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Jess Mekeel
Aug. 11, 2016
“[North Carolina] Assistant Attorney General Jess Mekeel said [Johnny] Small’s motion should be dismissed.
“ ‘Innocence is in vogue now,’ he told the judge, the Associated Press reported.
“Exonerations are certainly on the rise. Last year, about 150 people were exonerated, a record number, according to the National Registry of Exonerations….
“Mekeel [said] he considers reopening cases based on recanted testimony to be a threat to the American legal system.
“ ‘This is an attempt to retry a 28-year-old case. Twelve jurors made that determination already. They heard the evidence. They concluded the defendant was guilty,’ Mekeel said, according to WRAL. ‘They jeopardize the stability and reliability of our justice system.’ ”
– From “Man spent 28 years in prison after his friend accused him of murder. Now, the friend said he lied” by Travis M. Andrews in the Washington Post (Aug. 9)
“Innocence is in vogue now” – what a revealing glimpse of the inner prosecutor! As if exonerations were a fad, an unwarranted threat to “the stability and reliability of our justice system.”
Is it any wonder that district attorneys such as Jon David so eagerly pursue innocence advocates such as Chris Mumma?
