Man Cleared After 22 Years in Prison

[Joanne98]

Source: AP

Man Cleared After 22 Years in Prison

Monday April 2, 2007 10:01 PM

By CAROLYN THOMPSON

Associated Press Writer

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Rape convictions that placed Anthony Capozzi to prison for the past 22 years were erased Monday because of recently found DNA evidence that tied the crimes to another man.

A prosecutor last week declared Capozzi, 50, exonerated. He is expected to be freed from prison this week.

``There is a big load lifted off,'' said his lawyer, Thomas D'Agostino.

Capozzi was not in court for the seven-minute hearing when Erie County Judge Shirley Troutman threw out the two 1987 rape convictions. He remains at the Central New York Psychiatric Center in Marcy while authorities arrange for his release.



Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6527742,00.html

[theoldman]

1. Unfortunately this has happened all to often.

The poor bastard is identified by a woman who was too frightened to make positive identity. The police don't care who gets locked up just as long as someone is convicted.

[WindRavenX]

4. I also think it's a cultural phenomenon: we need to have someone suffer for a crime

Even if they did not do it. The thirst for vengeance is great, and many innocents have been claimed :(

[Psephos]

2. Few people realize what a sham "eyewitness identification" is

The reliability can be as low as 50%.

Yet it's the bedrock of our legal system. I do believe that most of the people behind bars did the crime, but most is not all. Not by a long shot. The single most common reason for false imprisonment is mistaken eyewitness identification.

Peace.

[ixion]

3. holy crap... how do you undo 22 years behind bars?

This guy should never have to work another day, IMO. He ought to be allowed to travel and live out his life at the expense of the people who put him in prison, IMO.

[Kingshakabobo]

5. There was a similar story on 60 Minutes last night.

The main story was about "Familial DNA Searches" and how they are using "partial matches" to look at the family members of people in the DNA database. The side story was about a man who served 19 years in prison for rape/murder - nine of those years after they KNEW the state had a DNA mis-match(the judge claimed that even though he wasn't the rapist, it didn't mean he didn't do the murder.:crazy:). They ran it through as a cold case and received a partial hit of a previous offender. The hit was close enough that they knew the previous offender in the database was a blood relative of the actual rapist/murderer........it turned out to be his brother. In other words, even though the judge knew the original defendant wasn't an exact match, he didn't want to let him off the hook until he had a fresh body to replace him.

Fascinating stuff. But scary too. If you have a blood relative with his/her DNA on file, they might as well have yours as well.

[ronnykmarshall]

6. You got that right.

He's spent almost half of his life in prison for something he didn't do. A nice chunk of change would help. He should be able to live the rest of his life in comfort and not have to worry about money.

[Akoto]

7. That really is tragic.

Twenty-two years of his life gone, all over a crime he never committed. That they knew the evidence was incorrect years before they released him makes it all the more terrible.

I hope he can receive some type of compensation for what he's been through. It won't make up for the suffering and time, but he deserves it.