What happens when innocent people go to prison?

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What would you do if you were accused of a crime you never committed, and when you did everything that you could to defend yourself, people still didn't believe you because you weren't able to explain yourself very well. Well, that's what happened to me nine years ago. I spent the last nine years in prison for a crime that I never committed, but I was too naive and too ignorant of the justice system to realize that once you are accused, you are guilty until proved innocent. I can tell you, prison is not an easy place for someone with Asperger's. Not only did I lack the proper social skills in a "normal" society, I completely lacked any skills whatsoever for prison. I am now trying to rebuild my life, but I can tell you that things that are even more difficult with a felony on my record. I am unemployed, I have no friends, and I am frustrated with the fact that I don't even know what questions to ask to get any kind of help. If anyone can give me any kind of advice, or even some much needed friendship, it would be much appreciated.

have you tried to re-connect with family? i had an unemployed stint and my family was very helpful.

you are still young, with lots of life ahead of you. don't give up.

I am in contact with my family every day, but unfortunately, they live in an entirely different state, so it is difficult for them to help me. I have been unemployed before, but the biggest problem now is trying to find someone willing to hire someone with a felony on their record. Not to mention the fact that making friends is difficult as well when you are terrified of how they will react to finding out that you were in prison. Not everyone believes the "I didn't do it" line...no matter how true it is.

I can say that if I had to have work I'd be heading up to the Fargo, ND area. Granted, this area doesn't have the best climate, but it is booming because of the oil fracking. And if you're willing to do dirty, dangerous work on the oil rigs, nobody will care where you've been. BTW, oil rig work, as well as related fields, pays very well.

I don't have much advice on the matter, but this happened to someone close to me and it was severely traumatizing for her. She spent two years in prison for a crime she didn't commit, and putting her life together after the fact has been incredibly challenging. She was fortunate to have friends and family to lean on, people who believed in her innocence and tried to defend her when it all went down.

It's very true. Once accused, you are guilty until proven innocent, and "the system" isn't designed to rehabilitate you and get you back on your feet, it's designed to pin you down and keep you there. She often describes it as quicksand, and I can agree with that sentiment. I feel like I've been helping to pull her out of quicksand for the last few years.

But please have something lined up before you go there. I tried to move to "booming" Las Vegas on spec back in 2006. Didn't exactly take off.

What if you somewhat underplay the hand so to speak.

'Well, now that you bring it up, actually I was innocent' said matter-of-factly, fully knowing that it will take a while for them to get to know you.

And some people, although they might not say it out loud, might have grudging admiration for those who survived prison and got out. And, Congratulations! And I can think of one TV character, Anthony from "Designing Women" who was an innocent person who went to prison and he was respected by the other characters on the show.


And, Welcome to Wrong Planet! I think you'll find this a pretty good group at least for discussing issues.

In 2004 I was driving around taking care of my business when I was pulled over by the police and detained there until they brought a 10 yr. old girl by to identify the black haired man who grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out of her school and into a green pickup. I had blond greying hair. My pickup was blue. She said "That's him." and off to jail I went. 3 days in lock-up, attempted murder twice (both times the prison guard was complicit), My Public Defender was drunk when he came to see me. The D.A. committed perjury to keep me in jail. The stupid (22 yrs on the force and he was only a corporal, and had to get himself shot to land a desk job), color-blind cop (he had to ask me what color my hair was) lied repeatedly and told me I failed a polygraph (I'm not even sure what they administered was a real test; they never mentioned it at arraignment or anytime since), and believed the girl's incredible tale without investigating it. My name was slandered in the community. Turns out the girl skipped school and to get out of trouble with her mother she made the whole thing up. Fortunately, a witness came forth who had seen her during the half hour before the police were called or I would be doing 30 years now, if I would survive that long. I never recovered my reputation; the police were too embarassed to clear my name. They hoped I would just go away. And, being an Aspie, I pretty much did. I moved to Montana to get away from the stares and glares. (I kept threatening to move here and buy Ted Kazinsky's place. My counselor suggested I check Montana out.) I didn't begin to suspect Asperger's until later that year and was only Dxed last year. My Aspieness definitely impaired my ability to advocate for myself, though I was amazingly calm throughout the ordeal.
I'm here for you.

I don't have any advice. I can tell you what makes us look guilty and makes us so easy to blame-- the fact that we're easily frightened and so used to being beat down that we just hang our heads and walk away.

Explaining the Dx doesn't help-- then they just assume you're a sociopath.

I don't have any advice-- I've been lucky. Every time I was falsely accused of something-- and it's happened more than once, because I'm just not likable-- there were NTs to advocate for me. Hubby et cetera. If it weren't for that, I'd be living like Ted Kazynski minus the mail bombs.

Sympathy.

I'm horrified and sympathetic to all these stories here. It could so easily happen to any one of us, really.

I would likely move away, too.

I just want to thank you all for your words of encouragement. It is not easy to talk to the rest of the world about my problems, since they never seem to understand, or if they do, they don't really care. You all just proved that there really are good people in the world, something I was starting to doubt. Thank you all again.

Holy Shi_

This is just incredible. I mean, it's standard practice to have five people in a line up because the victim can easily fixate on the first person seen, even when the witness is trying his or her best. And I really question whether five is enough. Obviously, they just did slipshod and didn't even do common practice.

And the part with the police being too embarrassed to help clear your name. That is both horrendous and classic. An organization will cause or allow considerable human harm in order to avoid embarrassment, even going against their professed values. I have had smaller scale experiences, fortunately not the type of really bad experience you describe, and it surprises and appalls me to see this action, almost every single time, even if I can accept it intellectually. And if we as human beings are ever going to design really good institutions, we absolutely have to take this into account.

And I'm sorry people in your community couldn't find a way to have the matter-of-fact confidence to stand up on your behalf.

Last edited by AardvarkGoodSwimmer on 24 Dec 2011, 5:13 pm, edited 2 times in total.

SaintLouisAspie78, you're welcome. I'm glad we were able to help, if only a medium amount.

I don't know what I would do in prison if I went there for no reason. I am sure my whole family would help defend me and help me out of it. I often wonder how many people in prison are innocent. All I know is if I was away for most of my adult life and then released once I was proven innocent, I would never forgive the state because they can't give back my life they took and even an apology won't do it, even if they gave me $50,000 to make up for taking away my life (I probably would have refused it anyway). I think that be one of the few times I would ever hold a grudge. I always feel sorry for people who lived most of their life behind bars for something they didn't do or when someone goes to prison for something they didn't do, or when they are killed by the state.

Last edited by League_Girl on 27 Dec 2011, 2:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

That would be nice if a person's entire family stood behind them but . . . if something is repeated often enough it can end up being partially believed, so family members can have some doubt. And it is a deeply held belief on many people's part that persons in positions of authority are sincere people who legitimately try their best. And it might take a person really quite a while to wrap their mind around, no, that's not always the case at all. not at all. And then people worry, what's going to then take its place? as far as having a stable world, and who can I trust.

Plus, if the relative is anything like my Dad, he would probably blame me! regardless of the facts, blame me for not being able to handle the police well enough, as if I should automatically be a zen master or something. My parents have a bad marriage. I wish they would have gotten divorced way back in 1979 when I was sixteen. But they didn't. They're still togther. Often fought through the kids.

Plus, there's a pattern that if I'm even tempered about something, my Dad is reasonable. For example, I got fired from a job where I could smell reefer on the sale manager's breath, my Dad took the approach, well, just one of those things. If I'm angry about something (meaning, the very time I need someone on my side) my Dad tries to "prove" that I'm wrong or attacks me or says he can see both sides in this pretend reasonable voice, as if the greatest sin in the world is me being angry.

=======

On the question of holding a grudge, forgiveness, middle way? Well, that pulls on religion, philosophy, sociology, the rejuvenation and grounded-ness of seeing animals in the wild, or not, sometimes animals aren't at their best either, etc, etc, etc. There is a lot on the table, and I don't have great answers. I sometimes do hold grudges. Not particularly proud of it, just that's what it is.

I don't know that there's anything one person could say to help you feel any better, but I sure as hell sympathize. I've been falsely accused many times over the years, although nothing that got me sent to prison. It hasn't happened in quite a while, but even now it's always in the back of my mind. I even sometimes go so far as to rehearse alibis of where I've been, what I've been doing, etc. I think that's slightly nuts.

If it was me, I'd never tell anyone that you'd done time. Make sure you only apply for jobs that don't ask about such things. I'd stuff the entire experience far, far into the deepest recesses of my consciousness.

And I know what it's like to feel so far down that you can't even see the top. So take it one day at a time. You might also think about going to school, be it college or trade school or whatever. It's a great way to climb out of the hole you're in, and educational environments are generally much less judgemental about your background.

Above all, don't succumb to bitterness and self-pity. Yeah, you were dealt a rotten hand. You can't deny it. And if you could jump in a time machine and go back to change things, you would. But you can't. All you can do is look forward. You have two choices in your outlook ... you can let this experience consume you and turn you into a hateful, bitter, mean-spirited old man. Or you can do your damndest to put it behind you and move on. I sure hope you choose that second thing.

The best of luck to you.