Historical: Appeal and Attorney General Essay

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“Trials and Verdict”
Angela Wiggins
Strayer University
CJR100
Shane’e Major-Kelly
August 24, 2014

County: Riverside
Convicted of: Forcible Rape, Forcible Oral Copulation, and Robbery
Year of Conviction: 1988
Sentence: 45 years
Year Released: 2000
Years Served: 11.5 years
Wrongful Conviction Factors: Mistaken eyewitness identification

Herman Atkins, a tall and poised man, is a blissful newlywed and pursuing a masters and doctoral degree in Psychology from California State University, Fresno. The son of a California Highway Patrol Officer, Herman has traveled the country and starred in an acclaimed documentary. By looking at him, you would never know that twelve years of Herman's life was stolen by the State of California. His adolescence cheated by the error of the criminal justice system, and only to be resolved over a decade later.

In 1986, Herman was a recent high school graduate, preparing to follow his admired father's footstep and join the military. A twisted set of events, however, prevented him from even experiencing his twenties.

Herman, now 40, was accused of raping a woman during a 1986 robbery in a Lake Elsinore shoe store. In 1988, the jury convicted him to forty-five years in prison. DNA testing was not available during his trial; however, in 1993, the Innocence project requested that the evidence be tested. The results were not surprising - the source of semen on the victim's sweater eliminated Herman as the source. The FBI lab confirmed these results.

Herman, the 70th person in North America freed from prison as a result of DNA testing, was release on February 18th, 2000, after serving almost 12 years for a crime he did not commit. The rapist was never caught.

"Only God and I knew my innocence," Herman tearfully stated on the day of his release. "Today, God, I, the Riverside District Attorney and the people of California and the United States know that I am an innocent man."

Herman currently lives in Fresno with his wife Machara. They have set up a small foundation, LIFE, to assist other recent exonerees with the basic necessities once they are released from prison. In addition to time, Herman laments on the opportunities robbed from him during those twelve years, "It robbed me of a relationship with my father, a relationship with my grandmother. It robbed me of any opportunity in life."

against former state Sen. Lowell Barron.
The ruling The Alabama Supreme Court ruled today against an appeal made by prosecutors in the case could be a prelude to the charges against Barron and co-defendant Rhonda Jill Johnson of Scottsboro being dismissed.
In a statement released after the ruling, Barron said he expected Attorney General Luther Strange to dismiss the charges.
"We are very pleased with the unanimous ruling today by the Supreme Court," Barron said in his statement. "This matter has now gone through the entire appellate process, including two appellate courts which have both ruled unanimously in our favor. Based on the attorney general's own statements to the court that Judge (Randall) Cole's 'Order will be fatal to the prosecution of these charges...' and the appellate courts now upholding that ruling today, this case should now be concluded.
"I take the attorney general as a man of his word and expect him to dismiss the case. I appreciate so much the kind words, thoughts and prayers I've received from so many all over the state."
The court unanimously upheld two lower court rulings on evidence that could be presented at the trial of Barron and Johnson that prosecutors from the state attorney general's office said was critical to their case.
Prosecutors wrote repeatedly in court documents that denying their appeal would be "fatal" to their case against Barron and Johnson.
Barron, once one of the state's most powerful politicians as a senator from Fyffe, and former longtime campaign
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