Florida Man Exonerated After Spending 35 Years In Prison
Posted by Media Outrage on December 17th, 2009
James Bain was released from prison after spending 35 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. SMH.
Via AP:
BARTOW, Fla. – James Bain used a cell phone for the first time Thursday, calling his elderly mother to tell her he had been freed after 35 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.
Mobile devices didn’t exist in 1974, the year he was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping a 9-year-old boy and raping him in a nearby field.
Neither did the sophisticated DNA testing that officials more recently used to determine he could not have been the rapist.
“Nothing can replace the years Jamie has lost,” said Seth Miller, a lawyer for the Florida Innocence Project, which helped Bain win freedom. “Today is a day of renewal.”
Bain spent more time in prison than any of the 246 inmates previously exonerated by DNA evidence nationwide, according to the project. The longest-serving before him was James Lee Woodard of Dallas, who was released last year after spending more than 27 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.
As Bain walked out of the Polk County courthouse Thursday, wearing a black T-shirt that said “not guilty,” he spoke of his deep faith and said he does not harbor any anger.
“No, I’m not angry,” he said. “Because I’ve got God.”
The 54-year-old said he looks forward to eating fried turkey and drinking Dr Pepper. He said he also hopes to go back to school.
Friends and family surrounded him as he left the courthouse after Judge James Yancey ordered him freed. His 77-year-old mother, who is in poor health, preferred to wait for him at home. With a broad smile, he said he looks forward to spending time with her and the rest of his family.
“That’s the most important thing in my life right now, besides God,” he said.
Earlier, the courtroom erupted in applause after Yancey ruled.
“Mr. Bain, I’m now signing the order,” Yancey said. “You’re a free man. Congratulations.”
Thursday’s hearing was delayed 40 minutes because prosecutors were on the phone with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. DNA tests were expedited at the department’s lab and ultimately proved Bain innocent. Prosecutors filed a motion to vacate the conviction and the sentence.
“He’s just not connected to this particular incident,” State Attorney Jerry Hill told the judge.
Attorneys from the Innocence Project of Florida got involved in Bain’s case earlier this year after he had filed several previous petitions asking for DNA testing, all of which were thrown out.
A judge finally ordered the tests and the results from a respected private lab in Cincinnati came in last week, setting the wheels in motion for Thursday’s hearing. The Innocence Project had called for Bain’s release by Christmas.
He was convicted largely on the strength of the victim’s eyewitness identification, though testing available at the time did not definitively link him to the crime. The boy said his attacker had bushy sideburns and a mustache. The boy’s uncle, a former assistant principal at a high school, said it sounded like Bain, a former student.
The boy picked Bain out of a photo lineup, although there are lingering questions about whether detectives steered him.
The jury rejected Bain’s story that he was home watching TV with his twin sister when the crime was committed, an alibi she repeated at a news conference last week. He was 19 when he was sentenced.
Ed Threadgill, who prosecuted the case originally, said he didn’t recall all the specifics, but the conviction seemed right at the time.
“I wish we had had that evidence back when we were prosecuting cases. I’m ecstatic the man has been released,” said Threadgill, now a 77-year-old retired appeals court judge. “The whole system is set up to keep that from happening. It failed.”
Eric Ferrero, spokesman for the Innocence Project, said a DNA profile can be extracted from decades-old evidence if it has been preserved properly. That means sealed in a bag and stored in a climate-controlled place, which is how most evidence is handled as a matter of routine.
The project has a bigger problem with lost or destroyed evidence than getting usable DNA profiles from existing evidence, he said.
Florida last year passed a law that automatically grants former inmates found innocent $50,000 for each year they spent in prison. No legislative approval is needed. That means Bain is entitled to $1.75 million.
Mediaoutrage- We’re glad that he’ll get $1.75 million but that still doesn’t compensate for 35 years of his life. He should be able to sue the state of Florida on top of the $1.75 million because you can’t dictate what someone else’s life is worth. Terrible. Great that he was freed but messed up that he’s spent the majority of his life behind bars for a crime he didn’t even commit.
December 17th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Wow, there’s NO telling what he endured going to prison at 19 for raping a child. $1.75 mil doesn’t even begin to cover the therapy bills he’ll need, not to mention he has NO concept of managing money. All he knows about being a man, he learned behind bars- not a great outlook. Hopefully someone will follow up on his situation and get him the help he needs to readjust to society. If not, he’ll probably end up broke or back in jail within 3-4 years… I agree MO, you can’t put a price on a missed lifetime. How awful.
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December 17th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
My heart goes out for this man…35 years and the man didn’t do a thing. I can’t even wrap my mind around something like that.
I agree MO he should sue for more money, but the man probably don’t wanna to see the inside of another court room as long as he lives.
James can’t get those 35 years but if he decides not to sue for more money then he should take the $1 plus mil and make every day of his life as happy and fulfilled as he can. God bless him.
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December 17th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
meant “35 years back”.
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December 17th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
WTH!!!! That is really messed up. 35 years and they just found out that he was innocent? I want to know how was he convicted if they never even did a DNA test? So they convict him without any physical evidence? Just out of a police lineup? How is that. Okay, DNA test or whatever wasn’t around at that time, but it’s been around for several years now. Why did the judge keep throwing it out when he ask for a DNA test? SMDH, so many questions, not enough answers. And now they’re going to give him money because of wrongful conviction. Wow. Glad he’s finally free, but damn.
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December 17th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
OH MY GOODNESS, 35 YEARS!!!!!
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December 17th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
They should reimburse him for all 35 yrs.. That man done lost so much and he can’t get any of those yrs back. 35 yrs they owe him as ,Spike says 40 acres and a mule for real..
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December 18th, 2009 at 12:46 am
Once again this don’t make no damn sense! 35 years?!! SMDH
He deserves more than 1.75 mil. He should definitely sue the entire STATE of Florida!!
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December 18th, 2009 at 1:24 am
I wonder how many more brothers are sitting in jail due to false imprisonment???
The should give him $35 million…..a Milli for every year lost!
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Mrs HoneyDipp Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 5:08 am
There are alot of brothers in jail because of liars. And I agree with you they should pay him 35 million for every year he had to suffer and endore pain.
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December 18th, 2009 at 5:04 am
My heart goes out to him because he spent 35 years in a prison for something he did not do the judge,and the state and the people who pointed him out should be held acountable for things like this but I guess because he was a black man they just decided to pick him out of all the man in the world without checking to see where he was when the kidnapping happened.
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December 18th, 2009 at 5:21 am
Great point MO….you can’t tell someone what they’re life is worth.
He’s 54 so he missed out on going 2 school, having a career and most importantly having a family. I’m sorry but in my opinion. That is worth a whole lot more than $50,000.
On the other hand, I’m sure he just wants to put it all behind him and move on.
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lowridaz Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 11:33 am
I agree, he must want to put it all behind him, but i hope he dont rest on it, he deserve that shit! and much more, i hope he sue all he can, that is and was his LIFE
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December 18th, 2009 at 5:23 am
And I’m sorry, but when did bushy sideburns and a mustache become acceptable to send people to prison. I just arrested my whole family, 1/2 my coworkers, a few MO readers and myself in this description.
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December 18th, 2009 at 7:08 am
No surprise he served this long. A black man. A black man in Florida, ’nuff said.
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December 18th, 2009 at 11:24 am
SHAMEFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That poor man, with thw suspicion of that kind of crime being pointed at you.. for all those years!!!!!!!!!! Florida should re-examine the case and why he was convicted…. why was this case not thrown out??????
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December 18th, 2009 at 11:32 am
I agree, he deserves much more than that, 1.75 milliion is all them fuckers are giving this dude!!!!! i know a guy that was in jail for less than 10 years falsely accused, and got 25million, so i mean come on! that is a damn shame!
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December 18th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
the man deserves more than 1.75 million, because half of that money have to go towards therapy and counselling, this man is so happy to be out, but in a couple of weeks when reality really steps in, this guy is going to be so angry,that the state took away his rights, and his youth for all those years. I think he should also go ahead and sue the state and federal government, because DNA was up years ago, you telling me they couldnt test nothing? they had to wait until all this time? this guy went into jail as a kid, lord knows what he endured for that charge. Where was this man’s rights under the constitution of the United States; it incidences like this that people will know, there is no freedom or no rights for certain people. This is a dam shame, they let this man lost all his childhood and adult hood in prison. He should sue the prosecution, the state and federal government, and then they gave him 1.75 million? it should be 1 million for every year, because everything was a big lie.
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December 18th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
they just jail the young man and didnt do their work, lord knows how many more people in jail or got electricuted for crimes they didnt commit, if this man was related to me, I would be all over the place suing the state, the federal government, the prosecution for lying, and everyone I could get my hands on, this is a dam shame, and its happening too often, a man just got 40 million for 27 years in prison. The innocent project is a good organisation. I hope this guy buys a nice home so he would be comfortable, and someone give him a good paying job and he learn some skills. The state should give him free health care and everything free because they owe him half of florida. I hope he is surrounded by good people who will help him in the right way,because he dont know anything about the real world.
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lowridaz Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
so true and well said.. i feel so bad for him, imagine him having to adapt to society now! how things have changed so much, i feel so bad for this guy, them bastards!!!
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December 18th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
That is a damn shame… a whole life wasted!
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