Louisiana prisoner freed after 41 years of unconstitutional life sentence

[Judi Lynn]

Last edited Sat Apr 30, 2016, 01:25 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: Associated Press

Louisiana prisoner freed after 41 years of unconstitutional life sentence

April 29, 2016

(Reuters) - A Louisiana man walked free from the state's notorious Angola prison late on Friday after serving 41 years of an unconstitutional life sentence over the shooting death of a white high school student during a violent and racially charged chapter in the state's fight to segregate schools.

The high-profile case of Gary Tyler, 57, ended when he entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to 21 years - just over half of the time served - and told he could go home Friday, according to a statement released on behalf of Tyler and his attorneys.

Tyler is among a generation of prisoners who faced harsh conditions and years or even decades in solitary confinement for convictions during racially charged events in Louisiana.

Angola is considered among the toughest of the state's prisons, once a part of a Deep South plantation and known for seething racial tensions and harsh treatment of inmates.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/louisiana-prisoner-freed-41-years-unconstitutional-life-sentence-000235830.html?nhp=1

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[AuntPatsy]

1. Sick to my stomach just reading the headline,

[Feeling the Bern]

2. Don't read the comments section.

[StevieM]

3. I made the mistake of not listening to you.

This is a total miscarriage of justice. Of course the prosecutor is spinning it as a confession on his part.

[redruddyred]

4. yeah but we've made progress since then

nowadays we just shoot em on the spot :/

[Equinox Moon]

5. I am shaking my head... the injustice

I'm confused. 21 year sentence and ended up being 41 years?

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. He originally got the death sentence, then life; now, his new sentence is 21 years

and since he's already served 41, he's completed it and can leave prison.

He's had to plead guilty to get this, however, and it looks like there was no proper evidence he did it:

Tyler was aboard a bus filled with black students who were passing an unruly crowd of white students when Weber was shot, the statement said. Police found a gun on the bus and Tyler was charged with capital murder and tried as an adult.

After his death sentence, black and white students who testified against him recanted their stories. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals called his conviction fundamentally unfair and said he was never given his right to the presumption of innocence. But he never received a new trial.

In 1976, his death sentence was commuted to life after the state's mandatory death penalty was ruled unconstitutional. In the following two decades, the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Paroles voted three times to lessen his sentence.
...
In 2012, life without parole for juvenile offenders was also ruled unconstitutional, and earlier this year, a court decided the ruling should be retroactive - giving prosecutors a legal avenue to reduce Tyler's sentence with a guilty plea on Friday.

[Equinox Moon]

7. Unbelievable! He was just 16 years old

He grew up in prison and probably never did it.

Injustice has the taste of bitter.

[ReRe]

8. K&R

This is NOT what Democracy looks like. Unless LA gives this man, say, $1million for each of the 21 yrs of over-imprisonment he served. Oh yeah, and be sure his voting privileges are returned.

[Indydem]

9. He pled guilty.

He's not getting anything.

[ReRe]

10. It's like thew Memphis Three...

... in order to get out, and to cover up the States mistake, one must plead guilty. But how can this man be guilty for serving the extra 21 years?

[Indydem]

11. It's not a mistake.

His sentence was reduced.

Death - Life Without Parole - 21 years

[ReRe]

12. Thanks dear...

... I need to give it a second read.

[rladdi]

13. This is just the continue corrupt USA justice system and Congress nor

the states change the laws. Politicians are the most corrupt so how can they fix the problem.