Quote:
A Detroit man who was incarcerated after being wrongly convicted of four murders is walking free today, after serving nearly nine years of a sentence he received at the age of 15.
Sanford was serving a 37-to-90-year sentence for a quadruple homicide he was convicted of in 2008, his attorneys said. Sanford was 14 years old when he pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree homicide at the advice of a now-suspended attorney.
Quote:
A turning point arrived when investigators realized that it was former Detective James Tolbert of the Detroit Police Department who drew a diagram of the crime scene, not Sanford, as the original investigators alleged.
"Tolbert had in earlier testimony said that Davontae had drawn the diagram of the house where the murder took place, but during the police investigation, he changed his story and said, 'No, I drew the house.'" Naasko said. "It was a direct contradiction to his testimony on the record."
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office confirmed that account, noting, "former Deputy Chief James Tolbert contradicts his sworn testimony that Davontae Sanford drew the entire diagram of the crime scene, including the location of the victims' bodies, while being questioned by the police. This called into question Tolbert’s credibility in the case."
One of the Founding Fathers said "It is better for 10 guilty men to go free than for one innocent person to be found guilty." We forget this.
So.. whenever the pro-police types talk about strict policing, or proud of convictions, especially those that are not clear.. I roll my eyes.
The justice system works.
It's pretty simple. The guy needs to be compensated, and those responsible for screwing up need to be held accountable.
