Las Vegas man wrongfull imprisoned, freed, and awarded...

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03-02-2021, 02:40 PM
desertrunner

Las Vegas man wrongfull imprisoned, freed, and awarded...

...1.35 million (tax free). He served 18 years of a 20 year sentence.

https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/nevad...34f9b6838.html

https://youtu.be/wp3ZLGvauWk

Quote:

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) -- A Las Vegas man has been granted a "certificate of innocence" and court approval for an award of $1,350,000 as compensation from the state after spending 18 years in prison after a wrongful conviction.

In 1992, Fred Steese was arrested for the murder of his friend, Las Vegas performer Gerard Soules. Nearly three years later, despite extensive evidence placing him in a different state at the time of the murder, Steese was convicted by the state of Nevada for murder, robbery, burglary, and grand auto larceny.

The Nevada Attorney General's Office announced the certificate and compensation on Monday. Eighth Judicial District Court Judge Jasmine Lilly-Spells presided over the hearing.

"While no amount of money can ever replace our freedom, Mr. Steese will be compensated for the years he has lost," said Attorney General Aaron Ford.
03-02-2021, 02:59 PM
Gordman

Should be WAY more compensation than that. However, at least its a better payout than some of the other wrongful convictions out there - some of the wrongfully convicted haven't received jack shit.

I hope this guy gets a good financial planner so he doesn't blow it and also is smart enough to avoid anyone trying to take advantage of his payday.
03-02-2021, 03:43 PM
PROUDBOY MAGA 2024

Thats ugly a measly 75k a year that's total garbage. Should have been at least 3 times that.
03-02-2021, 03:58 PM
limitles

Quote:

Originally Posted by PROUDBOY MAGA 2024

Thats ugly a measly 75k a year that's total garbage. Should have been at least 3 times that.

Minus lodging, meals, library, exercise yard, and long term friendships I'd say he did all right
03-02-2021, 05:56 PM
gut

He should feel lucky to have been in a decent state. I had no idea until watching The Innocence Project docu-series on netflix that so many states do not offer anything besides a "sorry pal". There is no real red-blue lean either to it:

Quote:

The federal government, the District of Columbia, and 35 states have compensation statutes of some form. The following 15 states do not: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

There is my blue-as-fuck Oregon on there....currently vaccinating prisoners before most of the general pop, but if you were wrongfully convicted....tough luck.
03-02-2021, 06:21 PM
Gordman

Quote:

Originally Posted by gut

He should feel lucky to have been in a decent state. I had no idea until watching The Innocence Project docu-series on netflix that so many states do not offer anything besides a "sorry pal". There is no real red-blue lean either to it:

Quote:

The federal government, the District of Columbia, and 35 states have compensation statutes of some form. The following 15 states do not: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

There is my blue-as-fuck Oregon on there....currently vaccinating prisoners before most of the general pop, but if you were wrongfully convicted....tough luck.

:this

It is mind blowingly disgusting to me that some people who have spent years incarcerated for something they never even did, are merely given nithing more than pat on the back with a "sorry pal, better luck next time".

Even worse is when people are executed who are ultimately found innocent.

I would be 100% for the death penalty if two things would be fixed:

1) The huge money hole where it always ultimately costs more to give someone the death penalty vs life without parole.

2) The simple fact that people are being executed for things they never even did. I would expect this from some 3rd world country, not the US.
03-02-2021, 08:04 PM
Dan Druff

Yeah he definitely deserved more money than that. That's brutal to have to spend so long behind bars for something you didn't do.

Also shitty that they browbeat him into signing a guilty plea for a lesser crime in 2012, just to get released. It was either "plead guilty to second degree murder and walk out now, or don't and you can rot in prison." So he signed something admitting guilt for a crime he didn't commit, just so he could walk out of prison. They fixed this five years later and pardoned the whole thing, according to the article.

We got a look at the shitty Nevada justice system during the Ray Davis trial. While it appears Ray was likely guilty of what he was accused, he was also treated pretty badly by the court system, including a mind-boggling $500,000 bail (increased from $20,000) just because the judge felt he was acting rude in court.

They also laughably sat around for years not arresting him, because of an erroneous belief he lived in California, even though a simple google search would have yielded his exact Las Vegas location within seconds.
03-02-2021, 09:39 PM
desertrunner

Thanks Druff.

One of the reasons I am debating not moving back to Vegas is the crappy justice system there. I know I will get fucked one way or another.
03-02-2021, 10:57 PM
WillieMcFML

Quote:

Originally Posted by limitles

Quote:

Originally Posted by PROUDBOY MAGA 2024

Thats ugly a measly 75k a year that's total garbage. Should have been at least 3 times that.

Minus lodging, meals, library, exercise yard, and long term friendships I'd say he did all right

it's the friends he made along the way

and also, $75k per year is like $110k before taxes

it was more than likely +EV for him

edit: never mind i guess he was a performer so he got a raw deal

without reading the article i figured he was the type of person to be wrongly convicted that time, but probably did a lot of shit that he got away with it

edit 2: this guy got $2.25m so he must have had a better lawyer

https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/nevad...4db569cf6.html
03-04-2021, 12:12 PM
Peter Binklage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Also shitty that they browbeat him into signing a guilty plea for a lesser crime in 2012, just to get released. It was either "plead guilty to second degree murder and walk out now, or don't and you can rot in prison." So he signed something admitting guilt for a crime he didn't commit, just so he could walk out of prison. They fixed this five years later and pardoned the whole thing, according to the article.

I agree with you Druff, but it only scratches the surface of how badly he was railroaded. The prosecutors hid exculpatory evidence proving that Steese wasn't even in Nevada when the crime took place. One of them, Doug Herndon, is now on the Nevada Supreme Court; he has at least expressed some remorse for his role in this travesty.

The other, Bill Kephart, was completely unrepentant, expressing no regrets over stealing two decades of Fred Steese's life to advance his career. He was defeated (by an attorney who herself has a pretty poor, scandal-ridden record) in his bid for re-election as a district court judge in Clark County. Good riddance.