Wrongfully Imprisoned Man Waits For Missouri to Step Up

Johnny Briscoe spent 23 years in prison for a 1982 rape he didn’t commit, but, so far, according to the Innocence Project here, he hasn’t collected a dime in compensation from the state of Missouri. He claimed innocence and had an alibi, but the jury believed the victim who had a long look at her attacker in good lighting. She identified Briscoe with confidence within hours of the crime. A forensic expert also made the highly questionable claim that Briscoe’s hair was consistent with a hair found at the scene. Briscoe was convicted at age 29 and sentenced to 45 years.

Large settlements to the wrongfully convicted make headlines. Stories like Johnny Briscoe’s are seldom reported.

Briscoe has been engaged in a nearly three-decade battle to prove his innocence and gain some restitution. In 1997 he sought to compel the St. Louis District Attorney to do DNA testing on the crime scene evidence, but he was denied.

When Missouri opened the door for post-conviction DNA testing in 2001, he tried again. But the crime evidence in his case was lost. It took five years and the help of Centurian Ministries to find and receive the cigarette butts left at the crime scene. When tested, they linked to another Missouri convict. As a result, Briscoe at age 52, was released from prison in 2006.

Missouri is one of 27 states in the U.S. that has a compensation law for the wrongfully convicted, but like others, it’s restrictive. According to the Innocence Project (which has a convenient wrongful conviction compensation reference for all states here) in Missouri, as of 2006, “Persons determined to be innocent through DNA evidence are eligible for $50 per day of post-conviction confinement if filed within one year of release.” That’s a far cry from the $50,000 per year President George W. Bush and Congress recommended. And, thus far, Missouri’s law has not paid off for Briscoe.

Briscoe next tried to sue St. Louis County and police officers there for violation of his rights in his wrongful conviction and in delaying his efforts to prove his innocence. As reported here, the 8^th Circuit has now become the second court to deny the lawsuit.

In so doing, the courts have indicated that Briscoe’s constitutional rights were not violated. The courts presumably see this as simply another case in which a victim made an unintentional misidentification and carelessness and unintentional errors delayed discovery of a terrible miscarriage of justice.

It’s often difficult to prove intentional fault in a wrongful conviction, and prosecutorial immunity makes this tough even when intentional misconduct is clear. However, it takes only a marginally functioning conscience to know that fairness requires equitable compensation laws in every state for those who have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.

Those who have suffered a miscarriage of justice should not be denied compensation by technicalities or unreasonable restrictions. They should not have to hire lawyers to fight yet another battle. They deserve easy access to multiple forms of assistance to help them get back on their feet. Years and experiences have been stolen and are forever lost, and these often prompt ongoing challenges in the  remaining years of those freed after wrongful conviction.

Johnny Briscoe has suffered unimaginably at the hands of those representing the state of Missouri. Human decency requires that the state assist a man who became its unfortunate victim.