经济学人522:新奥尔良的洗冤录

　　Innocence¹ in New Orleans
新奥尔良的“洗冤录”
A shocking tale from the Big Easy
自由城里一个骇人听闻的故事
Free after 34 years
监禁34年后被释放
“IT'S all good,” Reginald Adams said as he walked free on May 12th, having spent the past 34 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. A less forgiving man might have put it differently. New Orleans police and prosecutors³ should have known they had the wrong guy back in 1979. They recovered the gun used in the murder, and linked it to another pair of criminals who had nothing to do with Mr Adams.
5月12日，被误判为杀人犯的雷金纳德·亚当斯迈出了监禁了他34年的监狱，并表示：“一切都很好”。许多不像他一样宽容的人或许会觉得不可思议。事实上，新奥尔良的警方和检察官早在1979年就知道他们判错了刑。他们找到了谋杀案里使用的枪，并证实了该案件与另外两个人有关，而和亚当斯毫无关系。
新奥尔良.jpg
All the police had against Mr Adams was his confession⁴: one he gave after a marathon interview, during which police allegedly plied⁵ him with alcohol and drugs. Mr Adams got almost every detail of the crime wrong, from the calibre of weapon used to the number of shots fired to the sex and hair colour of the victim.
当初，警察一致认为亚当斯先生就是杀人凶手，因为他曾做过一个忏悔—在他接受了一个漫长的采访，并被警方不断指认涉嫌滥用酒精和毒品后。亚当斯先生几乎被指证了每一个犯罪细节，从武器的口径和开枪的次数到受害者的性别和发色。
when they first tried him. And they did not hand over to his defence team the police report tracing the gun's provenance⁶. Mr Adams's new lawyers say—and the city's current district attorney, Leon Cannizzaro, agrees—that detectives knowingly gave false testimony⁷.
在亚当斯先生第一次受审时，警方并没有给他的辩护团提供有关追踪枪支来源的报告。亚当斯先生的新律师称，该市目前的检察官列昂坎尼扎罗，通过了侦探故意提供的虚假证词。
As Mr Adams languished⁸ in prison, some of his tormentors were caught wandering off the straight and narrow. One prosecutor² became a crooked⁹ judge and was jailed for it. One of the detectives served five years for vehicular homicide. And Ronald Ulfers, the cop whose wife was murdered, is now serving life in prison for murdering his second wife.
然而，当亚当斯先生在监狱中备受煎熬时，那些迫害他的人也陆续遭受苦果。一名检察官被证实判案不公正并因此入狱；一名侦探因车祸杀人而服役五年；而受害人的丈夫罗纳德，则因杀害他的第二任妻子而锒铛入狱。
Mr Cannizzaro took only ten days to join the motion by Mr Adams's lawyers to set aside the guilty verdict. The DA said the misconduct was the worst he has seen. That is saying something. The DA's office in New Orleans has become notorious for such cases, largely from the three-decade tenure¹⁰ of former DA Harry¹¹ Connick senior, the father of a well-known singer. Most of the defective¹² cases involve"Brady violations¹³”: failures to give defendants¹⁴ all material that might be exculpatory¹⁵.
当时，坎尼扎罗先生仅用了10天的时间就否定了亚当斯的律师团要求预留有罪判决的要求。地方检察官表示这样的渎职行为是他见过的最为严重的一次。这同样也证明了一个问题。在这样的情况下，地方检察院在新奥尔良变得臭名昭著。这样的情况主要产生于前任地方检察院的高官哈利·康在位的三年内。哈利·康是一位著名歌手的父亲。在他的任期内，许多误判的案件都存在“布雷迪行为”：不能给被告充分的机会来证明他们无罪。
In one case Mr Connick's men sent John Thompson to death row for a murder he didn't commit, hiding evidence that would have helped him. Mr Thompson narrowly missed being executed. After his exoneration¹⁶, he won a 14m judgment¹⁷ against the DA's office.
在一个案例中，哈利·康等人以谋杀罪判决约翰汤普森死刑。而事实上，约翰?汤普森并没有杀人，哈利·康等人却隐瞒了可以证明他无罪的证据。汤普森先生差一点被执行死刑。他被释放后，上告哈利·康等人并获得了140万美元的补偿。
Mr Cannizzaro appealed the award, saying it would bankrupt his office. In 2011 the Supreme¹⁸ Court ruled 5-4 in his favour, saying the office should not be held liable for the acts of a “rogue prosecutor”. Dissenting¹⁹, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg wrote that Mr Connick's office had been “deliberately indifferent” to the Brady rule. The Innocence Project of New Orleans, which represented Mr Adams, counts 31 cases from the Connick era where Brady violations have been proven. Mr Connick has said that his office handled so many cases that a few mistakes were bound to occur.
坎尼扎罗先生对此判决提出上诉，声称如果这样，地方检察院将面临破产。2011年，最高法院以5：4的比例通过了他的上诉，并表示地方检察院不应该为“流氓的检察官”买单。同时，这也存在异议。鲁思·金斯伯格法官写道：哈利·康的政权已经“故意冷淡”布雷迪规则了。新奥尔良的无罪行动，释放了像亚当斯这样的在哈利·康当权期间被误判的31人，这就是一个很好的证明。康尼克先生则说他们地方检察院要处理许多案件，出一些错误是不可避免的。
Not long ago, every pillar of New Orleans's criminal-justice system was broken. Now the police and the jail are under federal decrees requiring judicial²⁰ oversight²¹ and reforms, and Mr Cannizzaro has done much to improve the DA's office. But that may be scant²² comfort for Mr Adams.
不久前，新奥尔良刑事司法体系的每一个支柱都被打破了。现在警方和监狱正在联邦法规的要求下进行司法监督和改革，坎尼扎罗先生已经对当地检察院做了许多改革。这也许是对亚当斯先生的一点微不足道的安慰。

1 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

2 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

3 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

4 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

5 plied   

v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意

参考例句：

• They plied me with questions about my visit to England. 他们不断地询问我的英国之行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They plied us with tea and cakes. 他们一个劲儿地让我们喝茶、吃糕饼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 provenance   

n.出处；起源

参考例句：

• Kato was fully aware of the provenance of these treasures.加藤完全清楚这些珍宝的来源。
• This plant's provenance is Asiadj.这种植物原产于亚洲。

7 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

8 languished   

长期受苦( languish的过去式和过去分词 )； 受折磨； 变得（越来越）衰弱； 因渴望而变得憔悴或闷闷不乐

参考例句：

• Our project languished during the holidays. 我们的计划在假期间推动得松懈了。
• He languished after his dog died. 他狗死之后，人憔悴了。

9 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

10 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

11 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

12 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

13 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

14 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

15 exculpatory   

adj.辩解的，辩明无罪的

参考例句：

16 exoneration   

n.免罪，免除

参考例句：

• Empathy for the criminal's childhood misery does not imply exoneration of the crimes he committed as an adult. 对罪犯悲惨的童年表示怜悯不等于可以免除他长大成人后所犯的罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Exoneration or rehabilitation should be made known as widely as were the original wrong decisions. 原来在什么范围内弄错的，也应该在什么范围内宣布平反。 来自互联网

17 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

18 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

19 dissenting   

adj.不同意的

参考例句：

• He can't tolerate dissenting views. 他不能容纳不同意见。
• A dissenting opinion came from the aunt . 姑妈却提出不赞同的意见。

20 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

21 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

22 scant   

adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略

参考例句：

• Don't scant the butter when you make a cake.做糕饼时不要吝惜奶油。
• Many mothers pay scant attention to their own needs when their children are small.孩子们小的时候，许多母亲都忽视自己的需求。