Susan Mellen Exonerated After 17 Years in Prison By: Nina Bharadwaj, 2nd Period

     Susan Mellen, a women who spent 17 years in prison for a crime she didn't commit, has been recently released from prison after a judge ruled her as innocent. This women was placed in prison for being judged guilty of killing a homeless man. However, it was recently discovered that the alleged witness of the crime, June Patti, is a "habitual liar." In fact, this women has performed many crimes herself, she just constantly calls the police and complains about others to make herself appear as the victim.
     Mellen, who is now 59, states "I always knew that one day God would bring the truth to the light." A judge in Los Angeles stated that Mellen's attorney failed to represent her as they should have and overturned the conviction. Mark Arnold, Superior Court Judge, states "I believe she is innocent. For that reason I believe in this case the justice system failed.
     After Patti had claimed that Mellen was guilty, she was automatically sentenced to life in prison. There was no chance of parole. Mellen hugged her three, fully grown, children after she was free and was able to hold her grandson for the first time.
     Apparently, there were three gang members that were connected with this crime. One took a polygraph test that proved Mellen was not there when the accident took place, he was. Also, the official who arrested Mellen at the time was involved in two earlier cases in which the men he arrested were innocent. Mellen has no harsh feelings towards those who arrested her. She only wants a new beginning with her family.

This article was written by Linda Deutsch and was published on October 11. This shows how recent this exoneration took place even though Mellen was arrested 17 years ago. It is so shocking to hear how it took the justice system 17 years to finally discover her innocence. They really failed in this case, and it really surprises me to know that they made a poor choice based on one witness who lacks credibility. One would think that officials would look into the background of Patti before making false assumptions. To think that if detectives had done this, it would be Patti behind bars, not Mellen, it awful. This women had to spend 17 years of her life in prison for no logical reason. She has to miss the maturing of her children all because she was not represented well. However, I believe this article should have a somewhat positive influence on the audience because Mellen never lost hope, and it proves that justice can be seen even if it takes almost twenty years to do so.

Source: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/crime/article/Woman-exonerated-freed-after-17-years-in-prison-5816134.php