Innocent Man

INNOCENT MAN

Written by: Barry P. Foley
Copyright © 2 May 2021

A 2022 report of Wrongful Convictions reviewed over 3,200 cases of innocent defendants exonerated in the United States since 1989. Researchers found that Black people were 7 times more likely to be wrongfully convicted as they were more likely to be the targets of police misconduct, and more likely to be imprisoned longer before being exonerated.

Of the 75 innocent death-row defendants who spent 30 years or longer in prison before being exonerated, 67% are Black. And yet we still have 12 states that do not have compensation laws in case of wrongful convictions: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Lying in the bed in Huntsville, I’m an innocent man
Holding my Anni’s picture, trying to understand
Tomorrow I’ll walk out those gates, 12 years of my life is gone
Oh, Anni, I’m coming home

My Anni’s stood by me, just like she said she would
She believed that I was innocent, she always understood
She’s held her head up high, refusing to bare the shame
Oh Anni, it’s all is gonna change

I know it was always tough on Reggie, that black cloud over him in school
The Marines will make him man, I remember Camp Lejune
I get it that might blame me, he come around in time
Oh, Anni, we’ll be just fine

Let’s move back home to Port Aransas, I’ll work the shrimp boat with Uncle Bill
They caught the dirty Houston cops, that sent me back to Huntsville
The judge has overturned my case, the states gonna have to pay
Oh Anni, let me take the pain away

Can’t wait to make love to my Anni, hold her close all night long
Take quiet walks out on the island, spends our days all alone
Start our life over, go live in Grandma’s old house
Oh Anni, I miss you so