The life of a person can be changed in an instant. That is what happened to Abbitt and Clark for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Both Abbitt and Clark’s lives changed during the pretrial and post trial portion of their lives, and continues to change afterwards. Robert Clark is an innocent man who spent most of his adult life in jail. Robert Clark was accused of kidnapping and rape. A 29 year old woman was abducted by gun point in her own car, she was raped 3 times and then her car was stolen (“A Free Man Robert Clark” 1). However Robert Clark was nowhere near the victim or scene of the crime. Additionally, Clark was not the original suspect during the investigation. Clark was arrested for having a stolen vehicle, the police
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To begin, the victim was behind mirrored glass and picked Clark from a line up. Clark was in a line up at the police station and the women behind the tinted glass told the cops that Clark was the man who did it this was before DNA testing was available (Redmon 1). After a few years DNA came around and they tried it on the women's clothing and with Clark and it came out that he was falsely accused. Second, Clark did not receive a fair and speedy trial. In 1982, after a year in jail awaiting trial, Clark was sentenced to life in prison for a kidnapping and rape (“A Free Man Robert Clark” 1). Clark sat in jail as an innocent man even before being convicted of a crime he did not do. Finally, Clark was sentenced to multiple life sentences. Clark was arrested in 1981, when he was 22. The woman-who had been beaten, raped and left for dead identified him in court. He was convicted and sentenced to two life terms, plus 20 years (Redmon 1). The errors in the trial convicted Clark to spend the rest of his life in jail. Even while this was happening Clark remained confident in his innocence and the …show more content…
To start, Abbitt was accused by two teenagers of committing the crime. The thirteen and fifteen year old sisters told police they were getting ready for school when someone broke in through a kitchen window and attacked them. The teenagers could not prove that it was Abbitt who attacked them. To add, he was accused of rape, kidnapping, and burglary. Joseph Abbitt was found guilty in 1995 on 2 counts of first degree rape and one count of first-degree burglary and 2 counts of of first degree kidnapping; he was sentenced to life in prison (“DNA Clears Jailed NC Accused Rapist” 1). This evidence suggests that he will be separated from his family and loved ones for a very long time. The two girls could not identify their attacker, but Abbitt was still
To begin, the victim was behind mirrored glass and picked Clark from a line up. Clark was in a line up at the police station and the women behind the tinted glass told the cops that Clark was the man who did it this was before DNA testing was available (Redmon 1). After a few years DNA came around and they tried it on the women's clothing and with Clark and it came out that he was falsely accused. Second, Clark did not receive a fair and speedy trial. In 1982, after a year in jail awaiting trial, Clark was sentenced to life in prison for a kidnapping and rape (“A Free Man Robert Clark” 1). Clark sat in jail as an innocent man even before being convicted of a crime he did not do. Finally, Clark was sentenced to multiple life sentences. Clark was arrested in 1981, when he was 22. The woman-who had been beaten, raped and left for dead identified him in court. He was convicted and sentenced to two life terms, plus 20 years (Redmon 1). The errors in the trial convicted Clark to spend the rest of his life in jail. Even while this was happening Clark remained confident in his innocence and the …show more content…
To start, Abbitt was accused by two teenagers of committing the crime. The thirteen and fifteen year old sisters told police they were getting ready for school when someone broke in through a kitchen window and attacked them. The teenagers could not prove that it was Abbitt who attacked them. To add, he was accused of rape, kidnapping, and burglary. Joseph Abbitt was found guilty in 1995 on 2 counts of first degree rape and one count of first-degree burglary and 2 counts of of first degree kidnapping; he was sentenced to life in prison (“DNA Clears Jailed NC Accused Rapist” 1). This evidence suggests that he will be separated from his family and loved ones for a very long time. The two girls could not identify their attacker, but Abbitt was still