Man Wrongfully Convicted Of Raping ‘The Lovely Bones’ Author Is Suing New York For $50 Million
Anthony Broadwater spent 16 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit. While his name was finally cleared last November, Broadwater is now suing the state of New York for $50 million for unjust imprisonment and the decades he spent on the sex offender registry stemming from his wrongful conviction.
Reminds me very much of the first case that I helped a fellow inmate appeal in Michigan. James Grissom was falsely accused of raping Sara Ylen and sentenced to 15 to 35 years. Like this man, Grissom also participated in a lineup, yet Ylen picked another man out of the lineup who she was sure had raped her. Took 7 years and a change in court precedent for that appeal to get him released, but he had served 9 years by then for a crime that he didn’t admit. In fact, there never was a crime. She made the whole thing up.
Unfortunately, the state of Michigan passed a reparation law for those wrongly convicted a year AFTER Jim had been released, so he wasn’t eligible. Sara Ylen did eventually get punished after filing false claims against other men, but her sentence was a slap on the wrist compared to the damage she caused.
http://forejustice.org/db/Grissom–James-.html
These cases will continue to happen because those guilty of putting an innocent man in prison never have to pay for what they’ve done.. She got a handsome book deal and the county got promotions.. Tax payer gets shafted with the bill and he looses years of his life that no amount of money can return
If the DOJ would only consider the polygraph junk science too as it truly is (as they did in they did in this case with the microscopic hair analysis)…
I hope he gets all he can too, but the reality is the state will possibly appeal if nothing is settled on and/or the award is too high that could set precedent for others to follow. Appealing it would possibly get the award docked some value but as in the other linked article, the award was increased. Will be interesting.
I would imagine the embarrassment of this entire deal and the author’s apology is enough for the wrongfully convicted here (and really getting much money from her is minimal). However, in the interest of setting the environment straight, there should be an investigation into whether she should be charged with misdeeds, e.g. false report, related to this case. Of course, if they did, they would use the excuse it could stop others from reporting their possible allegations and thus increasing the unreported crimes…blah blah blah.
It’s time for the system to start paying for its mistakes.
Please allow me to sit on the jury, I will award him 5 billion. A required confession from the accuser and a public apology. A 3 story house on any beach of his choice and a full staff of maids, butlers, landscaping workers, handyman a chauffer, and full time security staff and body guards.
The author, Alice Sebold, apologized publicly about the accusation. Her memoir, in which she wrote about the rape, will no longer be published. That being said, hope he gets every penny and then some.
Ok. Thats just funny. Can I be in that jury with you? I’ll make sure he gets all that and then some.
Pariah
Sure, a jury needs more than one person. 🙂
Go get `em!