Free Rodney K. Stanberry

ON MARCH 13, 2017, RODNEY WAS RELEASED FROM PRISON AFTER SERVING A FULL 20YEARS FOR CRIMES HE DID NOT COMMIT.

See this report from the day of his release:  http://wkrg.com/2017/03/13/man-who-claims-innocence-for-twenty-years-released-from-prison/

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 THE FIGHT TO CLEAR HIS NAME WILL CONTINUE. THE MOBILE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE CONVICTED AN INNOCENT MAN-AND WORKED TO MAINTAIN THAT CONVICTION. THEY NEED TO ADDRESS RODNEY'S CASE IN A SERIOUS MANNER, APOLOGIZE, AND INSTITUTE REFORMS TO AVOID THIS FROM HAPPENING:

blog/2017/03/13/freedom-finally-20-years-of-injustice-the-fight-for-justice-must-continue/

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Rodney K. Stanberry was arrested in 1992, convicted in 1995, and began serving a prison sentence in 1997 for crimes he did not commit. On March 25th, 2012, he will began his 16th year of incarceration. He has had three parole dates, he was denied parole each time.  Update: His final parole hearing took place on August 28th, 2013. The Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles in denying his parole said that Rodney will remain with them (the State) until his release date of March 2017.  He, too, faces the prison dilemma of the wrongfully convicted: NYTIMES.  Here is a WKRG TV (Mobile, AL) segment shortly before his parole hearing, a WKRG segment after his parole hearing, and a Mobile Press Register article before and after his parole hearing.  Here is another piece published in the Boston Review regardin his parole denial.  It is entitled Rehabilitation, Remose, and Innocence: Rodney Stanberry Tries for Parole. The struggle to vindicate and exonerate Rodney K. Stanberry will continue. Please continue to keep this page and our blog bookmarked for various calls for action.

 March 25th, 2016, Rodney began his 19th year in prison for crimes he did not commit.

 On March 25th 2013, Rodney will begin his 17th year in prison. Please read this investigative piece in the Boston Review by investigative journalist Beth Schwartzapfel.

Please contact Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich at (251) 574-6685; (251) 574-8400; (251) 574-5000 or ashleyrich@mobileda.org or mikemorgan@mobileda.org request that she reopens Rodney's case.

 Rodney's Father is now 78. He turned 79 on Feb. 12, 2013. Another year has passed, Rodney's dad is now 80 years old. Rodney's mother died on September 8, 2012.

Rodney was convicted solely based on victim eyewitness testimony. He was convicted even as another individual confessed in front of the prosecutor two years before the start of Rodney's trial that he, not Rodney, was at the victim's home when she was shot (the jury NEVER heard this confession), even as work documents and the testimony of his supervisor and co-workers placed him at work when the crimes were committed, and even as there was no physical evidence that placed him at the scene of the crime. Rodney also passed a polygraph test. He did everything a law abiding citizen should do in helping law enforcement and in turn, they arrested and accused him of committing what was a violent crime.

 He was convicted of attempted murder, 1st degree robbery and 1st degree burglary. 

On this page, you will find key documents pointing to Rodney's innocence, court documents, media links, and a petition.  This site will be updated as necessary.

Keep in mind:  The original Prichard Police Detective stated that Rodney was not at work on March 2, this led to a series of false assumptions, including the belief that Rodney was scheduled to come by the victim's home on March 2; the Prichard Police Dept. did not fingerprint weapons, the crime scene, "lost" evidence- mask and gloves, bullet fragments from weapon believed to be used, etc. Assistant District Attorney Buzz Jordan's statement to the jury asking if they'd be willing to convict an individual based on no physical and scientific evidence, no weapons, no fingerprints and so on.

 Please be sure to contact Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich to demand that he reopen this case and that he free Rodney while the case is investigated.  She can be reached at:

Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich    

PO Box 2841

Mobile, AL 36652

Phone: (251) 574-8400; (251) 574-5000

Email: ashleyrich@mobileda.org or chadtucker@mobileda.org.

Update: November 2010. Ashley Rich, John Tyson's Assistant District Attorney for the past 14 years, has won the election to replace him. Please refer to the 1st "Key Documents" link for a quote from her regarding integrity. We'll see if she actually meant what she said. Beginning next week, I will post every letter that I sent to her office.  I've sent one directly to her following her victory thus far but haven't received an email, telephone call or cordial written response which is likely an indication that she, like Tyson, will be content with letting an innocent man remain in prison. Can someone send the office a definition of integrity?  When Tyson leaves office, should he not move forward in releasing Rodney, we will have to invest in an attorney- in Alabama, but not in Mobile.  Please continue to share information about Rodney.  

Here is a letter that I sent to Mobile DA John Tyson, Jr. last Father's Day. I am hoping that Rodney's dad and son will be able to celebrate next Father's Day with Rodney as a free man.  Click for letter

Here is a letter sent to Ashley Rich in November, 2010.

Here is a letter sent to DA in August,2011.

Here is a call for action sent to the Free Rodney Stanberry Facebook members.

 With the exception of her investigator calling around to inquire why so many people were calling about Rodney, Rich has bee unresponsive. Mind you, during her campaign, she responded to emails from me and even asked how her opponet during the primary (Mark Erwin) responded.

Click here to listen to a radio interview about what resulted from the aforementioned call for action (77 phone calls in honor of Earsell Stanberry's (Rodney's father) 77th birthday. It was a success, an investigator, Mike Morgan, with the Mobile District Attorney's office called several of you to inquire why you were calling. Keep it up!

John Tyson, Jr's last letter as he was leaving office to a concerned citizen about Rodney.  Note, Tyson left office while Rodney continued to languish in prison. 

time sheet

Letter to Mobile County Commissioners 

July 2011 and the letter below to Gov. Bentley was also written in July 2011

Another letter to Governor Bentley and Attorney General Luther Strange. We need people in Alabama willing to work on Rodney K. Stanberry's case. It really should have been an open and shut case. Please read this letter for an explanation. Share with an attorney.

What We Do

This site is dedicated to freeing Rodney K. Stanberry. He is an innocent man in prison.

UPDATE: Rodney was released from prison on March 13, 2017. He served a full 20 years for crimes he did not commit. This webpage will remain in tact, newer material will be added from time to time.   

In Memory of Rodney's mother, who died on September 8, 2012.

March 24th, 2012- Year 15 Concludes. Here is a blog entry entitled "15 Years and Counting."



March 24th, 2011- Year 14, click on this sentence for message.  

Dr. Boyce Watkins' article about Rodney(February 18, 2011)

Senior News Editor Kirsten West-Savali's piece on January 19, 2012. See what is the official response from the Mobile District Attorney's Office, under Ashley Rich's leadership. 

Rodney Stanberry was wrongfully convicted for crimes he did not commit. He has been incarcerated since March 1997. He resided in Alabama (Mobile) and is incarcerated in Alabama. His father is 77 years old and his mother continues to lose her memory. He has a son born shortly after his incarceration that has only seen him inside a prison. There was a confession by someone else in this case that the jury never heard. Work records show that Rodney was at work when the crimes were committed. The evidence is overwhelming that Rodney is innocent. It is time for this ordeal to end in the name of justice. On March 25, 2010, Rodney began his 14th year of incarceration. Please join our cause.

Black Community Rallies to Reopen Rodney's case

We also have a facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=104320269574&ref=ts

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http://classic.lagniappemobile.com/article.asp?articleID=2332&sid=1 An article about Rodney's case written by news anchor and reporter Bill Riales (WKRG- Mobile, AL) and published in Lagniappe Mobile. The link may be broken on the Lagniappe article so here it is in a PDF file. Time Served or Justice Denied in Alabama?

Statement of the Facts- A Must Read

 We have a blog: Here is a blog entry:blog/2011/05/29/the-“no-snitching”-code-it-should-apply-to-the-street-and-to-the-power-structure/

I happened to find this letter while going through documents to post. It is the first response that I've received as a result of an inquiry to Mobile DA John Tyson, Jr's office. The letter was written by then ADA John Cherry, Jr. and is dated 1999!!! That is how long I've personally been in contact with the DA's office. Rodney  has been in prison since 1997. He was arrested in 1992, tried in 1995, and began his sentence in 1997. It should not take this long to right a wrong!!!!!!!!  It just shouldn't,epecially when there is obvious evidence of innocence.

Letter from Governor Riley about how the Alabama State legislator has long ago taken pardons and clemencies out of the Governor's hands.  However, as you saw with Gov. Haley Barbour, it is likely possible that Riley can work to bring about Rodney's freedom. Please contact him and encourage others to do the same.

Equal Justice Initiative

Rodney's parents and son (June 2010)

Here's a letter written to Judge McRae by Rodney's father in 2011. This is before Rodney's Rule 32 hearing.



--- clarification- the above letter was written in Feb. 2001, the year Rodney's Rule 32 hearing took place.

Interesting Reading about wrongful convictions:

John Grisham's The Confession. This is a Washington Post review. 

 Picking Cotton 

This book was written by Ronald Cotton (wrongfully convicted), Jennifer Thompson-Cannini (the person who wrongfully identified Ronald), and Erin Torneo

 An article about perserving DNA evidence and the need for access to evidence that can prove innocence.

 From the Innocence Network. A profile of those exonerated. 

If every District Attorney were like Dallas County, Texas District Attorney Craig Watkins, more innocent people would be freed and fewer innocent people would be incarcerated. Here is an article about a man who spent 30 years in prison from crimes he did not commit!

An episode of This American Life about an innocent man in prison and the friend that successfully fought to exonerate him. Unfortunately, Collin Warner spent 21 years in prison before exonerated.

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Ashley Rich is now officially the new District Attorney.

Robert Bentley is now the Governor of Alabama.

Luther Strange is now the Attorney General for Alabama. 

John Tyson, Jr.s last interviews as DA and WKRG interview:

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The Scott Sisters are released from prison. We're Free- words that bring music to my ears. Free Rodney Stanberry!

 2011 Authur Ashe Award- Dewey Bozella

If you ever wonder why I devote so much time and energy to Rodney's case, if you ever wonder why Rodney will always maintain his innocence even if he could likely be a free man if he said he were guilty, and if you ever wonder why I've said that SOME DAs/prosecutors seem to lack a moral compass when it comes to wrongful convictions, take just 12 minutes out of your day to watch this piece on Dewey Bozella. And if you feel up to it, take an additional minute to contact Mobile DA Ashley Rich at (251) 574-8400 to ask that she reopens Rodney's case and take a moment to share www.freerodneystanberry.co​m with someone you know.