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  • Exonerated: wrongful convictions overturned and the lessons we can learn
    jayquan commented on the article | over 2 years ago
    Exonerated: wrongful convictions overturned and the lessons we can learn

    Hi, my name is jay and i'm leaving a comment on this page in the hopes that sumbody can\will help me! Okay first of all i am a convicted sex offender. It hurts me even to this day to say this term "convicted sex offender" but according to the courts thats what i am. I was wrongly accused and charged with rape at the age of 18. i spent a year and a half in jail while going to court for these charges and during that time i was attacked 3 time because of the crime i was accused of. I was called things like a "tree jumper" and a "scrapist"! like i said earlier i was even attacked by other inmates. i never understood why they were so quick to condemn me and convict me for my alleged crimes, while subsequently fighting charges of their own. I was only 18 at the time and this was the scariest year and a half of my life. I wont bore you with the details of my case. Suffice it to say, The alleged victim was given a rape kit, which came back negative (she was fiound to still be a virgin,that is her hymen was still intact), and i also passed a polygraph test ( which doesnt matter because they aren't admissible in court). There were countless other discrepancies, but none of that mattered. It also didn't help that my family couldn't afford a lawyer and my court-appointed public defender could care less wether we won or loss the case, she would still be paid the same salary. I don't think she even remembered my name, let alone the details of my case. And i also heard a rumor that the public defenders office works closely with the D.A.'s office? i can believe it because even though i told my public defender that i was innocent her best advice was to plead guilty to some lesser charges and recieve time served.Now to understand why i listened to her, You have to understand where i was at that time in my life. I was young, dumb, and ready to go home. i had spent a year and a half in jail for a crime that i didn't commit. I had been attacked numerous times by other inmates. The correctional officers even treated me differently. And then "lo an behold" a way out was offered. All i had to do was plead guilty to a few lesser charges and i would recieve time-served, and i wouldn't even have to register with the megan's law people. "And besides", my public defender stated, "This wouldn't be a case of facts any way" . " the D.A. is gonna put this young woman on the stand and give her a script about how horrible it was for her, and how she still has nightmares stemming from ur alleged 'brutal' attack," " Then she's gonna cry and that just seals the deal!" " you will be found guilty and sentenced to anywhere between 7-25 years in prison!" Now after hearing all of that (and believing her), and after spending the time that i did in jail already, and having no faith what so ever in the judicial system to recognize truth and facts and exonerate me, I did what any other young, dumb, scared teenager in my shoes would have done. I took the deal. At first i didn't think it was all that bad. I was still able to get a job and pretty much life settled into a somewhat controlled state for me. "At least i'm out of jail", i always thought to myself. It wasn't until 4 years later when i was arrested for something entirely different that things began to go to hell in a handbasket! I forgot to mention earlier that I was sentenced to 5 years of probation, as part of my plea bargain in the rape case, and i violated the terms of my probation after serving 4 years of it. My judge revoked my probation and sentenced me to 1-2 years upstate! Now i was back in jail (although this time i was a little bit older and street tuff), and it was a shock! But i did the 2 years and maxed out. Now THIS is when the trouble began! Remember earlier when i said that i plead guilty to some lesser charges, and as part of my plea bargain, i wouldn't have to register with the sex offenders? Wrong! before i was released i had to submit a dna sample, and i was told that i HAD to register with the megan's law. I didn't fully understand why, But i complied. Now my life is a living hell! I can't get a job, My neighbors hate me before they even get to know me, and i can't even get custody of my daughter ( whose mother loves to keep her away from me because of OUR personal problems). I'm now dealing wit depression, and life just doesn't seem like it's worth living some times! I try so hard to make it work for me, but it seems like any bit of progress i make, my past shows up and negates it. My Question is this? Is there any thing i can do to help my situation? Is there anyone out there who i can turn to for help? Is there any way for me to still live a productive life? Please if anybody knows anything that they think might help me, or even if you just want to offer some words of encouragement, don't hesitate to drop me a line at: jaeyoung4eva@yahoo.com or jagreene@yahoo.com


     


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