Court: Racial bias did not lead NYC judge to convict man

October 3 2014

 

In October of 1999 Supreme Court Judge Frank Barbaro thought for sure Donald Kagan was guilty of homicide. However Judge Barbaro's motives were merely based off of personal beliefs; Judge Barbaro believed that Donald Kagan killed Wavell Wint because he was Black. Due to this prejudice Donald Kagan was convicted of the murder of 23 year old Wavell Wint. For 15 years Kagan sat in prison, and for 15 years Barbaro contemplated the conviction. Was this a good decision? So after all of this time Judge Barbaro decided to testify against his own word upon the release of Donald Kagan. Finally, October 14th Kagan is expecting a parole hearing and will hopefully be released.

 

Yes, sometimes we as humans can get involved in our feelings, but for them to affect the life of another isn't right. Barbora allowed his prejudice to cloud his mind and at the expense of Kagan's life. And no matter how many times Barbora apologizes Kagan will not get those years of life back. Barbora's request to release Kagan came about because "he believed that he denied a fair trial to a white man who claimed he killed a black man in self-defense." This statement reminded me of the 6th amendment which is the right to a fair trial. in this case Judge Barbora did not give Kagan a fair trial which resulted in 15 years wasted.

 

Carver, Marina Carver. "Court: Racial Bias Did Not Lead NYC Judge to Convict Man." Cnn.cm. ©  2014 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved, 2 Oct. 2014. Web. 3 Oct. 2014.