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Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Man Who Avoided Prison For 13 Years Seeks Release

A St. Louis man who avoided prison because of a clerical error and led a law-abiding life for more than a decade before he was locked up last year is asking a Missouri judge to set him free.

A petition filed by Cornealious Michael Anderson in Mississippi County Circuit Court on Tuesday seeks to require the Missouri Department of Corrections to credit the 13 years he was technically at large after a May 2000 armed robbery conviction in suburban St. Louis.

It's a legal option previously suggested by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, who at the same time defended the state's decision to imprison Anderson. Anderson's Florida-based attorney had previously said he was skeptical of that strategy.
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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm all for law and order but there is room and a need for exceptions to be made from time to time. This man should receive clemency. No good would come from sending him off to prison at this point in time. Some will say he needs to be punished, but does the need for punishment outweigh the likely ramifications that would cause such as costing him his job, the financial burden that would be placed on his family.
He made a stupid choice to rob a Burger King but he's clearly been rehabilitated and has gone off to be a productive tax paying member of society.

Anonymous said...

A great comment from the linked article-
"The state failed to have him report to prison for 13 years. Then they swooped down on him and hauled him away once they realized their mistake. Isn't that how the government functions in totalitarian regimes? Didn't we just see some of that with the cattle farmer out west?

It seems this fellow has turned his life around, without assistance from the Department of Corrections. Now that he has become a useful citizen they want to lock him up. If this were a "jailhouse conversion" I would not be for seeing him set free. In this case it appears the system totally screwed up with no accountability. They did not know he was not incarcerated until it was time for a hearing about his release."

Anonymous said...

He was convicted of armed robbery.....do crime do the time.....no excuses....it wasn't like he avoided an unpaid parking ticket.

Anonymous said...

I would agree 12:23 except for the dismal rehabilitation rate of the US corrections system. This is by design. Prison has become a huge money maker for some.

Anonymous said...

Send him to prison now and he will come out a criminal.

Anonymous said...

If you do the crime, you must do the time!

Anonymous said...

@12:15 What about the financial burden that he placed on the business he robbed? Most CRIMINALS claim they have turned their life around - most of the time it is commonly called HIDDING IN PLAIN SITE! If he had murdered someone then everyone would be ready to send him to prison! CRIME = TIME!!!!

Anonymous said...

Most criminals who claim to have turned their lives around are doing so while still behind bars. That's not a true picture since, the opportunity to prove they have, hasn't presented itself. He has truly shown in the past 13 years that he has turned his life around. He has learned from the stupid choice he made.
I hate criminals and you can't get any more right politically than myself, but I do believe in people and giving them a 2nd chance if they have proved themselves and to me this guy has. If the crime he was convicted of was murder, I would not agree with clemency and would want him locked up and the key thrown away.

ExSPD192 said...

Hey, he got married.......time served!

Anonymous said...

Let the man go.

Anonymous said...

Guys should get earned income credit for getting married.