A resident of the US city of Chicago, Illinois, served eight years in prison for a crime he did not commit, proved his innocence and became a lawyer, reports the Unilad edition.
Jarrett Adams was charged with rape after attending a party at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1998. Adams and two of his friends were arrested and charged with sexual harassment, despite the fact that the testimony of the witness contradicted the statements of the prosecutor.
One of his friends was able to afford the services of a private lawyer and did not spend a day in prison. His charges were dropped after the police turned to important testimony.
The American, who was provided with a public defender, and his second friend were sentenced to 20 years in prison. At the same time, the judge gave Adams an additional nine years, since he refused to apologize for the rape, which did not exist. Adams stated that all three were completely innocent and treated unfairly because of their skin color.
After a year and a half spent behind bars, Adams’ cellmate gave him the idea to go to the library and independently study why his defense had failed. He learned that the public defender had violated his rights by failing to find and summon a known witness to the court.
Using newspapers he had access to in prison, Adams found lawyers who could help him challenge his case, and was able to work with one of them to write a complaint. In 2004, The Innocence Project, a non-profit legal organization that seeks to justify wrongfully convicted people, took up the Adams case.
Eight years after Adams’ arrest, lawyers from the organization challenged the case in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. In February 2007, all charges against him were dropped.
After he was released, Adams enrolled in college and earned an associate degree, followed by a bachelor’s degree in criminal law. He graduated from Loyola University of Chicago Law School in May 2015 and was hired by The Innocence Project.
Adams has already helped several innocent convicts to be released. Including Kevin Bailey, who spent 30 years in prison for the 1989 murder he did not commit, and Richard Beranek, who was wrongly charged with sex offenses in 1990.