Spring Break
Modern-Day Lynching In Mississippi
Kyle Thomas
Issue date: 9/10/07 Section: Commentary
From early on in life, American children are taught of the inherent need for law and order in a society otherwise incapable of policing itself. Adolescents are taught the basic rights of accused citizens, and the general functions of the justice system and courts. College criminal justice students are taught of the function of the prosecutor, rules of evidence, and the nature of overzealousness and misconduct in the great American system. The state of Mississippi is glad to offer a disturbing case study of the latter.
Kennedy Brewer was convicted in 1992 of the terrible murder of a 3-year-old girl, Christine Jackson. Jackson was raped too, in an astonishing and sickening display of callous inhumanity. The rape, however and the evidence left behind in the form of DNA, turned out to be Brewer's saving grace. This year, after spending 15 years on Mississippi's death row, a DNA test confirmed that Brewer, a black male and a mildly-retarded individual, did not play a hand in the rape of Christine. In a triumph of justice - albeit 15 years too late - Brewer was released to go home to his family where he currently awaits a new trial for the same killing.
In Mississippi, apparently, DNA testing technology just isn't enough to prove innocence. The prosecutor in the first trial, Forrest Allgood, whose theory initially was that Brewer acted alone, seems unfazed by the evidence which has completely debunked his arguments in the case. The Innocence Project, a non-profit organization which seeks DNA reversals nationwide, says the retrial is one-of-a-kind. Indeed it is - and it is a case of a legal system whose actors have become so preoccupied with one suspect they haven't even performed a proper investigation into who raped Jackson in the first place.
It is as if the prosecutor has taken a page from the Mike Nifong playbook - a stick-to-your-guns-and eventually-the-evidence will-agree-with-you mentality. Meanwhile, while Mississippi waits for the evidence to line up with their version of truth, Brewer's future remains uncertain. It would be easy to assume the state of Mississippi has an inherent interest in thorough investigative work and fair justice given its troubling legal history. In this case however, the state has proven that placing blame on the black man once again will suffice.
Kennedy Brewer was convicted in 1992 of the terrible murder of a 3-year-old girl, Christine Jackson. Jackson was raped too, in an astonishing and sickening display of callous inhumanity. The rape, however and the evidence left behind in the form of DNA, turned out to be Brewer's saving grace. This year, after spending 15 years on Mississippi's death row, a DNA test confirmed that Brewer, a black male and a mildly-retarded individual, did not play a hand in the rape of Christine. In a triumph of justice - albeit 15 years too late - Brewer was released to go home to his family where he currently awaits a new trial for the same killing.
In Mississippi, apparently, DNA testing technology just isn't enough to prove innocence. The prosecutor in the first trial, Forrest Allgood, whose theory initially was that Brewer acted alone, seems unfazed by the evidence which has completely debunked his arguments in the case. The Innocence Project, a non-profit organization which seeks DNA reversals nationwide, says the retrial is one-of-a-kind. Indeed it is - and it is a case of a legal system whose actors have become so preoccupied with one suspect they haven't even performed a proper investigation into who raped Jackson in the first place.
It is as if the prosecutor has taken a page from the Mike Nifong playbook - a stick-to-your-guns-and eventually-the-evidence will-agree-with-you mentality. Meanwhile, while Mississippi waits for the evidence to line up with their version of truth, Brewer's future remains uncertain. It would be easy to assume the state of Mississippi has an inherent interest in thorough investigative work and fair justice given its troubling legal history. In this case however, the state has proven that placing blame on the black man once again will suffice.
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