“Happy is he…whose hope is in the Lord his God…Who keeps truth forever, Who executes justice for the oppressed…The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners” (Ps. 146: 5-7).
An Associated Press story recently highlighted the fact that bite mark evidence has lost credibility. At least two dozen of the men arrested and/or convicted on such evidence have since been exonerated by DNA testing. Many of the men were imprisoned for a decade or more.
Levon Brooks was sentenced to life after being convicted of the sexual assault and murder of his ex-girlfriend’s 3 year old daughter. Kennedy Brewer was sentenced to death in a similar case. The “human” bite marks on the little girls were later attributed to crayfish and insects in the water where the bodies were found. DNA testing in both cases matched Justin Johnson who, also, confessed. Johnson had a history of rape.
Cases involving the assault and death of children are particularly heinous. While moved to seek justice for these young victims, we must not jump to conclusions about guilt from a desire for closure. Joseph and the prophet, Jeremiah, were two of the biblical figures falsely imprisoned.
Jesus, Himself, was denied due process and convicted on the basis of perjured testimony. Worth remembering, as we pursue justice.
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Wrongful convictions are devastating. We had a very famous case in Poland (later made into a movie) about a man wrongly convicted of rape and murder based only on a single hair, even though he had many witnesses stating he was in a different city at the time! After 17 years in prison, the very same evidence proved he was innocent. Tragically, he died just five years after being released, from cancer… those 17 years taken from him can never be returned. It’s devastating to think how often justice fails the people it should protect. Thank you for bringing attention to this Anna.