Two speakers discussed the flaws in the judicial system regarding the death penalty during the Wrongful Convictions Tour in the University Student Union Ballroom Monday.
Thomas Goldstein, one of the speakers at this presentation, said he spent 24 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He was arrested in 1979 in Long Beach on a count of first-degree murder and faced 27 years to life in jail, but he was released after 24. He said a witness gave false information, accusing Goldstein of the crime, but he was later retried due to newly found evidence. The same witness, who claimed to have seen Goldstein running from the crime scene with a smoking gun, later did not even recognize him in a photo lineup. He said he is now suing some detectives and the Long Beach police. He also believes that there are numerous flaws in the judicial system.
Another speaker, Charles Patterson, a lawyer and member of Death Penalty Focus, a non-profit organization that conducts research aimed at ending capital punishment, said he was for the death penalty originally. But he said his views have drastically changed since a man named Manny Babbit, an individual who fought in the Vietnam War, was wrongfully convicted, put on death row, and died for a crime of which he was later believed to be found innocent.
“I believe that the system is wrong in many ways because it really depends on what lawyer you get, how experienced they are, how much money you have, and sometimes the jury and judges can be bias,” Patterson said.