Reply #3: Whitney Tilson to the rescue...

[lynnertic]

http://www.abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3316592&page=1

Free Genarlow Wilson: the $1 Million Man Speaks to ABC
Although His Conviction Was Tossed, Wilson Remains in Jail
By MARY KATE BURKE, ABC News Law and Justice Unit

June 26, 2007 —

Genarlow Wilson, a 21-year-old man from Georgia, still sits in jail today despite the fact that earlier this month a judge declared his 10-year felony sentence a "grave miscarriage of justice" and ordered him freed.

Wilson has already served two years of his sentence for receiving consensual oral sex from a 15-year-old girl when he was 17.

A bond hearing is set for July 5, but Wilson's attorney B.J. Bernstein argues on a Web site she set up for Wilson that the hearing would be unnecessary if Douglas County District Attorney David McCade would agree to set bail. Bernstein argues there is no reason why Wilson can not be freed while Georgia Attorney General Thurbet Baker appeals the decision.

The Price for Freedom? $1 Million

On Monday New York City investment manager Whitney Tilson announced that he and 10 other business managers would immediately wire a $1 million cash bond for Wilson's release.

Tilson, also a founder of Teach for America, a highly selective program that places college graduates into severely underprivileged schools, told ABC News that although he at first did not want to go public with his bond offer, he realized that $1 million could help to draw more attention to Wilson's case. Tilson said he hopes to take some small part in righting what he also calls a "miscarriage of justice."

"When I first heard about the case in a New York Times editorial, I Googled Genarlow Wilson and came across wilsonappeal.com," Tilson said. "So I contacted Wilson's attorney to see if there was anything I could do&I didn't think I would hear from her but I got a phone call last Thursday and she said that a million dollar cash bond could help."