A Chicago man convicted of murder based in part on testimony from a legally blind eyewitness is suing the city and the police department.
A judge convicted Darien Harris in 2014 in connection with a fatal shooting at a South Side gas station in 2011. He was 12 years into a 76-year prison sentence when he was freed in December after The Exoneration Project showed that the eyewitness had advanced glaucoma and lied about his eyesight issues. Harris was 30 years old when he went free.
Harris filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in April alleging police fabricated evidence and coerced witnesses into making false statements, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday. He told the newspaper that he is still struggling to put his life back together.
“I don’t have any financial help. I’m still (treated like) a felon, so I can’t get a good job. It’s hard for me to get into school,” he said. “I’ve been so lost. … I feel like they took a piece of me that is hard for me to get back.”
I don’t understand this part-
Harris’ trial attorney asked the witness if his diabetes affected his vision. He said yes but denied he had vision problems.
Well yes but actually no
While obviously bullshit now, there’s mild forms of vision issues. I have astigmatism, and if it was caused by an issue, I’d be able to honestly say “yes the issue affects my vision, but no, this didn’t impact my ability to see the guy do it.” A cataract could block peripheral vision while not preventing someone from recognizing someone they looked at directly, etc.
This guy’s a liar, but it’s still plausible. If a thing should’ve been done differently besides the fraud, it’d be to require an eye test for the court specifically
Welp I guess we have to take his word for it
It had a positive effect on his vision.
Has that lawyer never seen My Cousin Vinny? You have to test their vision on the spot during the trial.
Reminds me of the blind computer repair guy that swore Hunter Biden dropped off his laptop.
I know this isn’t the point of the article but 76 years seems like an absurdly long sentence. I just checked and the average time served for murder is 15 years.
That average probably includes white people murderers getting a slap on the wrist. I wonder what it is if you just take the average of black/brown people’s sentences for murder
Most sentences are absurdly long today. Too many things that would have been a citation 200 years ago are felonies today.
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Fuck the police. But also fuck witnesses. Even from own experience they will just outright lie. Its only perjury if you say something against the police.
There were also prosecutors and judges involved in this bullshit.
Fuck all cops! Full stop.
