Another case of false imprisonment; this one in Texas. Dupree was released recently on the basis of DNA evidence that proves he did not commit a rape and robbery in 1979. He spent 30 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. That is the record in Texas. In Florida James Bain spent 35 years "wrongly imprisoned" and in Tennessee Lawrence McKinney spent over 31 years. These men were represented by the Innocence Project and co-director Barry Scheck; he also part of the defense team for OJ Simpson. Texas has compensation laws that pay the wrongly convicted. Dupree will get $ 80,000 for each year he was imprisoned and a "life time annuity" that could all be worth $ 2.4 million in a lump-sum payment that is not subject to federal income tax (I wonder if Texas will tax it). Dupree could have been released in 2004 if he would have admitted he was a sex offender; he wouldn't.
(Source: "Newly free man had chances to make parole" by Jeff Carlton of The AP. In The Record on 1/5/11)
Update: Dupree, Bain and McKinney are all black men: what does this tell us about our justice system?
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