Joesph Sledge, age 70, is today a free man. He spent 37 years in a North Carolina prison for a crime he did not commit.
DNA evidence exonerated Sledge, making him the 325th person in U.S. history to have been so exonerated. Sledge was convicted in 1978 of the 1976 killing - based partly upon two hairs found at the crime scene.
DNA testing in the 1970's could only determine that the hairs were from a black male. Additionally, two inmates at the prison Sledge had escaped from the day before the killings, offered up false testimony against Sledge, in exchange for lighter sentences for themselves.
One of those inmates recanted his testimony in 1991, the other has since passed away. Throughout his 37 years in prison, Sledge maintained his innocence. He admits his guilt in the larceny case that sent him to prison previously...which he then escaped from the day before the crime he was later falsely convicted of occurred.
Josephine Davis was 74, and her daughter, Ailene Davis was 53 when they were stabbed to death in their Bladen County home in 1976. Sledge was later convicted of the crime.
Yesterday, Sledge was released after the case was reviewed by The North Carolina Innocence Commission, which, counting Sledge, has exonerated eight people since it's creation by the General Assembly of North Carolina in 2006. It has heard over 1500 cases. It is the only state-run investigative agency of its kind in the United States.
The Davis family is not convinced of Sledge's innocence, and expressed dissappointment that Sledge was to be released. For his part, Sledge, from the stand, offered his condolences to the Davis family, and expressed his hope that they would find cloture, and expressed sorrow at the Davis family's loss.
THAT brings me to the reason for Diarying this case: WHO has expressed any sorrow for the loss SLEDGE has experienced?? How the hell DO you apologize to someone for taking 37 years of their life and freedom?
District Attorney Jon David DID apologize to Sledge, "There's nothing worse for a prosecutor than convicting an innocent person," he said. "The 'sorry' is imperfect to convey the magnitude of what happened with respect to this man's life."
I cannot IMAGINE what I would be feeling, if I were Sledge, but I continue to be AMAZED at the level of graciousness Sledge has displayed in all of this. I can imagine me telling the DA to take his apology and shove it where the sun doesn't shine...that it does not make up for 37 years of my life and freedom....and asking the DA exactly what North Carolina intended to do to make up for taking my life! But Sledge has not done this.
So how DO you actually "make up" to someone who has been wrongly convicted and served 37 years for a crime he did not commit? How do you male up for taking the best part of a person's life away from them? Sledge was 33 when he was wrongly convicted. He has served over half his ENTIRE LIFE in prison for a crime he did not commit. The part of his life that mattered most was taken from him.
HOW can you possibly make up for this?