This case really defies logic and is filled with
questionable actions by many.
Kareem Bellamy, 26, was breaking the open container law
when he stood outside his home drinking a beer. Next
thing he knew a police car drove up and placed him
under arrest.
Knowing he did nothing that should prompt an arrest, he
stated "This a mistake. What happened,
someone say I murdered someone?" Those fateful words
would be viewed as a "consciousness of guilt." Weeping jurors took
4 days to find him guilty.
Many years ahead of schedule, Mr. Bellamy, now 41,
is due back in court on Thursday, no longer guilty of the murder.
His conviction was vacated on June 27 by Justice Joel L. Blumenfeld
of State Supreme Court in Queens. Mr. Bellamy will be seeking bail
while prosecutors decide whether to try him again.
"That Mr. Bellamy will have a second chance to fight the murder charge
is due not to any particular diligence by law enforcement authorities,
but rather because the final link in a chain of lucky breaks delivered
him a secret tape recording. On it, a man says that he and
another man actually did the killing." (copied from article)
This case does not involve DNA but it does have many twists and turns.
It is hard to understand that the witness testimony was ever allowed.
You should read the article that explains what happened
and I am pretty sure you will shake your
head in amazement, just as I did.
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4 comments:
This is absolutely sickening, and it is so disturbing that 12 people could have convicted this man.
I am so sick and tired of reading stories about "strong circumstantial cases", because in my opinion that is an oxymoron. If circumstantial "evidence" is all the prosecution has, then it is not a strong case in any way, shape, or form.
'Innocent until proven guilty' and 'guilty beyond a reasonable doubt' are supposedly cornerstones of the foundation of our criminal justice system. However, time after time we are shown that both of those concepts are meer myths. There are plenty of cases when juries convict on sheer emotion instead of facts.
What is even more sickening is that the apathetic American public sits back and allows these things to happen. It is a "broken windows" philosophy in that it doesn't really matter how safe we actually are, as long as we feel safe. So, it doesn't matter if we get the right offender, it just matters that somebody pays for the crime.
I am of the belief that if there is a lack of damning physical evidence then a guilty verdict should be difficult, if not impossible, to come by. Unfortunately this is not the case.
Unfortunately this happens more often than we realize. My problem is the reliance on eyewitness testimony which is notoriously poor. Unless you have more, you have nothing, IMHO.
"Rush to Judgment" should never be the desire. Without money for private investigations, defense attorneys are blindfolded and have no way to show the jury the holes in the case
In the course of my studies in Criminology, I have learned many truly disturbing things. Near the top of this list is the truth about eyewitness testimony. Our justice system seems to put eyewitness testimony on such a pedestal, despite the research that shows how truly unreliable it is.
It is difficult if not impossible to imagine how I would feel if I were in prison simply because an eyewitness identified me as a criminal.
It is not the justice system that elevates eye witness testimony, it is the public who serve as jurors.
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