TX - Inmate Richard Miles set to be freed after buried evidence found

12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, October 8, 2009
by STEVE McGONIGLE and JENNIFER EMILY
The Dallas Morning News

Dallas County jurors who sent Richard Miles to prison for 40 years never knew another man had been implicated in the same shooting incident.

It took 14 years and detective work by a prisoner advocacy group to unearth reports in police files that suggested others could have committed the murder and attempted murder that sent Miles to prison.

That discovery is set to get Miles released on Monday.

Dallas County prosecutors have agreed to dismiss his 1995 convictions because police failed to turn over exculpatory evidence.

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Full article: click here

Miles was the only man in the lineup wearing a white tank top, clothing that several witnesses ascribed to the gunman. Witnesses also said the shooter held the gun in his right hand and wore shorts. Miles is left-handed and was wearing long jeans.

Cases like this make me livid. I wonder about the motivation of the LAW enforcement officers. Was an arrest and conviction so important to them that they didn't even give a care as to whether or not they had arrested the wrong man? Did they care that THEY were breaking the law by not turning over exculpatory evidence? Did the detective who committed perjury on the stand ever wonder if he was responsible for an innocent man to be sentenced to prison? Did they worry about whether or not the REAL murderer was going to kill other people, since he was still out on the streets?

I hope Miles can do something really wonderful with the rest of his life. He was a troubled young man when arrested and convicted for these murders and he has a chance now to really make something of himself, he has a chance to make his life a positive one that will bless his family and the world. I hope he takes it.

I'll never understand the point of putting the wrong person behind bars to close a case, feed their egos, etc. It defeats the purpose cause you still have a criminal out there commiting crimes.

I hope that everyone involved in that was fired as soon as the truth came to light. I want the criminals to go to prison but I don't want an innocent person to serve a sentence in the place of the criminal. I don't understand why LE, etc do things like this. I wonder how many other people are in prison that shouldn't be there. You would think that LE, etc would want the real criminal to go to prison no matter how long it took to arrest the person. It really takes the cake when they know there are other suspects but focus on one person instead of investigating and getting the right person...or hiding evidence like these cops did. Again, I hope they were fired without any pensions!!!

Bobbisangel said:

I hope that everyone involved in that was fired as soon as the truth came to light. I want the criminals to go to prison but I don't want an innocent person to serve a sentence in the place of the criminal. I don't understand why LE, etc do things like this. I wonder how many other people are in prison that shouldn't be there. You would think that LE, etc would want the real criminal to go to prison no matter how long it took to arrest the person. It really takes the cake when they know there are other suspects but focus on one person instead of investigating and getting the right person...or hiding evidence like these cops did. Again, I hope they were fired without any pensions!!!

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I bolded one of your comments, angel, and I so completely agree with you. No one who has committed murder should be left free to wander our neighborhoods, and no innocent person should pay for a crime they did not commit.

I cannot understand when an innocent person is convicted for a crime he did not commit. ESPECIALLY when people who are supposed to protect the public and the innocent have a hand in the conviction.

I totally agree with you that those who conspired to put this innocent man into prison for a crime he did not commit should pay, and pay harshly for what they DELIBERATELY did.

Sorry for two posts in a row, but I didn't want to post this next comment and link it to anyone else's post. And because I don't know that the law enforcement officers involved in this particular case were racist, stupid, or flat out criminal. But I noticed the innocently convicted man was, once again, a black man.

Have you noticed how many of the people who have been released from prison/death row because DNA exonerated them are African American? Have you noticed how many of those who were released from prison/death row because LE conspired to force a conviction by suppressing evidence, lying on the stand, etc., are African American?

Our justice system still has a long way to go, my friends. Do one quick study on "innocent man released after...." and see what is the truth about USA.