Young man’s baby dies. Rodricus Crawford. Lawless thug DA puts him on death row.
The judge let this happen. Twelve jurors joined in the conspiracy. All that Public Relations about the Bill of Rights and fair trials meant nothing.
Appeals court let him go eventually, but that should be considered a fluke and totally unreliable outcome.
A Harris County, Texas ADA in my cab one time told me their slogan was “If they really didn’t do it, they’ll get out on appeal” — meaning that anyone the cops brought them, they put away without question, fuck ’em.
Of course once someone is convicted now the burden of proof is on them not to show innocence, but a corrupt court process or bad science or another technicality. Finality is so important to the criminal court system, you understand. We can’t just have false convictions being turned over willy-nilly now, it might call into question the state’s right to hold its monopoly on security.