View Full Version : Wrongfully convicted man free after 40 years - I'd be kicking some ass!
Grave_Addiction
08-20-2004, 02:08 PM
LUFKIN, Texas (AP) -- A 76-year-old man who spent nearly every day of the last four decades in prison walked free after a judge found that deputies extracted his confession to a 1962 robbery by crushing his fingers between cell bars.
After walking out of the Angelina County jail Tuesday with his wife, Robert Carroll Coney said he was not bitter.
"I'm going to try to pick up the pieces," Coney said. "If I was angry, what could I do about it?"
Coney was convicted of robbing a Safeway supermarket in 1962 and sentenced to life in prison. Many times he escaped from facilities in other states -- including South Carolina, Louisiana and Mississippi -- only to be recaptured each time. He was returned to the Texas prison system last year.
Coney said his identity had been confused with a man he had carpooled with through Lufkin on the day of the robbery.
State District Judge David Wilson, who dismissed Coney's charges, investigated and found that the sheriff of Angelina County at the time and his deputies used physical force to extract confessions, often crushing prisoners' fingers between jail cell bars.
When Wilson questioned Coney, the prisoner held up two twisted and bent fingers.
"I remember the sheriff well," Coney said.
He said the jailers, in addition to mangling his hand, threatened his life and scared him into confessing. Wilson's findings stated Coney probably did not see a lawyer until he stood before a judge in the case with then-court-appointed lawyer Gilbert Spring. Spring said he didn't remember Coney's case and told Wilson that courts frequently called attorneys in the 1960s to stand with defendants for no money.
"It really contains everybody's worst fears about what went on during certain darker years in this country," said Huntsville attorney David P. O'Neill, who worked on Coney's case.
Coney said he may consider a civil suit at some point but initially wants to focus on his family.
Holding his wife's hand as he left the jail Tuesday for their Dallas home, Coney said little about the ordeal.
"We're going home," Coney said.
zewone
08-20-2004, 02:12 PM
Fuck that. I would be pissed. First I'd be relieved to be free, but damn. I would sue their asses off. 40 years of my life in prision for nothing.
bignick
08-20-2004, 02:12 PM
That sucks.
PsyClerk
08-20-2004, 02:15 PM
How in the hell do you get life in prison for robbing a damn supermarket?
And why is this dude escaping from various prisons around the country? There has to be a side of this we aren't seeing.
Lootr2Core
08-20-2004, 02:17 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that he wasn't proven innocent..but that the charges were thrown out because of the physical force in extracting a confession. He still may have done it, but the main evidence was found to be tainted.
shaq-fu that. I would be pissed. First I'd be relieved to be free, but damn. I would sue their asses off. 40 years of my life in prision for nothing.
Fuck that, 40 years in jail would fuck me up enough to kill someone.
Lootr2Core
08-20-2004, 02:18 PM
a confession was forced--true... but it may HONESTLY have been a confession of his crime,
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that he wasn't proven innocent..but that the charges were thrown out because of the physical force in extracting a confession. He still may have done it, but the main evidence was found to be tainted.
Coney said his identity had been confused with a man he had carpooled with through Lufkin on the day of the robbery.
Fast of the matter is he was guilty until proven innocent.
your damn right i would be pissed off
Grave_Addiction
08-20-2004, 02:20 PM
Could you imagine being 36 years old and then having your entire life just sucked away?
If I were that guy, I would wage war on that sheriff and his deputies. Hell, you're entire life is just wasted anyway.
Better yet, I would set them up for some crime and get them convicted and sent to prison. Then, I'd visit their ass in prison and laugh maniacally.
Dok Diamond
08-20-2004, 02:22 PM
that sucks soo bad, i dont know what id do
Lootr2Core
08-20-2004, 02:25 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that he wasn't proven innocent..but that the charges were thrown out because of the physical force in extracting a confession. He still may have done it, but the main evidence was found to be tainted.
Coney said his identity had been confused with a man he had carpooled with through Lufkin on the day of the robbery.
Fast of the matter is he was guilty until proven innocent.
Well of course the guy that was arrested said "no it was the other guy, it was someone else, who have me confused with someone else"
I'm just saying that he still may have done it, perhaps that is why he isn't angry at the whole thing...cause he knows he had to pay the time for the crime.
ZeroSupporT
08-20-2004, 04:22 PM
Of course he probably would have been out sooner if he had just stayed in jail they tend to get a little shitty when you take off, especially as many times as that guy did.
Zenithian Legend
08-20-2004, 04:26 PM
God, I was pissed when I got tossed in jail for a night for an assault that didn't happen. 40 years... ya some people would have to die, of course I suppose after 40 years in prison my spirit (among other things) would be broken and my desire to do much of anything would be gone.
dafoomie
08-20-2004, 04:30 PM
Lawsuit.
At least he can die a rich man.
epobirs
08-20-2004, 04:36 PM
It would be interesting to see the full details. Even in Texas, that is an extraordinarily long time to serve for armed robbery. This was long before the era of minimum sentencing and added time for use of a firearm. Was anyone hurt in te robbery?
It sounds like the 'many' escape attempts may have more than double his sentence. If he'd stayed put he could have been out in the 70's and long since reaped a settlement for his coerced confession.
rebenns
08-20-2004, 04:39 PM
If I were that guy, I would wage war on that sheriff and his deputies. Hell, you're entire life is just wasted anyway.
Better yet, I would set them up for some crime and get them convicted and sent to prison. Then, I'd visit their ass in prison and laugh maniacally
Chances are, they would be dead by now. Anyone have the link to this story?
Cracka
08-20-2004, 04:50 PM
seriously, if i was 70 something years old, and had spent 40 years in prison for a crime i hadnt committed, for the sake of their lives, they should keep me locked up.
shit if i'd spent 40 years, i might as well do something to make it worth it.. it would be very ugly and go down in history
Nirvanaguy777
08-20-2004, 06:53 PM
thats fucked up on many levels
Moxio
08-20-2004, 08:57 PM
Absolutely horrible. I feel sorry for that guy. :(
CaseyRyback
08-20-2004, 09:01 PM
Lawsuit.
At least he can die a rich man.
do not know about Texas, but I am pretty sure you cannot sue NC for wrongful imprisonment. I believe they give you 40K for every year you were in prison
batman2million
08-20-2004, 09:08 PM
40 years ...my god... i'd go insane... that the justice system for us...
Trakan
08-20-2004, 09:09 PM
If I had to be in prison for forty years for something I didn't do I would definitely be pissed. I'd be living the rest of my life a millionaire if you know what I mean...
Cracka
08-20-2004, 10:27 PM
Lawsuit.
At least he can die a rich man.
do not know about Texas, but I am pretty sure you cannot sue NC for wrongful imprisonment. I believe they give you 40K for every year you were in prison
hrm... so he'd get like 1,600,000? ... that might be enough to get the ammo and kevlar that i'd need.
coolsteel
08-20-2004, 10:34 PM
seriously, if i was 70 something years old, and had spent 40 years in prison for a crime i hadnt committed, for the sake of their lives, they should keep me locked up.
shit if i'd spent 40 years, i might as well do something to make it worth it.. it would be very ugly and go down in history
I agree completly, i'm sorry but dammit 40 fucking years is worth doing something ugly over, I mean shit not like he isn't used to jail by now.