By Bobby Kerlik, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Vincent Moto walked out of a Pennsylvania prison with the clothes on
his back and no money to his name after DNA evidence cleared him of a
rape charge that put him behind bars for more than 10 years.
Sixteen years later, he's struggling to find work, can barely pay the gas and electric bills at his home, and said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I've been out for a while, and I'm still struggling, trying to find a way to survive," said Moto, 48, of Philadelphia. "A woman drops hot coffee on her leg and gets millions. I spent 10 1/2 years behind bars for a crime I didn't commit, and I get nothing. Pennsylvania just doesn't seem to want to pass a compensation bill for the wrongfully convicted."
That could change. Lawmakers are considering joining 27 other states that have passed laws to compensate people who were wrongly convicted of crimes. Under a bill introduced this month by state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery County, those people could receive $50,000 of state money for each year they were incarcerated.
People proven innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted would be eligible, Greenleaf said. Commonwealth Court would rule on each case.
"If we don't do this, people are going to file federal lawsuits and obtain judgments much higher than this," Greenleaf said. "This makes it easier to recover (money) and caps what they can have. It's fair to both parties."
Moto and 10 others who were wrongly convicted in Pennsylvania — including two men in Allegheny County — have been freed from prison since 1991, largely through DNA testing that was not available at the time of their trials.
Greenleaf's compensation plan is part of a larger bill based on recommendations from a report that a state Senate-commissioned panel released in September detailing ideas for justice reform.
The compensation proposal and other proposed reforms have their critics.
Richard Long, executive director of the Pennsylvania District Attorney's Association, said his group is opposed to Greenleaf's bill.
"There are thousands of crime victims in Pennsylvania. They are having difficulty getting their compensation. We want to see these people made whole. The money is better directed to victims," Long said. "The bill is seeking compensation, but where's that money going to come from? Money going to victims is drying up now that the budget is tight."
Crime victims in the state are eligible to receive up to $35,000 total for monetary losses, said Carol Lavery, chief of the state Office of the Victim Advocate. The state pays about $10 million annually to crime victims from fines that convicts pay to the courts.
"This is really about inequity. You could end up being paralyzed for life (from a crime), and all you get is $35,000. Period," Lavery said. "A person who didn't commit the crime should be compensated. I can't argue against that. If we're willing to pay millions to people who are truly innocent, there should be more equity."
The Advisory Committee on Wrongful Convictions, part of the Senate panel, spent nearly five years studying, in part, the best investigative and legal practices across the country.
"It's hard to place a value on what somebody's freedom is worth," said Duquesne University law professor John Rago, who headed the 52-member committee. "To me, it's unconscionable to think we don't have an obligation to help the guy get back on his feet. The irony is that we have more re-entry programs, more support for those that are rightfully convicted and released."
Compensation for exonerated convicts varies from state to state. Wisconsin pays $5,000 per year of wrongful incarceration. Tennessee allows for payments up to $1 million. Missouri pays $50 per day. Several states, such as Alabama, North Carolina and Florida, along with the federal government, pay $50,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said he's not in favor of a blanket law that pays all exonerees.
"If there's intentional misconduct (from prosecutors or police), there's already remedies available," Zappala said. "I would support payment if you can show intentional misconduct."
Zappala, Long and other opponents argue that existing laws allow people to sue the government for civil rights violations, and at least three Pennsylvania exonerees have received million-dollar settlements from such cases. But Rago said people who can't prove malicious intent or other mistakes by police or prosecutors have no legal recourse.
Moto was convicted of raping a woman in 1985 in Philadelphia. He served more than a decade of a 12- to 24-year sentence before DNA testing of semen found on the woman's underwear turned out not to be his.
Moto said the woman misidentified him as one of her attackers.
"When people get out, they have no resources. No means. No place to stay. If you've committed a crime and get out on parole, you at least go to a halfway house," Moto said.
"I was lucky. I have a family," he said. "I moved in with my parents, but they spent over $150,000 in lawyer fees for me. That was their retirement money. My mother is 75, and she's still working."
Moto said that even with an exoneration, it's hard to get or keep a job.
"When they hear about the rape charges against me, no one wants to take a chance on me. It makes people kind of edgy," he said.
Sixteen years later, he's struggling to find work, can barely pay the gas and electric bills at his home, and said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I've been out for a while, and I'm still struggling, trying to find a way to survive," said Moto, 48, of Philadelphia. "A woman drops hot coffee on her leg and gets millions. I spent 10 1/2 years behind bars for a crime I didn't commit, and I get nothing. Pennsylvania just doesn't seem to want to pass a compensation bill for the wrongfully convicted."
That could change. Lawmakers are considering joining 27 other states that have passed laws to compensate people who were wrongly convicted of crimes. Under a bill introduced this month by state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery County, those people could receive $50,000 of state money for each year they were incarcerated.
People proven innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted would be eligible, Greenleaf said. Commonwealth Court would rule on each case.
"If we don't do this, people are going to file federal lawsuits and obtain judgments much higher than this," Greenleaf said. "This makes it easier to recover (money) and caps what they can have. It's fair to both parties."
Moto and 10 others who were wrongly convicted in Pennsylvania — including two men in Allegheny County — have been freed from prison since 1991, largely through DNA testing that was not available at the time of their trials.
Greenleaf's compensation plan is part of a larger bill based on recommendations from a report that a state Senate-commissioned panel released in September detailing ideas for justice reform.
The compensation proposal and other proposed reforms have their critics.
Richard Long, executive director of the Pennsylvania District Attorney's Association, said his group is opposed to Greenleaf's bill.
"There are thousands of crime victims in Pennsylvania. They are having difficulty getting their compensation. We want to see these people made whole. The money is better directed to victims," Long said. "The bill is seeking compensation, but where's that money going to come from? Money going to victims is drying up now that the budget is tight."
Crime victims in the state are eligible to receive up to $35,000 total for monetary losses, said Carol Lavery, chief of the state Office of the Victim Advocate. The state pays about $10 million annually to crime victims from fines that convicts pay to the courts.
"This is really about inequity. You could end up being paralyzed for life (from a crime), and all you get is $35,000. Period," Lavery said. "A person who didn't commit the crime should be compensated. I can't argue against that. If we're willing to pay millions to people who are truly innocent, there should be more equity."
The Advisory Committee on Wrongful Convictions, part of the Senate panel, spent nearly five years studying, in part, the best investigative and legal practices across the country.
"It's hard to place a value on what somebody's freedom is worth," said Duquesne University law professor John Rago, who headed the 52-member committee. "To me, it's unconscionable to think we don't have an obligation to help the guy get back on his feet. The irony is that we have more re-entry programs, more support for those that are rightfully convicted and released."
Compensation for exonerated convicts varies from state to state. Wisconsin pays $5,000 per year of wrongful incarceration. Tennessee allows for payments up to $1 million. Missouri pays $50 per day. Several states, such as Alabama, North Carolina and Florida, along with the federal government, pay $50,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said he's not in favor of a blanket law that pays all exonerees.
"If there's intentional misconduct (from prosecutors or police), there's already remedies available," Zappala said. "I would support payment if you can show intentional misconduct."
Zappala, Long and other opponents argue that existing laws allow people to sue the government for civil rights violations, and at least three Pennsylvania exonerees have received million-dollar settlements from such cases. But Rago said people who can't prove malicious intent or other mistakes by police or prosecutors have no legal recourse.
Moto was convicted of raping a woman in 1985 in Philadelphia. He served more than a decade of a 12- to 24-year sentence before DNA testing of semen found on the woman's underwear turned out not to be his.
Moto said the woman misidentified him as one of her attackers.
"When people get out, they have no resources. No means. No place to stay. If you've committed a crime and get out on parole, you at least go to a halfway house," Moto said.
"I was lucky. I have a family," he said. "I moved in with my parents, but they spent over $150,000 in lawyer fees for me. That was their retirement money. My mother is 75, and she's still working."
Moto said that even with an exoneration, it's hard to get or keep a job.
"When they hear about the rape charges against me, no one wants to take a chance on me. It makes people kind of edgy," he said.
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