VOA慢速英语2015 被关死囚牢房数年后获释,男子继续帮助他人

After Years on Death Row, Freed Man Helps Others 被关死囚牢房数年后获释,男子继续帮助他人

Anthony Graves spent 12 years on death row as a prisoner in a Texas jail.

安东尼·格雷夫斯在德克萨斯州监狱的死囚牢房里关了12年。

But Graves was innocent.

但他是无辜的。

He spent many years fighting his sentence.A court overturned his conviction.He was exonerated¹.

多年来他一直为自己的审判结果抗争。一个法庭推翻了他的判决，他被无罪开释了。

He now fights for criminal justice reform in the United States.

现在他正为美国的刑事司法改革而奋斗。

Graves was convicted of murdering a family of six in 1994.The 49-year-old man spent 19 years in prison.For over half of those years, he was scheduled to be executed.

1994年，格雷夫斯被指控杀害了一家六口。当时49岁的他被关了19年，在这些年里有一半的时间他都在等待处决。

Graves was cleared of the murder charges and was released from prison five years ago.Today, he speaks of criminal injustice² while making public appearances.

五年前，格雷夫斯洗脱了谋杀罪名，并从监狱释放。他不停在公开场合露面，为司法不公发声。

Graves says he has no bitterness over his years in jail.He says he uses his story “to educate people” about “the injustice that is going on in our criminal justice system.”

格雷夫斯称自己对在监狱中度过的这些年并无怨言，只是用自己的故事“告诉人们，我们的刑事司法体系中确实存在不公”。

Even when he was cleared in 2000, Graves remained in prison.Ten years later,he finally became the twelfth Texas death row prisoner cleared of criminal charges.

即使是在他洗脱罪名的2000年，格雷夫斯依然待在监狱里。十年后，他终于成为了德克萨斯州第十二个洗脱谋杀罪名的死刑犯。

Graves wants the justice system reformed– including the death penalty and crime lab misconduct.He was named to Houston’s Forensic³ Science Center board of directors earlier this year.

格雷夫斯希望司法体系能够改革——也包括死刑判决和取证实验室的不正当行为。今年初他被任命为休斯顿法医科学中心的名誉理事。

He hopes to prevent future convictions that are wrong.

他希望未来能够避免冤假错案。

“I want to stay in your face every day to remind you that we need to do better,”Graves said of the criminal justice system.

“我想每天都在你们面前晃，好提醒你们需要进步。”格雷夫斯在谈及刑事司法体系的时候说。

And the prosecutor⁴ who put Graves in jail?His license⁵ to practice law was taken away this year.A panel of attorneys found Charles Sebesta guilty of misconduct.

至于把格雷夫斯投入监狱的检察官，他从事法律行业的执照已于今年吊销。一个由律师组成的小组委员会发现了查尔斯·塞巴斯塔的不正当行为。

Graves said he “never thought that a young, African-American man from the projects could file a grievance⁶ against a powerful,white DA in Texas and win,” he told Texas Monthly.

格雷夫斯说他“从没想过一个年轻的黑人能够伸冤，能跟势力强大的白人地方检察官对抗，最后居然还赢了。”他在接受《德克萨斯月刊》采访时说。

Still, Graves said,Sebesta “should be tried before a court of law to answer to charges of attempted murder.”

但是，格雷夫斯也说，塞巴斯塔“应该在接受法庭审判前回应杀人未遂的指控”。

That would have been Graves’ execution.

这将是格雷夫斯的“处决”。

Words in This Story

convict – v. to prove that someone is guilty of a crime in a court of law

exonerate– v. to prove that someone is not guilty of a crime

death row – n.  part of a prison where prisoners who will be killed as punishment for their crimes live until they are killed

forensic – adj. relating to the use of scientific knowledge or methods in solving crimes

penalty – n. punishment for breaking a rule or law

1 exonerated   

v.使免罪，免除( exonerate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The police report exonerated Lewis from all charges of corruption. 警方的报告免除了对刘易斯贪污的所有指控。
• An investigation exonerated the school from any blame. 一项调查证明该学校没有任何过失。 来自辞典例句

2 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

3 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

4 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。

5 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

6 grievance   

n.怨愤，气恼，委屈

参考例句：

• He will not easily forget his grievance.他不会轻易忘掉他的委屈。
• He had been nursing a grievance against his boss for months.几个月来他对老板一直心怀不满。