강간죄로 100년 언도받고,40년 복역한,Louisiana 죄수, 재판부에 재심 받아들여져, 재심진행 - 한국사법부에 교훈?

만약에 이죄수가 주장하는 무죄주장이 받아 들여 진다면, 이죄수의 인생은 누가 되돌려 줄것이며, 지금은 40년을 복역한 상태에서, 건강도 악화되여 Wheel Chair에 의존하고 있다고 한다.

지금, 그죄인은 65세로, 이번의 항소전에도 여러번 항소를 신청했었으나, 번번히 받아들여지지 않아, 여기까지 왔으나, 이번에는 12전째 순회재판( the 12th Judicial Circuit Court )에서 마지막으로, Wheel Chair에 몸을 의지한채 그의 무죄를 주장할것으로 보인다.

죄수, Vincent Simmons는, 쌍둥이 자매를 성폭행한 혐의로 붙들려와 무죄를 주장하느라 2달 동안이나 밀고 당기기 하다가 결국 감옥에 갇히고 말았던 것이다.

이번에는, 오랜 기간동안 증인을 찾아 어렵게 만난  증인이, 그의 알리바이를  증언해줄것으로 희망에 차 있으며, 증인으로 나온 여성은 전에도 증인하겠다고 했었으나, 그때마다 검사측은 번번히 무시했었다고 말하고 있다.

이번에는, 오랜 기간동안 증인을 찾아 어렵게 만난  증인이, 그의 알리바이를  증언해줄것으로 희망에 차 있으며, 증인으로 나온 여성은 전에도 증인하겠다고 했었으나, 그때마다 검사측은 번번히 무시했었다고 말하고 있다. 

"그는 다시 재판을 할수있게되여 지금 흥분에 차있읍니다. 그죄인을 재판에서 세워서 다시 재판을 할수 있게 됐다는것 자체가 바로 승리라고 할수 있겠습니다"라고 죄인, Simmons의 변호인, Robert Hjortsberg씨는 자신하고 있다고 한다.

변호사,Hjortsberg 씨는 새로 찾은 증인을 찾아서 재심을 다시 있게된것에 큰 희망을 갖고 있으며, 흑인죄인, Simmons씨가 당시 14세의 쌍둥이 자매를 성폭행했다는 죄명으로 100년을 언도한 잘못된 판결을 다시 추적해서 싸울것이라고 한다. 

만약에 그범인, Simmons 의 무죄를 증명하지 못하게 되면, 그는 감옥에서 생을 마감하게 되는 셈이다.

당시 재판에는 참여하지 않았던 담당검사, Avoyelles Parish는 설명하기를 당시 재판내용을 살펴본결과, 그재판에서 잘못된점을 발견하지 못했는데, 그가 의아해 하는점은 왜 이제야 그 증인이 나타나서 증언을 하겠다고 하는지 의아스럽다고 하면서, 그녀가 증언한다고해서, 새로운 사실이나 형량을 바꿀만한 내용은 없을것으로 보고 있다고 했다.

"40년이 지난후에 어떤 증인이 나타나 재판정에서 증언하겠다고 하는것이 정말로 믿어지지 않으며, 그녀와 만나서 사건경위를 얘기해볼 기회가 없었다"라고 검사 Riddle씨는 담담해 했다.

판사의 언도에 따라 무고한 사람의 삶이 초토와 될수 있을수도 있고, 흉악한 범인이 무죄를 받고 다시 세상을 활보하면서 살수도 있기에, 법을 심판하는 재판관의 임무는 엄청나게 중요하다고 하겠다.  그래서 법심판의 심볼이 평형을 이루는 "저울"로 나타내고 있다는 그 이유를 이기사를 보면서 조금이나마 가슴깊이 느낄수 있었다.  

지금 한국에는 이런 잘못된 판결로 상당수의 무고한 사람들이 감옥에서 고통을 받고 있다는것을 뉴스를 통해 익히 알고있다. 소위 말하는 "적페청산"이란 이름으로, 정치적 보복을 당하고 있음을 보면서, 답답함을 가슴으로 깊이 느끼고 있다. 

이번 순회재판의 내용은 아래 기사를 읽어 보면 엄정한 법집행은 판사의 양심여하에 달렸다고 하겠다. 

Simmons' appearance in tiny Marksville has torn open a new page in his saga, made famous in "The Farm," an Academy Award-nominated documentary about the Louisiana State Penitentiary, the notorious prison in Angola where Simmons is serving his double 50-year sentences. Simmons was one of several Angola inmates featured in the film; its makers returned to Simmons for a followup called "Shadows of Doubt" that questioned the case against him and documented a meeting with his accusers.

 성적폭행의 피해자, 쌍둥이 자매는 발표한 성명서에서, 죄인 Simmons의 죄는 절대로 뒤바뀌지 않을것이라고 주장하고 있다.

For the victims and others who believe in Simmons conviction, his notoriety is a source of frustration and presents unfair portrayals of their small central Louisiana community. But Simmons' team of supporters, including advocates who weren't alive when he was prosecuted, see his case as an example of how racism, investigative tunnel vision and prosecutorial misdeeds fuel wrongful convictions. 

Simmons supporters tracked down the new witness, Pamela Jones, in Virginia, and persuaded her to provide a sworn affidavit in 2015. After that, New Orleans lawyer Robert Hjortsberg met Simmons in prison and agreed to take on the case. He crafted a motion, filed in July, citing Jones' affidavit and asking for Simmons' conviction to be thrown out.

A judge has yet to rule on whether to hold hearings on that motion. The court must fir죄st deal with a motion Simmons made years earlier on his own behalf arguing that a local judge be barred from taking part in his case because he once worked for the district attorney's office. 

That was the purpose of Wednesday's hearing, which Simmons attended but did not say anything on the record. Riddle said he did not oppose Simmons' request. The hearing ended with a judge ─ not the one Simmons wants recused ─ asking both sides to submit briefs and saying he'd rule at a later date. 

When that issue is taken care of, the court can turn to Simmons' latest request for post-conviction relief. It centers on Jones' July 2015 affidavit, in which she said she'd been at a bar with Simmons the entire night of May 9, 1977, when the sisters said they were raped . She said she remained haunted that she'd never been called to testify at Simmons' trial, but for decades wasn't sure she could do anything.

According to her affidavit, Jones said that after learning about Simmons' arrest, she and another bar patron, John Mose, called the Avoyelles Parish District Attorney's office and told someone that she knew Simmons was innocent. The person said someone else would get back to her, but no one did, Jones said. 

Jones said she and Mose later went to the district attorney's office in person, telling an investigator the same thing. He told her someone would get in touch with them, she said. 

The prosecution of Simmons relied on the victims' identification of Simmons and involved little forensic evidence. Mose took the stand for Simmons' defense, but his criminal record undermined his testimony, Hjortsberg said. 

Jones, meanwhile, never heard from investigators, she said. She heard about Simmons' July 1977 trial only after it was over, and didn't think there was anything more she could do. 

Hjortsberg says that Jones' statement shows that prosecutors withheld evidence that could have changed the outcome of the trial. His July court filing also says the victims identified Simmons from a lineup in which he was the only one wearing handcuffs, and alleges that prosecutors did not share a physician's report that raised questions about one of the victim's descriptions of the attacker having sexual intercourse with her. (Simmons was initially charged with aggravated rape but was ultimate convicted of attempted aggravated rape). 

Hjortsberg attached to his motion the victims' statements to investigators. In one, a sister says that "all blacks look alike to me." 

It will be up to a judge to decide whether Jones' affidavit is enough to call the prosecution of Simmons into doubt ─ or at least hold a hearing on the issue. 

To Riddle, it's all a repeat of issues raised in prior appeals, which have failed. 

"This may be the 13th or 14th or 15th post-conviction filing, most alleging the same things, issues that have been discussed over and over," he said. 

http://nbcnews.to/2m9zvwe