Dallas D.A.'s Office Looking Into Whether Richardson PD Put Wrong Man in Prison in '93

By Robert Wilonsky Wed., Jul. 14 2010 at 8:51 AM

Categories: Crime

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This morning, the Associated Press tells the tale of Stephen Brodie, a deaf inmate serving time in the TDCJ's Estelle Unit till 2012 -- and, quite possibly, yet another innocent man imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. In 1991, Richardson police detained a 19-year-old Brodie for "stealing quarters from a soda machine," writes the AP's Jeff Carlton. At which point they began peppering him with questions concerning the sexual assault of a 5-year-old girl. And they did so for 18 straight hours, with and often without an interpreter. And so he confessed -- not only to that crime, but others made up by police just to test the kid.

There was, however, nothing to tie him to the crime scene -- not even the hint of evidence. Eventually, police would discover on the girl's windowsill the fingerprint of another man -- a man who would eventually plead guilty to sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl. Police dismissed it as coincidence. That man has served his time; meanwhile, Brodie, who began serving his sentence in '93 and was re-incarcerated for failing to register as a sex offender, awaits word from the Dallas County District Attorney's Office, which is investigating Brodie's claims of innocence. Says Brodie, if he gets out of prison, "I'm getting out of Texas."

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Anything can happen within the jurisprudence in Texas USA and usually does. In my view this occurs when one believes one's own propaganda. Thank goodness Texas is in the United States of America and not Australia. Although in my view again, Texas as it is would not survive in Australia. Its a wonder the poor bloke didn't get the death penalty! Noel E Cain (Australia)
This ttype of injustice is happening right now all over our country.And the reason is because enough people don;t care,They feel if it doesn;t directly effect them.Thet don't get involved.I say B.S, How about the yo gurt shop murders,or look up Dreams Of ADA.Look whats happening right now in W. Mempis.Known as the W. memphis 3.(All 3 of these men have been locked up since thet were 16 yrs old.2 got life,1 the death sentence.If you care about injustice at all.From the police to the D.A. to the judges knowingly sending innocent people to prison.I say one person in prison 4 one day is not acceptable.I think all officals involved in frame convictions should get 10 yrs plus mandatory.I just believe alot of yhings would change real quick.If a perp is guilty,They deserve to do all their time The high majority # of people involved in judical work are wondeful honest people,But it just takes one bad one.**** Please Wake up America***
Tuck Fexas
The fact that this happens so often is the reason these things aren't taped. The point of the police and the prosecution is to put people in jail, not to put the right people in jail.
Questioning should always be filmed! This kind of thing happens way too often! There needs to be a law yesterday, that all questioning must be tapped!
I hope he takes them to the cleaners. It is not unusual to find the authorities unwilling to release a person after finding him guilty.Even with a confession from someone else or evidence they often drag their feet. And keeping anyone in prison for one day longer then they have already spent is unconscionable. But still they do it. They will hold this man as long as they can. They would rather keep him then admit they screwed up. I hope he sues the state for plenty. It will not give him back the years, but it will allow him some monetary measure of consolation.
Sadly, this happens everywhere. Police aren't your friends.
This happens too often in TX. I am getting out of here ASAP.
My cousin was walking home with a friend through a patch of trees after going to 7-11 one night (in CT). The 7-11 was robbed by someone not matching their description (other than being male and human). Cops released dogs into the woods and arrested my cousin for fighting off the dogs (the dogs are considered police officers). Eventually the courts dismissed the charges, but the police department fought all the way. Never mind that they set dogs off on two innocent people with no warning and no direct supervision. Always demand a lawyer, never confess. Cops and the prosecution got one thing on their mind, getting someone. Even if they aren't jerks, they can be too focused on one thing to notice another.
Sadly, this happens to often. Thousands of mostly brown people are in prison for crime they did not commit. Now we have tech that frees many people.
Wait. So the kid confessed to crimes they'd *invented*, that did not actually exist, and no one questioned any of this?
Real Justice http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/man_shot_and_killed_during_alleged_burglary_98284299.html
^---Hoo Freaking Rahh
If I come home and a neighbor is beating anyone in my house with a baseball bat he's getting 2 45ACP's to the chest and one to the head. I got your justice right here!
>>1. If there is no physical evidence, he (or an accomplice) has come back and cleaned up the crime scene. With modern forensic methods, it is very hard not to leave physical evidence.<< apparently someone believes too much of what they watch on law and order. do you really think that our police departments pull out all the stops in searching every microbe for every case they have?
1. If there is no physical evidence, he (or an accomplice) has come back and cleaned up the crime scene. With modern forensic methods, it is very hard not to leave physical evidence. 2. I would question myself if I could specifically identify a specific person under those circumstances. I personally would much rather make sure true justice is done (and he get away with it for now), than see a person wrongfully imprisoned or dead.
@Timothy Covington [and the yappin' chihuahua - aka Toots] Suppose you entered your home and found your next door neighbor beating your [wife, husband, significant other] with a baseball bat. Your neighbor escapes out the back door. Your loved one dies. Police begin searching for your neighbor but he disappeared. They find him weeks later hiding with friends or family in another state, but there's no "physical evidence" linking him to the crime [no bloody bat, no DNA, no finger prints at scene, etc]. What do you propose? Should there even be a trial?
"In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders."
$25K a year? That's all?
If this true, under Texas statutes (103.001-103.003; 103.051-103.052), Mr. Brodie will be compensated $25K per year of incarceration to a maximum of $500K. He also gets one year of counseling. So regardless of where this occurred, all of Texas gets to pay for this.
Tim, Lakewooder has a degree in Pompous ass studies. He is working on his masters.
Criminal justice is a merely a system, that can be worked if you understand the motivations of its components. The cops want to clear open cases. When they get a perp, they are going to try to get him to cop to anything open that would even be remotely plausible. The DA wants a high conviction percentage. If they have a case that is difficult to prove, they will come up with the best plea that the other side will agree to. The sausage factory that takes place between arrest and judgment bears little resemblance to anything close to <b>"Justice".</b> Best to avoid the whole nasty business.
If he's already served 10 years (five for the original crime, a total of five more for twice failing to register), and his time started in 1993, why is he still in? And the judge who chose to keep his "confession" when it came with confessing to crimes the cops made up to test its validity, is as derelict in his duties as the D.A.'s office.
@Lakewooder - No, that is not a knee jerk reaction. I a degree in criminal justice (which is the reason I've never been selected to be on the jury). I know very well how truly awful eyewitness testimony and "confesssions" can be. Hard physical evidence does not lie and is rarely mistaken. I remember a simple experiment that was popped on us. The professor had one person chase another person through the classroom and then asked everyone to write down what they saw and describe the people. The descriptions had the full range racial types (for both people), people were assigning different genders to both people, and many did not even notice the mask the person chasing the other person was wearing. This was in good lighting with people who were reasonably alert. As to confessions, unless they are made with the advice of the confessor's attorney and in that attorney's presence, I think they are worthless. Badgering someone for hours on end is just a mild form of torture, in my opinion.
Wanna Know: Good points all.
I reread the story and I'll stand pat on my first post. The Dallas County DA's office owns this one. Richardson police may have brought them a crap case, but ultimately it's the DA's job to seek justice...not just convictions. How about this: Dallas D.A.'s Office Looking Into Whether They Put Yet Another Wrong Man in Prison in '93 Based on Shoddy Richardson Police Investigation.
A real DA would've gotten convictions on those crimes the police officers made up and got Brodie to confess to.
Says Brodie, if he gets out of prison, "I'm getting out of Texas." =================================== LMAO
Wanna Know: The story answers all your questions.
Damn...I wish there was an "edit" option on this blog.
About that headline Robert.....did the Richardson Police Department prosecute Brodie in Municipal Court, enticing him him a five year plea deal? Not bloody likely. Perhaps it the Dallas County District Attorney's Office that sought an indictment base don the investigation by the Richardson PD, and then the DA's office negotiated the guilty plea with Brodie's attorney? When any Dallas county municipal police department brings a case to the Dallas County DA's office, its up to the DA to decide whether to take the case, indict the defendant and ultimately convict the defendant. Richardson Police may have screwed up the investigation, but the Dallas County DA put Brodie in prison. If the Richardson PD's investigation was FUBAR, the Dallas DA's office should have refused to prosecute the case.
@Timothy Covington I believe the medical term is Knee Jerk. Might want to get that looked at.
Until we start putting corrupt police officers and prosecutors in prison for this kind of crap (yes, retroactively) it will continue. Absoulutely disgusting. This kind of garbage was all I could think about when I was called for jury duty. The defendant faced life in prison. Thank God I wasn't selected. I've lived in several states and nowhere is this as prevalant as it is Texas.
Richardson police department is one of the worst.
This is the reason that, if I am ever on a jury, I will not find someone guilty without physical evidence that directly links the person to the crime.
I hope he sues the RPD into oblivion.