DNA overturns a conviction, but prosecutors press for new trial

READING REPORT 26

Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/06/america/06dna.php
Date of publication: September 6,2007

Vocabulary: 1- Bail: release from imprisonment obtained by bail.
2- Bondswoman: a woman bondservant.
3- Creek: a small stream, often a tributary to a river. Also called branch, brook.
4- Mild: not harsh, severe or strong; moderate.
5- Vigilante: one, especially a member of a group of volunteers, who without authority assumes law enforcement powers.
6- Chicanery: deception by trickery or sophistry.
7- Shield: to cover up, conceal.
8- Accessory: one who though absent aids or assist in the commission of a crime.
9- Makeshift: a temporary expedient or substitute.
10- Pending: while waiting for something, or until something happens.

Main Ideas: - Kennedy Brewer a man sentenced to death has been released after 15years, because a DNA test shows that the evidence found in the crime scene is not his.
- Prosecutors want to retry this man for the rape and murder of a 3year old girl, but they are not looking for the real killer.
- Prosecutors are not convinced of the innocence of Brewer, he is a black man partially retarded, who was the boyfriend of the child’s mother.
- The district attorney thinks now Brewer did not act alone, he helped in the killing of the girl that is what he said.
- This case is being retried in order to reverse the negative reputation of Mississippi.
- After the DNA results back in 2002 he was moved death row to the county jail, he stayed there for five years more because the district attorney is still seeking for the death penalty.
- The sheriff did not reopened the case since he says he had not received an official notification of the new evidence.


Personal Reaction: I think that cases like this have to be treated very carefully because the life of a person is in danger. The man that supposedly killed the little girl is as important as any other we do not have the right to decide over his or other life. Death penalty should not exist because we are doing exactly what a murderer did, life sentence is what they deserve and I think it is fair to take that person out of the streets. In this particular case the victim would have been two the girl and the convicted accused of murdering her. The DNA evidence came just in time to avoid that an innocent person was killed. Justice is not the same in all counties of US and things like killing and innocent man happen everyday and we are not aware of that fact.