-- جيمس باين استخدم الهاتف الخليوي للمرة الأولى يوم الخميس ، ودعا والدته العجوز ليقول لها انه تم الافراج عنه بعد 35 عاما وراء القضبان لارتكابه جريمة لم يرتكبها. الأجهزة النقالة لم تكن موجودة في عام 1974 ، وهو العام الذي حكم عليه بالسجن مدى الحياة في السجن لمدة 9 خطف واغتصاب في حقل مجاور. ولم تعد تطورا لاجراء اختبارات الحمض النووي أن المسؤولين في الآونة الأخيرة تستخدم لتحديد أنه لا يمكن ان يكون المغتصب. "لا شيء يمكن ان يحل محل جيمي سنوات فقدت" ، وقال سيث ميلر ، وهو محام في فلوريدا مشروع البراءة ، الأمر الذي ساعد باين فوز الحرية. "اليوم هو يوم لتجديد". باين قضيت المزيد من الوقت في السجن أكثر من أي من 246 سجينا سابقا برأ من أدلة الحمض النووي على الصعيد الوطني ، وفقا لهذا المشروع. صاحب أطول مدة خدمة قبله كان جيمس لي وودارد في دالاس ، الذي أفرج عنه العام الماضي بعد ان امضى اكثر من 27 سنوات في السجن بتهمة جريمة قتل لم يرتكبها. كما باين انسحب من قاعة محكمة مقاطعة بولك الخميس ، وهو يرتدي تي شيرت أسود وقال ان "غير مذنب" ، تحدث فيها عن إيمانه العميق وقال انه لا تؤوي أي غضب. "لا ، لست غاضبا ،" قال. "لأن أنا عندي الله". (54 عاما) قال انه يتطلع الى تركيا المقلية الأكل والشرب الدكتور الفلفل. وقال انه يأمل ايضا فى العودة الى المدرسة. الأهل والأصدقاء قد أحاطوا به أثناء خروجه من قاعة المحكمة بعد أن القاضي جيمس يونيون أمرت بإطلاق سراحه. له (77 عاما) والدة ، الذي هو في حالة صحية سيئة ، يفضل الانتظار لله في المنزل. مع ابتسامة عريضة ، وقال انه يتطلع الى قضاء وقت معها وباقي أفراد أسرته. واضاف "هذا أهم شيء في حياتي الآن ، إلى جانب الله" ، قال. في وقت سابق ، والتصفيق في القاعة واندلعت بعد يونيون حكمت. "السيد باين ، وأنا الآن التوقيع على النظام" ، وقال يونيون. "أنت رجل حر. مبروك." يوم الخميس الماضي جلسة استماع قد تأخر 40 دقيقة لان المدعين كانت على الهاتف مع وزارة تطبيق القوانين في فلوريدا. اختبارات الحمض النووي والتعجيل في قسم المختبر الخاص وثبت في نهاية الامر باين الأبرياء. النيابة العامة طلبا لإخلاء الإدانة والحكم. واضاف "انه فقط لا علاقة لهذا الحادث على وجه الخصوص ، وقال" الدولة المحامي جيري هيل القاضي. المحامون من مشروع البراءة من ولاية فلوريدا تتورط في باين قضية في وقت سابق من هذا العام بعد ان كان قد قدم العديد من الالتماسات السابقة طلب اجراء اختبارات الحمض النووي ، وكلها تم طردهم. وقال القاضي في النهاية امرت باجراء الاختبارات والنتائج من المختبر الخاص محترمة في سينسيناتي جاء في الأسبوع الماضي ، ووضع العجلات في الاقتراح لجلسة يوم الخميس. مشروع البراءة قد دعا الى اطلاق سراح باين بحلول عيد الميلاد. أدين إلى حد كبير على قوة الضحية تحديد شهود عيان ، على الرغم من التجارب المتاحة في ذلك الوقت لم يكن نهائيا له صلة بالجريمة. الصبي قال ان المهاجم كان السوالف وشارب كث. عم الفتى ، وهو المساعد الرئيسي السابق في المدرسة الثانوية ، وقال انه يبدو وكأنه باين ، وهو طالب سابق. الصبي اختار باين من تشكيلة الصورة ، وإن كانت هناك تساؤلات حول ما إذا كان المحققون بتوجيه منه. ورفضت هيئة محلفين قصة باين انه كان المنزل ومشاهدة التلفزيون مع شقيقته التوأم عندما كانت الجريمة قد ارتكبت ، ذريعة كررت في مؤتمر صحفي الاسبوع الماضي. كان عمره 19 عاما عندما حكم عليه. اد Threadgill ، الذي يحاكم في القضية أصلا ، وقال انه لا يتذكر جميع التفاصيل ، ولكن يبدو أن الإدانة حق في ذلك الوقت. "أتمنى لو كان ذلك دليلا الى الوراء عندما كنا ملاحقة القضايا. اشعر بسعادة غامرة لانه تم اطلاق سراح الرجل" ، قال Threadgill ، وهو الآن 77 عاما) وهو متقاعد قاضي محكمة استئناف. "النظام برمته أقيمت لمنع ذلك من الحدوث ، وقد فشل ذلك." اريك فيريرو ، المتحدث باسم مشروع البراءة ، وقال في الحمض النووي يمكن استخلاصها من عقود من الأدلة القديمة إذا كان قد تم الحفاظ عليه بشكل صحيح. وهذا يعني مختومة في كيس وتخزن في مناخ يسيطر مكان ، وهو كيف تتم معالجة معظم الأدلة باعتبارها مسألة روتينية. المشروع لديه مشكلة أكبر مع فقدت أو أتلفت أدلة من الحصول على عينات الحمض النووي التي يمكن استخدامها من القرائن القائمة ، وقال. فلوريدا في العام الماضي قانونا يمنح تلقائيا أن سجناء سابقين وجدوا أبرياء 50،000 دولار عن كل سنة قضوها في السجن. ليس هناك حاجة إلى موافقة المجلس التشريعي. وهذا يعني باين من عنوانه إلى 1.75 مليون دولار.
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.
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.
