freerodneystanberry.com Blog

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

January 17, 2012

www.freerodneystanberry.com

Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich can be reached at (251) 574-6685

Email ashleyrich@mobileda.org

On her one year anniversary as the District Attorney please call DA Rich and request that she allows the Alabama Attorney General to investigate Rodney’s case and/or that she takes the legal steps necessary toward retrying or releasing Rodney K. Stanberry. January 18, 2012 is her one year anniversary as District Attorney.

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

The State Doesn’t Cry, Maybe It Should- The Case of Rodney K. Stanberry

In a recent Mother Jones article about Timothy Cole, a Texas native who died in prison while serving a sentence for a rape he did not commit, the individual who actually committed the crime for which Cole was accused said Cole cried in jail. He cried after hearing his sentence and as he was being led away to a prison. Jerry Wayne Johnson, the real rapist, was in jail with Cole waiting for his own trial. He knew Cole was innocent, but to protect himself, he did not confess to officials.  However, seeing Cole cry, made him cry. Here is a quote from Beth Schwartzpafel’s piece entitled “No Country for Innocent Men: 

When Cole was taken to the Lubbock County Jail after his sentencing, in September 1986, the real rapist was right there in a nearby cell. Johnson, who was awaiting trial for two other rapes and a murder, had followed Cole’s story in the paper. He listened to Cole cry. “It was terrible to learn that Tim was…on trial for something I knew he hadn’t done,” Johnson wrote to me in a letter in 2010. “Seeing him cry his first night in jail and seeing him leave to be taken to prison was difficult, I cried.” But he did nothing. He was already facing the death penalty. “I knew it wasn’t good to say anything before I went to trial.” (http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/tim-cole-rick-perry)

Even among people who commit horrific crimes, knowing that someone has been unjustly incarcerated elicits a tear.  This same response isn’t found among many prosecutors doing everything they can to get a conviction.  This response isn’t found among many prosecutors after being made aware that a prisoner may be innocent, the response by prosecutors is to double-down and to make sure that the inmate remains in prison.  The state doesn’t cry; the state, in a stoic manner, somehow believes that bringing about justice to the victim is keeping an innocent person in prison. Even  convicted rapist Jerry Wayne Johnson did not believe that philosophy.

As stated by Schwartzapfel in her investigative piece entitled “No Country for Innocent Men:” 

The tale of Tim Cole and Jerry Johnson, which I investigated for more than a year, reveals a system in which an innocent man, once convicted, has virtually no chance of redemption—even with the guilty man fighting for it. For the thousands of Americans spending years of their lives in prison for crimes they did not commit, the odds couldn’t be much bleaker. (http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/tim-cole-rick-perry)

Timothy Cole was a 26 year old college student who found himself falsely accused of the rape.  He was a victim of eyewitness misidentification and “shoddy law enforcement” (Ibid).  As he and his family fought and waited for the system to correct itself, Cole died in prison, 13 years later at the age of 39.  His sentence amounted to a death sentence.  Gov. Perry posthumously pardoned Cole.  While his pardon is to be applauded and the family of Cole appreciated his actions, there wasn’t a tear in his eyes when he did so; no crying over a system that cost an individual his life.

Gov. Perry was asked during a presidential primary debate if he had lost any sleep over the number of death penalties that the state of Texas has carried out.  His response was no, but before he responded, he received applause at the Republican debate.  He’d posthumously pardoned Timothy Cole well before this debate, but said that the justice system in Texas works fairly.  He was referring to capital cases, but given that Cole’s prison sentence was a death sentence, it is something that Perry should have had on his mind as he responded to the question.   The problem is that the state does not cry when it is presented with evidence that an individual may be innocent at the beginning, during or well after a conviction.  The state, represented by law enforcement, prosecutors, politicians, and governors, does not have the empathy that even an accused and convicted rapist and murderer had when he saw someone else arrested, convicted, and serving his time.  Of course as individuals with families, friends, and who are decent human beings, representatives of the state have empathy and do cry, but when they represent the state in wrongful conviction cases, they do not cry, for the state does not shed a tear when an innocent person is convicted, dies in prison, or is executed by the hands and authority of the State.

Rodney K. Stanberry

Jerry Wayne Johnson cried, but he wasn’t prepared to own up to what he did until well after Cole was sent to prison. He deserves no empathy for allowing a man to serve his time in prison, but he, unlike the state, demonstrated some degree of consciousness in seeking to right a wrong. Rodney K. Stanberry was arrested in 1992, convicted in 1995, and began serving a prison sentence in 1997. Rodney was 23 when he was arrested, 26 when convicted, and 28 when he began serving his prison sentence. He will be 43 on April 27^th, 2012.   He is in his 15^th year of incarceration for crimes he did not commit.  In 1993, Terrell Moore sat in the law office of Clark, Deen & Copeland in the presence of Assistant District Attorney Buzz Jordan and in nearly 50 pages, he confessed to a crime that would have resulted in his spending life in prison.  He had the decency to do this two years before Rodney’s trial.  You can watch a WKRG investigative report featuring Moore and Buzz Jordan here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEVURKsGoMI.  Moore told the state- prosecutor Buzz Jordan- that Rodney was not at the victim’s house and had nothing to do with the crime.  The state asked him if he were offered money or lunch meat in return for his testimony.  The State, without a tear in its eye for arresting and charging what evidence indicated was an innocent man, had a perverse sense of  humor- asking someone with a criminal record if he were offered lunch meat in return for confessing to a crime to cover for someone that he did not know. 

During Rodney’s Rule 32 Hearing (Post Conviction Hearing requesting a new trial), Moore happened to be in the Mobile county lock-up. Rodney notified his attorney and Moore was brought to the stand to the surprise of Assistant District Attorney Martha Tierney. See how she reacted. She was not going to let him say what she already knew, that he confessed, knew details about the victim’s home that only someone who was there would know. The DA’s office continues to perpetuate the false statement that the victim identified Rodney from the time she got out of a coma (Prichard Police placed photos, provided by Rodney, in front of the victim as she was recovering and said which of these individuals could have been at your house. She pointed- she couldn’t talk at the time- to the person she was familiar with, someone who was often at her house. From there, a series of mistakes and intentional acts occurred by law enforcement and the Mobile District Attorney’s Office to convict Rodney K. Stanberry).  The ADA perpetuates the belief that Moore, someone who did not know Rodney was confessing to a crime to protect Rodney. It makes no sense, but they have long been concerned about the conviction and not the truth, which is anti-justice and anti-victim, as no one receives true justice when the wrong person is convicted.

                        Martha Tierney to Terrell Moore- You Talk, You Get Life.   

Buzz Jordan on Terrell Moore- I Never Believed He Was Involved with these crimes and never will believe it.

Terrell Moore on Terrell Moore- I was involved, I was at the house, I saw who shot Ms. Finley, and it was Angel Wish Melendez- we were the only two at the house, Rodney had nothing to do with this.

It is a sad day when the person who commits a crime is more truthful than the people paid by taxpayers to uphold the law. (http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/key_documents_in_rodneys_case)

Moore may not have cried when Rodney was hauled off to prison or by the fact that he is still in prison-nearly 15 years and counting- for crimes he did not commit, but he did confess and unlike Johnson, he did not wait until after Rodney’s trial. Granted, he had no idea that the Mobile DA’s office wasn’t concerned with him, or the person who shot the victim, or anyone else, but he did his part in the pursuit of justice. 

Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich- One Year Anniversary

District Attorney Ashley Rich will complete her first year as the DA on January 18^th, 2012.  She has received phone calls and emails about Rodney’s case from many citizens around the country. Within the first month of her term, she received so many phone calls that she asked her investigator (Mike Morgan) to find out why people were calling about Rodney K. Stanberry.  On her one year anniversary, please call DA Rich and request that she allows the Alabama Attorney General to investigate Rodney’s case (251) 574-6685.  DA Ashley Rich, like former DA John Tyson, Jr. will say that she has looked at Rodney’s case and has come to the same conclusion as Tyson, that Rodney is the responsible party. In Tyson’s letter found via the link below, he says that Jordan meticulously documented the case and went to New York to interview Rene Whitecloud (the person the DA Office claims to be the shooter- see http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/the_shooter-_what_they_want_to_wish_away) and that Martha Tierney spent hundreds of hours reviewing Rodney’s file.  During Rodney’s Rule 32 when Jordan was under oath, he says 1) he just happened to go to New York while on vacation and just stopped by Riker’s Island prison where Rene was located to see if he actually existed, that he didn’t take notes, and that he learned little from Rene (although in another statement he says that Rene told him to look at the husband.) Further, Jordan says that he never believed Moore and never will believe Moore. Jordan had his own theory and nothing else was going to change it, not even the evidence.  They never attempted to charge nor convict anyone else for these crimes. If they did, more trial records would demonstrate what I believe they already know, Rodney did not commit these crimes. I understand that the jury ruled against Rodney, but Tyson, Rich and other district attorneys know that the jury rules based on the information they are given. Jordan’s Motion in Limine (keeping the confession, tape recordings secretly made by Rodney that also cleared him away from the jury) coupled with Moore’s pleading the 5th limited what the jury was privy to and if ADA Tierney saw the notes from Jordan’s interview at Rikers Island, either Tyson, Jordan, or Tierney is being dishonest- either he had interview notes as Tyson says or he didn’t, as Jordan said.   (http://freerodneystanberry.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/09-07-2010_121703PM.24992718.BMP) 

District Attorney Ashley Rich can be reached at (251) 574-6685, (251) 574-5000 or (251) 574-8400 and Ashleyrich@mobileda.org (each of these numbers is good).  Rich stated during her campaign that she would reopen a case if it is discovered that a prosecutor did not disclose exculpatory evidence. Please click on this link for additional information.   On her one year anniversary as the District Attorney please call DA Rich and request that she allows the Alabama Attorney General to investigate Rodney’s case and/or that she takes the legal steps necessary toward retrying or releasing Rodney K. Stanberry.

Sincerely,

Artemesia Stanberry

artemesia@freerodneystanberry.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/us/michael-mermel-a-prosecutor-who-challenged-dna-tests-will-resign.html?_r=1&src=tp&smid=fb-share

First of all, the link above demonstrates what can happen when the media engage in investigative reports. The original piece is entitled “The Prosecutor’s Case Against DNA” which spotlights several cases where DNA evidence has cleared or has the potential to clear someone and prosecutors, including Michael Mermel, coming up with ludicrous defenses of questionable convictions, even in the face of innocence. The sheriff called for DA Mermel to be fired over his comments. Can you imagine this type of scrutiny and investigation of the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office. The level of Mermel’s comments are in the same vein as the Mobile DA’s Office trying to explain away obvious evidence of innocence in Rodney’s case. I posted a blog in the past entitled “Rodney Passed a Polygraph Test, Can They” that can be found at www.freerodneystanberry.com/blog

We’ve added another tab to the Free Rodney Stanberry webpage. It focuses solely on the confession made by Terrell Moore. Moore gave this confession in front of prosecutor Buzz Jordan on April 2, 1993- two years before Rodney’s trial! He is given Testimonial Immunity under one condition- that he tells the truth. He exonerates Rodney, in front of Jordan and Prichard Det. Lebarron Smith: http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/the_confession-_testimonial_immunity_agreement 

November 22, 2011

 Justice is Denied, When Justice is Delayed: Holding District Attorneys Accountable  

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/bar-must-act-forcefully-in-pursuit-of-justice-1965320.html?printArticle=y

This is a very good editorial written by staff at The Statesman that one would love to see in the Mobile Press Register.  Many of the practices carried out to get the conviction of Michael Morton, who spent 25 years in prison for crimes he did not commit, are similar to tactics engaged by the Mobile District Attorney’s Office to get a conviction of Rodney K. Stanberry, who is in his 15^th year in prison for crimes he did not commit. Rodney is about to spend his 15^th Thanksgiving in prison and his 15^th Christmas in prison.  I am sure that when Michael Morton reached his 15^th year, the  prosecutor in his case (Williamson County (TX) District Attorney’s Office), no doubt, cared nothing about him and if someone mentioned Morton to the prosecutor, he may have said something about doing the time for doing the crime.  Well, to quote Gov. Rick Perry, “oops,” for Morton actually did not do the crime, but he certainly did the time.   The same for Rodney, he is doing the time because the prosecutor did not care to prosecute those who did the crime.    Below are three highlights from the The Statesman editorial as it relates to Rodney’s case.

State Bar Associations Must Act Forcefully in Pursuit of Justice

“….  Certainly, there are many district attorneys who abide by the rules and take seriously their duties to seek justice, even when it means losing a case. But there are those who have abused their authority, and they have become emboldened by a weak State Bar that has not acted forcefully enough to address misconduct in the legal profession.” 

The Alabama Bar Association and the Mobile Bar Association have not responded to letters I’ve written to them in the past about Rodney’s case (click here to see one of the letters sent to them: http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/sample_letters_to_rileytyson_alabama_and_mobile_bar_associations). These letters have been to inform them about Rodney’s case and to urge them to encourage District Attorney Offices in Alabama to implement Conviction Integrity Units designed to address prior cases where evidence of wrongful convictions exists and to help prevent wrongful convictions.  While I have received one response from the American Bar Association essentially directing me to the state bar association, I’ve never received any form of communication from the Alabama and Mobile Bar Associations.  The last line of the article from The Statesmen is very important to sink in for those who truly believe in justice and fairness: “The Texas legal system certainly needs the State Bar watchdog to bark. But a watchdog that is unwilling to bite cannot effectively protect the house.” 

Arrogance of Prosecutors, Discarding Ethical Rules to get a Conviction

“….But Morton’s case denies us that comfort. We’re learning that mistakes or unintentional errors were not the cause of an unjust outcome. Instead, we’re seeing through court records the actions of an arrogant legal team that bent, broke or entirely discarded ethical rules to convict Morton.”

 The editorial speaks about the arrogance of former Williamson County District Attorney  Ken Anderson (prosecutor in Morton’s case and now Judge) and his team that “bent, broke or entirely discarded ethical rules to convict Morton (who spent 25 years in prison for crimes he did not commit). Rodney’s case was listed as a victory for former Mobile DA John Tyson, Jr.’s “Murder Team.” His prosecutor, Joe Carl “Buzz” Jordan, one can easily argue, bent, broke and/or entirely discarded ethical rules to convict Rodney K. Stanberry. Go to www.freerodneystanberry.com and read what even the late Judge Ferrill McRae said in court about Jordan’s practices when interviewing Rodney at his work site, Jordan’s Motion in Limine- which made hearsay everything that could have exonerated Rodney- and see what Mr. Jordan himself says about visiting someone he (and Mobile DA’s Office) says was the shooter of the victim at a prison in Riker’s Island New York while on vacation, he says, so he didn’t take notes, meaning the notes from this visit was not given to Rodney’s lawyers. On the other hand, he claimed that Rene Whitecloud (the person the DA’s Office says was the shooter) said to “follow the husband” so he tainted the trial with some sort of murder for hire scheme, but he did not pursue this as a charge against anyone, not even the husband, but used this to get a conviction of Rodney. But again, there will likely be no editorial such as the one written by The Statesman written by the Mobile Press Register and Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich, like Mobile District Attorney John Tyson, Jr, will continue to sanction practices pursued to convict Rodney K. Stanberry.  The Mobile District Attorney’s Office is not being held accountable for practices that have, can and will continue to produce wrongful convictions.

 Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich

 Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich should do more to address wrongful convictions by her office in the past and to put in mechanisms to help prevent wrongful convictions in the future.  During the campaign, she said in response to a question that if you withhold exculpatory evidence, then your career is over. She talked about the importance of operating within ethical rules (go to http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/exculpatory_evidence to listen to her radio interview during the campaign). As District Attorney she must be held accountable.  She shouldn’t develop the mentality that once you are convicted, we are going to make sure that that conviction is maintained at all costs, no matter if there is evidence of a wrongful conviction, and/or evidence of prosecutorial misconduct.  She has been the District Attorney for less than a year (and the Assistant District Attorney (ADA) under John Tyson, Jr. for 14 years).  Just as she feels honored to receive an award for sending people to death row http://blog.al.com/live/2011/07/mobile_da_ashley_rich_wins_awa.html),                she should also implement a Conviction Integrity Unit similar to the one established by Dallas County, TX District Attorney Craig Watkins and feel equally honored for being recognized for doing so.  Just as she feels proud that her Assistant District Attorney’s are blocking paroles, she should feel proud when she creates an environment where cases will be reopened and seriously reviewed by independent investigations when there is evidence of wrongful convictions. (The latest tweet from the Mobile District Attorney’s Office about blocking paroles was posted on approximately Nov. 8^th and read like this:  MobileDA Happy to report that Chief Assistant Tillman was successful in stopping the early release of 4 prisoners today at the Parole Board), courtesy of www.mobileda.org.

 In Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich’s upcoming election in 2016, she may have a tougher primary opponent who does not get caught up in a high profile murder case and a general election opponent who does more than put up a website.  In the event of this occurring, she wants high conviction rates to go along with awards for putting people to death, and the high number of paroles blocked to secure her reelection.  And in this scenario, the high conviction rate, in my opinion, trumps how those convictions are gotten!  Again, I refer you to the case of Michael Morton where the prosecutor in his case went on to become a judge: http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/Texas_Man_Freed_After_Serving_Nearly_25_Years_for_Murdering_His_Wife_That_New_DNA_Evidence_Shows_He_Didnt_Commit.php.

 Toby Priest: 3 Years in Prison Before Mobile DA Dropped His Case

  “I still fell 90 percent sure that he did it, I feel there is a 10 percent (chance) he didn’t, and I’ve been in the D.A.’s office about eight years, and I’ve prosecuted a lot of cases, and I’ve never tried a case where I wasn’t 150 percent sure that the person committed the crime. I just didn’t feel comfortable going forth, although a big portion of me in my heart of hearts believes he did it, but I didn’t feel comfortable going forward.” Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Wright (www.lagniappemobile.com– the November 16^th-29, 2011 edition. Article is entitled” Did Toby Priest Spend Three Years in Jail  for a crime He Didn’t Commit?” and it is written by Ashley Trice)

 As what point did ADA Wright’s belief percentages about Priest’s guilt move from 150% to 90%?  Was it when she tried him in the first trial, before Judge Graddick overturned his conviction, or after the DA’s office dropped the robbery charge and she was asked about it by Lagniappe? This matters because the defendant’s rights, especially if they are innocent, shouldn’t begin and end with a trial. Even if all of Priest’s appeals were exhausted, if a prosecutor believes that there is a chance that he may be innocent, then the prosecutor should work to ensure that the individual is not serving time in prison for crimes he did not commit!

In a previous blog post, I wrote about the case of Toby Priest  (http://freerodneystanberry.com/blog/2011/11/16/reaction-to-article-in-lagniappe-about-the-toby-priest-case/). Priest spent three years (some consider him fortunate given the number of years so many released had to serve, but one day is too many if you’re innocent) in prison for crimes he may not have committed.  From the Mobile Register:

MOBILE, Alabama —  In an unusual move today, prosecutors abruptly dropped a robbery charge against a Mobile man in the middle of his trial.

Toby Priest, 42, said he spent more than three years in prison for a crime that he didn’t commit.

Priest’s mother, Shirley Cato, hugged him and wept after he walked free. “The DA’s Office failed the city of Mobile, failed the state of Alabama, and they failed my son,” Cato said. (http://blog.al.com/live/2011/10/prosecution_drops_robbery_case.html)

Circuit Court Judge Charles Graddick and former Mobile District Attorney, who is also running for the position of Chief Justice of the Alabama State Supreme Court, overturned this conviction, which is surprising (take a look at my blog post on Toby Priest for my rationale).  Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Wright was the prosecutor for Priest’s trial and for his second trial granted by Graddick.  From the Mobile Press Register: “Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Wright said that she still believed Priest committed the crime, but she wasn’t prepared to move forward on a case with doubts.”  (I hope that if a judge other than Graddick had overturned the conviction that the Mobile District Attorney’s Office would have acted in the same manner). Wright, by the way, is also Rich’s Protégé, according to the Mobile Bay Times, and may have ambitions to be a judge.   Rodney K. Stanberry and so many others who were wrongfully convicted by the Mobile District Attorney’s Office do not have a chance of having their cases reopened with an honest and open investigation when the mentality that I believe he is guilty, regardless of what the evidence may show, is prevalent.  

When DA’s are seeking reelection and ADA’s are seeking judgeships, the conviction trumps everything.  Exculpatory evidence withheld? Doesn’t matter; Prosecutors tainting the jury with murder for hire charge to get a conviction, doesn’t matter; prosecutor misleading the public, press, and jury (ie victim said Rodney shot her from the moment she awoke from a coma, when he knows that isn’t true, prosecutor misleading jury, media and public about the shooter being brought to Mobile for a trial)? Doesn’t matter; Getting a conviction so that prosecutors can have a high conviction rate? Priceless and Does matter.  Getting a high conviction rate in the hopes that you’ll be the next District Attorney? Priceless! That mentality will not change as long as District Attorney’s Offices are not held accountable.  

As I’ve said many, many, many times before, one can be law and order and tough on crime, while also ensuring that there is integrity in every conviction. And as I also said before, I truly wish District Attorney Ashley Rich success in her role as District Attorney. I just think that part of her success has to be an effort to seriously address cases where there is evidence of a wrongful conviction, addressing cases by allowing an independent investigator to review said cases, even if all appeals have been exhausted. One can be as tough as nails on crime, while also ensuring the integrity of every conviction.  

 Sincerely,

Artemesia Stanberry

PS — 

To read more about Michel Morton’s case, please go to: http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/Texas_Man_Freed_After_Serving_Nearly_25_Years_for_Murdering_His_Wife_That_New_DNA_Evidence_Shows_He_Didnt_Commit.php

Please read: http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/the_shooter-_what_they_want_to_wish_away

Finally: Please contact Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich at (251) 574-8400 or ashleyrich@mobileda.org or chadtucker@mobileda,org to request that she reopens Rodney’s case.

 (http://www.lagniappemobile.com/)

This is the first of two posts that I will post on the Free Rodney Stanberry blog this week.

This one is impromptu and I am writing it after reading Lagniappe’s latest edition at 4am in the morning, which includes as its feature story “Did Toby Priest Spend 3 Years in Prison for a Crime He Did Not Commit.” The cover of Lagniappe has this title: “Battered Justice: Did Lady Justice Take a Beating in the case of Toby Priest, or Was She Just Doing Her Job?”  Lagniappe, as you may know, also published an article about Rodney in 2009 that was written by WKRG anchor Bill Riales (http://classic.lagniappemobile.com/article.asp?articleID=2332&sid=1).  You can send editor Rob Holbert (rholbert@lagniappemobile.com) or Ashley Toland, author of this article about Toby Priest  (ashleytoland@lagniappemobile.com), an email asking that they write a follow-up piece on Rodney K. Stanberry, who is in his 15^th year of prison for crimes he did not commit. Like Priest, Rodney went to the police and provided them will all the information he could in an effort to clear his name.  This, like it did with Priest, landed him in prison. Like Priest, Rodney would have been free a long time ago had he said he was guilty and accepted a time served plea. Rodney also passed a Polygraph test. He did everything law enforcement asked of him and rather than following evidence, they followed a theory, and in the process, engaged in prosecutorial misconduct to get a conviction. If you get a chance, read some of the blogs at www.freerodneystanberry.com/blog entitled “Rodney Passed a Polygraph Test, Can They?,” “Breaking the No-Snitch Rule, It Should Apply to the Streets and to the Power Structure,” and “The Prosecutor and the Criminal.”  And go to this link on our webpage: http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/the_shooter-_what_they_want_to_wish_away.

Anyway, check out pg. 29 of the November 16^th-29^th edition of Lagniappe as it covers the case of Toby Priest, who spent 3 years in jail for crimes he likely did not commit. I posted something from the Mobile Register about this case earlier this year, including comments made by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Wright, who is, according to Mobile Bay Times, Mobile DA Ashley Rich’s protégé’ and she was an active campaign supporter of Rich during Rich’s bid to become DA. I mention this because this article (and the other piece I posted) gets to the mentality of those in the DA’s Office that refuses to believe that anyone arrested and convicted are actually innocent.  Wright, according to what I read via the Mobile Bay Times, has aspirations to become a judge (specifically, this is what I read on the MBT : Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Wright, a protege of DA Ashley Rich, is said to be weighing a possible run for a judgeship in 2012. Both are Republicans. Attempts to question Wright about her possible political plans did succeed right away (http://www.mobilebaytimes.com/roundup061711.html) 

Wright says in this Lagniappe article that in her 8 years with the Mobile District Attorney’s Office that she has had over 77 cases and she has never tried a case where she wasn’t sure that someone was 150% guilty (in Priest’s case, she said 90% of her believed he was guilty, 10 percent innocent). Fortunately Priest was granted a Rule 32 Post Conviction hearing by Judge Graddick, of all people!!! Sidenote, no one will accuse him of being soft on crime for paving the way for Priest’s release. Graddick is currently running to be Chief Justice of the Alabama State Supreme Court. You can be law and order, but in favor of ensuring that innocent people aren’t convicted. Now that is all I can say about that considering the Judge I just referenced- who was the Mobile District Attorney and who handled a case where many believe an innocent man was executed.  Indeed, recall the article in the American Prospect entitled “The Judge as a Lynch Mob” by Ken Silverstein. To give you an idea of the types of District Attorney’s that have inhabited the Mobile DA’s Office, here is a quote:

Capital-defense attorneys hate to end up in court in Mobile, partly because death penalty zealots have frequently occupied the local district attorney’s office. Charlie Graddick, who served during the 1970s, pledged that on his watch he would “fry murderers until their eyeballs pop out.” After the Court of Criminal Appeals tossed out a death sentence that DA Chris Galanos had won at trial, Galanos, who served until 1994, described its members as “the five dumbest white men in the universe.” http://prospect.org/article/judge-lynch-mob

Rodney K. Stanberry was arrested in 1992, convicted in 1995, and began serving his sentence on 1997 (3 20 year sentences to be served concurrently). Former DA John Tyson, Jr. who became DA following Galanos, listed Rodney as a success for his “Murder Team.”  And now Ashley Rich is District Attorney, and a member of Tyson’s Murder team heads up one of her teams. Rich, by the way, has recently received an award for the prosecuting death penalty cases (http://blog.al.com/live/2011/07/mobile_da_ashley_rich_wins_awa.html). 

Getting back to Wright and the Toby Priest case, when I first read about Priest’s release and Wright’s comments about it I cringed for her comments demonstrated 1) the need for the Mobile District Attorney’s Office to implement a Conviction Integrity Unit similar to what Dallas County, Texas DA Craig Watkins has implemented and 2) the climate in the Mobile District Attorney’s Office, even under DA Ashley Rich, continues to be such that Rodney K. Stanberry’s case has little chance of being reopened and thoroughly investigate by a non-interested third party. It is the conviction that matters more than the truth.  ADA Martha Tierney heads the White Collar Crimes Unit in the DA’s Office. Please go to http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/key_documents_in_rodneys_case  to see how she handled Rodney’s Rule 32. What she said when Terrell Moore- the person who confessed to the crimes that Rodney is accused of committing nearly 3 years before his trial- appeared on the witness stand as Rodney and his attorney discovered that Moore was in the Mobile County Jail and 2) how she handled evidence right in front of her that Buzz Jordan, the prosecutor in Rodney’s case, withheld exculpatory evidence.  Michael Morton of Texas was recently released after spending 25 years in prison for crimes he did not commit.  The prosecutor in his case, who is now a judge, is under “investigation” for withholding exculpatory evidence that likely would have prevented Morton from spending a day in prison. Prosecutors need to be held accountable. There needs to be an environment in the office of every DA that works to convict the guilty, but also to exonerate the innocent.  If you get 77 convictions of guilty individuals, your record should not be diminished if you work to free those who are wrongfully convicted.

Please contact Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich at (251) 574-8400, (251) 574-5000 or ashleyrich@mobileda.org or chadtucker@mobileda.org  to  request that she reopens Rodney’s case.

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.

Sincerely,

Artemesia Stanberry

Artemesia@freerodneystanberry.com

PS  A radio talk show host on an FM talk station in Mobile asked in reference to all that is going on with the Stephen Nodine case (former Mobile County Commissioner accused of murdering his mistress) in Baldwin County, AL if a someone would work to convict a person they knew were innocent.  I will refer him to this link about John Thompson (of Connick v. Thompson) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/opinion/10thompson.html?_r=1 and this one about Michael Morton:

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/bar-must-act-forcefully-in-pursuit-of-justice-1965320.html?printArticle=y.   And I will direct him to www.freerodneystanberry.com in the hopes that he will join us in asking DA Ashley Rich to reopen to Rodney’s case and allow a non-biased third party to review it.  Justice is never served when the wrong person is convicted.

Blog Entry: October 21, 2011

 If you want some insight into what it is like to fight for someone who is wrongfully convicted every single day, here it is. You read newspapers often looking for cases about wrongful convictions, articles about the Mobile DA’s Office (the Office that convicted Rodney K. Stanberry), articles about anything that can possibly relate to Rodney’s case and then you write to the reporters, to the people in the articles, or just share posts on Facebook, Twitter, and one’s listserv.  It doesn’t matter if you’re tired, it doesn’t matter if you’re frustrated, it doesn’t even matter that you are fighting an uphill battle. What matters is that you are fighting for an innocent person’s chance at freedom and exoneration, not only for him, but for his family and for the criminal justice system, for no one truly wins when the wrong person is convicted. So on this Friday eve, after calming down a bit from Henry James being released after nearly 30 years in prison for crimes he did not commit (http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/New_Orleans_Man_Wrongly_Incarcerated_for_30_Years_Exonerated_of_Rape_that_New_DNA_Evidence_Proves_He_Didnt_Commit.php), I was about to rest for a few hours. But I decided to look at the Mobile Register one last time and saw the article that you see below.  From there, I went though my mental file to think about the people I’ve written letters/emails to about Judge Ferrill McRae within the year.  My latest letter about him was to New York Times Reporter Adam Liptak following an article he wrote that included Judge McRae (As mentioned, writing letters and sending emails are a constant part of the process).  So I sent him, and a few others, the message you see below and attached the original letter that you can read via this link (http://www.freerodneystanberry.com/rodney__buzz_jordan_interview_april_1992_and_judge_ferrill_mcraes_concerns_about_the_interview- you can also read the letter Rodney’s father wrote to Judge McRae via the link). 

 So, that’s my life.  This is why I am grateful when you take the time to offer our family moral support, to send a letter to the Mobile District Attorney’s Office and others, to provide us space on radio shows as Dr. Wilmer Leon, Atty. Nkechi Taifa, V. Atkinson and others have done, to provide a Banner on your webpage for Rodney as Dr. Boyce Watkins is doing, to allow one of your reporters to air a story on Rodney as WKRG TV 5 has allowed Bill Riales to do in the past, to allow space in your newspaper as Lagniappe Mobile has allowed Bill Riales to do in the past, to write to the parole board, the Governor, the Attorney General, reporters, and to send letters to key people as some well known people (some that I can’t name for sake of their privacy) have done.  You are the wind that keeps us going, so we need you.   This is fighting the good fight. It is a tough battle, but it is the good fight.  This is why I get very sleep; this is what countless others are doing to fight for people who are serving time in prison for crimes they did not commit. Imagine what it is like to serve time in prison for crimes you did not commit. I can’t imagine having the strength to endure such a fate. 

Peace,

Artemesia Stanberry

Cousin of Rodney K. Stanberry

 Mobile Press Register Reporter Kathryn Sayre wrote an article posted on Friday, October 21st, about the death of Judge Ferrill McRae.  I feel much sympathy for his family. The loss of a loved one is devastating.  I am constantly in fear that Rodney K. Stanberry’s parents will not live to see their son free and exonerated.  I am sending you this article by Ms. Sayre (http://blog.al.com/live/2011/10/longtime_mobile_county_circuit.html) and the message I sent to you this summer in the hopes that in the future, you will look into Rodney’s case. Judge McRae, while he allowed the prosecutor to exclude from the jury evidence that could have led to a not guilty verdict, evidence that further proves Rodney’s innocence, he did chastise, on record, the prosecutor, Buzz Jordan, for some of his tactics.  Rodney’s father is 77 and his mother is 68 and in and out of a hospital.  His parents have been married for as long as he has been alive- over 41 years.  So while we appropriately mourn Judge McRae and allow his family space to mourn, I do hope that some day Rodney’s case is reviewed from arrest to conviction; Judge McRae was the judge during his trial and during his Rule 32 Post Conviction Hearing.  It is the Mobile District Attorney’s Office that is willing to sacrifice the life of an innocent man, judges just seem to be very willing to allow them to do so.  Each of you has written articles about Judge McRae, which is why I am sending this email to you.

(Signed, Artemesia Stanberry)

 August 11, 2011

 The Criminal and the Prosecutor

 After reading John Grisham’s book The Confession and Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson-Cannino’s book Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption, I’ve been thinking about the similarities between a criminal who commits a crime, but says nothing as someone else is prosecuted for the crimes and the prosecutor who gets a confession out of an innocent person or engages in tactics (or condone tactics used by law enforcement) to convict the person of his focus even if the evidence doesn’t point to guilt.  Both individuals rationalize that if the jury convicts, then the system has spoken and therefore they have no incentive to correct the ruling of the jury. In The Confession, we learn that Donte’ Drumm is on death row, convicted of a crime he did not commit as a result of tactics used by a prosecutor to get a confession.  In Picking Cotton, the person who committed the crimes for which Ronald Cotton was arrested, convicted and sentenced knew Cotton had been sentenced and was serving time for crimes he, the real criminal, committed. In both cases, it was a physical illness by the true perpetrators of the crimes that brought about their urge to confess to their crimes- but only after the innocent person served over a decade in prison.  

 Once a jury convicts, prosecutors have the power of the office and incentive to maintain the conviction at all costs.  Even when confronted with evidence that another individual may have been the actual perpetrator as in Ronald Cotton’s case, the prosecutor will ignore that evidence. In Cotton’s case, on the appeal of his conviction, the prosecutor was presented in court with an individual who committed the same crimes that Cotton was accused of committing, in the same location, using the same modus operandi, and who fit the description of the perpetrator better than Cotton did. In addition, the individual confessed to others what he’d done and admitted that Cotton was serving his (the real perpetrator’s) time.  Instead of pursuing the truth for the sake of justice and truly supporting the victim, the prosecutor on the appeal worked hard to keep this information away from the jury.  We expect for the real criminal to be deceitful, cruel, and without conscious, but we shouldn’t expect for the District Attorney’s office to be the same way. Why do some District Attorneys seem to lack a moral compass when it comes to wrongful convictions?

Prosecutors work hard for a conviction, they develop a theory, they look for evidence, and they build/compile a case.  In some cases, they will engage in misconduct to get the confession. Or they may tacitly sanction misconduct that will lead to a conviction. In Chicago, former Police Chief Jon Graham Burge was convicted for his role in coerced confessions, including allegations that members of his police force went as far as to engage in the use of electric shocks and suffocation to get confessions (http://humanrights.uchicago.edu/chicagotorture/timeline.shtml). Fortunately, when it was discovered many years later that this is how confessions came about, new trials were given, but, again, it takes outside pressure before the people who tacitly condone this activity to bring about justice.  Sadly, all they, both prosecutors and the criminal, need is for the jury to convict. Once the jury convicts, then that is how they will respond to all inquiries- the jury convicted, the system works is how the prosecutor responds; the jury convicted so I am home free is how the criminal responds. The prosecutor knows that the jury often convicts based on what is presented to them. If a jury doesn’t know that a confession was coerced, or that someone else confessed to the crimes, or that there is no physical evidence tying the person to the crimes, then the jury will convict based on the prosecutors theory and trust of the prosecutor, after all, his job is to put away the bad guy.  And why would he mislead us? The prosecutors have the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the trust of the jury and they know it. It no more bothers them that the person has been convicted based on flimsy evidence than it bothers the true perpetrator of the crime that someone else is serving his/her time. (Case in point? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEVURKsGoMI)

 We need accountability within District Attorney’s offices. We need a check on DA’s offices. Taxpayers must demand it and District Attorneys should demonstrate their concern for potential abuses and put in safeguards.  As long as innocent people are convicted, executed, and/or serve years, if not decades in prison for crimes they did not commit, it is imperative that taxpayers have some degree of accountability. In addition to safeguards to prevent wrongful convictions, there needs to be a mechanism in place that would enable those with legitimate claims of innocence to have their cases addressed. District Attorney Craig Watkins of Dallas County, Texas established a Conviction Integrity Unit and he worked with innocence projects. The result was that innocent people serving years in prison were freed. If you are a new District Attorney entering office, your legacy should be one that brought about accountability and establishing a Conviction Intregrity Unit is a start.   I want to assure the reader that I am all about law and order. There are a lot of bad people doing awful things in our communities.  I like having a taxpayer funded office, the District Attorney’s office, to investigate, prosecute and put criminals in prison.  One can be pro law and order and also against wrongful convictions. The sooner prosecutors learn this, the better their offices will be. 

 Peace,

 Artemesia Stanberry

Artemesia@freerodneystanberry.com

www.freerodneystanberry.com

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