Toni — 
December 17, 2009 @ 5:31 PM — 
This morning Christmas came early for James (Jamie) Bain when a judge in Polk County vacated his conviction and dropped all charges against him. Jamie had been in prison for 35 years for a crime that DNA testing proved he didn’t commit. He was only 19 years old when he went into prison and today he walks out a 54-year-old man.
IPF Staff Attorney Melissa Montle and Executive Director Seth Miller Escort James Bain from Polk County Courthouse
Jamie submitted handwritten motions four times seeking DNA testing, but he was denied each time. He was denied the fifth time, too, but an appeals court overturned that denial. The Innocence Project of Florida (IPF) stepped in to assist Mr. Bain, and he was finally able to get the DNA testing he’d wanted for so many years, and which ultimately proved his innocence.
Jamie Bain is looking forward to seeing his mother in Tampa, and spending the holidays as a free man with his family. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
Watch CNN video of James Bain’s release and subsequent interview.
Photo credit: AP Photo/Steve Nesius
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Thank you for stepping in an helping Jamie Bain. It makes you wonder how many other innocent men and women are in Florida prisons, unable to obtain legal representation to help file the motions needed to get their cases looked at.
Thank God James Bain didn’t give up!
I hope he will be compensated
I have just read about James Bain’s release from prison after 35 years of serving a sentence for a crime of which he was innocent. I would simply like to say thank you to everyone in your organization for all you do to help those who are treated unfairly and often judged without any or enough evidence. What amazed me is the photograph of Mr. Bain and that big smile had…after 35 years he harbors no ill will toward those who robbed most of his life from him. He is an example to all of us about being able to forgive. God bless him and all of you at this holiday season. Thank you for giving us some good news to read! I would love to send a holiday card to him…would I be able to send it to your organization and you could forward it to him? Thanks.
I learned of your organizations triumph today while watching a CNN Broadcast as I sat in my living room studying for the upcoming Florida Bar Exam. As a Cardozo graduate, I studied under Barry Scheck and took great pride in the outstanding legal work that he along with my fellow students at the Innocence Project did. I attended Cardozo in the early days of the Innocence Project, when exhonorations through DNA testing were beginning to make headlines, highlighting the poor reliability of eye witnesses identifications. Attorneys Melissa Montle and Executive Director Seth Miller should be commended for their dogged search for the truth and their dedication to seeking justice. As Mr. Bain stated, God was with him, for he put people on earth like you who, not matter how high the odds are stacked against them, never lose sight of the goal of our criminal judicial system, doing justice. It is days like today that make me proud to be an attorney.
good for him, great story
Thank you~!!!!!
It’s a shame how our system can fail us. Mr. Bain lost 35 years of his life, and the real perpetrator is possibly still out there. There needs to be reform to law enforcement procedures in regards to eyewitness identification, line ups, and interrogations.
Thanks to you folks for doing this work – although I’m sure it is terrible at times, it is so necessary. Congratulations on your victory, and hope you all have a very happy holiday season!
my brother is to incarcerated for wrongful stuff that never happened so i hope someone can to help him sincerely b sharp indiana
I am so amazed at the grace of this man. God bless him. I was born in 1974 and to think this man has been in prison since I was born, my entire life, I can’t get my head to understand. How is it possible that someone who has been not only thrown in prison but accused of such a horrible and disgusting crime that he never commited, could come out of prison with such grace? I am so thankful The Innocence Project can right the wrongs of so many. My thoughts and prayers and the most heart felt of Christmas wishes to you Mr. Bain. May you and your family have the most blessed Christmas. May God by with you and may the Lord comfort your mother now that she has her baby boy back.
Bless you,
Rebecca
God Bless the staff of the Innocence Project who worked hard to free an innocent man.
Who are these people that denied the motions for DNA testing? They should be punished? All this would have ended a long time ago.
I wish Mr. Bain the best in life. God Bless you!
Well i read the article and was compelled to comment and personally i think that if he was really innocent of the charge and spent that many years in prison then since 1975 , I also read that the state was going to offer him 1.75 million and i think that the real number should be a minimum 175 Million Dollars
I read the State was going to offer him 1.75 million and i think once again that James Bain is being cheated, Somebody needs to tell James Bain that a million dollars is int what it used to be, In 1975 1 million dollars was a lot of money, maybe but these days that’s not that much money. They need to change that from 1.75 million to something like a minimum of 175 Million Dollars
And i think anybody incarcerated should be given a chance to DNA test and not be turned down or denied a DNA test to prove there innocence
i am also fighting the wrongful conviction of my son, for a crime he did not commit.
can anyone tell me where to go to get heip. i already talked with someone at the Innocene project of new orleans, but i was told all appeals process have to be exhausted before they could help, and that could take up to ten years.