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05-02-2008, 10:34 AM
Exonerated, 17 years late
For the past seven years, a photo of Guy Randolph has been posted at Boston police stations, labeling him the most dangerous type of sex offender. Neighbors who knew of his criminal record and the 10 years he spent in prison insulted him when they saw him on the streets. Police ordered him away from schools and playgrounds if he walked too close.
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But yesterday, in a hearing that took less than 10 minutes, a Suffolk Superior Court judge said the wrong man had been convicted. More than 17 years after he was first arrested in the sexual assault on a 6-year-old girl, Randolph was exonerated of all charges and declared innocent.
Afterward, Randolph, a shy, small 50-year-old man who has struggled for years with schizophrenia and alcoholism, crumpled into the arms of his godmother, who pulled him into her tight embrace.
Randolph said little, but offered this: "Justice has been served."
"It's over," said his mother, Ruth Johns, as she stood with him in the courtroom. "He's free. He's free."
Both prosecutors and Randolph's current lawyer, Sejal Patel, agree that Randolph's case is a stunning example of what can go wrong in the legal system when a defendant is poor, mentally ill, and does not have a strong advocate.
"It's just tragic to get it this late. It's really something that fell through the cracks," Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Joseph Ditkoff said in a telephone interview. "He was forgotten."
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle reversed the conviction yesterday and ordered that Randolph's name be removed from state sex offender registry, after prosecutors agreed that the case had been weak from the beginning.
Randolph's ordeal began on a cold December afternoon in 1990. A little girl was playing on a snow bank in Roslindale when a man on a bicycle approached her, flashed a knife, and held it to her cheek. He cornered the child next to a dumpster, told her to take down her pants, and molested her.
About 20 minutes later, the police picked up Randolph, who was walking near the scene of the crime on American Legion Highway. At the time, Randolph was homeless, struggling with a drinking problem, and living at the Pine Street Inn, a shelter in the South End.
He had been arrested before, for crimes like shoplifting and breaking and entering. But no one had ever accused him of being violent or a predator.
When police asked the child whether she recognized Randolph as her attacker, she said no. But a few minutes later, after talking to her aunt, she accused Randolph. During a grand jury investigation, the child described her attacker in ways that did not match Randolph, including his clothing and height, Patel said. There was also no physical evidence connecting Randolph to the assault, records show.Continued...
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/05/02/exonerated_17_years_late/
This is a long article. For the rest please hit the link.
For the past seven years, a photo of Guy Randolph has been posted at Boston police stations, labeling him the most dangerous type of sex offender. Neighbors who knew of his criminal record and the 10 years he spent in prison insulted him when they saw him on the streets. Police ordered him away from schools and playgrounds if he walked too close.
more stories like this
But yesterday, in a hearing that took less than 10 minutes, a Suffolk Superior Court judge said the wrong man had been convicted. More than 17 years after he was first arrested in the sexual assault on a 6-year-old girl, Randolph was exonerated of all charges and declared innocent.
Afterward, Randolph, a shy, small 50-year-old man who has struggled for years with schizophrenia and alcoholism, crumpled into the arms of his godmother, who pulled him into her tight embrace.
Randolph said little, but offered this: "Justice has been served."
"It's over," said his mother, Ruth Johns, as she stood with him in the courtroom. "He's free. He's free."
Both prosecutors and Randolph's current lawyer, Sejal Patel, agree that Randolph's case is a stunning example of what can go wrong in the legal system when a defendant is poor, mentally ill, and does not have a strong advocate.
"It's just tragic to get it this late. It's really something that fell through the cracks," Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Joseph Ditkoff said in a telephone interview. "He was forgotten."
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle reversed the conviction yesterday and ordered that Randolph's name be removed from state sex offender registry, after prosecutors agreed that the case had been weak from the beginning.
Randolph's ordeal began on a cold December afternoon in 1990. A little girl was playing on a snow bank in Roslindale when a man on a bicycle approached her, flashed a knife, and held it to her cheek. He cornered the child next to a dumpster, told her to take down her pants, and molested her.
About 20 minutes later, the police picked up Randolph, who was walking near the scene of the crime on American Legion Highway. At the time, Randolph was homeless, struggling with a drinking problem, and living at the Pine Street Inn, a shelter in the South End.
He had been arrested before, for crimes like shoplifting and breaking and entering. But no one had ever accused him of being violent or a predator.
When police asked the child whether she recognized Randolph as her attacker, she said no. But a few minutes later, after talking to her aunt, she accused Randolph. During a grand jury investigation, the child described her attacker in ways that did not match Randolph, including his clothing and height, Patel said. There was also no physical evidence connecting Randolph to the assault, records show.Continued...
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/05/02/exonerated_17_years_late/
This is a long article. For the rest please hit the link.