I regularly download several pod-casts from NPR. I listen to them as I jog or drive. The programs almost always seem to air at times I cannot listen, or cannot listen with attention. So I time shift. One of my favorites is This American Life with Ira Glass.
They recently reran a story that originally aired in February of 2005. The story was very disturbing and uplifting all at the same time. It is a crime story. It is legal drama. It is a story of redemption. It is a story about a man who was randomly picked out of a mug book by teenager. The young man claimed he saw a murder when in reality he did not. He was being bullied by the police detective during the interview and just wanted it over. So he pointed to a face in a book. That innocent face spent the next 21 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
Either the police and legal system were lazy, incompetent, or overwhelmed, but the end result was prison. The newly convicted man fortunately had a childhood friend who spent the next 21 years working to get him out of prison. This is that story. I am not ashamed to admit that by the end I had tears in my eyes.
I go back and forth about the death penalty, but this story is a good argument against it. Below is a link to the page on This American Life website that has the story and you can download the podcast and listen to it.