Error keeps man out of prison for 13 years, Prison finds out

[King Ghidorah]

For more than a decade a Missouri man waited for the day he would begin serving time for an armed robbery he committed in 1999. But it wasn't until Cornealious "Mike" Anderson was supposed to be released that the state realized he was never behind bars.

"If he served his time he would have been released last summer. Since 2002 Anderson has been getting his life back together, he started a business, built a home, coaches football and he started a family." (Via WLTX)

The state chalked up the mistake to a clerical error. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison which was supposed to begin in 2002 after he lost his appeal but instead he was simply forgotten about.

According to a Change.org petition, he never tried to run, lived an honest life and stayed put in St. Louis, where he now has a wife and four kids. When the day came that the state realized its mistake, "They raided his house with a SWAT team and ripped him from his home without warning, hauled him off to prison and told him he now had to serve 13 years."

Anderson's attorneys are petitioning to have him released, arguing he is a rehabilitated man and making him serve his time now would be "cruel and unusual punishment."

The Riverfront Times talked to the dean of Saint Louis University School of Law who said, "I don't have any clue what happens now. I can see that a person wouldn't want to call up and say, 'Remember me? I owe you 13 years.' And then the real question is: Should we take into account the fact that he apparently has been a good citizen?"

But CBS talked to Tim Lohmar, the current prosecutor for St. Charles County, where Anderson committed the robbery. He says someone messed up big in this case, however.

"It's very difficult for me to say we can create an exception and we can allow somebody who has found a way, whether it was by his own doing or otherwise, to not have to serve a sentence."

The state attorney general has until next week to respond. Until then Anderson says all he can do is believe everything will work out in his favor. If he does have to serve time he will be behind bars until 2026.

www.ktvu.com/news/news/national/clerical-error-keeps-missouri-man-out-prison-13-ye/nfYdc/

[Deleted]

I can imagine him as a kid saying on the first day of class, "My name is Cornealious. It's spelled C-o-r-n-a, wait, no, it's C-o-r-n-e-a-l-i-e, wait... you know what, call me Mike".

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

I mean, that's kinda bullshit. I get that they don't want to let him go with no jail time but the error was on the system's part. It's not like he was some troublemaker either, he put his freedom to good use.

[Mister Pigwell]

Yeah I'm all for serving time when you've done something wrong and all... but this is hardly his fault the system failed to lock him up, he wasn't exactly hiding. Locking him up now is just for revenge and not in any way going to make him be a better person. If anything it'll push him back into trouble.

[The Sam]

This was on "This American Life" about a month ago. They interviewed Cornelius, the D.A. and the manager of the fast food restaurant he robbed. Really interesting story.

[Mister Pigwell]

What did the manager have to say?

Does he still want the guy to serve time?

[King Ghidorah]

Apr 14, 2014 23:06:58 GMT -5 Mister Pigwell said:

What did the manager have to say?

Does he still want the guy to serve time?

No, he was happy with the guy getting his life on track

[Ryback on a Pole!]

If the guy has turned his life around then this is bullshit. Poor guy. This isn't to do anything. It's not like they're making the streets safer by keeping this guy behind bars. This is more than likely going to undo all his hard work in getting straight.

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

I think it says a lot about the prison system (and not just in the USA either, it's pretty much the same everywhere) that the guy managed to reform by staying accidentally free when we all know that had he gone to prison, he would probably have gotten himself in more trouble, would have missed out on learning (legal) skills that could help him get back on track in his civilian life, would have suffered emotional and psychological trauma that would have handicapped his ability to re-enter society and may well have joined a gang and become a career criminal, not to mention he would have been virtually incapable of finding a decent job with a 13 years hole in his résumé filled with "was in prison".

So of course, now that he's reformed and has become a productive and respectable member of society, they want to ruin it by sending him to jail anyway, which will no doubt make him lose his job and estrange him from his friends and family, with said family having to deal without him and his support for 13 years. Because remember, prison is not for rehabilitating criminals, it's for punishing and hopefully breaking them, ruining their life and encouraging them to commit more crimes.

Look, I get that some individuals really must be removed from society, at least until they are given the help that will allow the rehabilitation process to begin, but common sense should always take precedence over protocol, when the guy has already reformed and gone straight, then what is the point in locking him up? Unless of course we are willing to admit that, as a society, we don't care about re-instating people who made mistakes into society but instead just want petty, counter-productive vengeance against them.

It's not even like the guy was in hiding or gaming the system. They knew where he was, he didn't move to a different town. Make him pay damages to the place he robbed (if that hasn't been done already), maybe give him a symbolic sentence like a few days of community service and move on. Everyone will be happier that way. Don't f'n send a SWAT team to raid his house which, again, speaks volume about what the system thinks of rehabilitation.

[Deleted]

Straight up bullshit. Especially the whole raided his house with a SWAT team thing. Seems like overkill to me.

[Toxik916]

Bullshit. Dude is clearly a productive member of society now and serving this sentence will do no good to him nor his community.

[Deleted]

I am always the "string them up" guy. I hate criminals.

But I just don't see what they hope to achieve with sending him to prison.

A much better idea would be: A 13 year weekend community service deal. He get's to stay home, and he actually repays his debt. And he should pay back the money he stole.

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

This is like some straight up real life Les Miserables type bullshit.

[Push R Truth]

I'm shitting my pants because I just remembered that one time Madison banned me but I was still able to post the entire time.

[Blindkarevik]

This guy's gotta be let go free.... and I hope everyone who aided in his capture are lined up so he can kick each one in the dick on the way out.

[Amazing Kitsune]

I believe people should properly punished for crimes and serve their time. I'm pretty Punic when it comes to these sort of things.

That being said, I'm not sure what interest is being served at this point. The state screwed up. Yes, the guy should have told somebody and served his time, but he didn't. That's a lot to ask anybody to do and, quite frankly, it's not supposed to be your job to ensure that the state does what it's supposed to do in instances like this.

He should repay his debt to society in some other way, but I don't see how sending him to prison benefits the state or society as a whole.

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

Apr 15, 2014 16:46:08 GMT -5 Amazing Kitsune said:

I believe people should properly punished for crimes and serve their time. I'm pretty Punic when it comes to these sort of things.

That being said, I'm not sure what interest is being served at this point. The state screwed up. Yes, the guy should have told somebody and served his time, but he didn't. That's a lot to ask anybody to do and, quite frankly, it's not supposed to be your job to ensure that the state does what it's supposed to do in instances like this.

He should repay his debt to society in some other way, but I don't see how sending him to prison benefits the state or society as a whole.

I'd say having reformed and become a productive member of society was one hell of a way to repay his debt to it.

[Amazing Kitsune]

Apr 15, 2014 17:07:29 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

Apr 15, 2014 16:46:08 GMT -5 Amazing Kitsune said:

I believe people should properly punished for crimes and serve their time. I'm pretty Punic when it comes to these sort of things.

That being said, I'm not sure what interest is being served at this point. The state screwed up. Yes, the guy should have told somebody and served his time, but he didn't. That's a lot to ask anybody to do and, quite frankly, it's not supposed to be your job to ensure that the state does what it's supposed to do in instances like this.

He should repay his debt to society in some other way, but I don't see how sending him to prison benefits the state or society as a whole.

I'd say having reformed and become a productive member of society was one hell of a way to repay his debt to it.

He did that on his own--he didn't do it as a service to the state or as a penance for his crime(Even if that motivated him personally). He broke the law, was convicted of a crime, and did not receive a punishment. It's great and a testament to the man that he improved his life, which is why I say he shouldn't go to prison. He still owes the state and society something, though. We wouldn't want a man unjustly killed based on a clerical error and we simultaneously don't want a felon completely freed of his obligation to society based on a clerical error.

The state royally screwed up--they should be extremely lenient. That being said, it sets a terrible precedent to let him off the hook completely. He should allow him to do some sort of community service and call it a day. Something needs to be done.

More power to the guy if he gets off the hook completely, though.

If it's decided that he needs to serve the full prison sentence, then it's unjust and there needs to be a campaign to get the guy pardoned.

[Toxik916]

Apr 15, 2014 17:21:15 GMT -5 Amazing Kitsune said:

Apr 15, 2014 17:07:29 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

I'd say having reformed and become a productive member of society was one hell of a way to repay his debt to it.

He did that on his own--he didn't do it as a service to the state or as a penance for his crime(Even if that motivated him personally). He broke the law, was convicted of a crime, and did not receive a punishment. It's great and a testament to the man that he improved his life, which is why I say he shouldn't go to prison. He still owes the state and society something, though. We wouldn't want a man unjustly killed based on a clerical error and we simultaneously don't want a felon completely freed of his obligation to society based on a clerical error.

The state royally screwed up--they should be extremely lenient. That being said, it sets a terrible precedent to let him off the hook completely. He should allow him to do some sort of community service and call it a day. Something needs to be done.

More power to the guy if he gets off the hook completely, though.

If it's decided that he needs to serve the full prison sentence, then it's unjust and there needs to be a campaign to get the guy pardoned.

I agree with a lot of what you just said, but isn't serving time in prison meant to rehabilitate the offender and not just a timeout from society? If rehabilitation is truly the main objective of a prison sentence then this man has indeed paid his debt to society already.

[Amazing Kitsune]

Apr 15, 2014 17:41:50 GMT -5 Toxik916 said:

Apr 15, 2014 17:21:15 GMT -5 Amazing Kitsune said:

He did that on his own--he didn't do it as a service to the state or as a penance for his crime(Even if that motivated him personally). He broke the law, was convicted of a crime, and did not receive a punishment. It's great and a testament to the man that he improved his life, which is why I say he shouldn't go to prison. He still owes the state and society something, though. We wouldn't want a man unjustly killed based on a clerical error and we simultaneously don't want a felon completely freed of his obligation to society based on a clerical error.

The state royally screwed up--they should be extremely lenient. That being said, it sets a terrible precedent to let him off the hook completely. He should allow him to do some sort of community service and call it a day. Something needs to be done.

More power to the guy if he gets off the hook completely, though.

If it's decided that he needs to serve the full prison sentence, then it's unjust and there needs to be a campaign to get the guy pardoned.

I agree with a lot of what you just said, but isn't serving time in prison meant to rehabilitate the offender and not just a timeout from society? If rehabilitation is truly the main objective of a prison sentence then this man has indeed paid his debt to society already.

Rehabilitation is the major goal for most offenders, not all of course. Punishment is also an integral part of the whole process. It's a combination of punishment and rehabilitation. They're both important parts of the process.

He's got the rehabilitation part down but not the punishment. Though this is an extraordinary situation. I'm not saying he should be imprisoned or pay a huge fine, or anything like that. If they could have him do some sort of community service for a couple of years to compensate for his crime, I think that'd be more than fair.