What happens to a man who was wrongly convicted of murder, served 11 years in prison, and is subsequently exonerated?  He gets sued by the prosecutor.  Nice.

Via Lat, this Kansas City story about Dennis Fritz, yet another defendant proven innocent by the availability of DNA to overcome our profoundly imperfect criminal justice system, tells of how the prosecutor felt maligned by Fritz’s book, Journey Toward Justice, about his experience.

The prosecutor’s response?  “I did the best I could with the available evidence.”  Well, that settles it.  After all, it’s really all about the prosecutor feeling good about himself, and if some innocent guy has to spend 11 years in prison, so what.

Adding to the shame, John Grisham also wrote a book about the case, though focusing more on Fritz’s co-defendant, Ron Williamson.  Grisham is getting sued as well, but I’m guessing he can afford better lawyers than Fritz.  And a little publicity like this won’t hurt book sale any.

While the story, up to now, sounds totally ridiculous, bear in mind that it provides no insight into what Fritz had to say about the prosecutor, and may have attributed some factual conduct to him that is arguably libelous.  But there are just some positions that are so facially disingenuous that you have to laugh.  After all, when you convict an innocent man for murder and put him in jail for 11 years, you really should cut him a little slack if he gets angry with you.  I’m betting the next jury will.