Innocent man sent to prison for double murder released and wins 3.5 million dollars

[Oldgamer]

I am glad he won his lawsuit, but for the love of god, it doesn't even come close to paying back what he lost in the way of dignity and time he lost.

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SanFransico Gate News Article

A man locked up for 18 years after being wrongfully convicted in a double-murder case is poised to get $3.5 million from San Francisco.

City Attorney Dennis Herrera has recommended the city settle the lawsuit by Caramad Conley for that amount, documents newly introduced at the Board of Supervisors show. The settlement still must be approved by the board, which is to take up the matter this month, but supervisors routinely approve such settlements. Police Chief Greg Suhr and the city’s Police Commission have already signed off on it, the documents show.

Conley, 40, was locked up in 1992. In 1994, he was convicted and sentenced to serve two life-without-parole terms for a 1989 double slaying on Third Street that prosecutors said was gang-motivated. A judge ruled in December 2010 that he had been wrongly convicted. He was released a month later.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Marla Miller found that police investigators knew that the prosecution’s star witness, Clifford Polk, lied on the stand about whether he was being paid, but they did nothing to intervene. Miller concluded that the lead investigator in the case, Earl Sanders — who later became police chief — knew about the perjury “and did not correct it.”

One of Conley’s lawyers in the criminal case, Daniel Purcell, said earlier that Sanders started paying Polk — an unemployed transient with a history of drug dealing — three months before Conley’s trial. Purcell said Polk was getting weekly payments, and he said Sanders acknowledged in a 2010 deposition that he made those payments. The payments totaled thousands of dollars, and police also provided Polk with the use of a house.

It is the second case where the city is preparing to pay a multimillion dollar settlement after a judge tossed out a murder conviction involving Sanders and his partner at the time, Napoleon Hendrix.

In 2009 the city agreed to pay $7.5 million to Antoine Goff and John Tennison, who were both freed in 2003 after spending more than 10 years in prison.

In that case, the courts found that prosecutors and police had information that another person might have committed the crime but did not disclose it during the trial.

Conley sued the city and Sanders in January 2012 in U.S. District Court, alleging civil rights violations.

 

[DrPizza]

Where does it say that he was innocent?

 

[Darwin333]

This is just bullshit that prosecutors can quite literally commit crimes that cause people to be imprisoned for very long periods of time and they are not held responsible. Its one thing to fuck up but its quite another to knowingly and purposely perjure themselves or pay witnesses to lie in order to wrongfully convict someone.

Whoever does crap like this should be put on trial and if found guilty serve no less than the amount of time, and in the same prison, the innocent person they purposely wrongfully convicted did.

 

[Engineer]

Where does it say that he was innocent?

He may not be but since he has not been proven guilty (yet - regardless if a technicality or not), he is assumed to be still innocent (at least according to our law).

 

[DrPizza]

"or pay witnesses to lie in order to wrongfully convict someone."

Again, where does it say he lied? It seems the DA got lazy by finding a *witness* who was willing to provide testimony that this gang member was guilty, only if he was paid to do so.

Further, it's possible there was enough other evidence to prove him guilty, but as a result of this prosecutorial malfeasance, he gets off.

 

[Darwin333]

Where does it say that he was innocent?

He was found guilty based on a witness paid to commit perjury from the sounds of it. Obviously a court of law found that without that evidence he would not have been found guilty (and would be innocent in the eyes of the law). The fact that they are signing off on paying him millions speaks volumes as well.

 

[Darwin333]

"or pay witnesses to lie in order to wrongfully convict someone."

Again, where does it say he lied? It seems the DA got lazy by finding a *witness* who was willing to provide testimony that this gang member was guilty, only if he was paid to do so.

There is a reason that they aren't allowed to pay someone for testimony. Hell I could easily find half a dozen people that would happily testify that you killed someone if I paid them.

Regardless, the DA lied about the credibility of the witness.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

cops and prosecutors that lie should go to prison. im being harassed by cops on my bike, man those cops need ta be punished. if they harassed me three times and he got 3.5 million, i deserve three times that

 

[K1052]

It seems the DA got lazy by finding a *witness* who was willing to provide testimony that this gang member was guilty, only if he was paid to do so.

It still amounts to witness tampering. You can't pay people to testify (non-expert witness testimony) in a criminal proceeding for obvious reasons.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

It still amounts to witness tampering. You can't pay people to testify (non-expert witness testimony) in a criminal proceeding for obvious reasons.

the thing is, this is just one guy who found this out and was released. you can bet this wasnt the first/only time those cops and prosecutors did that, but most of their victims are still rotting in prison. those cops "napoleon and earl" are sort of famous here in sf, they were always portrayed in the media as black sherlock holmeses but obviously they were typical cop clowns

 

[Oldgamer]

He was found guilty based on a witness paid to commit perjury from the sounds of it. Obviously a court of law found that without that evidence he would not have been found guilty (and would be innocent in the eyes of the law). The fact that they are signing off on paying him millions speaks volumes as well.

This right here. No matter what you think of this man, there is a major problem with paying witnesses to lie on the stand big time. If they are doing this then it means that they are breaking the law. I want to know why the prosecutors and the investigators and those who knew about the "paid witness" aren't in jail themselves.

You can frame anyone in the world if you want if you can just pay someone to lie on the stand like this. That should worry a lot of people. It makes me wonder how many times they have gotten away with this.

 

[Oldgamer]

In addition here is another news article that is almost right up there with this same subject matter that should scare people. This is a Pasadnea Police Detective got caught in a recording saying "pin it on anybody, that's how we roll" that involved a suspect and a murder trial. This is the kind of stuff that seems to be a very rampant problem that is being reported more and more often in the news. It just makes the case that maybe there really are a lot of innocent people locked up in the prisons more than we realize.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

He was found guilty based on a witness paid to commit perjury from the sounds of it. Obviously a court of law found that without that evidence he would not have been found guilty (and would be innocent in the eyes of the law). The fact that they are signing off on paying him millions speaks volumes as well.

courts arent heroes here, they helped these crooked cops and prosecutors. there are lots of people in this situation who have been refused help by courts in america

 

[OverVolt]

Money doesn't make you younger. He lost out on years of his life.

 

[NoStateofMind]

If the prosecutor is guilty of manufacturing evidence then prison time is not whats owed. That would mean the public would have to fund his living while incarcerated. IMO he owes the wrongfully convicted 10yrs of his life.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

If the prosecutor is guilty of manufacturing evidence then prison time is not whats owed. That would mean the public would have to fund his living while incarcerated. IMO he owes the wrongfully convicted 10yrs of his life.

that would be a cool way of sentencing people. you do an analysis of a persons life expectancy, and if theyre expected to live say 75 years, you kill them when they reach 65

 

[NoStateofMind]

that would be a cool way of sentencing people. you do an analysis of a persons life expectancy, and if theyre expected to live say 75 years, you kill them when they reach 65

How does this compensate the victims for their losses?

 

[JEDIYoda]

"or pay witnesses to lie in order to wrongfully convict someone."

Again, where does it say he lied? It seems the DA got lazy by finding a *witness* who was willing to provide testimony that this gang member was guilty, only if he was paid to do so.

Further, it's possible there was enough other evidence to prove him guilty, but as a result of this prosecutorial malfeasance, he gets off.

That`s a good thing is it not??

 

[Thebobo]

I won what???

 

[master_shake_]

How does this compensate the victims for their losses?

let them pull the trigger :thumbsup:

 

[HTFOff]

Seems like a pittance for 18 years.

 

[Kwatt]

Seems like a pittance for 18 years.

If he commited the crime it is like winning a lottery. ~$195,000 a year.
If he did not commit the crime it would not be near enough!

Another problem with this is if the police had kept investigating they might have found evidence to prove guilt. Now it is not likely he will be retried. So, a payoff for murder at a cost of 18 years.

If he did not do it the person who did will probaly never be convicted.

By doing this wrong there will never be justice for the victims. The police responsible will never ever receive punishment enough to make up for that.

.