October 14, 2014
A “Twitter Rant”- Free Rodney Stanberry
I was reminded about my week on twitter for last week. At times I do go on long “twitter rants” regarding my cousin’s plight- innocent and incarcerated, 17 years and counting. Below are the 47 consecutive tweets from last week. These are difficult times; Rodney’s 80 year of dad needs to spend these years with his son and his son needs and deserves to spend these years with his father. Were Rodney guilty, I can understand the lack of empathy, but for an innocent man to continue to live this nightmare and to live with being away from his family, empathy and justice are both deserved. The system needs to correct itself, it is never too late to do what is right. Prosecutors have every incentive to do the wrong thing, but few incentives to do the right thing. There are many people who truly are innocent of the crimes for which they are accused, Rodney is among those individuals. In addition to this blog entry, please go to www.freerodneystanberry.com for documents regarding Rodney’s case, including a confession by one of the two individuals actually involved, made before Rodney’s trial! And I wish to refer you to this blog entitled “Rodney Passed a Lie Detector Test, Can They?”, “The Prosecutor and the Criminal,” and Gun Control: What Happened When a Gun Enthusiast Tried to Stop the Sale of Weapons. See also this investigative report http://www.bostonreview.net/us/who-shot-valerie-finley.
Peace,
Artemesia Stanberry
Artemesia Stanberry@artiestan
Just got some additional feedback from a group that I was able to speak w/ this weekend about Rodney’s case and about wrongful convictions
11:58 AM – 7 Oct 2014
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@artiestan They were very impressed with my knowledge about wrongful convictions and the criminal justice system, I sometimes wish that I
@artiestan didn’t have to learn so much about this subject because it is a very disheartening reality of American democracy as exercised via
@artiestan the criminal justice system-racial and class inequality is rampant. But I sometimes wish i did not know and understand the extent
@artiestan to wish prosecutors will knowing get AND maintain a wrongful conviction- that hurts more than anything else. As I told this group
@artiestan when I first heard about my cousin’s case, I assumed that if the jury convicted him then he must have been guilty, my eyes are
@artiestan now so wide open- prosecutors have so much power, including the power to withhold evidence (they shouldn’t, but too many do), the
@artiestan power to manipulate the entire system, including the jury pool. In this Ziegler case, for example, Judge Stewart stated in her
@artiestan ruling that Mobile DA’s office went overboard in striking Blacks for the jury pool, understand that one of the state’s arguments
@artiestan was that Ziegler attacked Baker because Baker called Ziegler the “N-Word”- yes, the ADA argued this, so it is in their interest
@artiestan to keep AAs the jury, so much other stuff with that case. Anyway, I was able to talk with group about the National Academy of
@artiestan Sciences recent study on eyewitness misidentification (Rodney’s wrongful conviction centered on this, could have been avoided if
@artiestan Prichard Police didn’t place photos provided by Rodney to held THEM locate the actual culprits &asked which of these individuals
@artiestan could have been at your house-Rodney was a frequent guest, but no motive, at work, etc http://www.freerodneystanberry.com , btw in the book
@artiestan I’m writing about his case, i will take you through a couple of Al court documents,what tactics will prosecutors use to ensure
@artiestan that everyone stays on board with a false theory. So I was asked during my presentation if there is anything that I would do
@artiestan differently if I had it to do all over again.My response was centered on 2 things- 1,the system & DAs not respond to moralsuasion
@artiestan Jordan, Tierney, Tyson and Rich (DAs and ADAs in Mobile County during Rodney’s trial and incarceration) have demonstrated that
@artiestan the truth is a casualty of this convict and maintain conviction at all costs game, that a confession by one of the 2 actual
@artiestan did not matter before Rodney’s trial, during his trial, at his appeal and even today, they conviction is the Holy Graile, not
@artiestan the truth and, therefore, not really the-well, you know. So if I’d known this 17+yrs ago, instead of or perhaps alongside
@artiestan entering a doctoral program, which I was doing when I first got involved with Rodney’s case, i would have entered a law program
@artiestan i’m devoting a chapter to this book (accidential activist/advocate) to the lawyers we’ve dealth with which will help to explain
@artiestan further explain my frustration about not getting a law degree. The second thing I’d probably do differently would have been to
@artiestan have spent much more time on the ground in Mobile, personally going to various offices, the media (it took 16 yrs for the
@artiestan Mobile Press Register to finally write about Rodney’s conviction (they devoted ink to the trial) & my 1st letter to them was ’98
@artiestan it wasn’t just a letter, but a large packet of info-I spend tons of money at Kinkos to copy, print and send material, I was
@artiestan grateful that WKRG (courtesy of Bill Riales) finally ran this in 2004 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEVURKsGoMI …) and later an article in Lagniappe.
@artiestan but finally during Rodney’s 3rd parole try, the Mobile Register (Brendan Kirby) finally did a piece on Rodney’s case. My point is
@artiestan that I should have spent much more time in Alabama, going to the Alabama Bar to personally file a grievance, going to the State
@artiestan Legislature so that they could address wrongful convictions, going to the DAs office, organizing people on the ground to vote and
@artiestan to push for reforms in Mobile DAs office and so on, especially after the NAACP was calling for DA Tyson’s resignation regarding
@artiestan Herman’s case, and so on. I’m hoping that this book will be published before the primary elections for the upcoming DA race in
@artiestan 2016 and i hope to spend more of 2015 in AL and online to discuss the significance of voting in the primary for a candidate who
@artiestan is tough on crime and law and order, but who isn’t afraid to acknowledge that wrongful convictions have taken place and who isn’t
@artiestan afraid to change the culture of the office. DA Ashley Rich has worked alongside her ADAs for nearly 2 decades now (as long as
@artiestan Rodney has been incarcerated), she isn’t interested in changing culture as it relates to addressing wrongful convictions-her
@artiestan opponent-Mark Erwin-seemed to be, got caught up in Nodine matters, etc, but someone like him can bring about a similar result we
@artiestan saw with Michael Morton, prosecutor who fought to deny DNA testing was defeated-Morton’s conviction was an issue.If you are still
@artiestan unsure of the culture DA Ashley Rich fosters, look at and watch what they continue to do with William Ziegler’s case, keep the
@artiestan Nov 20th date in mind, when another hearing about moving forward w/ his trial is to take place. But read all about the case now
@artiestan Again, DAs can be tough on crime, win awards for sending people to death row, protect the community, while also seriously
@artiestan addressing and acknowledging wrongful convictions. This memo needs to get to DA Ashley Rich. Ok, one more tweet on this.
@artiestan I am trying to commit 2-4 hours each week to writing and completing a book that focuses on this blog:http://freerodneystanberry.com/blog/2012/10/15/a-day-in-the-life-the-pursuit-of-justice-and-the-agony-of-defeat/ … it is
@artiestan important to help others in prison on a wrongful conviction and their advocates. And, I do have 5yr plan w/regard to law degree
@artiestan I don’t know if it is possible to get someone exonerated after a sentence has been completed, but my goal is exoneration for
@artiestan Rodney K. Stanberry and an apology to all by the Mobile DA’s office. When we stop advocating, injustice wins, my lifelong goal
@artiestan is and will be about Rodney’s exoneration, the DAs office could have convicted the guilty, instead, focused solely on convicting
@artiestan an innocent man, and that isn’t right, nor just. So while I began 17 yrs ago thinking that if the jury convicted, then a person
@artiestan must be guilty,my eyes have been open,I do still trust& believe in our system and working within the system, a long journey to go
