In an op-ed that appeared in the Los Angeles Times on the day Indiana death row inmate Darnell Williams received a stay of exe­cu­tion to allow test­ing of cru­cial DNA evi­dence that could save his life, the pros­e­cu­tor from the case, Thomas Vanes, expressed sec­ond thoughts about seek­ing the death penal­ty. He wrote:

For 13 years I served as a pros­e­cu­tor, and I was not bash­ful then in seek­ing the death penal­ty. When crim­i­nals are guilty, they deserve to be pun­ished.

But I have also learned since leav­ing the pros­e­cu­tor’s office 13 years ago that ​“the sys­tem” makes mis­takes. Last year I learned that a man named Larry Mayes, whom I had pros­e­cut­ed and con­vict­ed, had served more than 20 years for a rape he did not com­mit. How do we know? DNA test­ing.
…
Hard facts trump opin­ion and belief, as they should. It was a sober­ing les­son, and none of the easy-to-reach ratio­nal­iza­tions (just doing my job, it was the jurors who con­vict­ed him, the appel­late courts had upheld the con­vic­tion) com­plete­ly lessen the sense of respon­si­bil­i­ty — moral, if not legal — that comes with the con­vic­tion of an inno­cent man. I too had been part of ​“the system.”

(Los Angeles Times, July 28, 2003). See New Voices.

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