Poor James Bain. His situation adds new meaning to that old cliche, "justice delayed is justice denied." I mean there is delay and then there is DELAY. Thirty five years?
In 1974 my man was sentenced to life in prison for allegedly kidnapping and raping a 10 year old boy. His conviction was based, in part, on the little boy's testimony who described his attacker as having "bushy sideburns and a mustache". Nice. No doubt the law and order types (like the usual suspects on this blog) were around screaming for his head on a platter at the time. If I had been blogging then and wrote alleged child rapist, James Bain, I would have been vilified.
But thank goodness for DNA testing.
What I want to know is how this man can be so calm and composed after having 35 years of his life taken away from him. It takes a special person to come out of a situation like that and hold no ill will to the people and the system that did this to him. Remember Robert Deniro's character in the move "Cape Fear"? That might have been me. Yep, I just might have gone all Max Cady on someones ass. I am just saying.
"I'm not angry," James Bain, 54, told reporters after a brief hearing in Bartow, Florida. "
Well Mr. Bain, I am angry for you. When that judge told you "Congratulations", you should have asked him for what. What the hell is he congratulating you for? The state of Florida takes 35 years of your life and all that damn Judge can tell you is "congratulations"? Congratulate this! *middle finger to the sky*
"I got God in my head,' said Bain, surrounded by supporters and wearing a T-shirt with 'Not Guilty' across the front. 'I knew one day he will reveal me."'
It's times like these that I have no problem with religion, and man's need to beleive in a higher power. If it [religion] helped Mr. Bains keep his sanity during his terrible ordeal, then I have to give a shout out to Jesus.
Poor man. Imagine being in jail for 35 years and knowing that you are innocent of the crime you were charged with and ultimately convicted of.
"Ed Threadgill, who prosecuted the case originally, said that he didn't recall all the specifics but that the conviction seemed right at the time. "I wish we had had that evidence back when we were prosecuting cases," said Threadgill, 77. "I'm ecstatic the man has been released."
Of course he didn't recall all the specifics; his life went on. I bet James Bain could tell you all of the specifics, right down to the tiniest detail. [Story]
Shout out to the folks at *The Innocence Project.*
35 years of his life...and we KNOW what they do to child molesters/rapists in prisons. I can't imagine the horror this man went through. They couldn't pay him ENOUGH. EVER. How do you recompense someone for their LIFE?
ReplyDeleteOf course he never had a chance anyway. A Black man in the justice system is a bleeding victim in shark infested waters.
"Congratulations"?
W...T...F?!
Congratulate him for what? Being innocent. I swear I hate these sanctimonious genetically recessive bastards sometimes.
You can beat the rap, but you'll never beat the ride.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Mr. Bain made it out alive.
I've come to understand the reason these men that are exonerated after so many years of their lives have been taken away, say they aren't bitter is because states like Georgia and Florida may be one, don't have a mandatory repairations program. So often they are at the mercy of a state boared that may or may not give them some sort of restitution for their time in prison after a wrongful conviction.
ReplyDeleteI used to wonder how they could be so calm until I learned that some states may not pay for the time these persons were incarcerated.
Thank God for DNA testing. While it's true that DNA testing has put a lot of people behind bars, it has exonerated A LOT of people too.
ReplyDeleteThey say there is a grain of truth to most things. They say Karma usually lurks in these cases. He may not have raped this little boy, but I bet he raped somebody or did something as equally evil at sometime in his life. Karma.
ReplyDeletethank god!
ReplyDeleteshame!
soooooo many more innocent people/political prisoners are in cages
may they all be freed someday...
He'll be back in prison within 6 months...
ReplyDeleteMaybe 3.
Ain't no skin off my back, it'll be one of y'alls kids he rapes again...
Frank
Unconditional forgiveness is an astounding, miraculous and incomprehensibly good thing to witness.
ReplyDeleteIt is uniquely human and only occurs in unique humans. I hope Mr. Bain gets nothing but good things in his life if his forgiveness is real.
"They say there is a grain of truth to most things. They say Karma usually lurks in these cases. "
ReplyDeleteUmm..who is this "they" and why do they need to assuage "their" guilt by assuming he MUST have done something wrong. My sister was killed by a drunk driver. I assume "they" think she had it coming because of karma.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ain't no skin off my back, it'll be one of y'alls kids he rapes again..."
Umm..whom did he rape the first time? So if someone spends their time tormented in jail as an innocent person, then they don't deserve to live among decent folks.
What if you were wrongly accused of a crime and spent time in prison, let out, and had people protesting your release? What kind of weird creepy bizarro world do you live in?
@Black People Suffer From PTSD - Why even respond to the posts of those 2 clowns? The only reason they post comments here is because they want to get a reaction out of people in order to bring some kind of meaning to their worthless, pathetic, lonely, and miserable lives.
ReplyDeleteTo James Bain, I'm glad the brother finally received some justice, hopefully he can become a productive member of society.
Keith true.
ReplyDeleteI vow to no longer feed the trolls.
What a blessing that his mother lived to see this day.
ReplyDeleteWhy do things like this always seem to be almost exclusive to black folks? WHY WHY WHY?
ReplyDeleteYeah yeah I know, it happened to a few white folk too. Notice I said a FEW.
And from the related stories that I have read regarding this subject matter over the years, white folks "heaven" seem to come to them in a matter of ten years or less, where as for the blacks their "heaven" seem to average out at about 20 years.
Damn, how can one win even if they're right within?
And just think, this happens more than we can imagine. I just came across a site associated with the Innocence Project program where every month there is a story like this where wrongfully convicted people are exonerated.
ReplyDeleteStories like this makes me wanna revisit my stance on people arrested submitting DNA or being placed in a national registry.
What you think about that one?
Wow, what a disaster. Unimaginably horrific.
ReplyDelete"They say there is a grain of truth to most things. They say Karma usually lurks in these cases. He may not have raped this little boy, but I bet he raped somebody or did something as equally evil at sometime in his life. Karma."
ReplyDeleteOnly an expert on evil like you would know.
My brother sent me the BBC news link yesterday afternoon and made the same remark about his calmness.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for groups like the Innocence project and Reprieve.
I am so glad that this amazing man is finally free. I hope he meets someone who is a gifted writer that he could trust. I think a book from this man would be incredibly interesting and informative.
ReplyDeleteThe Innocence Project is a blessing. It points out to many the flaws in the justice system most people think is, like our health care system, the best in the world.
So many errors are made and most people don't care. Too many, especially in police forces believe that it's all OK, if he didn't do this crime he likely did some other crime.They are happy to close the case. But the real scumbag is still out there and in the case of rape the scumbag is highly likely to repeat multiple times.
There are still backlogs on DNA rape kits. That is inexcusable.
The saddest thing is that so many innocent people are in prison for crimes they didn't commit but there is no DNA evidence at all. Many robbers and even murderers leave no DNA for evidence. So it is incredibly hard for them to even get a court to allow them to present newly discovered evidence of innocence.
I've got a question? Why do hate filled idiots like to cloak their spew in religion involving supernatural gismos like "karma?"
They say there is a grain of truth to most things. They say Karma usually lurks in these cases. He may not have raped this little boy, but I bet he raped somebody or did something as equally evil at sometime in his life. Karma."
ReplyDeleteAnon. I sure you don't choke on that toast this morning. Let's hold off "karma" just a little longer.;)
Bob, I was thinking the same thing about his mother.
And yes, as some folks said up thread, shout out to "The Innocence Project." I actually added a link to their site in the post.
As I always say the crimnal justice system is not for black folk,keep on believing everything that 50 cent public defender sell you and your behind will be in jail.My heart goes out to Mr.Bain,I hope the people close to him is urging him to seek mental health council,after 35 years in the bowels of hell he is going to need more then jesus!
ReplyDeleteBigMac.... the public defenders in Philly are some of the best in the country.... it's the court appointeds that are the crap shoot...
ReplyDeleteThese stories are proof of what we who work in the legal community scream at the top of our lungs in an echo chamber of what is happening. I hope people will remember this when the next politician starts talking about being tough on crime. I am STILL waiting for the courageous politician who runs on a platform for major reform of the criminal system and uses words like "broken" "Unjust" and "restorative justice".
Jody there are good and honorable people in all professions,but let's be honest the majority of public defenders in a lot of states are public servants,and will be paid no matter what the out come of a case.
ReplyDeleteTheir job is to primarly keep the system moving preventing backlogs.
Whatever happened to Tookie "Football" Williams???
ReplyDeleteDon't here much about him anymore...
Frank
BigMac.... private criminal defense attorneys are also paid no matter the outcome of the case... and yes, in both the private and public sector of lawyers, there are crappy ones. Seriously, there is a difference between public defender offices and court appointeds..... and places where they have county/city/state public defenders, there is a better chance than places that only use court appointed attorneys. Court appointeds are often private young lawyers starting out who need clients (some who do a good job and others not, or worse, really crappy attorneys that can't get their own clients, so rely on court appointments. Some states that do not have public defenders rely solely on private attorneys in their communities that are automatically appointed a percentage of cases. In that situation, you might get lucky, and have a seasoned, hard working attorney on your case, or the lazy, craptacular who screws it up.
ReplyDeleteIn Philly, we have both. So, sadly people confuse the court appointeds with the public defenders... Public defenders are often true believers and litigators. Those that are not qualified are pretty quickly weeded out. The Public Defenders in Philadelphia have, since they implemented a death penalty unit, not had one client sentenced to death.. and in a city that has what has been proclaimed, the deadliest DA in America, that is quite an accomplishment.
Jody I wish the Public Defenders office in Philly could transfer some of those ethics and a similar SOP to Allegeney County here in the Western part of the state.The horror stories I have heard coming out of that place makes me wonder if they really are part of these United States!
ReplyDeletewhere are all the black attorney's givining back to thier "community"....if the "system" is soooo loop-sided i assunme the black attorney's graduating from law sckools would be all over the racist system helping gain the release of these poor black men...oh, and women? speaking of which why is it we never hear of black women being released?
ReplyDeleteoh, wait ever been around an angery house shoe slapping, weave pull'n black women....lol i gues when they go to prision it fo real....lol
The desparging remarks by anon@11:23 regarding Black Women caught up in the criminal justice system was uncalled for.
ReplyDeleteIf you stayed on point in asking why more attorneys of color were not doing more pro bona work you would have a legit question.
The injustice and brutality of this just takes your breath away. Holy cow, 35 years in prison, and on the kind of false charge that gets people killed quickly in a prison. It's a miracle the man survived.
ReplyDeleteIt is profoundly depressing to read about this. At least he was eventually set free, but they took this man's life away. Good luck and godspeed to James Bain, an innocent man. I wish there was a fund for the guy to help him out. That's something I'd contribute to.
I recently watched a movie depiction (American Violet) of an actual story about a young sister in a southern town who was a falsely arrested and accused of drug trafficking when the police raided her neighborhood. The ACLU was able to get in there with resources to free her, but it's real clear that if you don't have money, you're going to get screwed by the legal system. Same thing in this case.
ReplyDeleteI hope that brother has some sense about that money also. That's not a lot for 35 years lost. Oftentimes on matters of money, it's really about one's perspective rather than the advisor per se.
ReplyDeleteI wish there was a fund for the guy to help him out. That's something I'd contribute to.
ReplyDelete___________________________
Yeah right.
Bigmac..Jody is right about the Philly PD's office. There are quite a few career people there who have been there for years. And most of them are very good at what they do.
ReplyDeleteGreg L, American Violet was a pretty good movie with some sad truths.
"...If you stayed on point in asking why more attorneys of color were not doing more pro bona work you would have a legit question."
Present company excluded of course.
WOW.. This is unreal... Field once again thank you for highlighting these heart-breaking injustices. This is more than a man... to not be bitter he must have God in him.
ReplyDeleteI hope he is able to get the most out of the rest of his life. I admire his strength and ability to forgive. Couldn't we all learn a lesson from him?
ReplyDeleteField,
ReplyDeleteI mentioned before that the Killadelphia murder count might hit 300. Looks like it might surpass the number, and then some. It's been a horendous year.
The ONLY way a person comes through something like this and can actually be free from hate is that they have character. Whether this comes from religious belief or political conviction it is a matter of deep internal work.
ReplyDeleteFor the cynics who believe it is a sham so these folks can get reparation, consider Nelson Mandela. @& years almost entirely in solitary, and he was able to lead his country AWAY from hate. Blessings on Mr.Bain and if anybody finds a fund to help him, I will contribute as well.
A law was passed recently in Florida guaranteeing anyone who was wrongly convicted of a crime $50,000 for every year served in prison. Mr. Bain will receive 1.5 million dollars as recompense for the time he lost...PEACE.
ReplyDeletelot of money to spend on rims, grills and crack....lol
ReplyDeletecheck with him in a year fn...idare you!!!
oh, don't he have to pay tax's???
attorny's fees .....he'll get about 60 or 70k it'll be gone in 6 months!!!!
keith:
ReplyDeleteditto!!!
the haters herein can ignore frank and his fellow klansmen...why not me too????
but they demand that i am banned and harass me and count each of my posts and lie/curse/slur etc...
again!
it is never my volume
it is my voice
it is never my ocntent
but my courage
never my tone
but my truths!!!...
shame!!!!!!!!!
correction keith
ReplyDeleteas only frank and his ilk are allowed typos too:
it is never my CONTENT
but my courage!!!
"lot of money to spend on rims, grills and crack....lol
ReplyDeletecheck with him in a year fn...idare you!!!
oh, don't he have to pay tax's???
attorny's fees .....he'll get about 60 or 70k it'll be gone in 6 months!!!!"
Stay away from stereotypes anon. You will be healthier wealthier ansd wis...wait, never mind. But two out of three ain't bad.
seriously fn look at rodney king not saying this dude is a rk but jst curious to see what he like in a year.....hell who knows he may be helping others with he windfall????
ReplyDeletejst saying negros love those rims and you know it!
oh, hey bot those cowgirls....lol
OK Field, time to put Yo' Money where your Big Mouth(Hey, I could have said "lips" is...
ReplyDeleteWhy dontcha hire James Bain to look after your kids for a few months??? Y'know, sorta like a Mammy, I mean Nanny...
Of if they're already in school maybe he could babysit a few nights a week...
I mean, if he's all innocent and everything...
Afterall its X-mas, it'd be a nice thing to do to help a bruth-uh out...
Let me know how it works out...
Frank
He's not done yet!They now say the p'eople who took the DNA were corrept
ReplyDeletemaybe thats why he's acting all nicie nicie???
ReplyDeleteThis is why I'm against the death penalty. I know this case didn't involve that punishment being handed down, but it's along the same lines. And I can bet you 100% that there were people out there ready to string this man up to the nearest tree instead of giving him a fair trial, err, read that as giving him a trial of any kind.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that this shit still happens is beyond ridiculous.
That's the kind of black "they" & "them" like...non violent and very very forgiving. Wait till Black History month comes around...no panthers, Dr. Karenga, Marcus Garvey, no huey newton, only one person to emulate.
ReplyDeleteBain is a better person than me. I would be making plans to own every piece of real estate in that city.
@ FN:
ReplyDeleteYes, thisman does remember every aslpect ofhis arrst and trial. When you have that kind of time on your life, the only thing you are free to do is think, reflect, meditate and pray...or you can be an inside criminal or worse (a criminal's byotch).
Big props to the folks at The Innocence Project!
Peace.
~agape2010~