PLN #17

My recent PLN, titled "Innocent Man Shares His 20-Year Struggle Behind Bars" by Thom Patterson. This article was about a man named Pete Williams who was sentenced to 45 years in jail but ended up staying 22 years after DNA evidence proved that he was innocent. Williams was accused of a 1985 sex assault scandal. He was arrested three weeks after the incident, but the case is still inconclusive today. Williams said he felt betrayed and that his life had been taken away from him. The only evidence against him were three witnesses who said that it might have been him. In 1997, a friend named Charlie Brown (no joke) helped Williams through some rough times by having Williams join a church choir. Now, when he sees people on T.V. or on the news being convicted, he has a difficult time believing that they are actually guilty. I would have a hard time believing that someone is automatically guilty of a crime if I had gone to jail for 22 years for a crime that I did not commit. Spending 22 years behind jail bars would be difficult to forget.

What Matters: I think what matters from this story is that an innocent man got 22 years of his life just taken away! I myself haven't even lived 22 years yet, and I can't imagine more than my whole life so far being behind bars! I definitely think that the jury and judge should have looked into the case a lot more than they did before they sentenced someone to 45 years in prison. They only questioned three witnesses which resulted in an innocent man, with no evidence proven against him, being sentenced to jail for the next 45 years. The worst part is that Williams missed a crucial time in his life where he could have gotten married and had children. It surprised me that the state of Georgia has no laws that compensate wrongly accused victims as many states do have these types of laws. Not only did Williams lose 22 years of freedom, but he was left with no money and no place to live other than with family members.

How this affects me: This doesn't really affect me directly, because I've never been to jail or accused of a crime. However, if I had been sentenced to jail for a crime that I did not commit and had to spend 22 years of my life there, it would be a wasted life, and I would be extremely angry. I think the lack of laws to protect the wrongly convicted is pathetic and inhumane.