2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumMike Pence refuses to pardon a man wrongly convicted and proven innocent
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A BuzzFeed report, details the sad history of Keith Cooper, who served 10 years of a 40-year sentence after being misidentified. In 2008 shooting victim Michael Kershner and his mother, Nona Canell filmed statements and admitted they were wrong. This came after new DNA evidence was found and a jail informant admitted he lied. Canell asked investigators multiple times to see a lineup of potential suspects because she couldnt be sure. An Elkhart Police detective promised her that they had the right guy. They didnt.
When the new evidence came to light, a judge in the case offered Cooper a deal if he agreed to be resentenced for the crime. By accepting the deal he was granted time served from the 10 years, but still isnt found by a court to be considered innocent.
Cooper filed a pardon request to the parole board and they unanimously voted that he should be pardoned and have his two felony charges taken off of his criminal record. If Pence granted him clemency, he would be the first person ever in the states history to earn it.
Today, Pence refused, saying it needs to stand out of respect for the judicial process. This comes after a two-year delay where Pence tried to claim that Coopers paperwork wasnt in order.
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http://www.rawstory.com/2016/10/cold-hearted-mike-pence-refuses-to-pardon-a-man-wrongly-convicted-and-proven-innocent/
Madam45for2923
(7,178 posts)exboyfil
(17,863 posts)discussing the man's innocence. To let him go one more day as a felon shows such a lack of compassion it is simply inconceivable. I wish Tim Kaine would invite Mr. Cooper to the debate. It would be nice for Mr. Cooper to be in the same room with Gov. Pence so he can see the actual impact of his hard heart.
The story is sickening on so many levels. It comes down to arresting the first black guy who matches the body type.
It's brought up in the debate