Prometheus 6

You don't want to be one of these jurors.

Thought the Quote of Note:

Forensic exam results from state lab analyst Mary Jane Burton scarcely figured in the trial.

Burton worked at the state lab during the 1970s and 1980s, and, contrary to department policy, she kept samples of items she tested, often taping them to her worksheet. The evidence that cleared Whitfield came from Burton’s files, as well as evidence that cleared at least two other men in the state of rape charges.

…indicates there may have been other means of preventing this travesty.

I got no beef with the jury. As one juror said, they did their best. But he also said

Had DNA testing been available back then…Whitfield would never have been charged.

Now we know. Now we have the means not only to prevent such things from happening but to verify and undo many wrongs.

Jurors revisit decision that put wrong man in jail for rapes
By MICHELLE WASHINGTON, The Virginian-Pilot
© August 26, 2004
Last updated: 1:21 AM

NORFOLK — Both rape victims pointed to Arthur Lee Whitfield in court, saying they knew with absolute certainty that he was the man who had attacked them.

“Is there any question in your mind about the individual?” a prosecutor asked one woman.

“No,” she replied.

Over and over again, court documents show, the women told jurors they were sure Whitfield was the man who raped them the night of Aug. 14, 1981, within 45 minutes of each other. The rapist was black, muscular, weighed about 185 pounds, about 30 years old. The women gave police intimate details – the rapist had light eyes, either hazel or green, and was uncircumcised.

The women picked Whitfield’s photo from a group of mug shots. They picked Whitfield out of a six-man line-up.

Their testimony was enough to convince a jury of eight women and four men that Whitfield had committed the crime, despite testimony from his family and friends that he had spent the entire evening with them at a birthday party. Jurors sentenced him to 45 years in prison. In hopes he would see his family again, Whitfield later pleaded guilty to a second rape charge in exchange for an 18-year sentence.

But the women were wrong. Last week, DNA evidence proved that Whitfield did not rape either woman. Whitfield was freed Monday, after spending more than 22 years in prison.

“I wish I could apologize to that man,” Herman Chappell said Wednesday. He’s one of the jurors who convicted Whitfield. “I’d ask him in his heart to forgive me.”

How did the jurors feel?

Contacted Wednesday , several jurors who decided the case said it was each victim’s certainty that Whitfield committed the crime that convinced them.

Eva Cozzens remembered the trial clearly, including the snowy weather. “The girls felt like he was the one,” Cozzens said. “His family wasn’t convincing.”

The trial drained her. “I remember how much it taxes you to try to decide someone’s future,” she said. Now, she said, she’s grateful DNA helped clear Whitfield.

“It’s a terrible feeling to know you have a part in something like that,” she said.

John L. Walker, too, expressed happiness that Whitfield had been cleared. “You’re a blessed man,” he said he would tell Whitfield.

Had DNA testing been available back then, Walker said, Whitfield would never have been charged.

“As far as our job on the jury, we did our best,” Walker said.

“My God,” thought Herman Chappell when he heard the news about Whitfield. He couldn’t remember the name of the man whose fate he decided, but the dates and places fit. Now 80 years old, Chappell remembered little of the testimony. But he did remember how horrified he felt for the victims. Now, he feels some of that horror for Whitfield.

“I’ve got a lot of asking God to forgive me for making such a terrible mistake,” he said.

via TalkLeft