From: kfl@KeithLynch.net   
      
   Dorothy J Heydt  wrote:   
   > Cryptoengineer  wrote:   
   >> I, too, attended my 50th high school reunion a couple weeks ago,   
   >> but had to travel a bit further - it was held in London, at the   
   >> East India Club.   
      
   >> About 30 people were there, including one who tried to revive a   
   >> dispute dating back to when we were 12 years old.   
      
   My high school is in the sort of area that successful people move to,   
   not the sort of area that successful people move away from.   
      
   That being said, Trent, the classmate who gave me a ride, had long   
   since moved to British Columbia, where he's working as a pharmacist.   
   I can understand why people would want to leave the US.   
      
   >> Keith isn't the only one who can hold a grudge.   
      
   As a reminder, my wrongful conviction isn't something that happened 48   
   years ago.  It's something that started 48 years ago and is ongoing.   
   It still has major effects on me.  In some ways it gradually gets   
   better -- I got my right to vote back in 2016.  In other ways it   
   gradually gets worse -- I was able to go to Canada for Worldcons   
   in 1994 and 2003 but not in 2009.   
      
   I have no grudges against anyone in my high school class.  Indeed, it   
   was several of my classmates who actually investigated and ultimately   
   proved my innocence.   
      
   After talking with those classmates during at least two visits, the   
   crime victim was convinced of my innocence, for three reasons:   
      
   * The burglar climbed in through the ceiling.  At the time I was   
     obese and not at all athletic.  (I lost the weight in the '80s,   
     and have kept it off ever since.)   
      
   * The burglar wrote something on the wall.  They proved that was not   
     my writing by showing him letters I wrote them from prison.  The   
     content of those letters also told him of my character, interests,   
     and skills.   
      
   * There was a third identical burglary the following weekend, by which   
     time I was in jail, so I obviously couldn't have done that one.   
      
   Don Reisler agreed to hire me to be a computer programmer, sight   
   unseen, directly out of prison, if I made parole.  I was able to   
   inform the parole board of this at my parole hearing.   
      
   Reisler hired a lawyer to get my conviction overturned.  This lawyer   
   informed us of Virginia's notorious 21-day rule.  If you were   
   convicted of murdering me in the Old Dominion, and I were to show up   
   alive and well 22 days later, they'd go ahead and execute you, as   
   proof of innocence is irrelevant after three weeks.   
      
   It could be worse.  Texas is scheduled to execute Robert Roberson next   
   month even though he was proven innocent.  There's no legal route to   
   overturn his wrongful conviction or to not execute him.  In Texas,   
   unlike most states, the governor does not have the power to pardon   
   convicts.   
      
   I worked at DBS for a year.  The writing was still on the wall.  It   
   wasn't my roommate's writing either.  I have no idea whose it was.  I   
   remained friends with Reisler for the rest of his life.  (He died in   
   2012.)   
      
   After a year at DBS I went to work for SAIC, a defense contractor,   
   with the help of a friend (another high school classmate) who worked   
   there.  I got a security clearance.  On my SF-86 form I explained the   
   circumstances of my wrongful conviction.  The federal government   
   accepted my explanation after interviewing Reisler, my friends, my   
   parents, and others.   
      
   I'm still officially a convicted felon.  But I think being viewed   
   as innocent by the crime victim, by the federal government, and by   
   everyone who knows me well is pretty persuasive, as is the fact that   
   my record is otherwise perfectly clean before and since.  Nor have I   
   ever in my life been fired, sued, committed, or had anyone ask for a   
   restraining order or protective order against me, nor have I ever been   
   on any form of public assistance.   
      
   I've check with a lawyer -- a different one each time -- about once a   
   decade.  They all agree that there's not yet any way to overturn my   
   wrongful conviction.  Perhaps it will happen eventually.  The last of   
   the executed Salem witches was officially exonerated in -- looking it   
   up -- 2022.  A mere 329 years after her execution.  I'm sure that was   
   great consolation to her ghost and the ghosts of everyone who ever   
   knew her.  I'm looking forward to my full exoneration in 2306.   
      
   > [Hal Heydt]   
   > I did my best to make sure that my high school lost track of me,   
   > and I aim to keep it that way.  No way in hell am I going to go   
   > to a high school reunion, and besides, the 50th would have been   
   > over a decade ago.   
      
   My reunion was actually in two parts, one of which would have cost   
   money.  I only went to the free part.  And I only did so because it   
   was within walking distance, the weather was nice, and I had nothing   
   better to do that day.   
   --   
   Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/   
   Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)