LA - Henry James Exonerated After 30 Yrs in Angola

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bessie

bessie

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For an innocent person, 30 years in Angola is akin to 30 years of bondage and torture at the hands of a kidnapper.

Welcome to your life, Henry!!! This should never have happened to you.

Exonerated after 30 years, Henry James, Jr. says he never lost hope

Imprisoned nearly 30 years for a rape he didn't commit, Henry James Jr. said he never lost hope he would be freed, even when an exhaustive search at a Jefferson Parish crime lab for potentially exculpatory DNA evidence came up empty. "If you lose hope, you lose everything," said James, 50. "I kept praying and telling myself, 'It's going to be alright. God is going to make a way for you.'"
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Working with the Innocence Project officials in New York and New Orleans, James requested DNA testing in 2005. Prosecutors did not oppose the testing, but the evidence was missing for several years until Milton Dureau, a crime lab official, stumbled upon it in May 2010 while looking for evidence in an unrelated case.
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http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/10/exonerated_after_30_years_henr.html
 
Heartbreaking. I can only pray this man finds great joy and much happiness in what's left of his life.
 
So glad that he is free now. Did y'all catch that there was exonerating evidence available to his original attorneys in his original trial that would have proved he wasn't the perp? Thirty years, and this man could have been found not guilty from the get-go. Although DNA testing was not available at the time of James' conviction, existing technology had cast serious doubt that James could have been the perpetrator, but his attorney failed to present the exculpatory evidence to the jury, said Emily Maw, Innocence Project New Orleans director.

Gotta love court appointed defense attorneys. And a big woo-hoo to the prosecutors who continued on with the prosecution even in light of those "serious doubts."
 
Yep, Kgeaux, he was doomed from the start. I don't know how you pick up your life after being wrongfully convicted and spending the most important adult years of your life -- 30 of them -- in Angola. Thank heavens he still has the ability to smile and to enjoy a good po-boy. That tells me there's hope for him. :yesss:

Me, too, Fairy1. :prayer:
 
He seems an amazing man with an incredible outlook, I'm certain he will prosper.

I did wish to hear his parents were alive... does anyone know?
 
Hopefully at 50 years of age, Mr James will have many years to enjoy the rest of his life. I hope they are all good, he certainly earned them.
 
I as well wish nothing but good for Mr. James. I hope to one day hear more from his whether it be via a book, documentary et al as a follow up to how this has shaped what I hope to be the next 50 years of his life
 
Oh dear. I have such a hard time getting past something like this. 30 years. He can never, ever get that back. How can he possibly be okay?

I'm not a religious person, but I'm going to pray very hard for Mr. James. I hope he has many blessings and will find a way to move on.
 
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