{"id":124,"date":"2012-09-11T18:20:09","date_gmt":"2012-09-11T18:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freerodneystanberry.com\/blog\/?p=124"},"modified":"2012-09-11T18:20:27","modified_gmt":"2012-09-11T18:20:27","slug":"rodneys-mother-may-she-rest-in-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freerodneystanberry.com\/blog\/?p=124","title":{"rendered":"Rodney’s Mother- May She Rest In Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

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September 10, 2012<\/p>\n

\u00a02Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”…..R.I.P. Mom (Evelyn Stanberry)\u00a0 T. Stanberry- 9\/8\/2012 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0To Whom It May Concern:<\/p>\n

\u00a0One 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 15th<\/sup> year of a wrongful conviction. Mike Morton, who spent 25 years in prison, had his mother\u2019s strength to sustain him.\u00a0 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).<\/p>\n

\u00a0Evelyn Stanberry (Aunt Janice as I called her, Aunt Janet to many in our family), died on September 8, 2012.\u00a0 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\u2019s Office to reopen Rodney\u2019s 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<\/a>.\u00a0 As was the case with Morton, Rodney\u2019s mother served as a source of his strength.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0At the parole board, the health of his mother was dismissed.\u00a0 When Rodney\u2019s 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.\u00a0 Of course Judge McRae said he meant well in his comments.* That was one of her last memories before her memory began to fade.\u00a0 Rodney\u2019s 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.\u00a0 Rodney\u2019s mother was his hero; he got his strength from her.\u00a0 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 Not only has he lost a parent, but he won\u2019t even be able to oversee or attend her burial.\u00a0 Rodney\u2019s parents have been married for as long as he has been alive. He came from a solid, two-parent household.\u00a0 Rodney\u2019s father is 78 years old.\u00a0 He has been under a tremendous amount of stress caring for his wife and fighting for his son.\u00a0 There has rarely been a week that goes by when I do not speak with Rodney\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The culture of far too many district attorney offices is to get and maintain a conviction at all costs.\u00a0 The Mobile District Attorney\u2019s Office under Ashley Rich\u2019s leadership has already shown that they are willing to ignore a confession and ignore exculpatory evidence being withheld.\u00a0 Here is a response from her office about Rodney\u2019s case:\u00a0 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\/).<\/p>\n

Later this year, you will be sent a new investigative piece about Rodney\u2019s case.\u00a0 Will the Mobile District Attorney\u2019s office continue to sanction a wrongful conviction; will anyone hold the office accountable?<\/p>\n

The death of Rodney\u2019s mother is devastating and painful for us all.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

I wrote this blog earlier this year. It is entitled \u201cThe Significance of Mothers and Birthdays\u201d\u00a0 (http:\/\/freerodneystanberry.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/10\/the-significance-of-birthdays-and-mothers-the-case-of-rodney-k-stanberry\/<\/a><\/p>\n

May Aunt Evelyn Stanberry Rest in Peace.<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

Artemesia Stanberry<\/p>\n

artemesia@freerodneystanberry.com<\/a><\/p>\n

(251) 802-5798<\/p>\n

*From March 15th<\/sup>, 2001<\/p>\n

The Court:\u00a0 And in effect she said in that letter that we all knew that her son didn\u2019t commit an offense.\u00a0 To that I would say, I wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019all to know that.<\/p>\n

If I was the mother or father of this young man, I\u2019d probably feel the same way. So I\u2019m not knocking her for it, I am just letting y\u2019all know that I did receive that communication; isn\u2019t that right, ma\u2019am, didn\u2019t you write that letter?<\/p>\n

Unidentified Speaker: (shaking head.)<\/p>\n

The Court: She is saying yes, Proceed.<\/p>\n

Mr. Knizley: We Call Mr. Jordan.<\/p>\n

End Quote<\/p>\n

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