Articles
Banks Exoneration NY Daily News 5/25/12
Brian Banks, former high school football star, asks for NFL shot
California native spent six years in prison for a crime he didn't commit; was exonerated this week
By Nina Mandell / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, May 25, 2012, 10:04 AM
He was a high school football star in Long Beach, Calif., heading for a full scholarship at powerhouse USC when he was falsely accused of rape.
Now, exonerated after the alleged victim confessed she made up the whole story, Brian Banks has one goal: to play in the NFL.
In an appearance on the “Today” show Friday morning, the 26-year-old pleaded with any NFL coach watching the morning show to “give me an opportunity.”
“Let me show you what I can produce,” he said. “I think that any team that give me an opportunity will be really impressed with what I can do despite what I’ve been through these past 10 years.”
After being charged with rape and kidnapping in 2002, Banks took a plea deal on the advice of his lawyer to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison despite knowing he was innocent. He was sentenced to six years, ruining his football career and was forced to wear an ankle bracelet after being released on parole in 2008.
“It’s like branding,” he said on “Today”. “It’s like if someone put a brand on you: rapist.”
His accuser friended him on Facebook after he was released from prison with a strange request to make “bygones be bygones”.
With the help of a private investigator, she was recorded admitting she made the whole thing up and was reluctant to come forward because of a settlement she had reached with the school district.
With the help of the Innocence Project, Banks used the evidence to be exonerated — and on Thursday, a prosecutor moved that the case be dismissed.
Banks, video shows, broke into sobs.
“My only dream in the world was to just be free and to have the same opportunities as everyone here,” he told reporters.
Banks said he’s concentrating on moving forward with his life — and hasn’t thought about what happens to the woman who falsely accused him.
“I know it’s best for me to try and move forward in a positive manner for the betterment of me, it hurts no one but myself to hang on to the type of negative energy,” he said on “Today.”
He added he hopes that in the future, investigations will be thorough enough to avoid sending an innocent man to prison.
“I definitely feel that further investigations in cases like this are definitely necessary especially when it involves minors, children,” he said. “I think I was quick to be judged.”
Now, exonerated after the alleged victim confessed she made up the whole story, Brian Banks has one goal: to play in the NFL.
In an appearance on the “Today” show Friday morning, the 26-year-old pleaded with any NFL coach watching the morning show to “give me an opportunity.”
“Let me show you what I can produce,” he said. “I think that any team that give me an opportunity will be really impressed with what I can do despite what I’ve been through these past 10 years.”
After being charged with rape and kidnapping in 2002, Banks took a plea deal on the advice of his lawyer to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison despite knowing he was innocent. He was sentenced to six years, ruining his football career and was forced to wear an ankle bracelet after being released on parole in 2008.
“It’s like branding,” he said on “Today”. “It’s like if someone put a brand on you: rapist.”
His accuser friended him on Facebook after he was released from prison with a strange request to make “bygones be bygones”.
With the help of a private investigator, she was recorded admitting she made the whole thing up and was reluctant to come forward because of a settlement she had reached with the school district.
With the help of the Innocence Project, Banks used the evidence to be exonerated — and on Thursday, a prosecutor moved that the case be dismissed.
Banks, video shows, broke into sobs.
“My only dream in the world was to just be free and to have the same opportunities as everyone here,” he told reporters.
Banks said he’s concentrating on moving forward with his life — and hasn’t thought about what happens to the woman who falsely accused him.
“I know it’s best for me to try and move forward in a positive manner for the betterment of me, it hurts no one but myself to hang on to the type of negative energy,” he said on “Today.”
He added he hopes that in the future, investigations will be thorough enough to avoid sending an innocent man to prison.
“I definitely feel that further investigations in cases like this are definitely necessary especially when it involves minors, children,” he said. “I think I was quick to be judged.”
<object id="otvPlayer" width="400" height="268"><param name="movie" value="http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/static/flash/embeddedPlayer/swf/otvEmLoader.swf?version=fw1000&station=kabc§ion=&mediaId=8675846&parentId=8675794&cdnRoot=http://cdn.abclocal.go.com&webRoot=http://abclocal.go.com&configPath=/util/&site=" ></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed id="otvPlayer" width="400" height="268" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" allowfullscreen="true" src="/http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/static/flash/embeddedPlayer/swf/otvEmLoader.swf?version=fw1000&station=kabc§ion=&mediaId=8675846&parentId=8675794&cdnRoot=http://cdn.abclocal.go.com&webRoot=http://abclocal.go.com&configPath=/util/&site="></embed></object>
