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Thread: Connecticut man gets $6m award after being wrongly jailed for 21 YEARS

  1. #1

    Angry Connecticut man gets $6m award after being wrongly jailed for 21 YEARS

    Connecticut man gets $6m award after being wrongly jailed for 21 YEARS for rape and murder

    By Anneta Konstantinides For Mailonline and Associated Press

    A man who was wrongfully imprisoned for 21 years for the rape and murder of a mother of four was awarded $6million from the state of Connecticut.

    Kenneth Ireland, 44, was jailed when he was 18 and released in 2009 after DNA tests proved another man fatally beat and raped 30-year-old Barbara Pelkey in Wallingford.

    The other man, Kevin Benefield, is serving a 60-year prison sentence for killing the mother-of-four.

    Mr Ireland was issued the award yesterday under Connecticut's wrongful incarceration compensation law.

    State claims commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr issued the award to Mr Ireland and said in a report: 'No words or dollar amount will suffice to give him back the time that he lost and the misery that he endured.

    'Mr. Ireland was wrongfully convicted and was labeled a murderer and sex offender and was forced to spend a long portion of his life in maximum security prisons.

    'He experienced 21 years of violence, sleepless nights and the constant fear and hopelessness that he would die in prison as an innocent man.'

    The new DNA testing came after the Connecticut Innocence Project, which looks into potentially wrong convictions, began reviewing Ireland's case in 2007.

    Mr Ireland outlined the daily terror he experienced while in jail during the state's hearing to decide his compensation.

    Continued...
    “The spirits of darkness are now among us. We have to be on guard so that we may realize what is happening when we encounter them and gain a real idea of where they are to be found. The most dangerous thing you can do in the immediate future will be to give yourself up unconsciously to the influences which are definitely present.” ~ Rudolf Steiner



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  3. #2
    Kenneth Ireland, 44, was jailed when he was 18 and released in 2009 after DNA tests proved another man fatally beat and raped 30-year-old Barbara Pelkey in Wallingford.

    This is the main reason I oppose the death penalty. The introduction of DNA evidence and analysis has shown conclusively that hundreds - likely thousands - of individuals have been incarcerated for serious crimes that they did not commit.

    The "system" that so many of the "law-and-order" types seem to hold so dear has been shown to be broken. Not flawed - broken - clearly and conclusively.

    I can't begin to imagine the horror of spending two decades in maximum security. Now this guy is out, but the best years of his life are gone. Over. Stolen. No amount of money can compensate for that.

  4. #3
    After taxes that probably works out to $140k per year.
    I wonder how much of that he's going to have to spend in legal fees to get his record expunged.

    Any shenanigans on the part of the DA back then are uncorrectable at this point, too. He was 18? Wouldn't be at all surprised if the system grabbed the first collar they could get their fingers on, and found a way to make it stick. That seems to be the MO in criminal investigations.
    There are no crimes against people.
    There are only crimes against the state.
    And the state will never, ever choose to hold accountable its agents, because a thing can not commit a crime against itself.

  5. #4
    Funny how there's no mention of charges being filed against the DA or kops who are responsible.....

  6. #5
    This, +rep

    Quote Originally Posted by KCIndy View Post
    This is the main reason I oppose the death penalty. The introduction of DNA evidence and analysis has shown conclusively that hundreds - likely thousands - of individuals have been incarcerated for serious crimes that they did not commit.

    The "system" that so many of the "law-and-order" types seem to hold so dear has been shown to be broken. Not flawed - broken - clearly and conclusively.

    I can't begin to imagine the horror of spending two decades in maximum security. Now this guy is out, but the best years of his life are gone. Over. Stolen. No amount of money can compensate for that.

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by tod evans View Post
    Funny how there's no mention of charges being filed against the DA or kops who are responsible.....
    Nope, just the ever suffering tax slaves being nicked for another 6 million.

    Don't get me wrong, this man deserves $600 million, but it should come out of the hides of the $#@! cops and DA.

    Sue 'em $#@!ing blind.
    Last edited by Anti Federalist; 01-30-2015 at 03:41 PM.

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by tod evans View Post
    Funny how there's no mention of charges being filed against the DA or kops who are responsible.....
    Great point, considering it is now demonstrable that the cops and DA held this man in a cage - literally at gunpoint - and stole over two decades of his life all for something he clearly didn't do.


    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post
    Nope, just the ever suffering tax slaves being niclked for another 6 million.

    Don't get me wrong, this man deserves $600 million, but it should come out of the hides of the $#@! cops and DA.

    Sue 'em $#@!ing blind.
    ABSOLUTELY!!

    If the cops/prosecutors knew they would be responsible - personally, financially responsible - for wrongful imprisonment, I'll bet the number of wrongful prosecutions would drop precipitously.

    I believe it was Blackstone who wrote, “Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer,” which is supposed to be part of the foundation of legal theory today. It seems to me that police and prosecutor immunities have damn near reversed that number.

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by KCIndy View Post
    This is the main reason I oppose the death penalty. The introduction of DNA evidence and analysis has shown conclusively that hundreds - likely thousands - of individuals have been incarcerated for serious crimes that they did not commit.

    The "system" that so many of the "law-and-order" types seem to hold so dear has been shown to be broken. Not flawed - broken - clearly and conclusively.

    I can't begin to imagine the horror of spending two decades in maximum security. Now this guy is out, but the best years of his life are gone. Over. Stolen. No amount of money can compensate for that.
    Do you happen to remember that womans name who worked in the DNA Labs and purposefully falsified DNA Tests in order to look like a superstar employee? The case affected thousands of cases where people may very well have been wrongly convicted based on falsified evidence? Or has that been "conveiently" forgotten about? I dont remember her name, but I do remember she got busted faking DNA matches on thousands of tests before she was caught.

    I would rather see a Guilty Man go free than to send an Innocent Man to jail.

    Freedom = Responsibility

    Our current Just-Us system takes absolutey ZERO Responsibility when it is wrong. No, it has to be awareded by a Jury, which will still come at the expense of the Taxpayers by way of heavier fines imposed on the citizens. Had Kenneth not been wrongly convicted to begin with, his life would not have been ruined, and it would not have perpetuated the Broken Window Fallacy of paying for the injustices of the State by the Citizens of the State. The real criminals here are the ones in the courtroom. They are the ones that should go to jail for wrongful imprisonment.

    These are the consequences of "peaceful Slavery" compared to the alternative of "Dangerous Freedoms". Lets see if that term goes "viral".
    1776 > 1984

    The FAILURE of the United States Government to operate and maintain an
    Honest Money System , which frees the ordinary man from the clutches of the money manipulators, is the single largest contributing factor to the World's current Economic Crisis.

    The Elimination of Privacy is the Architecture of Genocide

    Belief, Money, and Violence are the three ways all people are controlled

    Quote Originally Posted by Zippyjuan View Post
    Our central bank is not privately owned.



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by DamianTV View Post
    Do you happen to remember that womans name who worked in the DNA Labs and purposefully falsified DNA Tests in order to look like a superstar employee? The case affected thousands of cases where people may very well have been wrongly convicted based on falsified evidence? Or has that been "conveiently" forgotten about? I dont remember her name, but I do remember she got busted faking DNA matches on thousands of tests before she was caught.

    This case in Massachusetts is the one you're thinking of, I believe:

    http://www.policestateusa.com/2013/a...fied-evidence/
    MASSACHUSETTS — In one of the largest frauds in Massachusetts history, a state crime lab analyst used her position of analyzing chemical evidence to intentionally forge results in order to get convictions for prosecutors with whom she had friendly ties, and to satisfy her drive to imprison drug offenders. After years of tampering with evidence her actions may have tainted more than 40,000 drug samples, involving thousands of defendants.

    Annie Dookhan, a 35-year-old chemist employed by the State of Massachusetts, was known for her ability to process drug samples confiscated from suspects at triple the speed of her colleagues. Her work at the state crime lab in the Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plain was regarded highly by prosecutors who could count on her to produce the results they needed to achieve convictions.

    In reality she had spent years abusing her position and corrupting justice for her own amusement. She had affirmed the presence of drugs in samples that she had not bothered to test. She had forged signatures, tampered with evidence, and lied in court about her credentials to enhance her standing as an expert witness.

    Although, tragically, there are LOTS of other examples.

  12. #10
    Another couple of examples of employees of the state falsifying - or simply failing to perform - DNA tests because they just KNEW those S.O.B.s were guilty as hell:

    http://www.johnwellslaw.com/blog-dna-trust-verify.html
    Few people know that there have been several cases of falsified DNA results. The West Virginia criminal justice system was shaken in the early 1990's when authorities discovered that Trooper Fred Zain, who was in charge of the Serology Division at the State Police Crime Laboratory was investigated for falsifying results. Zain was alleged to have overstated the strength of results and the frequency of genetic matches. He is also alleged to have misreported the frequency of genetic matches on multiple pieces of evidence and reported that multiple items had been tested, when only a single item had been tested. Inconclusive results were reported as conclusive. Records were supposedly altered and the lab failed to report conflicting results or to conduct additional testing to resolve conflicting results. See, Matter of Investigation of West Virginia State Police Crime Laboratory, Serology Div. 438 S.E.2d 501, 503 (W.Va.,1993). After ascertaining that irregularities were systematic rather than inadvertent, the courts ordered new trials for a number of people convicted on Zain’s testimony.

    A similar situation occurred a decade later at the United States Army Criminal identification Laboratory at Forest Park Georgia. Serologist Phillip Mills was also accused of falsifying results as well as allowing cross-contamination. The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled that Mills’ actions triggered the requirement for a hearing to determine whether or not a new trial should be ordered. United States v. Luke, 63 M.J. 60 (C.A.A.F. 2006). In another case the Judge Advocate General of the Navy set aside the conviction of a Naval Officer which was based on Mills’ testimony. In this case a re-test exonerated the officer. See, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/military-injustice .

    The wise defense attorney does not rely on the report alone but demands the laboratory notes, protocols, calibration records and audits of the laboratory. The laboratory notes may reveal discrepancies in the examiner’s testimony and the raw results on the strength of the reading and number of matching loci may provide fertile grounds for cross-examination. Protocols and the adherence thereto may give rise to questions of cross-contamination.
    Excerpted from a law blog. The entire article is fascinating and I would recommend it as a very educational read.

    To boil it down: The state has no problem looking the other way while

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by KCIndy View Post
    This case in Massachusetts is the one you're thinking of, I believe:

    http://www.policestateusa.com/2013/a...fied-evidence/

    Although, tragically, there are LOTS of other examples.
    That is exactly the one I was looking for.

    And you are absolutely correct, this is only one of MANY cases.

    You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to KCIndy again.
    Someone wanna cover a +Rep for me?
    1776 > 1984

    The FAILURE of the United States Government to operate and maintain an
    Honest Money System , which frees the ordinary man from the clutches of the money manipulators, is the single largest contributing factor to the World's current Economic Crisis.

    The Elimination of Privacy is the Architecture of Genocide

    Belief, Money, and Violence are the three ways all people are controlled

    Quote Originally Posted by Zippyjuan View Post
    Our central bank is not privately owned.

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by tod evans View Post
    Funny how there's no mention of charges being filed against the DA or kops who are responsible.....
    But how can they serve and protect everyone else if they're in jail? That just wouldn't be fair...
    I'm an adventurer, writer and bitcoin market analyst.

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  15. #13
    Those on these forums that support the death penalty would have rather saved money and just put a bullet in him immediately after the trial.

  16. #14
    I wonder if he could have ever managed to earn $6mil, on his own, in 21 years?

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Ronin Truth View Post
    I wonder if he could have ever managed to earn $6mil, on his own, in 21 years?
    He will never know because he was deprived of the satisfaction of earning it with his own blood, sweat & tears.
    I'm an adventurer, writer and bitcoin market analyst.

    Buy my book for $11.49 (reduced):

    Website: http://www.grandtstories.com/

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeviGrandt

    Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/grandtstori...homepage_panel

    BTC: 1NiSc21Yrv6CRANhg1DTb1EUBVax1ZtqvG

  18. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by PaulConventionWV View Post
    He will never know because he was deprived of the satisfaction of earning it with his own blood, sweat & tears.
    I really doubt that he cares anything about satisfaction, just take the money and run.



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  20. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by DamianTV View Post


    Someone wanna cover a +Rep for me?
    I got your back.

  21. #18
    This is so horrific...I don't know what else to say.



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