Flashback This One's a Jaw Dropper

This demonstrates that even our justice system practices neo-con ideology by faslely accusing defendants and placing the burden on proof on defendants to disprove they aren't guilty. You see this all the time practiced by facist media channels that spin facts out of control to support their ignorant and damaging ideology.

There is no justice in our justice system when you charge defendants with violating a dozen whimsical laws, and force them into plea bargains to accept guilt for crimes they didn't violate just to win a case. The defendant should accept guilt for the crimes they committed. when they don't you start seeing absurd legislation like the rico act that slap a dozen charges on someone to get them convicted of just one of those charges. Works for drug king pins who can afford high priced attorneys, but ruins the fabric of society when you apply it to kids who commit misdimeanors and can't afford an attorney. Those misdimeanors turn into felony offenses when the poor can't afford proper representation.

Should I commit a crime, I should be charged for the crime I committed and not a dozen other violations created out of thin air that anyone violates on a daily basis (i.e., being on a premise without permission even though you work there and have to have permission to properly perform your work. The charge is false, otherwise you would've been on the premise in the first place). Now the defendant has to disprove a false charge, all the while being in custody without being able to pay an investigator or lawyer who has very little knowledge of your life and responsibilites that led up the charges against you.

Let's not persuade ourselves that all people convicted are innocent, but there really is no system out there to prevent district attorneys and their employees from committing just as serious of felonies that they convict people on a daily basis.

This is not so different from conducting sweeping raids on Afghan villages, imprisoning all male occupants, and transporting them to Guantanamo indefinitely.

After a few months, or perhaps a year of interrogation of the other village residents, and no valid charges against them, we left some there for seven more years, attempting to prove their innocence.

I know clear parameters are needed to distinguish enemy combatants from criminals. I believe our justice system has a responsibility to render a decision about each person detained within one year.

Detaining people without charge is the same policy enacted by the Brits in Northern Ireland in the early '70's. Suspected terrorists (sometimes anyone with a Catholic name) were rounded up and detained without lawyers, contact with their families, and severe abuse.

This is dangerously close to the "Department of Pre-Crime" posed in the movie, "Minority Report."

I'm not naive about crime and it's importance and impact on society. At the core, however, the "round 'em up and keep 'em" strategy is not effective. Certainly no hearts or minds are won as a result of the impact to families of the wrongfully imprisoned. Maybe some want a society based mostly on fear, where we decide "Better safe than sorry." We would certainly need many more prisons (and money to fund them). People will passionately rave about doing this, until they or one of their family members is wrongly accused.

That's certainly not the type of country I want us to become.

These things Happen some where else to someone else?
the unfortunate thing is, that you, me or someone else IS NEXT! this appears to be a country
of Big on Laws, Little on Justice! this judge is obviously out of control! even if this man eventually gets out, his life is destroyed!

Wow. Denial is Ms. Keller's tragic flaw. She has obliterated her moral compass in favor of institutionalized insensitivity. This is the kind of mindset that allows oh, genocide, for example, torture certainly. If you shout a lie often enough you can make it feel true even to yourself. This is the land of Bush. Keller is a criminal accomplice. Where are our disciplined critical thinkers? Where are our souls, for Godssakes?

This dismissal of compelling DNA evidence is absolutely shocking. Could it be that certain neocons are deliberately dismissing DNA evidence because it's against their religious beliefs? Is it because they don't believe in evolution and DNA has been used as an underpinning for the support of evolution?

If that is so, it speaks volumes about the Know-Nothing, semi-illiteracy of certain right-wing groups.

Ms. Keller is on trial herself and may be ousted from office.

....shows what a racket, what a farce so called "law" is........the law racket.......seems it is just a job for judges, crooked prosecutors, etc...for them to get lucrative jobs and pensions, and violate citizens rights.....

A crime has been committed in this case, and not by Roy Criner.

Burke Reeder

The fastest growth industry in America? The one industry that is BOOMING more and more the worse all other economic conditions become? The US prison system. Owned by rich, powerful corporations and supported by a system that is comprised of draconian, nonsensical laws and requires the accused to prove a negative: their innocence.

Two charming facts to think about: 25% of all prisoners in the world reside in the good ol' USA, less than 1/50th of the world's population. More prisoners are incarcerated in California than in the country of China (population 30 million vs. 1.3 billion). And some say CHINA is the less free country?!?

Still proud to be an American?

Innocent until proven guilty....isn't this what our justice system is founded on?

The fact that Criner's attorney brought new evidence into court should win him a new trial, although I'm not sure why the DNA test was not done right from the beginning, if Criner is innocent.

This judge sounds like a real ditz..all she needs is the blonde hair. Scary, very scary.

Don't mess with Texas!
First, Rueban Cantu, then Cameron Todd Willingham, and now Roy Criner? What is going on in Texas? How is it that this type of vile behavior of a justice system, is originating from one state?

Did Texas’ elite Judiciary drink from the same well as it’s esteemed first family that unabashedly sent thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to their deaths based on clear deception? Is Texas trying to show itself worthy of secession? Is it something in the water? How can one state apparently have such exclusive rights to deception, dishonesty and injustice? Makes one wonder if the Texas State Slogan might not be, “The truth is out there, so don’t worry in here”

Isn’t it amazing how, according to zflynn, we have (U.S.) more people incarcerated than China? What does that say about the American Dream? Don’t Mess With Texas? Your right, cause you might become fodder for it’s next industrial complex, the Texas Justice and Prison System. You don’t necessarily have to break the law or even be guilty to feed it. You only need to be able to breathe.

March on Judge Keller and the rest of the Justice system in Texas. Oh let’s not forget the rest of the Texas system which should receive the dubious honors of having executed the first legally innocent man in U.S. history, Cameron Todd Willingham.

What is with you people? Don’t you know it could be you next…..or do you know?

The judge and the d.a. look incompetent-- they seem arrogant and out of touch. They should know that if they cannot prove the defendant is guilty beyond the reseaonable doubt, the defendant should be released. The U.S. judicial system was established based on the ideal that it would rather let a guilty individual go free rather than convicting an innocent person to go to jail. If they have have no proof/evidence, they should let him out, pure and simple.

It seems like they are practicing voodoo law. As long as these individuals are in office, practicing law everyday, no one is safe.

Obviously, the justice system can't imagine that a male can actually be innocent or that the system itself can be dead wrong. If there were any real system of accountability, this common situation would not happen. Obviously, evidence doesn't matter except to convict a male. Notice that females aren't so brazenly falsely accused by a system which only sees males as criminals and females as victims. This is the case from the cops who first arrives on the scene to the legal system which routinely picks a male at random to hound until he excapes by suicide, his only hope! If more of this commonly occuring situation were discussed by the media, it might eventually be recognized for what it is. You don't have to be a Duke University Lacrosse player to be falsely accused, just male.

You got me my jaw dropped,This woman judge has no business being in this position. She is obviously leting her personal feelings get in the way of good judgement.

Law Enforcement & the Judicial system connect the dots to close a case. Period. I worked in Law Enforcement, but I left badly disillusioned, and it should scare the heck out of everyone in America. Unless, of course, you're rich. If someone near you suffers a violent end, the investigation will start in close and spiral out. The very first point where the dots appear to connect motive, opportunity & intent, Wham, case closed. You better hope those dots don't point at you. Who actually did it is rarely very important. Closing cases is what's important. Everyone is tacitly complicit in this - street cops, investigators, court appointed lawyers, prosecutors, judges, etc.
And what constitutes a "confession"?
What Law Enforcement actually considers a "confession" during interrogation deserves a seperate Frontline program. The average man in the street has no idea what Law Enforcement will consider as a "confession", and wouldn't believe it if you explained it to him. I've tried.
Look up the "Norfolk 7", a case which occurred about 1/2 mile from my home, for a good example of what constitutes a "confession" these days.
Well done, Frontline.

This is outrageous! How can Judge Sharon Keller, other judges on the board and the DA be allowed to continue this type of practice? We all need to stand up and fight this type of injustice. Please write to your elected official and demand that they review this matter. If we stand by and stay silent then one day it could be us. This is a crime.

Still another data point on why I know the criminal justice system is broken. Being a senior citizen there is no doubt in my mind that the system is broken based on personal experience and observation over the last 50 yrs. Hearing about this DNA case does not surprise me one bit. When I know, I know.

Wow!
The way that the DA and that lady Justice fumble around with their excuse/reason for not giving him another trail, sounds just like the way GW Bush handled himself. Just because I feel it is so, it must be so, because I am the one with the power. "Come on" Give him another trail. It's called justice, and it is justified.
Jeff Dorchester

Learned something new today.. Texan appellate judges distinguish between innocence and actual innocence.

What in the world is "Actual Innocence"????

People are so out of touch with reality and these stories about what goes on in this world have become so ludicrous I'm surprised anyone can do more than just shake their head and move on.

These Government characters in these positions of influence over normal people's lives are about as atrocious in their tyranny as Hitler and Saddam (on a miniature scale).

When's the cavalry coming to America to liberate us of this farce of freedom, this oppressive regime. Or at least when are the people going to stand up and help this poor guy out?

The State is only worried about paying a wrongful prosecution judgment.. so they consider this guy expendable.

I pray for justice to fall on all the characters involved.

These judges are stupid and biased. How can someone prove innocence when there is nothing else left to prove.
The district attorney himself is an embarrassment to law enforcement. America has become a country of revenge. We sue everyone and we fight and kill one another. We fight the rest of the world who happen to disagree with us. And in this revenge mindset, Americans have come to seek retribution wherever they can get it, even from innocent people.

It is a shame to live in this kind of ( JUSTICE? ) system. It is even more scary to know that each one of us can wake up one day to face an idiot like this district attorney. It is very scary!

What purpose does it serve to keep this man in prison for something that he has not done? This is a case that definitely should go before the U.S. Supreme Court. District Attorneys who engage in this type of behavior should be held legally and financially responsible. Not only that, they should have their licenses revoked and removed from office.

The judging wasn't the real issue here. They are correct in their reasoning. They had to decide on a case that had already been through a jury, with no defendant support from the DA.

The issue was the DA's refusal to acknowledge this new piece of evidence. That's actually the biggest problem here.

Such ignorance and arrogance should be punishable. Unfortunately it is a characteristic attitude of many conservatives who are totally unable to admit their own errors and correct themselves. They lack the intellectual flexibility to appreciate that the world is not black and white, but has many different shades. Judge Keller should be indicted herself, together with the DA. It was disturbing to see the DA laughing at his own injustice. If one can sue a doctor making a mistake while trying to save a life for medical malpractice, why the same principle should not be valid for judges and DA who make a mockery of justice?

It is astonishing to see such inhumanity and indifference from people who have education, privilege, and the weight of lives in their hands. The number of jury cases where the innocent have been imprisoned or executed is clear evidence of the need for greater humanity and recognition that the justice system is not infallible. The DA and majority justices have lost their humanity and decency in an affront to the highest value of civilization – the treatment of people in a rational and reasonable way. This is barbarism.

this scared the heack out of me watching something unbelieveable and makes me think if there is actually any difference between this people here in the united states justice system and the ss party in the 40's in germany.

Craig Watkins the District Attorney for Dallas Tx has forged tremendous ground using DNA Evidence to exonerate wrongly convicted individuals in Dallas. Most DA's don't like what he's doing.. DA's & Appellate judges don't want to have to recognize these exonerations as potential mistakes becuase it brings into question decades of prosecutorial efforts, the possibility of having to retrial or worse set free individuals and potential widespread malfeasance.. More than anything it brings into question the foundation of prosecutorial methods prosecutors have used for decades.. In our society justice has absolutely nothing to do with morality, equity or even fairness. It almost wholly depends on your ability to "purchase" good representation before trial..

This is a clear case of government out of control.
The DA, and all of the Judges involved in this mans incarceration should all be made to spend ten years in prison, and the state of Texas should award this poor man one hundred million dollars in damage, pain and suffering.

I lived in Japan for many years, and it is interesting to note that the very high conviction rate, over 95% is due largely to so called confessions. Also that perpetrators know full well that that showing remorse, and apologising to victims families reduces the sentence.
Take this back to America and I thought the only place where "loss of face" was important was The Far East. Not so, it rules OK in the American police and justice system, who simply hate to be proved wrong, and go to any lengths to prevent new evidence being presented and even in murder cases being allowed sometimes to destroy it. In such cases it must remain in perpetuity.
It may help the whole process if the American justice sysyem follows the rules of Appellate courts in many other countries, which is basically :-
1) The evidence/transcripts in the original court hearing is the evidence and record.
2) The only addition permitted in appellate courts is "New Evidence" this excludes " new theories" by clever defence or prosecuting lawyers. It is also an absolute right that the police and courts cannot deny or as Justice Keller did assume how 12 Jurors would or would not re-act to the new evidence.
3) The next thing the appellate court can review is the Interpretation of the law itself by the Original court and it's sentence.
4) Supreme courts can only deal with item 3 but are mandated to review all the history, and can overturn denial of access to or the definition of New evidence.
Now, todays Science may today, not when the accused was convicted prove a mistake was made. The unfortunate part of this is that in some cases it will be after the execution ( improvements in DNA technology) and sometimes not.
The point is no system is ever perfect, and the real solution is to ban the Death penalty and to keep evidence until the youngest blood relative of a convicted Murderer or Life imprisonment( no parole) felon has died. Why if it was wrong the blood relative should get compensation, and better still hopefully the wrongfully detained.
Regards,
Hodgson.

1)This story could be a lost episode from the Twighlight Zone.

2) No wonder George W Bush is so stupid.

What would this judge say if a member of her family was wrongfully incarcerated? I am speechless just watching and listening to how irrational this lady sounds.