Walter Swift was convicted of rape in 1982 and sent to prison. This year, he was exonerated by DNA evidence. Twenty-six years of imprisonment. He couldn't get paroled, because to get parole, you have to admit guilt. He refused to do that.
Should he have admitted guilt just to get out? No way. He didn't commit the crime.
Guess what. Swift is African-American. The victim was a white woman -- pregnant. She described the rapist as a black man between 15 and 18 years old, with unusual braids and “poofs of hair” on his head. She said he had no facial hair.
Looking through mug books, the victim selected the photos of seven men who she said resembled the assailant. The police officer handling the case randomly decided that the next person selected would be brought in for a live lineup.
And that's where Walter enters the picture. Although he was several years older than the alleged assailant, and had a black eye, mustache, sideburns and closely cropped hair (no braids), he was identified in the lineup. The jury never heard the discrepancies between the victim's description and who she selected in the lineup.
I guess they all look alike.
Twenty-six years later, he is free. With nothing. The State of Michigan provides no assistance when someone is exonerated. They actually get less assistance than convictees get after their release. Exonerees are abandoned. No money. No job. No home. Not even a basic ID card.
To say nothing of adjusting to the real world. Do you think maybe the world is different in 2008 than in 1982? In 1982, no one even used a personal computer.
Swift had to go to Ireland with a benefactor who helped him raise enough money to get started. There is now a support web site at www.walterswift.com.
For more about this story, and others like it, see The Innocence Project, from which much of the info in this post was gleaned (along with an NPR story).
