Deadbeat Prison Dad

Wrongly Convicted Man Sued for Child Support :: WRAL.com

Quote:

A man who was pardoned after spending 18 years behind bars for a rape he didn't commit has been sued for child support for the years he was in prison.

Dwayne Allen Dail, 39, was cleared in August of the 1987 rape of a 12-year-old Goldsboro girl. The girl identified him as her attacker, and hair found at the scene was similar to his. DNA evidence found on a fragment of the girl's nightgown years after the trial proved Dail wasn't involved in the attack, however.

Gov. Mike Easley pardoned Dail two weeks ago, making him eligible to receive $360,000 from the state – $20,000 for each year he spent in prison.

Dail, who now lives in Florida, was served Tuesday with a lawsuit by Lorraine Michaels, the mother of his son, who is seeking back child support. The suit does not specify how much money she wants, as is normal in North Carolina, but asks a "reasonable sum for the care and maintenance of the minor child" for the years Dail was in prison.

"Since his release, Mr. Dail has not indicated any intention to provide support to Ms. Michaels," Michaels' attorney, Sarah Heekin, said in a statement. "In order to fully protect my client’s statutory rights, it was necessary to file an action for child support prior to the minor’s eighteenth birthday."

Dail said he was devastated by the suit. He said his son recently moved to Florida to live with him.

"I was thrown in prison. What could I do? I missed my whole life. I missed my son's whole life. I'm not the person to be compensating anyone for anything – not me," Dail said.

"I'm sure the mother had her issues over the years, but nothing like the issues that Dwayne Dail dealt with for 18½ years,” said Chris Mumma, the attorney who helped establish Dail’s innocence.

Heekin, who said she filed the suit last week, works in the same law office as Don Strickland, the former Wayne County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Dail for rape.

What a bum.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

and that's why i'm a closet misogynist. what the fuck, bitch. seriously.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

When did he conceive the kid? During a conjugal visit?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Probably just prior to going to jail I guess. But seriously. How is it his fault that he got wrongly convicted and thrown in jail? I hope that he doesn't have to pay. That is just wrong.

How ya doing, buddy?

What I'm wondering is -- if he was required to make child support payments, wouldn't it have been really fucking easy to find him?

It would seems reasonable that if she didn't make some sort of effort to try and collect child support payments, at some point she would effectively be waiving her right to the claims from that period forever. Of course she would be able to make new claims going forward, but the kid's over 18 now.

IANAL, but in general, stuff like this is "use it or lose it", but it would not surprise me if child support is an exception -- the legal system has quite a bias against "dead beat dads."

I was speaking idiomatically.

Except that this isn't your typical dead beat dad of course. He just spent the last 18 or so years in prison for a crime he had nothing to do with. How is that his fault even? Hopefully the court system has pity on him.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Wow, that is one heartless bitch. The poor guy missed almost two decades of his life for something he didn't do, and all she cares about it getting paid.

If you follow the link, and look at the actual document, it looks like the bitch is doing this because she knows he is going to be financially compensated for his wrongful incarceration and she is staking her claim on at least some of that money.

Terrible, just terrible.

FELIPE NO

What I find most appalling about this is the fact that he's only entitled to 20 grand per year of wrongful incarceration. Is that all a man's life is worth to the legal system?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Pyromanic

Except that this isn't your typical dead beat dad of course. He just spent the last 18 or so years in prison for a crime he had nothing to do with. How is that his fault even? Hopefully the court system has pity on him.

Er... This isn't school. Pity from the teacher doesn't work here.

Either he's liable for these or he's not, and that's going to depend mostly on what actions the mother took earlier on, AIUI.

Please note that IANAL, and that child support may very well not operate like that at all.

Can we get a "legal discussion" forum? Topics that are essentially questions of law come up a LOT.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Brent

What I find most appalling about this is the fact that he's only entitled to 20 grand per year of wrongful incarceration. Is that all a man's life is worth to the legal system?

Yeah, I noticed that too, Brent. I guess they figure they poor guy would have had a life of poverty if the good ol' legal system hadn't stepped in and given him free room and board for 18 years.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Brent

What I find most appalling about this is the fact that he's only entitled to 20 grand per year of wrongful incarceration. Is that all a man's life is worth to the legal system?

Maybe he can get that changed to 20,000 CAD on appeal.

How ya doing, buddy?

The problem I'm having is this:

Was child support ordered BEFORE he went to prison? Was it ordered WHILE he was in prison?

Contrary to popular belief, prisoners are paid so they can buy the necessities while in prison.

I really don't think this woman has a case. She didn't bother pursuing child support while he was in prison, so why now? Because of the amount of money he's receiving.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I'm sorry, but this is just a case of another greedy dead-beat mom looking to score on her ex-husband's lump-sum settlement. It's easy to speculate, but 18 years is a looooong friggin' time to spend in a cell for a crime you never commited.

And now he's finally "freed" unto more lawsuits, all because his wife-that-didn't-believe-him-when-he-said-he-was-innocent-in-the-first-place feels the need to make him suffer more.

Sue the buggers that put him behind bars for the child support! That guy didn't CHOOSE to go to prison.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Child support is based on income, so obviously he should have to pay her back in cartons of cigs. One carton per month of incarceration should suffice

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Leknaat

The problem I'm having is this:

Was child support ordered BEFORE he went to prison? Was it ordered WHILE he was in prison?

Contrary to popular belief, prisoners are paid so they can buy the necessities while in prison.

I really don't think this woman has a case. She didn't bother pursuing child support while he was in prison, so why now? Because of the amount of money he's receiving.

Yeah and they're not paid very much. Whatever they're paid would be used to help ensure they're own personal safety and sanity. Fucking bitch.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by PretzelCorps

wife-that-didn't-believe-him-when-he-said-he-was-innocent-in-the-first-place

Where was that in the original article?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Talk about kicking someone while they're down... was the lawsuit intentional on the part of the plaintiff to make this guy's life just a hellhole or do they really think he has the money and is just skimping on them?

Quote:

Heekin, who said she filed the suit last week, works in the same law office as Don Strickland, the former Wayne County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Dail for rape.

Reading that I'm really starting to think that these people are just out to fuck his poor guy over, they've got some pretty poor losers in that law office if they're still trying to get this guy after all these years.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Sounds like they had him prosecuted so the two of them could have a secret affair. That's probably not the case though since it doesn't mention the two were married before he went to prison. I say they should flip the situation around and have him sue her for emotional distress. The legal system is so fucked up it just might work.

Evil bitches like her should be burned at the stake. It wouldn't surprise me if the kid wasn't even his.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

That is so friggin heartless. It isn't even as though she were still providing for the child anyway, he's moved in with Dad.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

This is just another example of another stupid lawsuit about someone taking advantage of someone else's misery.

This world is full of stupid lawsuits because some people think the world owes them a favor.

Honestly the woman should just get a life, what would she really do with the child support anyway. His son is probably at least 18 years old and well on his way to starting his own life ( I would like to think).

The only way I would slight symphathize with the woman is if the man was paying child support before he went to prison. Then it would be justifiable to a certain extent.

If it is true and the woman went after this lawsuit after she found out he was given a large amount of sum of money for being wrongly convicted. Then she is just a money grubbing bitch (pardon the language).

This person lost a good portion of his life and now he has to deal with this. I hope this lawsuit doesn't go through. This man deserves the all the happiness he can give for himself especially for having to endure such a terrible time for at least 18 years of his life.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

In all likelyhood, she will lose. Granted, we don't know all the circumstances, but what can the prosecution say to the response of, "He didn't receive any money because he was incarerated for 18 years for something he didn't do.". Any judge with a brain inside his (or her) skull will think for about two seconds and rule in his favor (if it even goes to trial).

Honestly, while i don't like the show, this would be a wonderful time to put them on Judge Judy. She'd rip the woman a new one, tell her to grown up like she should have twenty years back, and that she gets nothing.

I was speaking idiomatically.