THE PENDULUM NEWS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2010//PAGE 9
NEWS BRIEFS
HEATHER CASSANO | Staff Photographer
Gregory Taylor spent 17 years In prison for a crime he didn’t commit before being exonerated with the help of the North Carolina Center on
Actual Innocence. Taylor visited Elon Sept. 16 to share his experiences with students, faculty and the community.
Exonerated prisoner weaves
message of experience, lessons
Caitlin O’Donnell
News Editor
Gregory Taylor missed
his daughter’s high school
and college graduations,
her wedding and the birth
of his grandson, all for a
crime he didn't commit.
Taylor, who spent nearly
17 in years in prison before
being exonerated earlier this
year, visited Elon University
Sept. 16 along with Christine
Mumma, director of the
North Carolina Center on
Actual Innocence, to offer
the Constitutional Day
address as the fall 2010 Law
and Humanities Lecturers.
In 1991, Taylor was
a typical husband and
father who also lived as a
functioning addict. While
drinking and doing drugs
in downtown Raleigh one
night, Mumma said Taylor
and a friend came across
the body of a beaten woman
in the middle of a cul-de-
sac. Because Taylor's truck
had gotten stuck in the
mud near the scene of the
crime that night, the police
assumed Taylor and his
friend were involved.
Though he maintained
his innocence and no real
evidence of his guilt were
found, Taylor was arrested,
charged with murder and
sentenced to life in prison.
When he was first
detained, Taylor said he
wanted the world to know
he was irmocent.
“It was the perfect storm
of bad luck," he Sciid. “1 had
a period of hope where I
thought that my family
would find (someone) to
help.”
That time never came.
Taylor was the first
wrongfully convicted
defendant proven
innocent by the North
Carolina Innocence Inquiry
Commission. Mumma said
a total of three defendants
have been exonerated
through the commission,
and two others as a result of
the Duke Center on Actual
Innocence.
“Most who apply (for
help) are guilty, but the
problem is that some of
them are not," Mumma
said.“What makes me angry
is that we have a justice
system with errors, and it
takes us so much to identify
them."
After exhausting every
legal remedy possible,
Mumma said Taylor was
procedurally bcirred from
pursuing any other options.
That was until Mumma
and her colleagues got
involved. In September
2009, an eight member
panel voted that there was
significant evidence for
his innocence. Mumma
then represented Taylor
before three judges who
declared him innocent. He
was released from prison in
February.
According to Mumma,
the State Bureau of
Investigation mishandled
evidence and lab work,
reporting that the blood
found on Taylor's truck was
human blood. In reality,
it was from an insect. The
SBI is currently under
investigation for corruption
and their lab director
recently lost his job.
Testimonies and other
evidence used to prosecute
Taylor were cilso disproven
through Mumma's work.
Once a trial leaves the
HEATHER CASSANO 1 Staft Photographer
Christine Munnma, director of the North Carolina Center on Actual
Innocence, shared details that proved Taylor’s innocence.
jury, Mumma said appeals
courts no longer want to
hear about the facts, they
focus simply on the law.
“What we need is a post
conviction process that
focuses on the innocence,"
she said.
During the course of the
17 years he spent in prison,
Taylor worked as a librarian
and had zero infractions,
which Mumma said is nearly
impossible.
He said he tried to stay to
himself as much as possible
to avoid trouble.
“People in prison have
their own agendas,” he said.
“If you stay out of it, they’ll
leave you alone.”
Taylor said his family
was a large source of
support and rarely missed
the chance to visit him and
provide encouragement.
“They were there every
week and did what they
could to lift me up," he
said.
Wrestling with innocence
while incarcerated is
draining in an entirely
different way, Mumma
said.
“Being in jail for
something you didn't do is
completely different than
being in there for something
you do,” she said. “Society
should recognize that and
take responsibility when
exoneration happens.”
While Taylor continues
to catch up what he missed
while in jail, including time
with his daughter, cell
phones and Facebook, he
is also looking ahead to his
future.
“It's difficult to look
into the future and plan,"
he said. “I'm still in the
trcinsition time. One day
I'll feel and know that the
transition is over.”
For Mumma, the future
is simple.
“I want the guilty ones
in and the innocent ones
out,” Mumma said. “For
every innocent person in
jail, there’s a guilty one on
the street.”
Meeting to discuss sustainability on
campus
Elon University’s Student Sustainability
Council will host a Sustainability I'own
Hall Meeting on from 4:15 - 5:13 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 23 in Lindner Hall. The
Environmental Advisory Council, which
serves to raise awareness of environmental
practices and awareness, will be present
to join in the discussion.
The Student Sustainability Council is a
group of students with a common interest
in environmental issues. All members
of the Elon community are welcome to
attend the discussion.
Meacham to visit Elon
Jon Meacham, editor of “Newsweek”
and author of two New York Times
bestsellers, will discuss “'\ndrew Jackson
and the .^rt of Leadership: Old Hickory in
a New Century” at 7:30 p.m., Sept. 27, in
McCrary Theater.
Meacham, the Baird Pulitzer Price
Lecturer, will describe Jackson’s ascent to
power and the tools he used to maintain
it.
Meacham is a 1991 graduate of the
University of the South. His latest book is
titled “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in
the White House.”
School of Communications publishes
journal
Elon University’s School of
Communications published the fall
issue of its academic journal. The Elon
Journal of Undergraduate Research in
Communications. The issue contains
10 articles by students with subjects
ranging from the Daily Show to health
communication research and public
relations framing of a merger.
The fall issue marks the second issue
for the journal, which was first published
in the spring. The journal is the first of
its kind in the country. Journal editor
Byung Lee, a communications associate
professor, assembled an editorial board
of 17 School of Communications faculty
members who participated in the selection
process of the student work.
Patel to discuss economic structure of
the nation
Patel, author of "The Value of
Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society
and Redefine Democracy,” will visit Elon
at 7:30 p.m., Sept. 28, in McCrary Theatre.
Patel will discuss the current economic
crisis within the United States and the
possibility of creating a fairer society and
sustainable economy.
Elon alums recognized as Teachers of
the Year
Debra Hennelly, a 1988 graduate, was
recognized as Teacher of the Year for
Stokes County. Hennelly teaches math at
Southeastern Stokes Middle School.
Tyronna McKoy Hooker, a 2009
graduate of Elon University's master
of education program, was recently
recognized as the Teacher of the Year for
the Alamance Burlington School System.
Hooker teachers exceptional children at
Graham Middle School. She was awarded
the MidCarolina Bank Excellence in
Education award, which includes $2,000
for the winning teacher and $1,000 for his
or her school.
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