENACT STANDARDS FOR JUDGMENT AND AWARD; TO ENACT A STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS; TO PROVIDE FOR EXTENSION THEREOF; TO PROVIDE FOR THE RIGHT OF APPEAL FROM AN ADVERSE DECISION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
The bill states as its purpose:
The Legislature finds that innocent persons who 10 have been wrongly convicted of felony crimes and subsequently 11 imprisoned have been uniquely victimized, have distinct problems 12 reentering society, and should be compensated. In light of the 13 particular and substantial horror of being imprisoned for a crime 14 one did not commit, the Legislature intends by enactment of the 15 provisions of this act that innocent people who are wrongfully 16 convicted be able to receive monetary ompensation.
The bill can be read in full here.
It is the third major piece of legislation (first, a DNA task force last year, second, this year’s bill for DNA preservation and testing) that is the product of the Innocence Project at Ole Miss and Tucker Carrington. He and Senator Gray Tollison of Oxford, the principal author, are deserving of major contratulations.
This is a great development. I fully support the Mississippi Innocence Project. but, about Drs. Haynes and West….
This is wonderful news! Emily Maw with the Innocence Project is to be commended for her work in Mississippi as well! She did a fantastic job with Merrida Coxwell on the Jimmy Bass case out of Bolivar County.
Well done, guys — you make us not only proud but safer.
Sez here … Tupelo rag .. that Tyler Edmonds may be one of the first beneficiaries of this legislation. Stands to claim up to $200,000. I hope the young man will use the money wisely and rise above the people and settings that brought him so much peril and grief. Me … I’d buy a Porsche Turbo and a coupla new Harleys with the loot. And I’d send Suzanne Malvaux a coupla dozen roses.
I’m glad to hear Tyler will benefit from this legislation. But $200,000 for a lost childhood and 5 years in 23 hour lockdown?
Tyler was in protective custody which is 23 hour a day lockdown. It seems like little compensation. It won’t even pay his lawyer bills.
no one can know this boys suffering except him and the poeple who went through it with him and I know a few of those people. I know a guy who supported Tyler in prison the whole time he was there who ended up with $200/month phone bills just so Tyler would have someone to talk to. He’s a retired Viet Nam Vet living in NY. There are at least 3 or 4 other people who went through it with him accepting 3-4 phone calls a day from this child when he was inconsolable. These are people without money, and kids of their own to support. Tyler has Mom’s and Dad’s all over this country, people who took care of him while he was being persecuted by the State of Mississippi, spent their own money and heard his crys and felt his agony year after year.
$200,000 doesn’t seem like much, pam, I agree. But at least it’s something. This state owes a huge “thank you” to the Innocence Project for all the good they’re doing.
No money will ever make up for the suffering and heartache these people suffered. It is as someone pointed out a start. Tyler dont need a porche or a corvette. He has other things he could use. Its a start for him .
I wonder what Brett jones could do with money like that,though he should be given more for the way the idiots have handled his case thus far even ignoring their own courts rulings.
What should be done here is to have the Feds look into all these surcharges Mississippi places on the inmates phone calls which are all passed along to the people who get called ‘Collect’ JIM ><
The problem is that there are a lot of people that are serving hard time due to bogus science done by Drs. Haynes and West. How does that crap get cleaned up? Does that crap get cleaned up? Right now, is there no way that all the cases in which they were involved can be appealed as one? Does each case have to be appealed, one by one? If that’s the case is the Ms Supreme Court amenable to taking up cases just because Drs. Haynes or West gave yestimony?
You have got to love the term YESTIMONY
Unintentional, yet appropriate.
It sounds to me like this legislation is to limith the liability of the State. Maybe with all of “Dr” Hayne’s problems coming to light the state wants to be covered when the lawsuits start.
I haven’t seen any indication, except from the Innocence Project, that any of the cases involving the Drs. are being reviewed. And, that is one by one.
Do the two dudes freed from death row by the Innocence Project qualify under this bill?
WTBAL, good question. There doesn’t appear to be a “cut-off” date in the bill. Maybe my non-lawyerly read missed something. There is a provision for the estates of deceased who were wrongfully incarcerated to receive compensation as well. Wonder how many of those claims will be filed? Can any of you lawyers explain how far back this goes?
I don’t know what this means exactly, but it is a direct quote from the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court that there is some review going on.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20090219/NEWS01/902190354/1002
Waller said cases involving Hayne’s testimony that have been appealed also are being reviewed “very closely” by the state’s Supreme Court.
“We’re going to evaluate the cases one at a time. I applaud Commissioner Simpson’s decision to go a different direction from Dr. Hayne,” he said. “We must follow appropriate standards. I think we’re moving in a better direction.”
Hey guys (and gals),
This new law that took effect July 1, 2009 is a great start, but far from enough. As some people said above, it only begins to touch the countless attorney fees that were incurred over the 6 years that it took to resolve my case. Where a new porsche and harley WOULD be nice, neither of those will be my reality. The 200k that I am expected to recieve will most likely all be used to pay off debts for attorney fees. God only knows what a relief it will be to have my mom and I not have to worry about that anymore. That being said, I can not begin to express my thanks to those people who took those phone calls and wrote letters while I was still in prison. If not for those people (they know who they are) and my family, i dont know how or even if I would have survived. In honor of those people, and the Innocence Project, I plan to donate to the Innocence Project, given that anything is left after I pay off those debts. Thank you all SO much for your love and support for someone you didn’t know. You all hold a place in my heart and I am eternally grateful.
Live life with passion, take nothing for granted, and for everything, give thanks.
Tyler Edmonds