Most of you may not care, but Kyle Unger has been acquited after spending 14 years in prison for being wrongfully convicted of murder. Wonder how many other innocents are in jail? Wonder how many guilty are walking the streets?
Kyle Unger Acquited
- Thread starter Rockslinger
- Start date
Unger is one of those good arguments for no deth penalty. The crown attorney that fought his case is under examination for other cases. He seem to have a lot of successes that are questionable. Unfortunately he's retired and probably nothing will come of it, but can you Martinsville.
Well, read the whole article...Unger actually confessed that he did it...."because he was young and needed money". Can't blame the police in this case.....
Guys, read between the lines on this one. 2 guys were charged, one was dismissed, although he died within a year (I think it was suicide). There was a hair at the scene that was not Unger's based on current DNA. Lead to a re-trial, crown could not bring a case and dismissed charges, judge acquitted.
My take: he was guilty, which is why he confessed in the first place. Not sure how this one small piece of evidence, which was probably his accomplice's, gets him off now. This is not an innocent man, in my opinion. Just a lucky one.
My take: he was guilty, which is why he confessed in the first place. Not sure how this one small piece of evidence, which was probably his accomplice's, gets him off now. This is not an innocent man, in my opinion. Just a lucky one.
Steven Truscott was sentenced to hang until dead when he was 14. Thank goodness, Pierre Berton and others got the death penalty reversed in Steven's case.
A link to CBC's article
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/10/23/mb-unger-acquitted-manitoba.html
... Appeal initially rejected
Unger's initial appeal to the Manitoba Court of Appeal following his conviction was rejected and leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was denied. But in September 2004, a forensic evidence review committee established by the province called into question the hair comparison evidence used at Unger's trial.
New DNA testing suggested a strand of hair found at the scene of the crime and originally used to convict Unger did not come from him. Evidence from a jailhouse informant and a police sting operation were also discredited.
Unger's lawyer subsequently filed an application to the minister of justice for a review of the murder conviction. Based on the DNA evidence, a judge of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench said she had "very serious concerns [he] may have been wrongly convicted of murder."
In November 2005, Unger was granted bail pending the minister's decision.
Following Nicholson's announcement in March, Unger's bail conditions were loosened by a Court of Queen's Bench judge in Winnipeg. A curfew restriction was lifted by the court.
Confessed to police
Unger had confessed to undercover police who were part of a sting operation known as Mr. Big, in which the officers promised money to a targeted suspect to help them out.
Asked on Friday why he made the confession in the first place, Unger said he was "young, naive and desperate for money."
"They hold a lot of promises to you, so you say and do what you have to do to survive, just like in prison — you have to do what you have to do to survive and get through it."
Unger, who now lives in B.C., was asked whether he intends to move back to Manitoba.
"I don't know. I definitely will be coming back a lot for holidays [to] see my family," he said.
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Good for him.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/10/23/mb-unger-acquitted-manitoba.html
... Appeal initially rejected
Unger's initial appeal to the Manitoba Court of Appeal following his conviction was rejected and leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was denied. But in September 2004, a forensic evidence review committee established by the province called into question the hair comparison evidence used at Unger's trial.
New DNA testing suggested a strand of hair found at the scene of the crime and originally used to convict Unger did not come from him. Evidence from a jailhouse informant and a police sting operation were also discredited.
Unger's lawyer subsequently filed an application to the minister of justice for a review of the murder conviction. Based on the DNA evidence, a judge of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench said she had "very serious concerns [he] may have been wrongly convicted of murder."
In November 2005, Unger was granted bail pending the minister's decision.
Following Nicholson's announcement in March, Unger's bail conditions were loosened by a Court of Queen's Bench judge in Winnipeg. A curfew restriction was lifted by the court.
Confessed to police
Unger had confessed to undercover police who were part of a sting operation known as Mr. Big, in which the officers promised money to a targeted suspect to help them out.
Asked on Friday why he made the confession in the first place, Unger said he was "young, naive and desperate for money."
"They hold a lot of promises to you, so you say and do what you have to do to survive, just like in prison — you have to do what you have to do to survive and get through it."
Unger, who now lives in B.C., was asked whether he intends to move back to Manitoba.
"I don't know. I definitely will be coming back a lot for holidays [to] see my family," he said.
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Good for him.
While I have never been in prison, to survive you don't "confess to a murder that you've been accused of"....... and this isn't the first case of someone confessing to a murder they didn't commit. There was a 60 minutes expose of a 65 yr old black man who did the same. He was imprisoned for 50 yrs and even though DNA evidence shows he didn't do it, he was still behind bars.
I know police can be extremely exuberant in trying to get a confession from someone, but, I mean, they kind of have to be don't they? They can't just interview someone, they say "no I didn't do it", then let them go 2 seconds later. It is a tough job and they walk a fine line, sometimes they cross the line, and sometimes they don't go far enough.
I know police can be extremely exuberant in trying to get a confession from someone, but, I mean, they kind of have to be don't they? They can't just interview someone, they say "no I didn't do it", then let them go 2 seconds later. It is a tough job and they walk a fine line, sometimes they cross the line, and sometimes they don't go far enough.
Mr. Unger is just the latest of a long string of wrongly convicted 
starting with Steven Truscott (and who knows how many before him). Wouldn't surprise me if Mr. Unger has a First Nation pedigree.
starting with Steven Truscott (and who knows how many before him). Wouldn't surprise me if Mr. Unger has a First Nation pedigree.Mr. Unger is just the latest of a long string of wrongly convicted
How long? Shall I quote the stats again? Wrongly convicted (compared to a conviction number of 6 yrs) works out to be 0.00000122%.
Our system isn't perfect, but it is all we've got. Until they perfect mind control/lie detection there will always be mistakes made.
I mean hell, Purolator works on a 10% error rate.......
When it comes to murder, pretty long. Just off the top of my head, Steven Truscott, Donald Marshall, David Milgaard, Guy Paul Morin, Robert Bandanovitch (check spelling), etc.
Thank goodness, Purolator doesn't do brain surgery or manufacture washing machines. Speaking of washing machines, thumbs up to GENERAL ELECTRIC who had a serviceperson in my home one day after I called 1-800xxxxxxxx. Now, that is service.
When it comes to murder, pretty long. Just off the top of my head, Steven Truscott, Donald Marshall, David Milgaard, Guy Paul Morin, Robert Bandanovitch (check spelling), etc.
so, when was milgaard convicted? 1969? so just extrapolating the 6 yr data of about 96,000 convictions per year, that would be 3,840,000 convictions. To be fair, crime numbers increase due to population growth so take a million out of it. That brings 2.8 million. Say, 20 wrongful convictions, ok, say 100 since Milgaard. That brings the ratio to 0.0000357%
Not to say it would be/is horrible to be wrongfully convicted, but a 0000357%error rate is pretty fricken good.
Plus I might add, in this case, it isn't proven that Unger is innocent, just that the evidence doesn't support his conviction therefore the case is dismissed. He could very well have done it and I'd lean more towards that fact since he DID confess......(but we've already discussed that).
He did not confess to police knowingly -- he was desperate for money after getting out of jail so he thought he was joining a gang and he was required to convince the gang boss that he was a though guy.
His lawyer had lots to say on that one
Figures don't lie but Liars figure. Of the cases identified what percentage involved wrong doing by the police and crown 100%
which means (wrongly) that 100% of cops are corrupt.......(least according to you....)
Mr. Unger is just the latest of a long string of wrongly convicted
Pedigree is Mennonite, as was the victim. Which doesn't mean much...half of southern Manitoba is Russian Mennonite origin.
We certainly *can* blame the police for this one. They used a "Big Brother" scam to wring a confession out of him. It's a shady tactic.
Here's what the National Post, not known for sympathy, had to say on Unger's behalf: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2139404
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