Prosecutor's apology to innocent man he sent to prison for 30 yrs: ‘I wasn’t interested in justice"

[kpete]

According to Stroud he was “arrogant” and only interested in winning the case, writing, “In 1984, I was 33 years old. I was arrogant, judgmental, narcissistic and very full of myself. I was not as interested in justice as I was in winning. To borrow a phrase from Al Pacino in the movie “And Justice for All,” ‘Winning became everything’.”

Stroud admitted he was too “passive” when it came to listening to Ford’s side of the story, stating, “I did not consider the rumors about the involvement of parties other than Mr. Ford to be credible, especially since the three others who were indicted for the crime were ultimately released for lack of sufficient evidence to proceed to the trial.”

“My mindset was wrong and blinded me to my purpose of seeking justice, rather than obtaining a conviction of a person who I believed to be guilty. I did not hide evidence, I simply did not seriously consider that sufficient information may have been out there that could have led to a different conclusion. And that omission is on me.”

After apologizing to Ford and all involved in the trial, Stroud called for an end to the death penalty saying it was “an abomination that continues to scar the fibers of this society.”

“I end with the hope that providence will have more mercy for me than I showed Glenn Ford,” he concluded. “But, I am also sobered by the realization that I certainly am not deserving of it.”

Watch video of Stroud below from the Shreveport Times:
plus more transcript:
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/longform/opinion/readers/2015/03/20/lead-prosecutor-offers-apology-in-the-case-of-exonerated-death-row-inmate-glenn-ford/25049063/

[ret5hd]

1. OK everyone... (definitely not directed to DU'ers, but to most who have to give public apologies)

THAT is how you do an apology. You acknowledge that your apology does not "right the wrong". You acknowledge that it is YOUR fault, not the fault of someone who "might have been offended", etc. And again, you acknowledge that it is YOUR fault.

[trumad]

2. A true apology is to put yourself behind bars for 30 years.

Sometimes apologies are only words.

[RKP5637]

3. +1, n/t

[Sherman A1]

11. No, I think

This charming gentleman needs to cough up some serious cash to the person he screwed so badly. Something like every dime he has and then take out some big loans.

[heaven05]

4. too little, too late

THIS is american justice, personified, in an.........well I'll keep it to myself.

[Leith]

8. My Thoughts Exactly

He apologized. bfd. An innocent person spent 30 years of his life in prison because of it and nothing can make that up to him.

[catbyte]

5. Man, it must suck to be him. I know I couldn't live with myself if I did that to another person.

He sounds haunted by his actions, but that won't give that man his life back. I hope there aren't any others.

[Liberal_in_LA]

15. plus a thousand

[jomin41]

6. I'm sure there are many others n/t

[mountain grammy]

7. Mandatory viewing.

and this:

And yet, despite this grave injustice, the state does not accept any responsibility for the damage suffered by one of its citizens. The bureaucratic response appears to be that nobody did anything intentionally wrong, thus the state has no responsibility. This is nonsensical. Explain that position to Mr. Ford and his family. Facts are stubborn things, they do not go away.

[Snotcicles]

9. "The confession of one humbles all" Antonio Porchia: Voces (1943) nt.

[LeftishBrit]

10. The end of the death penalty: yes, that would be the best possible apology

At least Mr. Ford was not killed, though he lost 30 years of useful life. Many people are dead through false convictions, and no apologies or actions can bring them back to life. But we can prevent more people from being unjustly executed.

Miscarriages of justice resulting in innocent people being executed were a major reason why the UK finally abolished the DP.

[NCjack]

12. Or, perhaps, taking personal responsibility to make his victim whole. That could

require housing, feeding, clothing, educating, and providing medical and mental treatment to enable him to live in today's society.

[freshwest]

13. Should be required reading for every prosecutor, DA, judge and LEO.

Perhaps people could send copies of it to all elected and appointed officials in the system.

This prosecutor gives me hope that more will see the justice of equality under the law, and not continue to dehumanize and ride rough shod over the lives of people they don't know and don't care about; even actively despise for no good reason.

What restitution he can make at this point, I don't know. But he still has some influence and that may work to give the innocent man a new life, he certainly deserves to live with dignity and freedom from want after having been used as fodder in the sytem to create an illusion.

[johnnyreb]

14. Mr. Ford is a hero for persevering long enough that his story could bear such amazing fruit.

He has earned swift and extreme compensation unconstrained by standards of reasonableness.

[hifiguy]

16. i clerked for two trial court judges

and generally speaking prosecutors just want a notch on their gunbelt. If the person is actually guilty that's a bonus. Many are guilty. More than you might think are not. But what counts is getting bodies behind bars.

[marym625]

17. K&R!

The best thing any governor in Illinois did was put a moratorium on the death penalty. And it was because of things like this

[uponit7771]

18. "I did not hide evidence"...