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poopchute88 t1_j15t1qx wrote

Did they take that picture after the fact?

−67

MikeLitoris_________ t1_j160etw wrote

>Philadelphia prosecutors moved to dismiss the murder convictions against Williams in both cases after finding tainted testimony and exculpatory evidence that had been discovered by police but never shared with defense lawyers, officials said.

I had no reason to disclose because I did not believe the evidence to be exculpatory. -ADA Jack McCoy

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tobsn t1_j161o2u wrote

can’t tell if third world country war zone or the US

21

tmoney144 t1_j166rdx wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#1,000,598)

He was in prison for 30 years. It could have been because of an argument that happened while he was locked up. If you're on death row, I doubt you're meeting nice people very often.

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Prize_Huckleberry_79 t1_j16dky7 wrote

TIL that Pennsylvania doesn’t compensate wrongly convicted exonerees. They just toss em out on the street with “tough luck kid”….

That’s incredibly sad, on a disturbing level…

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Omophorus t1_j16x2m3 wrote

Replying to lunartree (#1,002,977)

No, Pennsylvania is not.

The problem is that the state is gerrymandered to hell and the areas outside the Philly/Pittsburgh area are generally pretty conservative.

So while by population is the state is purple leaning blue, the packing and cracking of districts distorts the power balance in the state legislature.

And the conservative politicians in PA are awful.

Doug Mastriano put up a competitive race (ish) against Josh Shapiro for governor, and Mastriano not only looks like a scrotum in a suit but has some of the most reprehensible views on the world and the people in it I've ever encountered.

Once you get outside the cities and the more affluent burbs, I've seen more confederate flags than I ever saw living in North Carolina. They're a loud minority, but the loud part matters. The selfish entitlement is off the charts even as the world rightfully leaves their deadbeat asses behind.

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ButterPotatoHead t1_j1705hl wrote

There is undoubtedly more to this story that isn't being told... I really doubt an ex-con was randomly gunned down at a funeral. Being in prison for 20+ years can cause you to have a lot of enemies.

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fullload93 t1_j175a4m wrote

There is absolutely no way he didn’t make an enemy in prison. This was a clearly targeted killing with a shot to his head. Hopefully police find the bastard who did that but I remain doubtful they’ll try hard enough.

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WanderingPickles t1_j1789dr wrote

Replying to kingofpotatopeople92 (#1,002,646)

By definition the US cannot be “third world.”

First world: the US and its allies.

Second world: the Soviet Union and its allies.

Third world: these were unaligned countries. Typically poor and not worth the great powers squabbling over during the Cold War, hence how “third world” became synonymous with poverty.

Though, I suppose if we were to deeply delve into the demographics, there are elements of American society that experience levels of violence more typically seen in the more violent third world countries. Black communities experience very high levels of violence, significantly higher than Hispanic communities which themselves experience higher levels than white sections of society.

Also, “war zone” seems to have lost most of its meaning these days. I remember being in the car when a reported described the aftermath of some natural disaster as being a “war zone.” My dad, a veteran of actual wars, lost it. Years later, I grew up and found myself in actual war zones. I get it now.

Violent scenes - such as a shoot out at a funeral - are shocking, but actual war zones are special, a league of their own, etc. The scale, intensity and depth of violence is just otherworldly. Also, the dismembered bodies. And the maimed children. That will always stay with me. Kids who had arms and legs cut off out of spite… fucking sick.

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FindingMoi t1_j17bkl7 wrote

Replying to Omophorus (#1,003,487)

Living in rural PA, I still can’t wrap my head around those who claim the confederate flag is their heritage and how they somehow have a southern accent despite never having been south of Harrisburg.

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mnbull4you t1_j17iea5 wrote

Judged by the company you keep.

−16

airbornchaos t1_j17jtm0 wrote

Replying to fullload93 (#1,004,089)

Enemy in prison or family of murder victim who thinks he "got away with it."

That he was shot at a funeral, presumably surrounded by other people, and the shooter is still at large, tells you a lot about who the PD side with here.

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JiraiyaIsNoLyah t1_j17knd1 wrote

He was shot at 2:20 pm AND made it to the hospital to be pronunced dead by 2:27pm????

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ashlee837 t1_j17o9is wrote

Replying to airbornchaos (#1,005,096)

> That he was shot at a funeral, presumably surrounded by other people, and the shooter is still at large, tells you a lot about who the PD side with here.

Important fact. The police won't be stressing too hard to solve this one.

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squidking78 t1_j17t6k9 wrote

I mean they could have made it a two for one price special, surely.

But yeah, sounds like he had enemies.

−12

riptide81 t1_j182day wrote

Replying to ashlee837 (#1,005,315)

You know I can be as critical of police as anyone and his overturned conviction exemplifies how distrust has been earned but its likely he was surrounded by witnesses who adhere to a strict “no snitching” policy.

−1

TheBritishOracle t1_j185egp wrote

Replying to DreamsAndSchemes (#1,002,693)

I visited a friend in west PA a few years ago, stopped by for a few days while I was traveling around the states, had known him from a game for about 10 years before that.

He was a good host, and I always knew he was kinda 'country', but I had no idea that he was basically, well... He explained that there was nothing good outside of America and he had no interest in traveling outside the confines of the US. Europe and the UK were just full of communists. If I joked about any criticism of the US he got really pissed off.

Which wasn't a good idea when he had already shown me his armoury full of every type of weapon you could think of. Including his home made explosives.

He was no means uneducated or isolated, not at all. He was a retired oil exec with a background in engineering, his wife was I think a senior manager in another high tech energy industry. He'd run multiple businesses and was wealthy.

Carried a gun everywhere he went, refused to wear a seatbelt, complained about the government and cops.

I was speaking to friends later who explained to me that basically the people living up the mountains of west PA are the northern equivalent of the deep, deep south.

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starmartyr t1_j185q3e wrote

Replying to applefilla (#1,002,729)

The 13th amendment abolished slavery with the loophole that it was legal as punishment for a crime. It's not slavery with extra steps, it's just slavery. Slavery is still legal and widely practiced in the United States.

9

WateronRocks t1_j186o1n wrote

Replying to airbornchaos (#1,005,096)

>That he was shot at a funeral, presumably surrounded by other people, and the shooter is still at large, tells you a lot about who the PD side with here.

What do you mean? Is it out of the question that they just havent been able to identify/find the shooter?

2 things to consider: This man was shot as he stepped out of his car, not in the middle of the funeral crowd, and half of all murders go unsolved in the US.

3

A_Gent_4Tseven t1_j18bi4z wrote

Replying to Prize_Huckleberry_79 (#1,001,859)

Scranton cops blow. Had my car legitimately robbed by a police officer because it was parked at my house, and “teens drink in the woods near this house, so we went in your car and took your stuff out to make sure it wasn’t full of beer”. I was fucking 28 at and not a single fucking teen has ever partied at my damn woods because they get chased the fuck out. But they took shit out of my car I didn’t get back for 5 months because it was, and I quoted the fucking cops, evidence… winter jackets, an empty locked and pulled apart shotgun(to scare bears off from the chicken coop when I get home, the noise keeps them away for a good week) and tried to hit me with illegal weapons charge… the lawyer got my shit back and got it stopped, but the police still come by my house and harass my shit.

13

jefe357 t1_j18gycq wrote

Replying to Prize_Huckleberry_79 (#1,001,859)

I study this stuff. What's even crazier is that exonerees often get LESS transitional support (e.g., housing assistance, job training) than parolees do, precisely because they didn't commit a crime -- but then society still discriminates against exonerees as if they were offenders. It's a massive catch-22.

It's also crazy how much compensation laws vary between states. Losing years of your life is "worth" much more in some places than others. And in some states, if you're coerced to confess to a crime you didn't commit, you become ineligible for compensation because the state effectively blames you for your own wrongful conviction.

We're working to fix this, one state at a time -- and you'd think it's a common sense reform, but you'd be surprised (or maybe not...).

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jonathanrdt t1_j18hjvq wrote

Replying to starmartyr (#1,006,301)

Capital punishment is proven to be an ineffective deterrent, it costs more than life in prison, and it can err.

There is no modern justification; it can only serve primitive needs for revenge, which have no place in a modern judicial system.

18

fergie_lr t1_j18hlkm wrote

Replying to KingWillly (#1,004,137)

Only thanks to the major cities. Mastriano won many of the counties. But Democrats did show and he only got around 65% in my red county.

Thankfully, gerrymandering doesn’t work for Governor and Presidential races. That’s why they are scrambling for voter suppression.

4

airbornchaos t1_j19e2ju wrote

Replying to WateronRocks (#1,006,344)

Half of all murders go unsolved in the US because Police are incompetent and lazy. They pinned 4 murders on this guy before he was exonerated.

Why do I have a feeling they couldn't find his murderer if the murder was on filmed with an 8K RED camera and studio lighting, while the murderer was holding a microphone and reciting his name, address, and social security number.

6

jonathanrdt t1_j19pevl wrote

Replying to ChallyPrime (#1,010,507)

We do not generally subscribe to a modern ethos, so most confuse justice and revenge. The earliest codes of laws conflate the two: Code of Hammurabi is where we get ‘an eye for an eye’. We have done much better since, but we still have far to go.

4

14th_Mango t1_j1a6y6o wrote

It’s wrong not to admit a mistake, even for a State. Shame on Pennsylvania.

2

Scrambley t1_j1b5282 wrote

Replying to sappyguy (#1,002,178)

According to Google...

>The following 12 states do not have compensation laws: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

If anyone else was curious.

5

armyvet22 t1_j1dcebi wrote

The worst part about reading this story is: they probably killed him in retribution for murdering someone he didn't. But served the time for it. In the cons eye, you're still guilty.

And that is the true evil of wrongful convictions. I can't get my time back nor my character back no matter what. It's like a new life without any of the benefits of the old one except age.

1

UponMidnightDreary t1_j1ib09p wrote

Replying to jefe357 (#1,007,163)

Terrible disgraceful thing. So glad you and others are devoting your attention and energy here!

It’s one of those things that people tend to disbelieve initially because it is so mind blowingly insane. Once people are aware of the scope, I’ve found most people support changing laws and (where there are payouts but they are capped) increasing compensation. It’s such a scary thing to imagine that it’s easy for people to project themselves into the situation and see how unfair it is.

Major major kudos to you for studying this and working in this area!!!

1

cosmic-goat t1_j1qjaf7 wrote

All of the systems are failing. I am so sorry for this man and his family, there needs to be better systems in place to avoid wrongful conviction in the first place and protect those who are released after exoneration. Better systems need to be in place for those released from incarceration period. Everyone deserves the same opportunities at life and stifling opportunities only makes it more likely for people to return to incarceration if there is no reason to do better once you are out.

1