http://www.charlotte.com/local/story/255027.html

Quote :

"HE WILL SEEK PARDON, COMPENSATION DNA frees man 18 years late Man was convicted in girl's rape. Tests match inmate serving time MANDY LOCKE AND TITAN BARKSDALE (Raleigh) News & Observer APDwayne Allen Dail reacts Tuesday at the Wayne County Courthouse in Goldsboro, N.C. after his conviction was set aside by Wayne County Superior Court Judge Jack Hooks Jr. GOLDSBORO --After 18 years living inside a prison cell, Dwayne Allen Dail's must-do list read like the menu of a country kitchen. Pork chops for Tuesday dinner at his brother's. Country ham and gravy for breakfast today. His mom promised to make him a peanut butter and molasses sandwich for a snack. Dail, 39, left his youth behind in prison, paying for another man's crime. Dail was 19, a day laborer and an aspiring rock singer when Goldsboro police arrested him on charges of raping a 12-year-old girl after breaking into her home. Monday, DNA evidence extracted from the girl's nightgown, forgotten since the night of her rape nearly two decades ago, proved what Dail had sworn all these years: He was innocent. "I was an innocent kid and got snatched out of my life and thrown into another with dangerous people," Dail said, whispering over the table at a pizza parlor an hour after being released. "I was scared. I was accused of doing something so far out of character, something so disgusting." That weight fell from Dail on Tuesday, and he became a kid again. He asked a lawyer for a comb so he could feather his hair before walking into the courtroom. He buried his tear-stained face against the chest of his mother, Rosa Dail. He conspired with brothers to sip whiskey. He tinkered with his sister Dianna Davis' cell phone -- mesmerized by the invention hatched while he was locked away. A jury sent Dail to prison because a little girl pointed him out when police asked who hurt her. That girl -- now 32 -- still worries that Dail was the one who raped her. "If it's not him, well, I guess I've been living like I'm safe because the DNA says it's not him," she said. She came to court to watch a judge exonerate Dail but left without entering the courthouse after seeing a cluster of TV cameras outside. The News & Observer does not typically identify people who say they have been sexually abused. Dail's freedom has cast a dark shadow over Goldsboro police and the Wayne County District Attorney's Office. The new DNA evidence forced them to realize a child rapist could be on the loose. They have reopened the case. Missed son's childhood Dail always swore he didn't rape the girl and was so adamant that he passed up a plea bargain to spend three years on probation for a misdemeanor sex offense. Dail's insistence cost him nearly two decades of freedom. A jury found him guilty and ordered him to spend the rest of his life in prison. Even as the judge read the jury's verdict, Dail thought it was a joke. "A cruel joke but still a joke," Dail said. He headed off to prison a slight young man whose girlfriend was expecting their first son. On Tuesday, he hugged his boy, Chris Michaels, for the first time outside a prison. "He's missed my whole life," Michaels said. "I'm almost 18 now. I'm grown. I missed him all the time growing up. He's here now, and that's all that matters." Letting go of anger In prison, Dail said, he suffered the abuse often unleashed on sex offenders. Inmates blackened his eyes, smashed his nose and knocked his teeth through his lip. He spent most days furious at the hand he'd been dealt. On his 31st birthday, Dail realized his bitterness wore him out. "I figured out I wasn't hurting anyone but myself," Dail said. He turned his angst into a campaign for freedom. He enrolled in an associate's degree computer program to prepare for a job outside prison. He wrote to members of Congress, jail officials, lawyers -- anyone who would listen. Finally, attorney Chris Mumma, then with the nonprofit N.C. Center on Actual Innocence, took notice. She started digging. Investigators told her evidence gathered during the trial had long since been destroyed. This year, Mumma got a break. A Goldsboro police clerk told her that an investigator in Dail's case, now deceased, always kept evidence from his cases. They started hunting. Recently, police found a box with a nightgown, sheet and other evidence in a closet at the police department. A dime-size droplet of semen still stained the gown, Wayne County District Attorney Branny Vickory said in court Tuesday. The long wait ends Vickory agreed to send the items to the State Bureau of Investigation crime lab for testing. On Monday, the director faxed a simple sheet indicating what Mumma believed for years. The semen was not Dail's. Mumma called Dail on Monday at Nash Correctional Institution with the news. I know you're tired of waiting, Dail said Mumma told him. The wait's over. Dail's knees buckled. A fellow inmate braced his fall. Dail mustered the strength to call his mother and sister in Florida and ask them to come pick him up. They drove straight through the night, a suitcase full of fresh clothes for him stashed in the cab. On Monday night, Dail slept in his steel cot for the last time. At 3 a.m., he shook with sobs. Tears turned to laughter. Then, he started to dream of the rest of his life. (News researchers Susan Ebbs and Brooke Cain contributed to this report. ) "

8/29/2007 1:15:49 PM

what evidence did they use to convict him in the first place then???

8/29/2007 1:19:48 PM

i read about this in the paper and i pray that nothing like this ever happens to me. I just can't fathom being wrongly accused and missing roughly 20 years of my life, and then having cell phones be all crazy cool.

it sucks for that guy not taking the plea, though- 3 < 18

[Edited on August 29, 2007 at 1:20 PM. Reason : Ø]

8/29/2007 1:19:59 PM

these cases are becoming more common right?

i'm amazed that there was no public apology from the girl/woman

8/29/2007 1:20:02 PM

Quote :

"Dail always swore he didn't rape the girl and was so adamant that he passed up a plea bargain to spend three years on probation for a misdemeanor sex offense. A jury found him guilty and ordered him to spend the rest of his life in prison. "

Fuck. And what kind of dumbass DA agrees to plead a life sentence down to three years probation?

8/29/2007 1:20:43 PM

Quote :

"i'm amazed that there was no public apology from the girl/woman"

haha yeah- i read it as though she was just pissed that someone wasn't in jail

8/29/2007 1:21:48 PM

^^ plea bargains are insane, especially in federal court. that's why so many ppl take them even if they might have a chance at being found innocent in trial--its just not worth it

8/29/2007 1:26:37 PM

Yeah, but life sentence -> no jail time whatsoever? Sounds like they didn't have a case, tried to plead it to save face, then got lucky with the jury.

8/29/2007 1:29:23 PM

yep

8/29/2007 1:30:12 PM

holy shit.



he's about to get $paid

8/29/2007 1:32:59 PM

who would he get paid by - a jury of his peers convicted him on a testimony thought to be true - that's the way the legal system works

8/29/2007 1:34:52 PM

he'll get paid

[Edited on August 29, 2007 at 1:35 PM. Reason : and it doesn't always work, obviously]

8/29/2007 1:35:47 PM

they convicted him to life in prison because a 12 year old girl pointed at him in a line up.




its pretty tough to sway a jury against that.

Quote :

"His mom promised to make him a peanut butter and molasses sandwich for a snack."

that sounds nasty as fuck, btw.

[Edited on August 29, 2007 at 1:40 PM. Reason : ]

8/29/2007 1:37:45 PM

right - but who is going to be considered at fault and made to pay - the jurors? were they supposed to believe the girl was lying and let him go free? it seemed to me that the system worked - the only downfall was the incorrect testimony (which she still believes to be true)

i agree that he shouldn't have been locked away for life based on the little amount of evidence they had but that's the system that is currently in place

8/29/2007 1:42:20 PM

the system failed.



taxpayers are gonna cough up this money.



I assume it'll be some formula that takes into account lost wages over 19 years plus pain and suffering.


he might get 1/2 a million.


[Edited on August 29, 2007 at 1:46 PM. Reason : hell even at $25k a year he'd get almost .5 million]

8/29/2007 1:43:49 PM

yep, taxpayers

8/29/2007 1:44:24 PM

$25K 20 years ago was a lot more than now..i remember a case recently about this where they got somewhere around a million and I expect that's pretty fair for this guy too, i mean, he lost almost 20 fucking years..

8/29/2007 1:46:33 PM

its not like he won the lottery.



the guy spend almost 1/3 of his life in jail getting raped and beatthefuckup because they thought he was a child molester.

[Edited on August 29, 2007 at 1:49 PM. Reason : i wouldn't go through that for a million.]

8/29/2007 1:48:33 PM

^^^^^ (Omar) Yes, the system failed. And because the system incarcerated him, the system should pay him for failing.

Of course, we are the ones who finance the system, so we all pay.


I for one would rather give this chap a few mil than to continue to pay for welfare moms unwilling to work.

This guy deserves it.

[Edited on August 29, 2007 at 1:53 PM. Reason : .]

8/29/2007 1:52:31 PM

not to mention prison rapes, beatings, and probably the fact that prison has made him some what mad. He should get more than $500,000. Take it from the Iraq spending...he deserves it more.

8/29/2007 1:53:24 PM

From what I read in the newspaper yesterday he's getting 20k a year for each year incarcerated.

8/29/2007 1:54:18 PM

Also, a jury of his peer (us) wrongly convicted him, so we bear the responsibility for making that right.

8/29/2007 1:54:38 PM

it better be tax free too!

8/29/2007 1:56:58 PM

I'd fight for more than $380K



That seems like a shitty deal.


unless they add another $100-200k in pain and suffering. 19yrs in jail is unimaginable.

8/29/2007 2:04:26 PM

^^^ gawd thats bullshit. he deserves more $$$ than that.


the only ecidence was a 12y/o girl pointing him out in a lineup????????? wow. i can only hope we're missing some part of the story...like he had prior violations, or he was in the house, or something.

8/29/2007 2:05:31 PM

Quote :

"what evidence did they use to convict him in the first place then???"

Apparently other than the girl pointing at him, the only physical evidence was a hair that looked like it could have belonged to him (could have basically been any caucasian with the same hair color and length).

8/29/2007 2:07:18 PM

the 80's court system in wayne county seems like a real piece of work.

8/29/2007 2:08:59 PM

shouldn't the girl pay since, I dunno, she falsely accused him????

8/29/2007 2:26:03 PM

what was he doing at the time that got him thrown into the line up is the question

8/29/2007 2:26:45 PM

yep, he's getting 20k per year.
this is such a sad story, but the little girl isn't to blame if she really thought that he was the guy who did it.

8/29/2007 2:55:13 PM

yeah theres gotta be more to this story [at least i hope there is]

8/29/2007 2:55:20 PM

I say 25k for every year in prison and never having to pay taxes again would be a good make up for this

8/29/2007 3:02:02 PM

Quote :

"Fuck. And what kind of dumbass DA agrees to plead a life sentence down to three years probation?"

a kickass DA

seriously hes a cool guy and really understands people...he doubted the evidence prolly and didnt wanna throw the guy in for life.

but good luck to this guy, sucks for him, and I would definitely get the bitch to apologize

8/29/2007 3:04:10 PM

Quote :

""If it's not him, well, I guess I've been living like I'm safe because the DNA says it's not him," she said. She came to court to watch a judge exonerate Dail but left without entering the courthouse after seeing a cluster of TV cameras outside."

She does not seem to give a shit that her fuckup cost someone 18 years of their life.

Quote :

"Dail always swore he didn't rape the girl and was so adamant that he passed up a plea bargain to spend three years on probation for a misdemeanor sex offense. Dail's insistence cost him nearly two decades of freedom. A jury found him guilty and ordered him to spend the rest of his life in prison."

At least his stubbornness allowed him to keep his good name, most people do not want to hire child molesters.

Quote :

"He headed off to prison a slight young man whose girlfriend was expecting their first son. On Tuesday, he hugged his boy, Chris Michaels, for the first time outside a prison. "He's missed my whole life," Michaels said. "I'm almost 18 now. I'm grown. I missed him all the time growing up. He's here now, and that's all that matters.""

Thats some shit right there. His kid had to grow up without him and I am sure the mom struggled to make in on a single income.

Quote :

"Dail was 19, a day laborer and an aspiring rock singer when Goldsboro police arrested him on charges of raping a 12-year-old girl after breaking into her home."

Yeah in Wayne county in the 80's they probably figured he was guilty since he looked like a hippie.

8/29/2007 3:07:37 PM

Quote :

"I would definitely get the bitch to apologize"

I don't think she was able to see her attacker clearly, or she would have said that wasn't him. That's why the story says she is still afraid it was him. She doesn't have anything to apologize for.

8/29/2007 3:10:39 PM

^ she could've said "I couldn't see him clearly." instead of pointing a finger.


Her wrong testimony cost a guy 18 years.

8/29/2007 3:27:42 PM

^ she was a 12 year old who just got raped...I would say that her testimony might have been influenced by police

8/29/2007 3:34:39 PM

salem witch trials imo

8/29/2007 3:36:28 PM

this is the guy btw

he looks happy to finally be free!

8/29/2007 3:37:25 PM

Quick Poll: how many of you people expected him to be black?

8/29/2007 3:39:00 PM

Wow he looks like he's in pretty good shape after 18 years of hardship. I think that if I were ever in jail for that long I would just stop showering and smell like shit all the time so people would leave me alone.

8/29/2007 3:42:23 PM

^^ this was an offense against a child. I knew he was white

8/29/2007 3:46:30 PM

^

DING!

8/29/2007 4:02:42 PM

white male child I would have agreed with you...white female child, its a toss up

8/29/2007 4:08:50 PM

I pretty much assumed a black guy against an all-white jury, a corrupt DA, and a weak public defender.

8/29/2007 4:10:53 PM

So sad. I can sympathize with him. He should start a "help Dwayne Allen Dail live like a major player" fund and accept Paypal donations. I'd drop him $10.

I might call his mom and see if I can get in touch with him to help him set it up.

[Edited on August 29, 2007 at 4:14 PM. Reason : .]

8/29/2007 4:13:43 PM

Quote :

"At least his stubbornness allowed him to keep his good name, most people do not want to hire child molesters."

I was actually thinking about this. The conviction was overturned, but I wonder if the charge is still on his record so that anyone doing a background check on him would see that he had been charged?

Quote :

"Investigators told her evidence gathered during the trial had long since been destroyed."

I also wondered what the standard policy is for destroying case evidence?

8/29/2007 4:26:09 PM

^There are state laws governing evidence retention, and length varies by type of crime. Murder is obviously the longest, rape is somewhere behind that but ahead of most other crimes.

8/29/2007 4:52:30 PM

Quote :

"I was actually thinking about this. The conviction was overturned, but I wonder if the charge is still on his record so that anyone doing a background check on him would see that he had been charged?"

Yes he will still have to get a pardon from the governors office if he wants it totally off.

8/29/2007 4:53:00 PM

Random thought, assuming he wasn't a virgin going into prison, and he's not beastly/crazy enough to fuck another dude, can you fuckin imagine no poon for 18 godamn years??? That in itself should be compensated. If not money-wise, let the locked up prostitutes get some.

8/29/2007 4:57:28 PM