freerodneystanberry.com Blog

October 14, 2012

Blog Entry:

A Day in the Life- The Pursuit of Justice and the Agony of Defeat

This weekend I was able to resume this book I’m working on about my cousin’s case (the working partial title- The Accidental Activist). Anyway, I put it aside following the death of his mother on Sept. 8th. Since her death I’ve been feeling as if I had a heart break, in this case, my heart has been broken by a system that continues to let down my cousin, Rodney K. Stanberry. It is hard to get over the fact that he was away from his mother for all of these years and that he couldn’t even attend her funeral. Were he guilty, that would be one thing, but he is an innocent man who was deprived of being with his heart, his mother
(http://freerodneystanberry.com/blog/2012/09/11/rodneys-mother-may-she-rest-in-peace/). Anyway, while I have been working on other stuff surrounding his case, I put
the book aside, because it is painful going through these years of fighting for him. I mean when you look at a letter from 1998 when he says I would have given up and accepted what they’ve done to him if it weren’t for me and when he refers to me as Captain of Team Rodney all those years ago, one starts to feel like one has failed and as if one/I have let him down and that is hard to deal with every day. So as this book is about my activism surrounding his case, you can understand why I had to set it aside because of the level of absolute hurt I was and am feeling, I’m just dealing with it better. I am always fine when I
am at work, that’s why I look forward to work, but nights, weekends, research days, those were and are the hardest. It literally feels like a heart break.

But I am determined to stay focused on the book. This morning (Sunday) as I was going
through files to find my first letter to him and/or his first letter to me and my first letter to an interest group or to the media, I couldn’t locate what I was looking for from 1997, which is when he began serving his prison sentence and when I first inquired about and started working on his case, to the best of my recollection. I found letters from 1998 (one he begins with “How’s Everything in Monicaville?” a reference to the Monica Lewinsky, Bill Clinton Scandal that led to the Bill Clinton impeachment by the House, acquittal by the
Senate). I found a letter from Rodney dated April 1, 1998, but this is one of the few when he isn’t focused on the case, just a quick letter to ask how I planned to spend my Spring Break (I was a doctoral student at the time), update me on his quest for a new trial, and a brief discussion on some prison stuff.   So given the date of the letter, our correspondences must have begun months before, so hopefully I can locate my first letter to him or his first letter to me (I used to make copies of my letters on occasion) to include in the book. I also located a few letters I wrote to the media (including the Mobile Press Register– http://freerodneystanberry.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/GrelanMobileRegister1.246230400.pdf)
asking them to investigate the case and one of the first letters I’ve received from the NAACP, dated November 24^th 1998, essentially stating that “The NAACP is not a ‘direct legal’ services provider and as a result of limited resources, we must limit the number as well the type of cases in which we intervene” (November 24, 1998, Office of the General Counsel, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Willie Abrams, Assistant General Counsel).  Kweisi Mfume was the President & Chief Executive Office at the time.  Abrams did refer me to the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama, which I had, by that time contacted.

What I am also rediscovering as I am looking through my files is how busy I was when I lived, attended school and worked in Washington, D.C.  I was working full time, going to school full-time, working on Rodney’s case and I had a decent social life- with friends from sports teams, my professional life and my educational life.  How and when did I sleep- lol. I do recall working, then leaving work in the evening, and then returning to work at 8 or 9pm (later if I had class) and staying at work until 2am or so. I didn’t live far from the U.S. Capitol, where I worked, and, thus, felt comfortable walking home. Sometimes I would leave at 11:45pm in time to catch the last metro train-the Blue Line from  Capitol South, other times I’d stay until a former co-worker of mine, who is known to burn the
midnight oil as well, would leave at 2 or 3am to take me home.  I came across one of my notebooks from one of my classes in 1999 and this was my schedule for a Saturday morning: 8am-10am-letter to Rodney; 11am-2pm- work on literature review on the Birdie Mae Davis case- at this time, my dissertation was going to be on School Desegregation,
which the Birdie Mae Davis case out of Mobile being one of my case studies, my
dissertation topic ended up being on mandatory minimums for crack cocaine and
the dilemma of the Congressional Black Caucus; 3pm-8pm- prepare for Dr. McCormick’s public policy class; 9-11:30pm Read first half of assignments from Dr. M’s class (don’t know if this is McCormick or Morris); 11:30-1 Grade papers. On Sunday of that particular weekend it was- Read Sunday newspaper; 11-1 (I can’t read what it says, looks like Minutes; 2pm-8pm something about reading a book, can’t read my writing, work on Birdie Mae Davis literature review, go to GW to work on literature review; 9-12 Read for class; 12-1:30am (complete paper for NCOBPS).  So, again, I was working for a member of Congress, a doctoral student at Howard University, presiding over and/or in leadership roles of organizations, and still having somewhat of a social life, while spending significant time sending letters and transcripts out about my cousin’s case.  Again, how did I do it all!  Of course I didn’t have a dog (I have an awesome dog). I would actually pick up my schedule if I didn’t now have to live my life in 8 hour increments- sometimes less. It is a
challenge, but when I commit to something that is for the benefit of others (my dog included), I remain committed.  It isn’t just having a dog; it IS that the longer my cousin is in prison, the more I become withdrawn. When I am not at work or engaging in a work related function, I just want to be away from everything.  If I ever start an innocence project, a networking component will be a part of it for unless you truly know what it is like to sacrifice so much of your life to help someone, in this case, someone who is wrongfully convicted, it is difficult to explain what you go through each day and it doesn’t get any easier.

It certainly doesn’t get any easier for Rodney. I read through about ten of his letters this morning and he is a man yearning for the judicial system to correct itself; he is yearning for justice. He is screaming that he did what he was supposed to do when he found out about the crimes. Even before the crimes occurred, he tried to play crime-fighter by
refusing to sell his friends from New York weapons and telling his friends, the
victim and her husband, from Mobile to not sell them weapons.  His friends from New York were told that Rodney didn’t want them to be able to purchase weapons; Michael Finley admitted on the witness stand that Rodney said to not sell them weapons but that he, Mike Finley, arranged for them to be sold anyway and his wife was with him (it
begins on page 294 http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/M_Finley_Section_1.255154125.pdf)
Wanting more, the folks from New York hooked up with Terrell Moore  from Mobile (Moore confessed to being at the victim’s house when she was shot-confession not heard by jury), shut Rodney out of the loop, and went to rob the Finley house for their guns. Ms. Finley was at home, as it was Mardi Gras Monday and she was brutally shot in the head.
When Rodney found out about the crimes when he got off worked that day, he immediately tried to apprehend his friends from New York, he discovered where the guns were and managed to get the returned, he went to the Prichard Police, taking the next day off of work, to show them pictures of the guys from New York, to give them a name of a detective in New York to apprehend his friends returning on the Greyhound bus, and he would eventually secretly record Donnard Jones, who introduced Moore to the people from New York, to get to the bottom of what happened. He turned this secret recording over to the Prichard police. Jones also testifies to this in trial. While Terrell Moore pled the 5^th at trial, he confessed three times before trial including a confession made in front of prosecutor Buzz Jordan in the law office of one of the most powerful and well-known attorneys in Mobile, Alabama (and Alabama).

Rodney’s reward for 1) trying to keep guns from travelling to New York, 2) immediately
trying to apprehend the people he knew to be involved in the crimes, and 3) going to the police? He became a suspect and later an inmate in the Alabama Department of Corrections. The crimes occurred on March 2, 1992, Rodney was arrested in April 1992, he was convicted in 1995, and began serving a prison sentence for attempted murder, burglary, and robbery in 1997. He was in his 20s. It is 2012 and he is in his 40s, still in prison for crimes he did not commit. Imagine how many people would have been murdered in New York with guns purchased from Alabama if Rodney had said nothing and allowed his friends to accumulate as many weapons as they wanted.  It is so ironic that the person without the criminal record and criminal mind who attempted to act to save lives is the one the Mobile District Attorney’s Office pursued and convicted for the brutal crime against the victim.  Rodney invited his childhood friends to Mobile to experience Mardi Gras. While they were in town, he did what many southern boys do, he took them to the Finley’s house to show off a deer he had shot and wanted to have mounted (http://classic.lagniappemobile.com/article.asp?articleID=2332&sid=1 ).
Both Rodney and Michael Finley were gun collectors. Rodney had the same weapons he was accused of stealing; he had a steady job that paid him well so he had no incentive to steal weapons.  The people from New York saw weapons, wanted them, Rodney didn’t want them to be sold any weapons, Rodney gets cut out of the loop, a brutal crime takes place that was a robbery and the district attorney’s office spins it into a murder for hire, while not charging anyone with that crime.  The Mobile District Attorney’s Office by the
time of Rodney’s trial had a confession by another individual, a statement from Rene Whitecloud, on the ground witnesses corroborating that it was the person who confessed that they saw and his vehicle coming from the victim’s house and that Rodney’s vehicle was not at the victim’s house, Rodney’s work records, supervisor and co-workers also confirming that he was at work when the crimes took place, and other evidence exonerating Rodney (http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/the_confession-_testimonial_immunity_agreement).  But, because the Prichard Police Department took photos provided by Rodney to the victim as she was in the hospital recovering from a coma caused by a gunshot to her head and, after hearing a relative of the victim and a police officer in her hospital room say she doesn’t know who did this, placed those pictures in front of her and said squeeze my hand if you can recognize anyone who could have been at your house.  Rodney was often at her house. With this squeeze of the finger, the question went from who could have been at your house to “this one did this?”, and with the murder for hire theory planted, victim eyewitness misidentification ensued (see http://freerodneystanberry.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/20100914154802.256153049.pdf and http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/eyewitness_misidentification). The truth no longer mattered to law enforcement/prosecutor as they worked to suppress the truth before Rodney’s trial. When you have an eyewitness who was an innocent individual shot
in the head, if you want a conviction, you suppress the truth, and rely solely on her testimony to get a conviction.  Who cares in the” convict at all cost” game, right? Three/fourths of those exonerated by DNA evidence were convicted as a result of eyewitness misidentification.
In response to questions about Rodney’s case, the Mobile District Attorney’s
Office, presided over by District Attorney Ashley Rich, said that they understand that eyewitness identification can be faulty, but that in this case, the victim knew Rodney (http://newsone.com/1809115/rodney-k-stanberry-is-alabama-still-the-land-of-jim-crow/).  She did and Rodney was often at her house.  But the District Attorney’s Office also knows that once the victim squeezed the detectives hand when asked which of these individuals could have been at your house, she would say it was Rodney and that his girlfriend was in his bronco parked in her driveway. Once they discovered that this wasn’t true, which they did, they, the Mobile District Attorney’s Office, could have pursued the truth, especially when it came to them in the form of a confession by the individual looking at the victim as she had a gun to her head and from Rene Whitecloud, who stated that
Moore and Angel “Wish” Melendez went to the victim’s house and that Rodney knew
nothing about it. Instead, they went for a conviction based on eyewitness misidentification, and ensured that they jury would not hear the confession, while all the while telling the jury and the press that Rene Whitecloud was the shooter and would be brought to Mobile for a trial.  This is what the Mobile District Attorney’s Office stands by. Further, the prosecutor in Rodney’s case went to Rikers Island prison in New York to visit Rene, but claimed to have done so while on vacation to see if Rene actually existed so he didn’t take notes.  Understand that he had this statement from Rene before he went (http://freerodneystanberry.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Rene_Whitecloud.26225239.pdf),
and he admitted during Rodney’s Rule 32 hearing a few years after Rodney’s trial that he went was able to go through the chains to get to Rene in prison through the same person who sent him Rene’s statement.  District Attorney Ashley Rich stated during her campaign to become District Attorney that the integrity of the conviction was important and that she would not tolerate withholding exculpatory evidence. If this is the case, then she would “discover” Jordan’s notes because it is highly doubtful that a prosecutor would travel to a prison in another state to visit the person he claims to be the shooter and not take any notes. Here is her interview (http://freerodneystanberry.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/u7am0916AshleyRich.mp3)

For the record, I don’t blame the victim for this for she suffered from a brutal crime, rather, it is the Mobile District Attorney’s Office and the Prichard Police Department that could have pursued true justice, but opted, instead, for an easy conviction.  No one wins when the wrong person is convicted, except for the prosecutor, and no one gets closure when the wrong person is convicted.

You wonder why the system breaks our heart- because we believed and believe in it
and when you believe in something so much and it lets you down, sometimes you
are hurt by it.  On a radio show, Rodney was asked about his continued trust in the system.

Dr. Wilmer Leon to Rodney: “After talking to you and to Artemesia over the years, you still have faith in the system.” Rodney: “Yes, yes I do,
perhaps it is a character defect.” http://freerodneystanberry.com/blog/?attachment_id=78

Listen to the interview for more information. Rodney and I still have faith in a system that has gone out of its way to let him down. We can’t be like the people who don’t mind
keeping innocent people in prison; we have to be change agents.  I hope in writing this book that it will empower people to fight on behalf of those who are wrongfully convicted. The road is long, it is hard, you will have to make all kinds of sacrifices, including shutting out friends and family from to time, but justice is worth fighting for.

Sincerely and Peace,

Artemesia Stanberry

artemesia@freerodneystanberry.com

Camping Out for IPhones? Can We Camp Out for Justice? – The First Anniversary of the Execution of Troy Davis

September 21, 2012

So many people lined up for the IPhone 5.  According to reports, there were 2 million pre-orders for the phone. Those individuals pursuing the quest for more profits truly understand marketing and how to get millions of people to line up for a material item. Individuals pursuing the quest for justice have to be more proactive as well.  This is the 1 year anniversary of the execution of Troy Davis, an individual many believe was an innocent man on death row.  Wouldn’t it have been awesome if we heavily promoted the idea that we should line up (peaceably) in front of the offices of district attorneys around the country as wrongful convictions often begin with prosecutors. Just as people camped out for IPhones, we should have had a camp out for justice. District Attorneys not only often sanction wrongful convictions, but once subsequent district attorneys find out about a wrongful conviction, rather than seriously address it, they double down to ensure that the mistake is not corrected.  They are sworn to uphold the law and to pursue justice, but when it comes to wrongful convictions, they double down. Why? Because NO ONE HOLDS THEM ACCOUNTABLE and with the recent Supreme Court Thompson v Connick case, the Supreme Court even gave prosecutors a legal excuse to keep doing what they are doing (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/opinion/10thompson.html?pagewanted=all). The Bar Associations do not hold them accountable.  Local politicians and officials do not hold them accountable. The Department of Justice does not hold them accountable. The media do no hold them accountable. In short, they are not held accountable.  District Attorneys running for office will talk about the integrity of the conviction and about how they would not accept any prosecutorial misconduct, past and present, but once they are sworn in, the mentality reverts back to “we are going to uphold all convictions, regardless of innocence.” But the voters, if they wanted to, could hold district attorneys accountable. Imagine if we were to camp out for justice. Next September 21st?

Last year, NAACP President Ben Jealous sent a message the day after the October 1 Memorial Service for Troy Davis that called for the end to capital punishment, telling district attorneys and candidates for the Office of District Attorney that they will not receive our votes if they send people to death row, and calling on people to vote (from an email dated October 2, 2011).  Did the NAACP hold any marches or camp-out since then? Today?  I know the NAACP has been to Georgia in recent weeks on behalf of John McNeil, who is in prison for protecting his son at his home (http://www.naacp.org/news/entry/president-jealous-and-naacp-leaders-visit-john-mcneil) but what about the marches to hold district attorneys accountable because these cases begin at that level. Did anyone attending the Congressional Black Caucus weekend panels camp out beforehand for justice? I mean was it just about taking advantage of the media coverage surrounding Troy Davis, or are we serious about activism surrounding the death penalty and/or wrongful convictions?  Troy Davis has been executed and his sister, Martina Correia who fought so hard for brother died soon after his execution.  Rodney K. Stanberry is in his 16^th year of a wrongful conviction. He is sitting in a prison in Alabama.  His mother will be buried tomorrow. He won’t be at the funeral (http://freerodneystanberry.com/blog/2012/09/11/rodneys-mother-may-she-rest-in-peace/). No amount of apologies will bring these individual back to see justice pursued, but an increased amount of activism will go a long way.  Again, I applaud these efforts by the NAACP, but unless we get a handle on the causes of wrongful convictions, even without the death penalty, prosecutors can engage in the same tactics to get a conviction that will lead to an individual spending 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 years and even life in prison for crimes he or she did not commit.  Troy Davis spent 20 years on death row.(from a blog from last year http://freerodneystanberry.com/blog/2011/10/04/beyond-the-death-penalty-the-troy-davis-case-and-the-travesty-of-eyewitness-misidentification/)

 In a statement by Troy Davis dated September 10, 2011, he wrote in part: 

                   “So Thank you and remember I am in a place where execution can only destroy your physical form but because of my faith in God, my family and all of you I have been spiritually free for some time and no matter what happens in the days, weeks to come, this Movement to end the death penalty, to seek true justice, to expose a system that fails to protect the innocent must be accelerated. There are so many more Troy Davis ’. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this Unjust system city by city, state by state and country by country. “(http://redantliberationarmy.wordpress.com/2011/09/11/to-all-a-message-from-troy-anthony-davis/)

 Let’s roll up our sleeves, take off our bedroom slippers and put on our marching shoes (As President Obama said during the Congressional Black Caucus’s Annual Legislative Conference last year), and tell District Attorneys and State Legislatures that we can be a society of law and order while also working to prevent wrongful convictions.

                                                             Sincerely,

                                                             Artemesia Stanberry

                                          www.freerodneystanberry.com                                       

PS  I just want to acknowledge that today is International Peace Day.

September 10, 2012

 2Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”…..R.I.P. Mom (Evelyn Stanberry)  T. Stanberry- 9/8/2012

 To Whom It May Concern:

 One of the worst consequences of a wrongful conviction is the death of the convicted innocent while serving out his sentence, as was the case of Timothy Cole, pardoned posthumously by Texas Governor Rick Perry, or the death of a parent, as just happened to Rodney K. Stanberry, who is in his 15^th year of a wrongful conviction. Mike Morton, who spent 25 years in prison, had his mother’s strength to sustain him.  His mother said “I felt like I was in prison too, because he was my child and I couldn’t help him” (http://www.npr.org/2012/04/28/151401541/moms-faith-outlasts-her-sons-wrongful-conviction).

 Evelyn Stanberry (Aunt Janice as I called her, Aunt Janet to many in our family), died on September 8, 2012.  She had long battled an illness and, on several occasions, she fought against the odds to stay alive. I have pleaded with the Mobile District Attorney’s Office to reopen Rodney’s case because if they are wrong, and they are, then they are not only punishing Rodney, but also his parents. In 2004 during a particularly fretful hospital stay, I sent a letter to DA John Tyson, Jr. and this was his response: http://freerodneystanberry.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/09-07-2010_121703PM.24992718.BMP.  As was the case with Morton, Rodney’s mother served as a source of his strength. 

 At the parole board, the health of his mother was dismissed.  When Rodney’s mother sent a letter to Judge McRae pleading for him to give her son back to her, he looked her in the eyes and said that he threw her letter into the nearest trash can.  Of course Judge McRae said he meant well in his comments.* That was one of her last memories before her memory began to fade.  Rodney’s mother is no longer on this earth and her son has to struggle with a wrongful conviction and with the years he was unable to spend with his mother because of a system that is very slow about correcting itself.  Rodney’s mother was his hero; he got his strength from her.  He is now beginning the second phase of his sentence- the post Mom phase, characterized with the knowledge that he will never be able to see his mother again. 

As I have said before, it is one thing for a guilty man to be deprived of the ability to spend time with his parents, but it is another thing when it is an innocent man.  Not only has he lost a parent, but he won’t even be able to oversee or attend her burial.  Rodney’s parents have been married for as long as he has been alive. He came from a solid, two-parent household.  Rodney’s father is 78 years old.  He has been under a tremendous amount of stress caring for his wife and fighting for his son.  There has rarely been a week that goes by when I do not speak with Rodney’s father. He has done a remarkable job caring for his wife. Rodney has lost one parent; his father has lost a spouse of 43 years. His sister has lost her mother, and his 16 year old son has lost his grandparent. The wheels of justice need to speed up much faster so that Rodney can spend quality time with his father.

The culture of far too many district attorney offices is to get and maintain a conviction at all costs.  The Mobile District Attorney’s Office under Ashley Rich’s leadership has already shown that they are willing to ignore a confession and ignore exculpatory evidence being withheld.  Here is a response from her office about Rodney’s case:  http://newsone.com/1809115/rodney-k-stanberry-is-alabama-still-the-land-of-jim-crow/ . During her campaign for District Attorney, candidate Rich talked the importance of integrity in every conviction (http://freerodneystanberry.com/blog/2012/07/22/a-step-in-the-right-direction-giving-the-wrongfully-convicted-a-chance-at-justice/u7am0916ashleyrich/).

Later this year, you will be sent a new investigative piece about Rodney’s case.  Will the Mobile District Attorney’s office continue to sanction a wrongful conviction; will anyone hold the office accountable?

The death of Rodney’s mother is devastating and painful for us all.  It is even more painful knowing that in 1992, she saw her son wrongfully arrested, in 1995, wrongfully convicted, and in 1997, she said goodbye to her son as he became a number with the Alabama Department of Corrections.  Before her health failed again, she was able to visit her son, but over the course of the last several years, she and her son were unable to see one another.  Two families have lost a matriarch as a result of a tragic occurrence in 1992; neither family has or will ever receive true justice, as long as the wrong person remains convicted. A double tragedy remains in place and the Mobile District Attorney’s Office has the ability to make things right. They just do not have the will. You can call DA Ashley Rich at (251) 574-5000 or (251) 574-8400. Email: ashleyrich@mobileda.org.

I wrote this blog earlier this year. It is entitled “The Significance of Mothers and Birthdays”  (http://freerodneystanberry.com/blog/2012/05/10/the-significance-of-birthdays-and-mothers-the-case-of-rodney-k-stanberry/

May Aunt Evelyn Stanberry Rest in Peace.

Peace,

Artemesia Stanberry

artemesia@freerodneystanberry.com

(251) 802-5798

*From March 15^th, 2001

The Court:  And in effect she said in that letter that we all knew that her son didn’t commit an offense.  To that I would say, I wasn’t the jury, the jury was. And two: That I knew or insinuated that I knew that somebody named Moore committed this offense and not her son.

I do not mind telling her or the world that that letter was thrown in the first garbage can and was not considered by me, because that is ex parte communication. But I wanted y’all to know that.

If I was the mother or father of this young man, I’d probably feel the same way. So I’m not knocking her for it, I am just letting y’all know that I did receive that communication; isn’t that right, ma’am, didn’t you write that letter?

Unidentified Speaker: (shaking head.)

The Court: She is saying yes, Proceed.

Mr. Knizley: We Call Mr. Jordan.

End Quote

 Rodney Stanberry on WKRG- 2004

July 22, 2012

A Step in the Right Direction- Giving the Wrongfully Convicted a Chance at Justice

There are people in prison for crimes they did not commit. That has become a well-known fact, particularly with the advent of DNA testing.  There are many reasons as to why someone may have been wrongfully convicted, but when the state- represented by the Department of Justice and local district attorneys plays a role in these convictions- it is imperative that the state works to correct itself, even if an inmate has exhausted his/her appeals.   This is why I applaud the Department of Justice’s decision to review cases where flawed forensics evidence may have led to a wrongful conviction. From the Washington Post:   

The Justice Department and the FBI have launched a review of thousands of criminal cases to determine whether any defendants were wrongly convicted or deserve a new trial because of flawed forensic evidence, officials said Tuesday.

The undertaking is the largest post-conviction review ever done by the FBI. It will include cases conducted by all FBI Laboratory hair and fiber examiners since at least 1985 and may reach earlier if records are available, people familiar with the process said. Such FBI examinations have taken place in federal and local cases across the country, often in violent crimes, such as rape, murder and robbery.( http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/justice-dept-fbi-to-review-use-of-forensic-evidence-in-thousands-of-cases/2012/07/10/gJQAT6DlbW_story.html)

Regardless of the potential financial cost, this is very necessary, as you can’t put a monetary value on justice. This certainly isn’t to say that everyone or even most of the inmates whose cases will be reviewed will be determined to be innocent, but for those who truly are, this gives them a chance to obtain their freedom.  A Washington Post series published earlier this year highlighted additional cases of wrongful convictions pursued by the Department of Justice. The opening paragraph of one article in the series begins: “Justice Department officials have known for years that flawed forensic work might have led to the convictions of potentially innocent people, but prosecutors failed to notify defendants or their attorneys even in many cases they knew were troubled” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/convicted-defendants-left-uninformed-of-forensic-flaws-found-by-justice-dept/2012/04/16/gIQAWTcgMT_story.html).   You can read this series to see several questionable cases. One can easily argue that the advocacy and investigative reporting by the press led to this decision by the Department of Justice.  The advocacy of the press (and public) is also needed to help bring about justice in states where many innocent people also languish in prison as a result of a wrongful conviction at the state and local level.

How Many Innocents are in Prison?

This past May I wrote a blog, an open letter, actually, to the President asking him to openly address wrongful convictions. http://freerodneystanberry.com/blog/2012/05/17/an-open-letter-to-president-obama-wrongful-convictions/ In the blog, I stated that on May 21, 2012, a report was released about the number of wrongful conviction exonerations since 1989.  As reported by Newsone “A new registry compiled by two major universities reveals that more than 2,000 prisoners were incorrectly imprisoned for serious crimes since 1989. After perusing the registry, it has been uncovered that more than half of the newly exonerated prisoners were African American, according to Newser” (http://newsone.com/2016580/study-half-of-wrongly-accused-prisoners-are-black/). The registry was compiled by the University of Michigan School of Law and Northwestern University School of Law. 

It is common belief by those who study wrongful convictions that this is a small representation of the many people who have been wrongfully convicted and incarcerated.  And, as stated on the Innocence Project’s webpage, the average time that these individuals spend in prison is 13 years!   (http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/Facts_on_PostConviction_DNA_Exonerations.php).

More recently, the Birmingham News editorial board (Birmingham, AL) wrote an editorial entitled   “OUR VIEW: Another reason to be a little less confident about the outcomes at criminal trials: A new study suggests it’s more common than once thought for people to be wrongly convicted of homicide and sexual assault.”  This editorial provides even more grim statistics on the number of innocent people who could be behind bars right now. Citing a Department of Justice funded study conducted by the Urban Institute, the editorial board wrote:  

“Those in the legal profession tell us juries get it right more often than not. And more often than not, they do.

But sometimes, they don’t, a fact driven home in a new study released this week. Specifically, the findings suggest wrongful convictions in cases involving homicide and sexual assault are more common than many assumed. Past estimates were that the rate of wrongful convictions was 3 percent or even less. But in this new study, researchers studying old homicide and sexual assault cases found DNA exonerated a convicted offender 5 percent of the time. When the sexual assault cases were singled out, the DNA tested did not match 8 percent to 15 percent of convicted offenders.” http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-commentary/2012/06/our_view_another_reason_to_be.html  A 15% chance of being wrongfully convicted, by a jury of your peers! Are these odds that we can be comfortable with? Can we continue to be comfortable with prosecutors responding to cases where there is evidence of wrongful convictions that the jury decided and we can’t be in the position of overturning a jury’s decision. We should fully respect and trust our jury system while also putting mechanisms in place to ensure that in the cases where there was a wrongful conviction, it will be addressed.  This is the step that the DOJ is taking, but states should and must follow suit.  Sitting in prison as an innocent person goes beyond cruel and unusual punishment.  It is mental torture, and it can be, as was the case of Timothy Cole, a college student wrongfully convicted, who died during his 13^th year in prison of an asthma attack, a death sentence.  One day is too may, 13 years is torture.  Anthony Graves knows this far too well as during a significant portion of the 18 years he spent in prison was on death row and in solitary confinement and if you have the stomach for it, see and hear what he experienced in his own words-         http://www.democracynow.org/2012/6/22/from_death_row_to_exoneration_fmr

Congress- A Step in the Right Direction

An email from the Innocence Project revealed that Senator John D. Rockefeller (D-WV) and Representatives Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Donna Edwards (D-MD) and Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) introduced a bill in their respective houses of Congress that “will help prevent wrongful convictions by bringing reliable, science-based standards to forensic science (letter sent to subscribers’ inbox from www.innocenceproject.org).  S. 3378 and H.R. 6106 were introduced on July 12^th.  As of July 22, 2012, there are no co-sponsors on Sen. Rockefeller’s bill and no additional co-sponsors on the House bill other than the three mentioned.  We should applaud members of Congress for seeing the need to ensure that there is integrity in every conviction, but too often bills are introduced only to die in committee. With the Department of Justice and the FBI’s announcement about reviewing cases, Congress should show support by supporting this legislation and moving it forward.  This is about human lives. In June of this year, the U.S. Senate held what is considered its first hearing on solitary confinement.  Anthony Graves said this to Amy Goodman on Democracy Now following his testimony before the Senate hearing:

Well, you know, the state, they compensated me, but you can never compensate it—compensate me enough for what you stole from me. An apology, it’s never been official, but several people higher up in the government have apologized to me. And I—I mean, you know, I thank them for that, you know, but a true apology would to be—would be to really sit down and analyze our system and realize that we have a big, big problem in our system and that we’re sentencing men to death row and just in prison for crimes that they did not commit, because we have gotten so off track with seeking justice, because we’ve placed the politics over it. And I just wish that, you know, if they’re going to be sincere about an apology, then that would be the way to be sincere about it, is to really take in consideration that our system is definitely broken, and we need to reform it.

We need to fix it, because it’s for all of us. It’s not just for those; it’s for all of us, because the minute you start thinking that it doesn’t affect you, next thing you know, your neighbor is going to jail for something he didn’t do, and you realize that, you know, it’s just right next door to you. When does it come to you next? Then that’s when you start to realize that it’s part of us all, and we all have a part in this. I’m talking about from the voters, you know, and to the judge, to the jury. We all have a part in this here. And if it’s going to work, we all have to play our hand. I mean, the citizens of our nation, we have to hold those that we elect accountable. We definitely have to. We have to start being the overseers, because our system has gotten way off track, and it threatens all of us now. http://www.democracynow.org/2012/6/22/from_death_row_to_exoneration_fmr

Are you comfortable enough to believe that you, a family member, a neighbor, or a distant friend would not be among the 15% of individuals wrongfully convicted due to faulty forensics evidence? And if it happens to you, are you willing to wait on average 13 years- spent in an overcrowded prison with actual criminals- to be exonerated?  This is why it is important for this type of legislation to be supported.   In reading through S. 3378, I discovered that the bill calls for a Forensic Science Advisory Committee.  This committee is a collaborate effort that would include academic scientists, social scientists, statisticians, law enforcement and victim advocate organizations to implement uniform standards and policies to further the goals of the legislation (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.3378:) .  You can call your member of Congress in support of this legislation. The number to the Capitol Switchboard is (202) 224-3121. 

Conviction Integrity Units

Dallas County, Texas District Attorney Craig Watkins recognized that people in his county had been wrongfully convicted.  Unlike most District Attorneys, he did not put up a “wall of denial,” rather, he opted to set up a Conviction Integrity Unit where he worked with innocence projects on cases where there was evidence of innocence. The result was a number of exonerations, including that of Cornelius Dupree, who spent 30 years of a 75 year prison sentence in prison for a rape and robbery that he did not commit. If he were in most jurisdictions around this country, he likely would still be in prison. He was given a chance at parole if he admitted guilt and that he was a sex offender. He refused, even knowing he would remain in prison (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/04/cornelius-dupree-jr-prove_n_804010.html.) The leadership and compassion of DA Craig Watkins who wants to put away all the bad people in his county, while also ensuring that the innocent are not serving alongside those people. This should be a model to be followed!  Why isn’t it?  Here is an overview of his Conviction Integrity Unit:

Established by District Attorney Craig Watkins in July of 2007, the Conviction Integrity Unit reviews and re-investigates legitimate post conviction claims of innocence in accordance with the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 64 (Motion for Forensic DNA Testing).  In addition, the Conviction Integrity Unit reviews and prosecutes old cases (DNA and non-DNA related) where evidence identifies different or additional perpetrators.  Special Field Bureau Chief Russell Wilson supervises the Conviction Integrity Unit, the Appellate Division, the Public Integrity Division, the Federal Division and the Mental Health Unit, as well as public information, evidence destruction and expunctions at the District Attorney’s Office.  The Conviction Integrity Unit is staffed by two assistant district attorney, one investigator and one legal assistant.  This special division is the first of its kind in the United States. http://dallasda.co/webdev/

It seems that this can be done without an expense to District Attorney Offices.  In 2010, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office created a Conviction Integrity Unit.  From its webpage: 

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office spares no effort in seeking justice in every case that comes before it.  Through the years and around the country, innocent men and women have been convicted of crimes they did not commit.  This not only robs an innocent person of his or her freedom, it leaves a criminal on the street, free to commit more crimes.

To protect New Yorkers and ensure justice, District Attorney Vance created the Conviction Integrity Program in March 2010.  The Program is comprehensive in scope, and is unique in purpose: not only does it address claims of actual innocence, it also seeks to prevent wrongful convictions from occurring.  The Program has three components: a Conviction Integrity Committee, a Conviction Integrity Chief, and an outside Conviction Integrity Policy Advisory Panel. (http://manhattanda.org/preventing-wrongful-convictions).

One of the cases this unit has before it is the case of Jon Adrian “JJ” Valasquez, whose case was highlighted on Dateline. Luke Russert and NBC spent a decade investigating his case.  Please take a moment to review his case: http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/10/10374404-conviction-a-reporters-10-year-quest-for-answers-in-a-little-known-murder-case?chromedomain=insidedateline.  I saw the report when it aired and recently watched it again.  It is an even more disturbing case the more one reviews it.  Sadly, as an official stated on the show, that if you think that going to district attorneys with evidence of innocence is going to get someone released, you’re wrong, the system doesn’t work that way. Why doesn’t it?  Why shouldn’t it?  I sent Luke Russert a tweet asking if it generally takes him and NBC a decade to investigate the a case and if there was an update on Valasquez. His response: “@artiestan JJ’s case is still before the wrongful conviction unit of the #NYC DA. Will update story once decision is issued.” This is from June 21, 2012.  I urge you to review Valsquez case and then click on the Manhattan’s District Attorney’s Office to let them know that you are concerned and interested in his case.  If you watch the segment on Dateline, you’ll see an individual the police brought in as a witness saying that he did not know nor see Valasquez at the club where an individual was shot. The witness said he was brought into the police department with heroin on his person, but all the police were concerned with was getting him to id someone, anyone, apparently. So he looked through tons of pictures and finally picked someone, that someone being Valasquez.  This is a case worthy of a serious review! 

Rodney K. Stanberry

Finally, I have a special interest in wrongful convictions because for 16 years, I’ve been advocating for my cousin, Rodney K. Stanberry, who is in his 16^th year of a wrongful conviction (www.freerodneystanberry.com). I have asked former Mobile District Attorney John Tyson, Jr. and current Mobile DA Ashley Rich to establish a Conviction Integrity Unit.  While she was running for office, I sent DA Rich, and her opponent, emails about Rodney’s case and asking how they’d address wrongful convictions.  Candidate Rich responded that her office reviews claims of innocence internally, but wouldn’t commit to establishing such a unit. The Mobile District Attorney’s Office has several teams/units, including a check unit team, a child advocacy team, an investigations team, led by Mike Morgan and a White Collar Crime Team, led by Martha Tierney (see this article featuring Rodney K. Stanberry, Mike Morgan is quoted: http://newsone.com/1809115/rodney-k-stanberry-is-alabama-still-the-land-of-jim-crow/).  Although the Mobile District Attorney’s Office has been in a battle with the Mobile County Commission over funding for her office, instituting a Convictions Integrity Team would strengthen the District Attorney’s Office and move District Attorney Rich closer to her campaign vow that there is integrity in every conviction.   You can call or email her office to ask that she looks into Rodney’s case (251) 574-8400 or ashleyrich@mobileda.org.

There are people in prison for crimes they did not commit. Are we comfortable as a society when we hear about people such as Mike Morton (freed and exonerated after spending 25 years in prison), Greg Taylor, free and exonerated after spending 17 years in prison, Darryl Hunt, free and exonerated after spending nearly 19 years in prison, and Timothy Cole (posthumously pardoned- he died in prison). If not, then email your members of Congress, District Attorneys, and state officials asking them to implement reforms. There are tangible and intangible costs to incarcerating the innocent.   

Peace,

Artemesia Stanberry

artemesia@freerodneystanberry.com

PS To hear Candidate Ashley Rich discuss wrongful convictions while he was running to be the District Attorney, u7am0916AshleyRich.

An Open Letter to President Obama

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500

                                                            May 17, 2012 (updated on May 21st)

Dear Mr. President:

Your comments in support of same-sex marriage have garnered you a Newsweek cover with the headline “The First Gay President.”  I applaud you for using your powerful voice in favor of a civil rights issue, but I would also like for you to use your voice to speak out against wrongful convictions.  On May 21, 2012, a report was released about the number of wrongful conviction exonerations since 1989.  As reported by Newsone “A new registry compiled by two major universities reveals that more than 2,000 prisoners were incorrectly imprisoned for serious crimes since 1989. After perusing the registry, it has been uncovered that more than half of the newly exonerated prisoners were African American, according to Newser” (http://newsone.com/2016580/study-half-of-wrongly-accused-prisoners-are-black/). The registry was compiled by the University of Michigan School of Law and Northwestern University School of Law. 

It is common belief by those who study wrongful convictions that this is a small representation of the many people who have been wrongfully convicted and incarcerated.  And, as stated on the Innocence Project’s webpage, the average time that these individuals spend in prison is 13 years!   (http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/Facts_on_PostConviction_DNA_Exonerations.php).

The Department of Justice has come under fire for its handling of the late Senator Ted Stevens prosecution, including revelations that Department of Justice prosecutors withheld evidence (http://www.npr.org/2012/03/15/148687717/report-prosecutors-hid-evidence-in-ted-stevens-case).  As President of the United States of America, you should make a definitive statement about practices that result in a wrongful conviction, including withholding exculpatory evidence.

            Also, a recent Washington Post series highlighted additional cases of wrongful convictions pursued by the Department of Justice. The opening paragraph of one article in the series begins: “Justice Department officials have known for years that flawed forensic work might have led to the convictions of potentially innocent people, but prosecutors failed to notify defendants or their attorneys even in many cases they knew were troubled” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/convicted-defendants-left-uninformed-of-forensic-flaws-found-by-justice-dept/2012/04/16/gIQAWTcgMT_story.html).  This is extremely troubling. This issue goes beyond extending marriage rights to two consenting adults (although well-deserved), but it goes to the issue of basic liberty and freedom from an unjust incarceration. Just as the federal government during the 1980s encouraged states to build more prisons and to enhance their criminal penalties in response to the “War on Drugs,” the federal government should take a lead on encouraging states to make DNA testing more available, establish Conviction Integrity Units similar to the one established by the Dallas County, Texas District Attorney’s Office, and Actual Innocence Inquiry Commissions such as the one established in North Carolina, and other such measures to help those with legitimate and valid claims of innocence.

Following your statement on same sex marriages, it was reported that one in six of your top campaign bundlers openly identified themselves as gay (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/President/2012/0511/Gay-marriage-Clooney-fundraiser-a-hint-of-coming-Obama-money-boom-video). People who are wrongfully convicted and their families are often without funds due to the costly toll a wrongful conviction has on the inmate and the family.  But you should stand up for those who are wrongfully convicted purely on principle. Since the federal government has been involved and chastised for its role in a wrongful conviction, it would be more than a symbolic gesture if you spoke out against prosecutorial misconduct and in favor of policies and procedures that would limit the number of innocent people serving time in prison and the time that they serve. Wrongful convictions should never be tolerated or sanctioned.   This would not codling criminals; rather, it would be ensuring that the integrity of the system is upheld. 

Law and Order

I realize that Democrats have won elected offices on a law and order platform, a Democratic Congress helped to craft and pass legislation that resulted in harsh drug laws (mandatory minimums for crack and power, for example), and a Democratic President pushed through a Crime Bill in 1994 that also had enhanced criminal penalties, but as the lead Democrat in your party and as President of the United States, you should look beyond what is going to appear favorable towards your party and look at what is beneficial to the nation as a whole.  An innocent person in prison because of actions by the state is a human rights issue.  We need to end the practice of prosecutors and law enforcement callously playing with human lives. 

Republicans in Congress have been vocal on perceived injustices by the criminal justice system when it has related to individuals that they have identified with, individuals such as former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.  On July 25, 2007 Congressman Ted Poe introduced an amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill that, to quote from Congressman Poe’s webpage, would free two imprisoned border agents.  Specifically, as stated on Congressman Poe’s website, the Poe/Tancredo/Hunter Amendment to the Commerce Justice and Science FY 08 Appropriations would withhold federal funds to enforce the judgment and sentencing of Border Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.  It passed the US House of Representatives by voice vote  (http://poe.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7902&catid=102:speeches).  These border agents were convicted by a jury of their peers for shooting an alleged Mexican drug smuggler on the US Mexican border.  Conservative radio talk shows hosts, including Laura Ingraham and Ed Hendee, had criticized the arrest and sentencing of these border agents.  Conservative members of the Texas Congressional delegation including Ted Poe and Senator John Cornyn had spent countless hours on a major radio station in Texas (KSEV) criticizing U.S. prosecutor ( for the Western District of Texas) Johnny Sutton and the sentencing guidelines that required these agents to be sentenced to 11 and 12 years of prison time.  California Republican member of Congress Dana Rohrabacher was also vocal on the cause of these agents.  These Congressman and radio talk show hosts also expressed concern about the prison these conditions these border agents are subjective to.  Senator Cornyn and others were like instrumental in getting one of the imprisoned border agents moved from one prison to one closer to his family. President George H.W. Bush, within 24 hours before his presidency came to an end, commuted the sentences of Ramos and Campean (http://ramos-compean.blogspot.com/).  This is what happens when Congress and the media take stand on an issue. Imagine what could happen if you, Mr. President, said “Enough, we are not going to continue to tolerate innocent men and women being wrongfully convicted and, in some cases, put to death. That is not who we should be as Americans.”

U.N. Rapporteur Philip Alston visited Alabama and Texas because those are the two states with the largest number of people on death row, for Alabama, this represents the number on death row per capita. In his report, he stated that officials in Alabama seemed to be indifferent to evidence of innocence and bias. Specifically, he said the following:

 “In Texas, there is at least significant recognition that reforms are needed. In Alabama, the situation remains highly problematic. Government officials seem strikingly indifferent to the risk of executing innocent people and have a range of standard responses, most of which are characterized by a refusal to engage with the facts. The reality is that the system is simply not designed to turn up cases of innocence, however compelling they might be. It is entirely possible that Alabama has already executed innocent people, but officials would rather deny than confront flaws in the criminal justice system.” (http://eji.org/eji/files/06.30.08%20Alston%20Press%20Statement.pdf)

Rodney K. Stanberry

This issue is very personal to me because I have a cousin who is in his 16^th year of a prison sentence for crimes he did not commit. Rodney K. Stanberry was arrested in 1992, tried and convicted in 1995, and began his prison sentence in 1997.  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. More information about his case can be found at www.freerodneystanberry.com and www.freerodneystanberry.com/blog.  

You can issue an executive order calling on the Department of Justice to review all cases where a conviction is questionable and set an example for the states- particularly the Attorney Generals and District Attorneys that we, as a country, will leave no stone unturned to ensure that an innocent person is not in prison. We need to discourage the convict at all costs mentality that exists among federal and state prosecutors.  You have the power to make a difference. Do you have the conviction to do so?

Sincerely,

Artemesia Stanberry

 Innocent and Incarcerated: 5500 Days and Counting- The Case of Rodney K. Stanberry

April 16, 2012

‎Rodney K. Stanberry is in year 16, week 4 of a 20 year prison sentence. By the end of week 4, he will have spent approximately 5,500 (five thousand, five hundred) days in prison for crimes he did not commit. There is no special prosecutor looking at his case, the US Atty General says it is a state issue, and the NAACP is on the sidelines. 5, 500- the number of days an innocent man has been without his freedom. DA Rich said during her campaign that if she discovered that exculpatory evidence was withheld in a case, she would reopen and retry the case. Prosecutor Buzz Jordan travels from Mobile to a prison in New York to visit the person he says was the shooter and claims not to have taken notes. This visit took place BEFORE Rodney’s trial and he had a prior statement from the inmate he visited that also exonerated Rodney. If notes were taken, but not provided to Rodney’s attorney, isn’t that withholding exculpatory evidence?  Listen to DA Rich’s interview here about her strong feelings about an attorney who withholds exculpatory evidence. (http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/key_documents_in_rodneys_case)
Keep your word, DA Ashley Rich. Would you as a prosecutor visit a suspect without taking notes? Would you support a prosecutor under your reign visiting a suspect before a major trial but claim to only visit while on vacation, so no notes were taken? Why didn’t the Mobile District Attorney’s Office bring the shooter to trial as the prosecutor stated he would? Is it because the truth would continue to come to light, that Rodney K. Stanberry is innocent. The District Attorney’s Office had a confession before Rodney’s trial, a confession made in front of the prosecutor in the law offices of one of the most well known attorneys in Alabama, who was representing the person who confessed. It was the prosecutor who went to the judge to get the confession thrown out.  Moore’s confession was an inconvenient truth for the District Attorney’s Office.  5,500 days; how long must this injustice go on? Call DA Rich and ask about that interview in New York. (251) 574-8400. They will counter by talking about what solely convicted Rodney, victim eyewitness misidentification ( http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/eyewitness_misidentification). When you have this, all you need to do is to keep confessions out of court, turn a blind eye to missing/lost/misplaced evidence, keep secret tape recordings exonerating the defendant out of court, and not revealing details from a prison interview with the person the prosecutor claims was the shooter. 
 
Please read this post- it offers tremendous insight into the mindset of prosecutors and police departments when presented with evidence of innocence.  Regardless of how much good a DA may do in a community, he/she should be measured by how willing they are to keep an innocent person in prison.
 
http://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/2012/04/09/good-cop-kristen-ziman-misses-the-point/
“Good Cop Kristen Ziman Doesn’t Know How Good She Is: Tunnel Vision About Tunnel Vision”
 
2 Paragraphs from the blog:

“Nancy Petro commented in her post yesterday about Aurora, Illinois, police commander Kristen Ziman’s editorial It Shouldn’t Be A Surprise When Cops Do the Right Thing, and I’d like to add a few words.  By way of background, I previously blogged here and in a post entitled Good Cops Warm the Heart, about the fact that Kristen Ziman’s department has taken affirmative steps when new information comes to light to open-mindedly look into old convictions to make sure that the right person is in prison.  In one instance, her department’s pro-active “second-look” policy resulted in the exoneration of an innocent man.  Thus, the national acclaim was quite justified……

……  I believe, however, that Ziman has completely missed the point, as have most police officers and prosecutors with whom I’ve had conversations on this subject.  And I can say from my experience as a prosecutor, and now having done post-conviction innocence work for more than a decade, that the media and public acted with surprise because MANY police and prosecutors DO unreasonably resist post-conviction evidence of innocence, and DO NOT RESPOND in a fair and objective way when presented years after a conviction with new evidence of innocence.  Thus, her department’s behavior received national attention because it is IN FACT the exception rather than the rule.”

 Last year, the Mobile District Attorney’s Office abruptly dropped the case of Toby Priest. Only Lagniappe, a local publication in Mobile, did a substantial story about the case, but in the COMMENT section of an article written by the Mobile Press Register, one of the key eyewitnesses (she identified herself as such)said that the DA’s Office didn’t even bother to contact her for the original trial. Her testimony could have kept Priest out of prison, which is probably why the DA’s Office didn’t contact her. This is the perception that people can come to when district attorneys refuse to pursue the truth and true justice for the victim. Here is a blog I wrote following the publication of the Lagniappe article:  http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/blog/2011/11/16/reaction-to-article-in-lagniappe-about-the-toby-priest-case.

 When one looks at Rodney’s case, one sees the tunnel vision that exists as the Mobile District Attorney’s Office has resisted both pre-conviction AND post-conviction evidence of innocence. 

 The Chief Investigator for Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich (who is in her second year as the District Attorney- she served as Assistant District Attorney for 14 years) is a (former) veteran investigator with the Mobile Police Department. Here is what he said in response to NewsOne journalist Kirsten Savali West:    http://newsone.com/1809115/rodney-k-stanberry-is-alabama-still-the-land-of-jim-crow/.  

 I wish we could also get justice for Trevon, Rodney’s son. His father will turn 43 on April 27th. His father has for 20 years (the crimes occured in 1992) experienced a wrongful arrest and a wrongful conviction, leading him to serve a 20 year sentence (15 complete years already served). There is no justice for Trevon as long as his father remains in prison and the Mobile District Attorney’s Office refuses to admit that this is a wrongful conviction. If you also support justice for Trevon, you will go to www.freerodneystanberry.com, click on call to action and share with your friends. Also contact Mobile DA Ashley Rich- 251-574-5000 or 251-574-8400 or ashleyrich@mobileda.org.

 Peace and Sincerely,

Artemesia Stanberry

Rodney K. Stanberry- 15 Years and Counting

On March 25th, 2012 Rodney K. Stanberry begins his 16th year in prison for crimes he did not commit.

On March 24th, 1997, Rodney K. Stanberry became an inmate housed in the Alabama Department of Corrections. How will he spend this weekend? Like he spends every SECOND of his life- wondering how an innocent man can spend this much time in prison for crimes he didn’t commit. He’ll be thinking about his parents, his sister, and his son Trevon. If he heard the President, he’d also say my son could also be your son. During his sixth year of incarceration, Rodney K. Stanberry wrote a letter that had this as its final paragraph: “Trust me, trying to answer the question of a six year old about when you’re coming home hurts. I can only hope that someone steps forward to help.”

Please call DA Ashley Rich at 1-251-574-5000 or 251-574-8400. If her job is to seek the truth, then she should reopen Rodney’s case and stop hiding behind a wrongful conviction. There is justice and there is the law. Her duty should be to pursue the truth and combine the two. Free Rodney K. Stanberry. Justice for Trayvon and for Trevon, who will soon turn 16. Also, read this Call to Action and call Alabama Governor Robert Bentley and Attorney General Luther Strange: http://freerodneystanberry.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Call_to_ActionFinal.248151808.pdf
Please review this WKRG report by Bill Riales from 2004- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEVURKsGoMI

 Prosecutor Buzz Jordan heard a confession by another individual before Rodney’s trial (a confession made in front of Jordan and then Prichard Police Detective Lebarron Smith in the law offices of one of the best attorneys in Mobile.  The attorney represented the person who confessed.) There is only one reason why the prosecutor went to the judge to get the confession treated as hearsay so that it would not be heard by the jury and that is because it didn’t fit his theory- not because it wasn’t the truth) The prosecutor seen in the video above traveled from Mobile to Rikers Island Prison in New York to visit the person he (the prosecutor) said was the shooter. He claims he did not take notes!!! He never tried or attempted to try the person he said was the shooter. Why? Because his visit to Rikers Island further revealed the truth- that Rodney is innocent and a new trial would do that. The people in the Mobile District Attorney’s Office do not mind playing with the lives of innocent people. The actual shooter died before trial so the Mobile DA’s Office wants to pretend as if he didn’t exist. How is this victims’ rights? For more info, see  http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/the_shooter-_what_they_want_to_wish_away   – “The Shooter, What They Want to Wish Away”.  On March 25th, 2012, Rodney will begin his 16th year in prison.
 
This weekend, I urge you to watch two shows- one on CNN entitled “The Price of Life” featuring an individual who spent 17 years in prison for crimes he did not commit (Sat. 8pm EST) and one on 60 Minutes featuring Mike Morton, who spent nearly 25 years in prison for crimes he did not commit.  Morton’s attorneys are in a battle to hold the prosecutor in his case accountable.   http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57402685/freedom-after-nearly-25-years-of-wrongful-imprisonment/?fb_ref=fbrecT&fb_source=profile_multiline 
 
From the cbsnews (cited in the link above:

“In his first interview since he was exonerated, Morton tells Logan about his tragic incarceration and what he and others say may be a broader weakness in the justice system. Logan’s report will be broadcast Sunday, March 25 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.  Pointing to other cases of alleged prosecutorial misconduct throughout the country, Morton says more needs to be done to make sure prosecutors disclose evidence favorable to the defense and are held accountable when they don’t. “If you did those things… the sort of stuff where you were hiding evidence from a homicide investigation, they’d lock you up in a minute,” Morton tells Logan.  By law, prosecutors are required to tell defense lawyers about evidence favorable to the accused. But studies have shown that prosecutors are hardly ever criminally charged and rarely disciplined by the state bar for serious error or misconduct. The Supreme Court has ruled that prosecutors cannot be sued in civil court because of their legal work, even if they withhold evidence.”  

 
Withheld evidence puts people in prison. Withheld evidence, a confession not heard by the jury, and convincing a family that this was a murder for hire scheme gets and keeps a person in prison- for 15 years and counting. Candidate Ashley Rich was absolutely adamant about how she feels about withheld evidence: http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/key_documents_in_rodneys_case.  District Attorney Ashley Rich should take this seriously.  Investigative Reporters should investigate what is withheld evidence and ask Rich if she condones prosecutors traveling from Mobile to a prison in New York to see the person he claims was the shooter (and told the media and jury that he would be brought to Mobile for trial) and not taking notes.  Jordan may not be in office, but he made this admission under oath in front of a current Assistant District Attorney. 
 
If Rodney were guilty, it is understandable to not have much sympathy for him as the crime was brutal in nature, but Rodney is innocent and his actions upon hearing about the crimes demonstrate that he was a man seeking to bring the real culprits to justice.  His actions- helping police, secretly recording a person with knowledge of the crimes and giving it to police, submitting to a polygraph test (which he passed), sharing photos with law enforcement, and so on.  The actions by the Prichard Police Department and the Mobile District Attorney’s Office made him inmate 192084.  Justice is never served when the wrong person is convicted.
 
Sincerely and Peace,
 
Artemesia Stanberry
artemesia@freerodneystanberry.com
(251) 802-5798 (a number set up just for calls about Rodney)

March 10, 2012 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEVURKsGoMI

What Would You Do?

What would you do if you worked for a district attorney’s office and discovered a possible wrongful conviction case?

What would you do if you are the district attorney and you discover that an employee may have perpetuated and/or condoned  a wrongful conviction?           

What would you do if you said during your campaign that would retry a case if exculpatory evidence was withheld and then you become District Attorney and discover that there is reason to believe that exculpatory evidence was withheld? Would you keep your word?

What would you do if you have spent 15 years in prison for crimes you did not commit? Would you continue to maintain your innocence knowing that you are being punished for being innocent?  Would you challenge the Mobile District Attorney’s Office and the local/national media to prove you are guilty?  

What would Rodney K. Stanberry do? He would do as he has done from the very beginning, cooperate because he is innocent. He would challenge people with all the power and resources at hand to discover the truth. 

What could you do?  Read the letter below, contact the Mobile Press Register, sign and share this change.org petition (http://www.change.org/petitions/free-rodney-k-stanberry) , share on your webpage, talk to media, attorney, blogs, call the Mobile District Attorney’s Office, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange,  elected officials in Mobile, and friends and family members in Mobile, Alabama.    This injustice has got to end.  District Attorney Ashley Rich can be tough on crime AND do what is within her powers to release an innocent man.

Peace,  Artemesia 

                                                                                                                                            March 10, 2012

Rickey Mathews- Publisher

c/o Mobile Press Register

401 N. Water St

Mobile, AL 36602

Email: rmathews@press-register.com 

Phone: (251) 219-5673

(note, this was sent via email on February 25^th, 2012)

Dear Mr. Mathews:

I have written to you about Rodney K. Stanberry and I’ve written to your paper for approximately 15 years about the case of Rodney K. Stanberry, who is about to begin his 16th year in prison for crimes he did not commit.  In fact, I have a letter I wrote to former columnist Jay Greelan on www.freerodneystanberry.com from the 1990s.  I’ve written to Robert McClendon when he has done cases, including a Cold Case out of Prichard, that had some of the same issues in it as Rodney’s with regard to evidence not being gathered and evidence being lost and I’ve written to Katherine Sayre (McClendon once told me to contact Ms. Sayre as she covers the DA’s Office and crime matters).  And, as you know, I’ve written and sent at least one letter directly to you, one such letter can also be found at the aforementioned website.

My purpose in writing to you now is to ask you to prove Rodney is guilty.  Wrongful convictions have made the headlines around the nation. One, the case of Toby Priest, was recently in your newspaper. So asking your reporters to look into a case where someone is a convicted innocent and attempting to prove that he is guilty is worth your time.  NBC news correspondent Luke Russert recently aired an investigative report entitled “Conviction” (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/#/46359709)  where NBC allowed him resources to take on inmate Jon Adrian Velazquez’ challenge  to prove him guilty.  When people are 100 percent innocent and certain of it, they have no problem with getting reporters to investigate their cases.  In Raleigh North Carolina, the News and Observer did a series entitled “Twisted Justice” (http://www.newsobserver.com/tags/?tag=Twisted+Truth) that has resulted in the Durham County, NC District Attorney (Tracey Cline) being dismissed from her job.  On February 24th, the NewsOberver posted an article about laws governing the removal of a District Attorney (http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/24/1880194/removal-process-govered-by-state.html).   When newspapers use their investigative powers, reforms can be put into place.

According to the prosecutor in Rodney’s case, Joe Carl “Buzz” Jordan, Rodney was the accomplice of the shooter, who would later be tried for shooting the victim.  Or so Jordan assured your newspaper and the jury.  But that never happened.  After Rodney was convicted, the District Attorney’s Office moved on. Why would they not attempt to prosecute the person they claimed was the shooter. Was it because he was in prison at Rikers Island facing decades in prison or was it because he would have confirmed what Terrell Moore- the person who confessed to committing the crimes and exonerating Rodney K. Stanberry- testified in front of Buzz Jordan, Atty Bob Clark, and Prichard Police Det. Lebarron Smith?  Your newspaper reporters were on this case from the beginning to the trial, but the final story of truth and justice has yet to be written (you can see a portion of the scanned article on the website, you can pull the full article from your archives http://freerodneystanberry.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/mobileregister.256104348.pdf). 

Just as the News&Observer’s “Twisted Justice” series has been popular and well-read and just like Luke Russert’s report “Conviction” was widely viewed and promoted, your series about Rodney K. Stanberry would, I’m sure, generate the same response, and, thus, is worthy of your time and money.  Prove him guilty of attempted murder, First Degree Robbery, and First Degree Burglary.  Are you up to the challenge? Rodney is. He has spent 20 years of his life knowing his innocence, including 15 years in prison. He spent time immediately after learning of the shooting of Ms. Valerie Finley trying to help law enforcement locate the actual perpetrators of these crimes, an innocent man wants nothing more than to prove his innocence. The District Attorney’s Office wants nothing more than to get and uphold a conviction. Newspapers should be concerned about truth and justice, so bring in your objectivity and look into this case.

Peace,

Artemesia Stanberry

Artemesia@freerodneystanberry.com

(cc local/national media figures

Governor Bentley

Attorney General Luther Strange

PS- In case you want to read and listen to more:

http://freerodneystanberry.com/blog/?attachment_id=78
Dr. Wilmer Leon to Rodney: “After talking to you and to Artemesia over the years, you still have faith in the system.” Rodney: “Yes, yes I do, perhaps it is a character defect.” Listen to the interview for more. Rodney and I still have faith in a system that has gone out of its way to let him down. We can’t be like the people who don’t mind keeping innocent people in prison, we have to be change agents. This is why we keep fighting even though this is, as I’m often reminded, an uphill battle.

February 12, 2012

 78 Years- Happy Birthday to Rodney K. Stanberry’s Father

 Today, Rodney’s father celebrates his 78^th birthday.  As you can imagine, there isn’t a day that goes by when he doesn’t yearn to spend the day with his son.  Rodney’s parents have been married for as long as Rodney, who is now 42, has been alive. He brought his son and family from New York to Mobile to get away from the criminal element, not imagining what the Mobile District Attorney’s Office would do to convict an innocent man and to maintain the conviction at all cost.  The Mobile District Attorney’s Office, now under the leadership of Ashley M. Rich, stated in an article written by Kirsten West Savali (http://newsone.com/newsone-original/kirstensavali/rodney-k-stanberry-is-alabama-still-the-land-of-jim-crow/) last month that the jury has spoken and that they will not reopen Rodney’s case without “new and compelling evidence.”

 Rodney was convicted solely on eyewitness misidentification (75% of those exonerated were falsely convicted based on eyewitness misidentification (http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/eyewitness_misidentification) and because the Mobile DA’s Office (prosecutor Joe Carl “Buzz” Jordan) went to Judge Ferrell McRae (http://prospect.org/article/judge-lynch-mob) before Rodney’s trial to make sure that a confession wasn’t heard by the jury, the DA’s office manipulated the jury by making sure that they heard only the eyewitness identification- they knew that the confession was truthful and solid, but didn’t want a pesky thing like the truth to interfere with a theory and a wrongful conviction.  And when Moore was going to confess years later at Rodney’s Rule 32 Post Conviction Hearing, the Mobile DA’s Office made sure to let him know that he got a get out of jail free pass, don’t blow it by again telling the truth about the crimes against the victim. The truth is a casualty of war and, at times, of the judicial system (http://freerodneystanberry.com/blog/2011/12/16/the-confession-that-the-jury-never-heard-the-case-of-rodney-k-stanberry/)

 Last year you all in large numbers responded to a request that the DA’s Office get 77 calls in honor of Rodney’s father’s (Earsell Stanberry) birthday (http://www.bvblackspin.com/2011/02/18/13-years-in-prison-with-no-evidence-of-guilt-the-case-of-rodney/). He is now 78; please call the Mobile District Attorney’s Office and say you are not satisfied with its answer, reopen and reinvestigate Rodney’s case based on the confession (what Moore said in the confession was something that only someone present at the crime scene would know) and based on the fact that they never attempted to convict anyone else, even as they told the media and the jury that they would.  The numbers are: (251) 574-6685, (251) 574-8400 and/or via email at ashleyrichda.org.  In addition, the Alabama Bar Association should make wrongful convictions a part of its priority and to investigate cases where there is evidence of a wrongful conviction. Attorney Jim Pratt is the President of the Alabama Bar Association. The number to the Alabama Bar Association is (334) 269-1515.

 Convicting someone else would again bring to light the truth they don’t want you to know, that Rodney is innocent and Moore was being truthful. Rodney was convicted of attempted murder (20 years), First Degree Burglary (20 years) and First Degree Robbery (20 years).  The crimes for which he is convicted took place in 1992, his trial and conviction took place in 1995, and his he began serving three 20 year sentences, to be served concurrently, in 1997.  March 24^th will mark the beginning of his 16^th year in prison.  He has been denied parole twice, once in 2004 and 2009 and he has another parole date in 2013.  Rodney refuses to say he is guilty for crimes he did not commit, and therefore he will likely not get paroled (http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/06/04/nyregion/1247467961918/the-innocent-prisoner-s-dilemma.html).  His release date is March 2017.  His father will be 83 years old. His mother is in a fragile situation and is in a nursing home in Maryland- she had to be moved closer to his sister to be cared for.  What these middle class parents got for moving their children back to the South for a better life was a taste of the judicial system that cares more about the conviction than anything else, including true justice for the victim as no one wins when the wrong person is convicted. Rodney’s father was 58 when his son was arrested, 61 when his son was convicted, and 63 when his son was sent to prison.  He is now 78. Imagine the toll this would have on you? 

 Without our family’s diligence, the District Attorney’s Office would never have to address what they did in Rodney’s case.  They thought they had it wrapped up and put away under lock and key- again, with no desire to convict even the person they said was the shooter (http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/the_shooter-_what_they_want_to_wish_away). In one of Tyson’s letters to me he says that we believe that the person responsible for these crimes is your cousin Rodney K. Stanberry, conveniently forgetting that he was not accused of shooting the victim, meaning they never intended to completely resolve this case.  Prosecutor Buzz Jordan didn’t get the DA position, it went to John Tyson, Jr. via a special appointment, he left the office months after Rodney’s conviction, while Tyson and now Ashley Rich (and Assistant District Attorney Martha Tierney and Chief Investigator Mike Morgan) were left with the task of trying to make the prosecution of Rodney seem solid; trying to ignore the neglect of law enforcement to obtain any physical evidence and “misplacing” some evidence (ie the mask and gloves Moore said he initially had).  Rodney will begin his 16^th year of incarceration in March of this year.  How many years must he spend in prison because the Mobile District Attorney’s Office does not want to admit that a mistake had been made?  How many more years can Rodney’s 78 year old father and aged mother endure because the state refuses to correct itself?  The numbers are: (251) 574-6685, (251) 574-8400 and/or via email at ashleyrichda.org.  (http://freerodneystanberry.com/blog/2012/01/17/the-state-doesn%e2%80%99t-cry-maybe-it-should-the-case-of-rodney-k-stanberry/)

We who believe in freedom and justice cannot rest. Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich can continue to be a strong district attorney, she can continue to receive awards for sending people to death row, she can continue to block paroles, she can continue to be tough on crime, pro-victim, and a protector of the community without letting this travesty of justice to go on.  But the reality is that prosecutors won’t change without the public demanding it; they have no incentive to do so.  Your voice is needed.

Peace and Sincerely,

Artemesia Stanberry

artemesia@freerodneystanberry.com