Setting Up a Proper Recourse for Wrongfully Convicted People
People unjustly serving time in prison is a grave concern causing multiple problems at different levels, but the Canadian government doesn’t seem to care at all.
This video, published on A&E’s YouTube channel, has racked up over 3 million views so far.
Part of the ‘Court Cam’ series, the YouTube video shows the courtroom drama that unfolded during the final hearing of a case involving Daniel Villegas, accused of killing two teens in a drive-by shooting in El Paso way back in 1993.
In the end of the video, the judge acquitted the 41-year-old man, setting him free. He maintained innocence all the way through, regardless of the tough times, and finally got hold of the ever-elusive result.
But that’s just an insipid way of putting it. It doesn’t do any justice to the emotions on display in the intense video.
In the highly emotional video, the defense team can be seen holding Daniel in their arms as they wait anxiously for the verdict to be read out. There is a palpable air of restlessness and nervous tension among the audience, as well.
And the moment when the judge pronounces Daniel ‘not guilty’, he drops down and breaks into tears burying his face on the table. As he struggles to come to terms with the fact that he has been freed after 27 years for wrongful conviction, the anxious audience in the court let out a roar in jubilation and scream in anguish.
The 3:33 minute long video culminates with the judge saying “you’re free to leave.” A fair verdict to a gritty and resolute man, who has tragically suffered as a result of false accusation and wrongful conviction.
Sure, it panned out well for Daniel at last, but he had to painfully endure the two-decade-long misery brought down on him by a corrupt officer.
The Wrongful Conviction of David Villegas
Daniel was coerced by a detective into falsely confessing to a crime. Although he promptly recanted his statement a few hours later, it was too late; and the prosecution had made a solid piece of documentary evidence out of it to put him behind bars. But the wronged man didn’t give in and decided to fight an uphill battle.
The first of many trials, which began in 1994, ended in a deadlock, with mistrial declared due to a hung jury. The second trial didn’t start until after a year but landed a crucial blow to his chances of getting out of jail with the jury finding him guilty. He was sent to prison for life, a conviction which he appealed against and in vain. In 2009, after spending 15 years in jail for no fault of his, Daniel challenged the verdict handed out to him by citing ineffective counsel during the second trial. Four years later, the Court of Criminal Appeals confirmed he did have inefficient counsel and ruled against the conviction, but he was still not acquitted. Villegas was released on bail in 2014, and, in a bid to clear his name, he filed a case the following year against the city of El Paso and its police department for wrongful conviction. The third and final trial began three years later and the lingering conviction was finally tossed out after many evidentiary hearings.
Full credit to the man for showing great courage and determination to hold on for so long without wilting under pressure.
Villegas was robbed of the prime years of his life during his incarceration. He had to go through an awful journey, but he dug in his heels and relentlessly fought his battle even when it felt like the door was shut on him.
Luckily, for him, it all worked out in the end.
But not many people are as scrappy or as fortunate as this man from El Paso. Even if they bring themselves together to prepare to wage a long battle, the system won’t allow them a fair recourse to contest the unjust verdict handed down to them.
Wrongful Conviction, still a Threat in Canada
There are more innocent people in Canadian prisons and jails today than before. And
We hear a lot of stories of people looking for a fair review after having been dealt a rough hand in their first trial with wrongful conviction. These are not just anecdotes about someone’s legal sufferings. These are glaring reminders that the incompetence of the system to identify and weed out the errors still proves to be costly for all those individuals doing time for a crime they didn’t commit.
Someone somewhere decides to commit perjury, tamper with evidence, or withhold crucial evidence that could potentially clear the accused, and, consequently, the wrong person goes to prison while the actual offender is still out there free to commit another crime posing a serious threat to public safety.
People wait for too long to get a legit chance at fair justice so they could convince another judge or jury that their conviction was wrong in the first place. The mental toll these lengthy delays take on the victims and their families is huge but for some strange reason the plight of the wrongly convicted is receiving little attention.
If you or someone you know have been falsely charged and are looking for legal help, you need to consult with a professional from thecriminal law firm Canada and see how they can help you recover from your legal situation.
32 Years on, Call for Independent Body Unanswered
The first recommendation to create an independent commission to inquire into claims of wrongfully convicted people came out in 1989. Now, nearly 32 years on, the campaign hasn’t taken off at all. But what baffles us is the unwillingness of the authorities and the justice system to establish a formal platform for redressing victims’ concerns and grievances.
In the absence of an independent body, the current system works this way: the victims of wrongful conviction formally apply to the Minister of Justice to consider their cases and refer them back to the courts for review.
This sort of an arrangement may look like a viable option on the face of it, but it counts for nothing. Since 2002, the government has received just 186 applications from victims of which only a meager number, 20 cases to be specific, have been referred back to the courts and corrected appropriately. Compare that to the number of wrongful conviction cases that pop up every year and that gives you a picture of the sorry state of affairs the system of justice is in.
Lack of action Undermines Confidence in Judicial System
Still a menacing issue, wrongful conviction seems to be getting out of bounds as highlighted by the alarming increase in cases in which there has been a miscarriage of justice.
Judicial inquiries across different provinces in Canada into wrongful convictions–seven to be exact–urged for the creation of an independent body, however the Canadian government’s downright refusal to set up a proper recourse for the victims has cast the integrity of the prevailing justice system in poor light.
Giving people a legit opportunity to prove their innocence and clear their name in cases where they’ve been unlawfully convicted is important to making sure the public don’t lose their trust in the justice system. It’s high time the government recognized the kind of damage that wrongful conviction can do to individuals and their families, and took appropriate measures to allay the concerns and doubts around the competence and reputation of the justice system.
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