Objective: Students will determine what information about Harper Lee is reliable and make an inference about what influence her to create the central themes she presents in "To Kill a Mockingbird"
Brian Banks, football player exonerated in rape case, signs with Atlanta Falcons
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Brian Banks, football player exonerated in rape case, signs with Atlanta Falcons
Brian Banks Updated 1:50 p.m. Eastern ATLANTA Brian Banks said signing with the Atlanta Falcons is his second-biggest accomplishment. The biggest was Banks' exoneration of rape charges one year ago. Banks, 27, signed with the Falcons on Wednesday, giving him an opportunity he said he did not believe would be possible when he spent five years in prison and five years on probation following his conviction of rape and kidnapping charges a decade ago. "I felt at the time in order for me to exit prison with a sane mind and be able to just function as a person I had to let go of certain dreams and goals I once held in life, football being one of them," Banks said. Banks said he "couldn't have asked for a better place to be" than with the Falcons. "I can't believe this is happening," he said. "It's surreal." 
Play VIDEO Blindsided: The exoneration of Brian BanksBanks was a 16-year-old junior and had made a verbal commitment to sign with Southern Cal when Wanetta Gibson, a Long Beach Poly high school classmate, accused him of the rape. Gibson recanted her claim and offered to help Banks clear his name after he was out of prison. That helped lead to the conviction being overturned by a California court and Banks' record cleared on May 12, 2012. Banks' original defense attorney, Elizabeth Harris,as did Gibson, who has not returned the money she won in a lawsuit.
Banks said he read every book he could find while in prison and also learned to value every opportunity. "It's almost impossible to explain, the feeling of not having freedom, to be stripped away of your freedom, of your dignity, the respect you once had," he said. "To lose it all and watch the world pass you by as you sit inside a prison cell, knowing you shouldn't be there, knowing you're there because of another person's lies, to lose it all and then get it all back, it's a very humbling, spiritual feeling that you just don't want to take anything for granted. 
16 PHOTOS Brian Banks: Exonerated football star"I've had the opportunity to see both sides of the human spirit. ... My journey has been crazy but my journey has been a learning experience that is unlike any other." The 6-foot-2, 250-pound Banks will be given an opportunity to win a spot on the team at inside linebacker. He met with Falcons coach Mike Smith at the team's facility Wednesday. "I had a really amazing one-on-one conversation with him," Banks said. "He congratulated me and said he was happy for me to be here but this was just the beginning of a long road to making that next step and making that 53-man roster. We both agreed that I don't expect any handouts or any favoritism. I'm here to work like everybody else and the result of my hard work will be whatever they deem necessary. "All I can do is my best and however the turnout will be, I thank God for the opportunity." Banks will participate in Atlanta's offseason workouts, which begin on April 22.
Banks also worked out for the Falcons before the 2012 season. "We had a chance to work him out last year and have been monitoring his progress since then," said Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff in a statement released by the team. "He has worked extremely hard for this chance over the last year and he has shown us that he is prepared for this opportunity. We are happy that Brian will have a chance to live out his dream of playing in the NFL and we look forward to seeing him on the field." Banks has become a spokesman for the California Innocence Project, which works to exonerate the wrongly accused. He said he is working with producer James Moll on a documentary about his story. He said publishing companies are interested in a book. After signing with the Falcons, Banks tweeted his appreciation to the team: Coach Smith, GM Dimitroff, Mr. Blank, and the #ATL players & personel..#ThankYou for accepting me into the family. April 3, 2013 10:47 am Exonerated Football Player Brian Banks' NFL Dreams Put on Hold After Falcons Trim RosterAug. 31, 2013 By ALEXIS SHAW http://abcnews.go.com/US/exonerated-football-player-brian-banks-cut-atlanta-falcons/story?id=20127328
Atlanta Falcons linebacker Brian Banks sits on the bench during the second half of a preseason NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Atlanta, Aug. 29, 2013. Dave Martin/AP Photo The NFL dreams of Brian Banks, who was exonerated last year after being wrongfully convicted of rape, were cut short when he failed to earn a spot on the Atlanta Falcons' 53-man roster, according to the football team's website. Banks got the ax on Friday along with 10 other players, the Atlanta Falcons reported. The 28-year-old rookie linebacker had been signed to the team as a free agent in April, and had said playing in the pre-season was "one of the best moments of my life."
Banks said on Thursday that he had been "fully consumed trying to make this team," but that it was difficult given "all the years that I missed out on football." "My learning curve is definitely different from a lot of the guys here," Banks said. "I was learning a lot of the one-on-one basic things of football as well as the intermediate things of football and meshing them all together at once in a small period of time. It was definitely challenging, but I've enjoyed myself the whole time." A rising high school football star from southern California who had been granted a full scholarship to play in the renowned Division 1 program at the University of Southern California, Banks' career was brought to a sudden standstill by a wrongful kidnap-rape conviction in 2002 that put the then-17-year-old behind bars for five years. Banks was then placed on probation for five years after his 2007 release. He had to register as a sex offender and could not live within 2,000 feet from any school or park. He also had to keep a GPS device around his ankle to ensure that he did not leave the state. Banks was exonerated in May 2012 after his accuser contacted him on Facebook and recanted her story. He was drafted by the Falcons less than one year later. READ: Exonerated Football Player Brian Banks Signed by Atlanta Falcons Banks released a statement after the news came out that he had been waived by the Atlanta football team. "As most have heard, my time with the Atlanta Falcons have come to an early end. I want to thank Mr. Blank, Dimitroff, & Smith for such an amazing and unforgettable opportunity. This experience has shown me a piece of life that was once taken, and where things (football wise ) would have been if it wasn't for the 10 years of life loss," he said. "I just want to thank EVERYONE for the amazing outpour of love & support. So much more 2 come from me, Im only beginning. And still #Unbroken," he later tweeted. While it is unclear whether Banks will continue to pursue a playing career in the NFL, he appears to be booking a series of speaking engagements and appearances, according to his Twitter account. Directory: uploads uploads -> 587 Return function, r i(X) r i(0) r i(1) r i(2) r i(3) 1 0 2 4 6 Thermal Station, I 2 0 1 5 6 3 0 3 5 6 10 uploads -> Department of science and humanities department of mathematics part-a questions and answers uploads -> The Case Against the nypd’s Quota-Driven ‘Broken Windows’ Policing What Is It? uploads -> For want of a nail uploads -> Ownership Models There are two different types of ownership models uploads -> Police Militarization uploads -> City of rising star regular meting thursday, july 14, 2016 uploads -> Township of winfield uploads -> Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2014 uploads -> The Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program What We Want Now! Download 161 Kb. Share with your friends:
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