Guide to the Upcoming Rebellion: Part 6:
Snitches, Junk Science and Big Business
By: Vindictive | 01September2001
Time Frame
In 1982, the IBM personal computer had been available for a year. The adverts featured caricatures of Charlie Chaplin showing
how easy it was to set up and use. Commodore 64 was new in 1982, costing $595 (not including diskette drive). Intel's new
CPU was the 80286, with a clock speed of 12.5 to 20 MHz. By the end of that year, there would be about 5.5 million PCs of
all kinds in use, including Timex ZX81, Radio Shack TRS80 and Apple II. "Late Night with David Letterman" premiered on NBC,
01Feb1982.
During the same month that Sun Microsystems incorporated with four employees, Wednesday, 24Feb1982, 9-year-old Daralyn Johnson of Nampa, Idaho didn't return from school. When the local cops were called, they discovered that she hadn't been in school at all. Three days later, on the 27th, fishermen found her body in a ditch near the Snake River. An autopsy indicated that she had been sexually assaulted, then drowned. Three pubic hairs are recovered from her underwear and a sock. Underemployed Veteran
The police had no significant leads for seven months, until they picked up Charles Fain. He was picked up for questioning
because his light brown hair was similar to that found on the victim, and his address was a block from the victim's house:
a fragile basis for a suspect.
Even after a second interrogation, a month later, Fain wouldn't seem -- to a reasonable person -- to be a very good suspect. For one thing, though he lived close to the victim's house when he was initially picked up, during the time of Johnson's abduction and murder, he had been living 360 miles away in Redmond, Oregon and hadn't moved to Nampa until afterward. (Also, a librarian at the Redmond Public Library testified that during February 1982, Fain was a regular customer of the library.) Secondly, the police asked Fain to take a polygraph test, which he passed. A state examiner concluded that Fain told the truth when he denied involvement in the Daralyn's rape and murder.
The Evidence
A young girl who saw the abduction from a distance identified Charles Fain. Two (also unnamed) residents of the county jail testified -- in lurid detail -- to what they claimed Fain had told them about what he had done to the victim. There was a partially washed-out footprint near Daralyn's body that resembled the sole of a tennis shoe found in Charles Fain's home. More damning, probably, was the fact that since Vietnam veteran Charles Fain had been discharged from the Army's 101st Airborne, he had had trouble maintaining employment. Lacking the polygraph evidence, but with the testimony of an FBI expert, a young eyewitness and two jailhouse snitches, the jury was swayed by the prosecutor. Fain was convicted. He was soon placed on death row, where he continued to maintain his innocence for yearly 18 years. Fain Released
In other words, Al Lance believes that it is possible that another person -- who didn't rape and kill Daralyn Johnson -- inadvertently left pubic hairs on her socks and underwear. In any case, on 23August2001, a state judge ordered that charges against Charles Fain should be dismissed and he was freed. If there were any justice...
All convictions in which the testimony of jailhouse informants was a factor should be re-opened and retried, without snitch testimony. Why? Even a guilty half-wit will keep quiet, knowing that fellow jailhouse residents are eager to trade testimony about another case for lighter sentences or favors. The least reliable evidence is the testimony of a snitch.(Yet police and prosecutors, desperate to get convictions, have historically relied on it, even when the testimony didn't fit the known facts of the case. The number of convictions are more important, it seems, than their accuracy.) Jailhouse and prison informants that are exposed as liars by the previous step should be charged with perjury. Reasons why that won't happen
There are many other reasons why governments will not do as they ought, to release the innocent, but the primary reason is that... Big Business Loves PrisonersIt is in Corporate America's best interest to have as many prisons -- and citizens in lock-up -- as possible. This is one of the two primary reasons why 2% -- one American citizen out of every 50 -- in currently in jail or prison, and another 1.1% of our citizenry is on parole or probation (which makes America the number one jailer of its own citizens in the world).[The other primary reason, of course, is because of the absurd and unjust national war on "crimes" (consensual actions) which don't involve victims, i.e., the drug war. Actual victims of the war on drugs make up approximate half of the prison/jail population.] Companies such as the Corrections Corporation of America and Wackenhut make millions building facilities across the country, and have recently expanded into Europe. One investor recently said, "I used to invest in hotels. But with prisons, I can guarantee 100% occupancy rate every night." Besides building and providing infrastructure, US corporations looking to decrease labor costs have found a captive (literally) labor force within the borders of their own country, supported by authorities who like to see prisoners "earn their keep". Prisoners are paid up to 80% less than the US minimum wage. TWA uses prisoners in California to work as flight reservation specialists; LTI employes prisoners to build and fix circuit boards to supply electronics firms such IBM, Texas Instruments and Dell. Exmark profits from Washington prisoners who package products for Microsoft, American Express and Kentucky Fried Chicken. AT&T uses Colorado prisoners as telemarketers. Let us not forget how multinational phone companies such as AT&T, MCI and Sprint have filled their bank accounts by gouging prisoners and their families by controlling prison phones. A few words exchanged over the telephone between a prisoner and his mother, wife, husband or children can keep a family together and help prevent a human being subjected to the worst possible social conditions from turning into an animal. Unfortunately, for those with loved ones in prison, receiving the hyper-inflated phone bill at the end of the month is a terribly painful, enraging experience. Prison phone systems have become a billion dollar industry for the communications companies. A few years ago, states got commissions ranging from 5 to 15%. Now, phone companies are offering 50% (with up to $50,000 signing bonuses) in legal kickbacks of their take to states and penal institutions. As corporate profits soar and states get bigger kickbacks, families and attorneys are becoming more and more limited in how often they can remain in contact due to financial constraints. InjusticeCharles Fain was in custody from 07Mar1983 to 23Aug2001 -- 6744 days -- for a crime he didn't commit. The state of Idaho -- with 4.9% of it's population incarcerated, on probation or parole -- owes Charles Fain big time. However, having professed Christianity and thus having acquired a stomach for forgiveness (and probably fearing that the authorities will go after him, unjustly, again), he has publicly declined to bring suit.In America, 6.5 million of your fellow citizens are incarcerated or under "correctional control", some of them for actual crimes -- involving victims -- that they actually committed. How about the rest? More than one great injustice was perpetrated, beginning when Charles Fain was arrested. In February 1982, someone really did abduct, rape and kill a 9-year-old child. By attempting to clothe an innocent man in an ill-fitting garment of evidence, the police, prosecutors and ultimately the judge aided and abetted the real criminal, by allowing him to get away with his crimes. |
