Man sues NC city, police over wrongful conviction

A man who spent half his life in prison for a rape he didn't commit is suing a North Carolina city and its police, alleging negligence that kept him locked up for more than 18 years.

Multiple media organizations reported Friday that Dwayne Dail's federal lawsuit names Goldsboro, three current and former police chiefs, and several officers who worked on the case that led to his false imprisonment.

Dail was convicted in 1987 of raping a 12-year-old girl. DNA evidence cleared him of the crime in 2007. Another man was convicted in April and sentenced to life in prison.

Dail's lawsuit contends attorneys asked in 1995 that evidence in the rape case be DNA tested. Dail's attorney was told the evidence had been destroyed. Instead, it had been stored by Goldsboro police.

Original report here

Background

Dwayne Allen Dail served 18 years in North Carolina prisons for a 1987 rape before DNA testing on crime scene evidence proved his innocence. He was released from prison in 2007 after serving nearly half his life behind bars.

The Crime And Investigation

On September 4, 1987, a man crawled through the window of a Goldsboro, North Carolina, apartment and raped a 12-year-old girl living there. The girl identified Dwayne Allen Dail as her attacker and he was charged with burglary, rape and other related charged. Hairs collected from the crime scene were submitted for forensic testing and an expert found that Dail’s hairs were microscopically consistent with the evidence from the crime.

The Trial

Dail reportedly turned down an offer to plead guilty in exchange for three years of probation, and he went to trial in 1989. A jury heard that the victim had identified Dail as her attacker and also that forensic testing had shown the possibility that the hairs at the crime scene had come from him. The jury found him guilty as charged and he was sentenced to two terms of life in prison plus 15 years.

Post-Conviction

Dail filed numerous appeals over the years, and the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence began working on his case in 2001. Attorneys at the center requested testing on evidence from Dail’s case, but were told that all evidence introduced at Dail’s trial was returned to the Goldsboro Police Department and subsequently destroyed. However, when they asked for a repeated search, officers found a box of evidence, including the victim’s nightgown, that had been saved.

Officials at the Wayne County District Attorney’s Office agreed to send the evidence for DNA testing, and semen was discovered on the victim’s nightgown. The DNA profile from the semen did not match Dail, proving he was not the man who attacked the victim in 1987.

Dwayne Dail was released from custody on August 28, 2007, after a state court judge agreed to vacate his conviction and dismiss all charges against him. He was 39 when released and had served 18 years in prison. In October 2007 Dail received a pardon from Gov. Mike Easley based on his actual innocence.

Original report here




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29 October, 2010

Shocking video shows stab victim being repeatedly punched by British police sent out to help him

He decided that he didn't want treatment and tried to get away from them but that wasn't allowed, apparently. The cops even claimed that the escape attempt constituted an "assault" on the cops concerned. See for yourself in the video at the source given below

Darren Grace had staggered into Liverpool's Stanley Park in the early hours of Sunday, August 1 when three officers at first came to his aid.

However footage shows that as Mr Grace seems to try to resist treatment, one officer rains down a volley of eight punches onto his injured head while a female officer puts her hand on his arm.

Five minutes later, just before 8am, both she and the other officer appear to punch Mr Grace in the head and back as he lies face down on the ground.

The 31-year-old was later charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer - charges which were eventually dropped when Crown Prosecution Service lawyers saw the tape and realised there wasn't enough evidence 'to provide a realistic prospect of a conviction'.

After receiving basic treatment, Mr Grace was held in a cell for 11 hours.

Today Merseyside Police accused the Anfield joiner of being violent towards the officers adding 'CCTV images can never show the whole story'.

After being shown the tape by the Liverpool Echo, the force voluntarily referred the incident to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. But the watchdog said it was happy for Merseyside Police to conduct its own investigation and it is now the subject of a Professional Standards Department probe.

Mr Grace has not lodged a formal complaint with Merseyside Police and will not co-operate with the internal inquiry saying he has no confidence in the force. He said: 'I remember waking up in the cell with my face covered in blood, my head throbbing. I could feel the cut where I'd been stabbed.'

The three officers involved remain on duty and no disciplinary action has yet been taken.

Superintendent Mike Shaw, from Merseyside Police's Professional Standards Department, told the Liverpool Echo: 'As a police force we expect the highest standards from our officers. Where those standards are found to be breached, disciplinary action is taken.

'At about 7.45am on Sunday, August 1 officers were called to a disturbance in Butterfield Street in Anfield in which it was reported that a male had been stabbed. 'Enquiries led officers to Stanley Park. Upon arrival they found Mr Grace with head injuries in need of medical assistance. During the courts of administering medical assistance to Mr Grace he became violent towards the officers.

'In this case I understand that members of the public will be concerned when watching this footage. However I would like to stress that CCTV images can never show the whole story. 'The Professional Standards Department has been in contact with Mr Grace and his legal representatives and have been advised that there will be no complaint against police at this time and that Mr Grace does not want to take part in any misconduct investigation.

'Nevertheless, in order to understand the full circumstances of the incident the Professional Standards Department has launched an investigation. 'This will include looking at the circumstances that initially led police to Mr Grace, the circumstances around his arrest and the circumstances which led to the discontinuation by the CPS.

'It is important not to prejudge the outcome of the investigation. It would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this time. 'This matter was voluntarily referred to the IPCC in recognition of the public concern it may generate and the IPCC are happy that Merseyside Police carry out its own local investigation.'

Mr Grace claims he now suffers nightmares and insomnia and feels anxious whenever he sees bobbies on the beat.

Original report here




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