Ohioan gets $2.59 million for serving 30 years in wrongful conviction

[upstatecajun]

A record $2.59 million settlement has been awarded to Ray Towler for serving nearly 30 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit.

Towler will report for work this morning in a corporate Cleveland mailroom, where he plans to remain through this summer even after his money arrives in about a week.

"You can't make up for 30 years with any amount, but I plan to keep moving forward," said Towler, 53, who works for Medical Mutual of Ohio. "I don't want this money to change who I am or what I become. I was lucky to find a job when I got out, and I'm not going to just run out on them."

The State Controlling Board approved Towler's settlement yesterday, nearly one year after he was released from the Grafton Correctional Institution last May. Towler couldn't attend the meeting because of his job. He will receive the money in a lump sum, and his attorneys will receive $78,000 in legal fees.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/04/26/ohioan-gets-2-59-million-for-serving-30-years-in-wrongful-conviction.html?sid=101

[NYC_SKP]

1. That's not enough. $86,333.00 per year isn't enough for the loss of your freedom.

But I'm glad he's out.

[Deep13]

3. Especially with the "child rapist" label attached to him. nt

[Deep13]

2. If you are a black man in front of a suburban or rural jury, you're screwed.

And it doesn't help if the state fucked up the DNA test.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

4. As A Person Who Practices Criminal Defense In Ohio, I Can Tell You............

...............that here in Ohio (and it seems like in MOST States these days), you're guilty unless and until you provide OVERWHELMING evidence of your innocence. And sometimes not even then.

In fact, here in Franklin County (which I think was where this guy was convicted), we've got a Judge CURRENTLY SERVING on the bench who has PUBLICALLY stated that she doesn't believe in the concept of "presumed innocence." She was actually quoted as saying that the presumption of innocence does not apply in her courtroom. Seems to me that a sitting Judge bascially admitting, "I have no intention of upholding the Constitution," would be something the Supreme Court and the Bar Association would be particularly interested in, but alas, the Republican-dominated Ohio Supreme Court has done nothing. And here's the kicker: a friend of mine actually ran against her in the last election specifically to unseat her for those comments................AND HE LOST!!!

This is what we're dealing with out here, folks. If a candidate for Judge came out and said that anyone found guilty of ANYTHING would be shot in the head right in the courtroom, that person would be elected in a landslide. People LOVE "get tough on crime," hanging judges. Until they have to appear in front of them, that is. But since the vast majority of the population can't think any further than the tips of their own noses, A-holes like this Sheriff out in Arizona who run, essentially, concentration camps, are hailed as heroes.

[Deep13]

5. There is tremendous pressure on assistant prosecutors to win convictions.

This is especially true with highly emotional cases like child rape. No elected prosecutor wants to face reelection after losing a high profile case. I was removed from my criminal post and exiled to the civil division because I had the gaul to tell a rural elected prosecutor (my supervisor) that part of a high profile case was unwinnable when it got to the appellate court. "I don't want to hear that." He didn't say "you're wrong about that." He just didn't want to hear it.