10-Year Sentence Thrown Out in Sex Case
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/06/12/national/a015353D37.DTL
By SHANNON McCAFFREY (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
June 12, 2007 5:32 AM EDT
ATLANTA -
Genarlow Wilson's joy was short-lived. The Georgia man, who has become a symbol for extreme cases
of getting tough on sex offenders, was ordered released from prison by a judge who called his
10-year sentence for having consensual oral sex as a teen "a grave miscarriage of justice."
The verdict brought cheers from his legal team. His mother, Juannessa Bennett, wiped away tears
as she called it "a miracle."
But the mood dampened some 90 minutes later when the state's attorney general announced he
would appeal, which will keep the former honors student and football star behind bars for now.
Wilson's case has gained national attention, with critics saying his sentence was far too harsh.
Supporters like former President Jimmy Carter have said it raises questions about race and the
criminal justice system.
"As far as I'm concerned, this case is a throwback to Southern justice," said state Sen. Vincent
Fort, an Atlanta Democrat.
Wilson, 21, and five other male partygoers charged in the cases were black, as were the two teenage girls involved.
Wilson is serving a 10-year mandatory sentence for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old
girl in 2003, when he was 17. If his conviction is upheld, he will also be placed on Georgia's
sex offender registry.
At the time of his crime, Wilson would have faced just one year in prison if he had sexual
intercourse with the girl. The "Romeo and Juliet" exception in Georgia law also would have allowed
him to avoid the sex offender registry.
Lawmakers last year voted to close that loophole. But the state's top court said the new law could
not be applied retroactively to Wilson's case.
Opponents of Wilson's release said it could lead to similar legal challenges. Georgia prisons
currently hold 189 inmates who were sentenced for aggravated child molestation when they were
21 or younger.
snip--->
"The fact that Genarlow Wilson has spent two years in prison for what is now classified as
a misdemeanor, and without assistance from this Court, will spend eight more years in prison,
is a grave miscarriage of justice," wrote Judge Thomas H. Wilson, no relation to Genarlow Wilson.
"If this court or any court cannot recognize the injustice of what has occurred here, then our
court system has lost sight of the goal our judicial system has always strived to accomplish ...
...justice being served in a fair and equal manner," the judge wrote.
Wilson's mother was jubilant at the prospect of her son's freedom and looked stricken when she
learned of the appeal.
"It's heartbreaking," Bennett said.
More at link......... Ten years in prison, at the age of 17 because he had oral sex with a 15 yr. old girl.
Outrageous!!