I have since I started this experiment found four cases which are likely to be wrongful convictions.
The four are: Randall Raar, Albert Drew, Robert Reynolds, and Tracy Martin.
Of those four, Raar’s case may be the most interesting.
While the set of facts which convicted him are indeed interesting, it’s what Raar said happened leading up to his prosecution which is even more interesting.
Raar said he was investigating corruption within the Michigan government when he was suddenly investigated and prosecuted for child molestation charges which happened almost two decades prior.
In fact, his accuser was twenty one when she testified about things which purportedly happened to her when she was five. Here is part of an appeal.
The 59-year-old defendant was convicted of sexually assaulting his then five-year-old neighbor in the summer of 1989 or 1990. In April 2006, the police received information that caused them to investigate defendant and canvass his former neighborhoods. At that time, they had contact with the victim, who alleged that defendant had sexually assaulted her when she was four or five years old by digitally penetrating her vagina. At trial, the 21-year-old victim testified that defendant and his roommate, Robert Higgins, lived next door to her family’s home. Defendant and Higgins encouraged the neighborhood children to come to their home and use their above-ground pool. The victim indicated that she and her neighbor, AB, were among the children who spent time at defendant’s house. The victim explained that defendant and Higgins, both dressed in swimsuits, would be in the pool and catch the children as they came down an attached slide. The victim stated that defendant would “catch [them] between [their] legs and put his hands—or try to put his hands up [them].”
The four are even more interesting considering all but Raar resided at Lakeland Correctional Facility. I previously wrote about Kevin Tower who is very likely wrongfully convicted. He is also housed at Lakeland. Below is Lindy Morelli talking about Kevin’s case. Starting about thirty-five minutes in.
If I quickly found a cluster of four in one prison, we can only imagine how many are wrongfully convicted in that jail.
Quickly, you can see that wrongful convictions are not just a tiny anomaly.
When I interviewed Fletcher Long- who had previously tried many high profile cases to trial- he told me that he considered preparing for dirty tricks and juror misconduct was part of being a good criminal defense lawyer.
Jeff Deskovic, who was exonerated, told me the biggest problem with the media is they want to wait until a conviction is overturned before reporting on it.
Overturning a conviction is extremely difficult, and many cases which need media attention to get a reversal won’t get it with that attitude.
On top of it, issues of criminal justice get very little attention if everyone waits until a case is overturned to talk about it: unless celebrities are involved like the OJ trial.
As such, we have people like Randall Raar who can’t get media attention because despite their best efforts, their convictions remain.
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