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Current Events » in reply to "Tookie" denied clemency.

re: "Tookie" denied clemency.
azstrummer — (archived)

A local talk show host this morning had an interview with a man named Ray Krone who was recently released from prison after 10 years on death row for a crime he did not commit. The man was extremely articulate and fascinating to listen to. He was basically railroaded by an overzealous prosecutor who "hired" an expert witness to testify that the bite marks on the dead woman's breast matched perfectly with Krone's teeth. They needed this $60,000 expert since numerous other experts in this field had found no match and saliva found near the bite did not match the DNA of either Krone or the victim.

What saved him years later was a government worker that went against orders and ran the DNA found on the victim against a national registry and it matched a prisoner serving time for sexual abuse. Investigation put this man at the scene and he later confessed.

The most chilling part of the interview though was when they asked Krone about the lawsuit he won against Maricopa County. He received something like 4 million dollars (of which his lawyers took 2). He said he wasn't particularly enthusiastic about going for the money until he found out that the county tried to coerce the actual killer into a plea agreement if the guy would place Krone with him at the crime. Apparently a man's life is worth less than the embarassment the county suffered at convicting the wrong man.

He's not particularly fond of the death penalty as you can imagine. I'm not either unless you can guarantee something like this will NEVER happen again.

Art

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