Legal Commentary

Life Is Good When You Can Chew Gum and Watch the Sunrise

By TChris

Alan Beaman has always denied killing his "on again, off again girlfriend." A jury nonetheless convicted him in 1995. Last month, the Illinois Supreme Court concluded that the outcome of his trial may have been different if prosecutors hadn't withheld evidence implicating another of the murdered woman's boyfriends.

In an opinion by Justice Thomas Kilbride, the court said evidence against Beaman was “not particularly strong.”

“We cannot have confidence in the verdict finding (Beaman) guilty of this crime given the tenuous nature of the circumstantial evidence against him, along with the nondisclosure of critical evidence that would have countered the state’s argument that all other potential suspects had been eliminated from consideration,” Kilbride wrote.

The prosecution, unwilling to admit that it may have convicted the wrong man, intends to bring Beaman to trial again. A couple of days ago, he was released on bond. After spending 13 years in prison, the things he enjoyed during his first few hours of freedom included: watching the sunrise, chewing gum, and playing with dogs.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 28, 2008 (boomark / email).