老澳门开奖结果

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. 鈥� Montez Spradley, who was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, was released from prison on Friday. He had spent 3.5 years on Alabama鈥檚 death row and a total of 9.5 years behind bars. He is 32 years old.

鈥淒espite his innocence, Montez almost lost his life to our criminal justice system,鈥� said Spradley鈥檚 attorney, Anna Arceneaux of the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Capital Punishment Project. 鈥淭he police, the prosecutor, and the judge at his first trial all made grave errors in Montez鈥檚 case. A system so flawed should not be trusted with people鈥檚 lives.鈥�

鈥淚t was horrible, horrible to be on death row for a crime I didn鈥檛 do. I wouldn鈥檛 wish it on anyone,鈥� said Spradley. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 make up for the years I鈥檝e missed, but I鈥檓 so glad to be alive so I can be there for my children.鈥�

Spradley was arrested in 2004 for the murder of a 58-year-old woman, despite the absence of physical evidence and eyewitnesses. At trial two years later, the prosecution called as witnesses Spradley鈥檚 ex-girlfriend and a prisoner who had been in jail with him. The jury found Spradley guilty and voted 10-2 for a sentence of life without parole. The judge exercised 鈥渏udicial override鈥� 鈥� a power that allows Alabama judges to ignore a jury鈥檚 decision 鈥� and sentenced Spradley to death.

鈥淥f the three states that have judicial override, Alabama is the only place where judges actively use it. They have sent dozens of people to death row even though the jurors had deliberated and voted for life without parole,鈥� said Arceneaux. 鈥淛udicial override, with its trail of unfair death sentences, must be removed from Alabama law.鈥�

While Spradley was on death row, 老澳门开奖结果 attorneys discovered that the prosecution had paid Spradley鈥檚 ex-girlfriend $10,000 to testify at his trial and hadn鈥檛 disclosed this payment to the defense. In 2011, they won a reversal of Spradley鈥檚 conviction and death sentence, with the court describing the trial with its multiple errors as a 鈥渕iscarriage of justice.鈥�

鈥淚n Montez Spradley鈥檚 case, as in too many others, we see prosecutors using desperate jailhouse snitches and witnesses who are paid significant amounts of money,鈥� said co-counsel Richard Jaffe of Jaffe, Hanle, Whisonant & Knight, PC. 鈥淭hese so called 鈥榳itnesses鈥� will say anything even if it means putting an innocent man on death row. The jury never knew that a witness was paid $10,000, and the obvious lies did not seem to matter to the state. Montez Spradley, an innocent man, was nearly executed.鈥�

After overturning Spradley鈥檚 conviction and death sentence, the state of Alabama refused to dismiss the murder charge against him. Spradley pleaded to a lesser charge rather than risk a new trial potentially tainted by the same problems that sent him to death row.

For more about Montez Spradley鈥檚 case:

/cases/spradley-v-state-alabama

For information about the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Capital Punishment Project: /capital-punishment

For information about Jaffe, Hanle, Whisonant & Knight, PC: