Читать книгу Convict Life at the Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater, Minnesota онлайн

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There are to date several authentic cases on record where by means of this new method of identification prisoners were acquitted, notwithstanding the fact that circumstantial evidence in the hands of the prosecuting attorney was overwhelmingly against the accused. One case was that of a man who had broken his parole from a penitentiary. While absolutely innocent, he was arrested and charged with having committed a certain crime. He could offer no proof without divulging the fact that he had violated his parole, (he still had about two years to serve), but realizing that he was about to be sentenced for eight or ten years on the present charge, he chose the lesser of the two evils and informed the [pg 21] [pg 22] [pg 23] authorities of his identity. Investigation disclosed the fact that he had not been released from the penitentiary when the alleged crime was committed. This incident demonstrates conclusively that the finger-print system not only detects the wrongdoer, but greatly assists in preventing a miscarriage of justice.