Kaban ni D_BystandeR: ANG BINILANGGO NAPALGANG WALAY SALA HUMAN SA BAYENTE- SINGKO KA TUIG

A man who was in prison for nearly 25 years walked out of prison of Menard Correctional Center with only $14.17 in the pocket of his gray sweat pants - all that remained of his "prison account." He lost his wife on a divorce years ago. He also lost contact with his 3 sisters and a brother; his mother died of cancer in 2004. And for the most part he had lost contact of his 3 children. James Kluppelberg was convicted of arson for setting on fire a house in March 1984 with a woman, 28, Elva Lupercio, the mother and her five children ages 3 to 10 years old. 

He was still 18 when the incident happened in 1984 and already a contractor at age 24 when convicted in 1988 and sent to prison for the death of the six fire-victims. Sentenced to life in prison although prosecutors had sought death penalty, Kluppelberg maintained his innocence in spite of repeated losses in court. He was so sure he would someday be free so he kept his birth certificate, Social Security Card and other documents in a plastic envelope so he would have them when he walked out of prison. What turned the case in his favor is the advancement of science, particularly in what is known about how fires behave. The indicators of arson that authorities cited to win Kluppelberg's conviction have since been been discredited. As a result, Kluppelberg's attorneys argued that the fire which initially had been ruled accidental, was not intentionally set. 

A fire scientest working for Kluppelberg's lawyers on appeal examined the case and said the evidence of arson is unreliable. He thanked his lawyers at Winston and Strawn and at the Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago Law School for putting so much work into his case and he credited State's Attorney Anita Alvarez for recognizing that his conviction could stand no longer, though he said that conclusion should have been reached earlier. His conviction was reached after a friend of his testified against him and implicated him in the commission of the crime. But in  later years recanted it in a statement prepared by his lawyers. He was released after Cook County Prosecutors went to court Wednesday, May 30/12, and unexpectedly dismissed the case against him while lawyers continued to mount their case in his defense. A friend who implicated Kluppelberg - a three-time-burglar - also recanted in a sworn statement for defense attorneys saying he lied to get leniency in his own case. 

Finally, Kluppelberg's lawyers alleged that prosecutors had failed to turnover key information about a woman who admitted setting a fire on the same night about one block away but said she was too drunk to remember whether she started the fire Kluppelberg was convicted to setting.

(Bug-os ang  pasalamat sa KAHAYAG ngadto sa nagsulat niining  artikulo  nga si JOHNNY LOVE. Nagtakuban siya sa pangalan, "D_BystandeR".  Natawo siya sa Sugbo apan anaa na karon manimuyo sa Illinois sa tinipong nasod sa Amerika. Ang kusog nga koneksyon sa kasayuran pinaagi sa internet kanunayng naghaling sa iyang kadasig  pagtuki sa mga nagbukalbukal nga hisgutanan dinhi sa atong nataran. Usa siya ka magsusulat nga gradwado sa kursong komersiyo padulong sa pagka accountant sa University of San Carlos kaniadtong tuig 1961.  Nahimo siyang miyembro sa usa ka hugpong sa mga batan-ong magsusulat nga gitawag ug STUDENT PRESS.  Nahimo usab siyang   Associate Editor sa basahon  USC-JPIAN sa tuig 1962-63. Magtatampo usab siya isip magsusulat sa nasudnong magasin,  "Philippines Free Press" ug sa mga nag-unang peryodiko dinhi sa dakbayan sa Sugbo sa lunhaw pa ang iyang pangedaron. Nahimo siyang mamumuo sa usa ka pribadong kompaniya sa dakbayan sa Sugbo, ESCANO LINES, sulod sa napulo ug duha (12) ka tuig  dayon niyang tapon  ngadto sa NAPOCOR  ug nahimong kawani sa kagamhanan  sulod sa bayente dos (22) ka tuig. Niadtong tunga-tungang bahin sa tuig 2000, nilalin siya ngadto sa tinipong nasod sa Amerika ug sulod sa napulo (10) ka tuig, nagtrabaho siya sa  buhatan sa kagamhanan sa nasod sama  sa  UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE (USPS).  Karon sa pangedaron nga 67,  gihuptan gihapon niya ang walay pagkutat nga kadasig ug walay busganan nga kaikag sa pagpaambit sa iyang nahuptang abilidad  ug kabatid sa panulat.  Dili niya mapugngan ang kaugalingon sa pagpaambit sa iyang mga hunahuna labi na kon molambigit kini ug hisgotanan nga makadani sa iyang mga mata.)