Kansas Man Faces 12-Year Sentence for Rape That Allegedy Never Happened
An innocent man may have been convicted in Kansas after he was found guilty of committing an atrocious crime by the jury. But there is a significant conflict of if Albert Wilson did the crime he was sentenced for or if this is just a case of racial discrimination.
The details seem to lean towards the fact that the 23-year-old man is innocent, but the jury seemed to disagree.
On the night of a lovely evening in September 2016, 20-year-old Albert walked out with a friend to have some fun at a bar in his college, University of Kansas; little did he know that this night would change his life forever.
At the bar, Wilson met a 17-year-old girl who was visiting one of her family members in KU and soon after, the two kids who are yet to reach the legal drinking age hit it off.
After meeting, they decided to move the party to the dance floor popularly known as the "Boom Boom Room" where they danced and also did a bit of touching. According to reports, Wilson allegedly lifted the girl's skirt while he touched and kissed her.
At some point, Albert invited the girl back to his place which was not far from the bar, and she agreed to go with him. Although one colossal mistake that was made was that both parties were not interested in knowing each other's age and no one remembered to ask.
The victim, however, claimed that the then 20-year-old raped her at his place, but this was denied by Wilson who claimed nothing like that happened. In his report to the jury, the 23-year-old said, "she didn’t seem intoxicated at all," further claiming that they engaged in other sexual acts but never had sexual intercourse.
Also according to scientific reports collected by a local nurse the day after the alleged incident happened, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation scientists testified that Wilson’s DNA was found on the girl’s chest — where he said he kissed her — but no seminal fluid or DNA was found.
Unfortunately, all the evidence and the young man's cry of innocence fell on deaf ears, and the jury (an all-white jury) ruled against Wilson sentencing him to 12 years in prison. During the trial, Wilson confessed to the court that he had previously lied about not recalling the events of that night because,
“I don’t know how to explain this, but I come from a different background than you, ma’am,” said Wilson, who is black to Judge Sally Pokorny, who is white. “… I just felt like the police [were] against me at that point.”“I don’t know how to explain this, but I come from a different background than you, ma’am,” said Wilson, who is black to Judge Sally Pokorny, who is white. “… I just felt like the police [were] against me at that point.”
His attorney, Forrest Lowry, also maintained that his client was innocent and that he is a respectable 23-year-old who was a Wichita Southeast High School football player with no criminal record.
“It was a chance meeting. Obviously, my client misread what was going on. If there was ever a case that deserved a departure of any kind, I think this is it.” — Forest Lowry.
Many people on social media seem to agree with the lawyer and are outraged with the court's penance with most stating that the convict was not a just and fair one.One Twitter user commented,
"You mean to tell me there is video of her showing interest in him, walking back normal and there is no evidence or DNA that they had and he got 12 years in prison?!? Wtf!!! Then an all-white jury with majority women. He was set up to fail smh #AlbertWilson."
Some others who strongly believe in Albert's innocence also created a website where questions and answers fixated on his innocence can be accessed and read by people. It is sad to see an innocent man go down for a crime he didn't commit, but all one can do is hope that at the end of it all, the truth prevails.
