Attorney's heroism saved a life

[Kyla]

Posted on Tue, Apr. 19, 2005

COMMENTARY

Attorney's heroism saved a life

STEVE PENN

Forgive Joe Amrine for missing last week's meeting of Move Up.

The former death-row inmate was to have spoken at Move Up's monthly crime-prevention meeting last Tuesday. Instead, he was tied up speaking before the United Nations in Geneva. Amrine addressed the U.N. Human Rights Committee on a subject he possesses strong opinions on: whether the United Nations should adopt a resolution calling for the abolition of the death penalty.

Amrine's stand-in before Move Up was his attorney, Sean O'Brien of the Public Interest Litigation Clinic. O'Brien is a superstar in the legal world right now. He's our version of Barry Scheck and Johnnie Cochran put together. Twice he has argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Amrine was freed last year after 17 years on death row. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 1986 for the stabbing death of fellow Missouri State Penitentiary inmate Gary Barber. The convictions came largely from the testimony of three inmates who later admitted they lied — one to deflect suspicion from himself, the two others in exchange for breaks.

A DNA test on blood on Amrine's shirt was a key to his exoneration.

The United Nations is exploring whether inherent torture is associated with the death penalty and whether the problems should lead to its suspension.

“The United States is the only Western democracy that has the death penalty,” O'Brien said. “We're the only NATO country with the death penalty. We're the only democracy in the world that now has a death penalty. And it's creating some friction among our allies.”

The protocol of taking one death-row inmate each Tuesday from his cell and then placing him in a death watch cell is just wrong.

“Joe would always breathe a sigh of relief when it wasn't him,” O'Brien said. “But he'd immediately feel guilty because that meant a friend was about to be executed. You can't hear Joe tell that part of the story and not feel there's an inherent element of torture to it.”

O'Brien cited a few facts. More than 200 prisoners have been exonerated by DNA testing since it began.

And since the nation resumed executions in 1978, 117 prisoners have been released from death row as a result of evidence showing innocence.

Amrine was No. 111. Only 16 of the 117 prisoners freed from death row were exonerated as a result of DNA. And while 117 have gone free, over the same period 1,100 death-row inmates have been executed.

DNA testing has revealed serious problems with the criminal justice system.

“But DNA is not a panacea,” O'Brien said. “Not every crime can be solved with DNA evidence. Not every guilty person can be nailed with DNA. And not every innocent person can be exonerated with DNA.”

As he walked out, I realized we had seen a hero. Since 1998, O'Brien's agency has represented Amrine pro bono, picking up the $95,000 tab. O'Brien revealed that James B. Nutter, a local mortgage broker, also helped defray some expenses.

Let's be frank. Some people couldn't care less about a man on death row accused of killing another inmate. O'Brien cared. He cared enough to seek the truth and use everything in his legal arsenal to persuade a stubborn system to see Amrine's innocence.

People like O'Brien who fight the uphill battle for justice and win in spite of the odds deserve serious accolades.

[ldysirois]

This is always so cool when a death row inmate wins!