{"id":334,"date":"2014-03-25T17:16:36","date_gmt":"2014-03-25T17:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freerodneystanberry.com\/blog\/?p=334"},"modified":"2014-03-26T12:47:12","modified_gmt":"2014-03-26T12:47:12","slug":"rodney-k-stanberry-innocent-and-incarcerated-year-18-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freerodneystanberry.com\/blog\/?p=334","title":{"rendered":"Rodney K. Stanberry- Innocent and Incarcerated: Year 18 Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cEVURKsGoMI<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Investigative Reporter Beth Schwartzapfel talks to Dr. Wilmer Leon\u00a0<\/a>about Rodney’s case and her investigative report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Rodney K. Stanberry- Innocent and Incarcerated: Year 18 Begins<\/strong><\/p>\n

March 25<\/strong>th<\/sup>, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today (March 25th, 2014) begins Rodney K. Stanberry\u2019s 18th<\/sup> year in prison for crimes he did not commit.\u00a0 He has now completed 17 full years in prison.\u00a0 Rodney was denied parole on August 28th<\/sup>, 2013.\u00a0 The Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles stated that Rodney would have to remain with the Alabama Department of Corrections until his sentence concludes in March 2017.\u00a0 This means that after spending 17 years in prison, Rodney still has three more years on his prison sentence.\u00a0 The only hope he has for release before his term\u00a0concludes\u00a0is if an attorney <\/a>will devote the time and resources to file a federal habeas petition or if Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich will do what is fair and just and work towards his release, including reopening his case for a serious review of what happened that resulted in an innocent man’s arrest, conviction and\u00a0long-term incarceration.<\/p>\n

The Mobile DA\u2019s office had evidence of Rodney\u2019s innocence, it didn\u2019t fit the prosecutor\u2019s theory, so Rodney remains in prison and an injustice continues. Please keep Rodney, his family, and the victim\u2019s family in your thoughts\/prayers, as the Mobile County District Attorney\u2019s office has done both families wrong. No one wins when the wrong person is convicted. The person who confessed and exonerated Rodney did so\u00a0approximately two\u00a0years before Rodney’s trial. He (Moore) had as his attorney one of the best attorneys in Mobile, Alabama.<\/a> I doubt if Moore’s attorney would invite prosecutor Buzz Jordan to his office and instruct his client to confess if his client weren’t telling the truth. Moore and his attorney no doubt believed Jordan had evidence of Moore’s guilt, but Jordan opted to pursue an innocent man instead, no one was ever tried nor convicted for the crimes against the victim, except for Rodney, who had evidence that he was at work and that he was innocent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rodney was arrested in 1992, convicted in 1995, and began serving his prison sentence in 1997.\u00a0 He was approximately just shy of 23 when arrested, 26 when sentenced, and one month shy of his 28th<\/sup> birthday when he spent his first day under the Alabama Department of Corrections. \u00a0He voluntarily turned himself in when his post trial appeals were exhausted, believing that the system would correct this injustice.\u00a0Imagine what his 28th<\/sup> birthday was like, innocent, incarcerated, and away from his parents, his new baby, his wife, his sister and his loved ones. He is currently 44, he will be 45 on April 27th<\/sup>, 2013.\u00a0\u00a0 Rodney\u2019s father was 58 when Rodney was arrested, 61 when Rodney was convicted, 63 when his son spent his first day in prison, and he is 80 on his son\u2019s 17th<\/sup> complete year in prison. Rodney has a son who is now a teenager, and his mother died on September 8, 2012, cared for and surrounded by his father and his sister.<\/strong> His parents\u2019 retirement years were taken away over this ordeal. Rodney came from a solidly two-parent, middle class household.\u00a0 His parents were married for as long as he has been alive. He did not have a criminal record, he had a steady job that he worked at until began serving his prison term, he had a bank account, an excellent reputation as a law abiding citizen, his entire future ahead of him, close friends and family and so on.\u00a0 If the Mobile DA\u2019s office had followed the evidence instead of a theory, this ordeal would have been over long ago.\u00a0 Instead, on March 25th<\/sup>, 2014, he will begin his 18th<\/sup> year in prison for crimes he did not commit. While a book can and will be written to fill in what occurred during each of the years below, only some highlights are provided for your review.<\/p>\n

Although calls to the Mobile District Attorney\u2019s Office seem to be futile, your calls are needed to let District Attorney Ashley Rich know that you are concerned about the continued incarceration of Rodney K. Stanberry.She can be reached at (251) 574-6685, (251) 574-5000\u00a0or ashleyrich@mobileda.org<\/a> or her Chief Investigator Mike Morgan at (251) 574-8400 or mikemorgan@mobileda.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 1997- March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 1998- Year 1<\/strong> Adjusting to Prison Life- A Foreign Concept to an innocent man who had never been in prison.<\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 1998-March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 1999- Year2(1<\/strong>st<\/sup> letter from NAACP stating that they could not assist in this case)<\/strong><\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 1999- March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2000- Year 3(1<\/strong>st<\/sup> letter from the Mobile District Attorney\u2019s Office:<\/strong>http:\/\/freerodneystanberry.com\/yahoo_site_admin\/assets\/docs\/20100914154832.256154014.pdf<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rodney \u201ccelebrates\u201d his 30<\/strong>th<\/sup> birthday in prison<\/strong><\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup>-2000-March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2001- Year 4<\/strong><\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2001-March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2002<\/strong>– Year 5- Rule 32- Post Conviction Hearing for New trial Denied<\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2002-March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2003<\/strong>– Year 6<\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2003-March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2004-<\/strong> Year 7 \u201cGuilty Until Proven Innocent\u201d WKRG TV- 5 (Mobile, AL Report (http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cEVURKsGoMI<\/a>)<\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2004-March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2005-<\/strong> Year 8(October 18, 2004-Parole Hearing- Parole Denied)<\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2005-March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2006<\/strong>– Year 9<\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2006- March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2007<\/strong>– Year 10 Important Interview on Dr. Wilmer Leon\u2019s show, featuring Rodney\u2019s supervisor who testified and provided work documents during trial that Rodney was at work (he also spoke at Rodney\u2019s second parole hearing): http:\/\/freerodneystanberry.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=119<\/a><\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2007- March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2008-<\/strong> Year 11<\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2008- March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2009<\/strong>– Year 12 Election & Inauguration of First African American President- a lot of change since Rodney\u2019s arrest in 1992.<\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2009-March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2010<\/strong>– Year 13\u00a0\u00a0(July 8, 2009- Parole Hearing- Parole Denied)<\/p>\n

Rodney \u201ccelebrates\u201d his 40th<\/sup> birthday in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime Served, Or Justice Denied in Alabama,\u201d An article in Lagniappe Mobile written by Bill Riales about Rodney\u2019s case. (June 2009,http:\/\/classic.lagniappemobile.com\/article.asp?articleID=2332<\/a> )<\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2010- March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2011<\/strong>Year 14 Ashley Rich is elected to replace Mobile District Attorney John Tyson, Jr.<\/p>\n

During the campaign she was asked about what she would do if a prosecutor withheld evidence- You can listen to her response here: <\/strong>http:\/\/freerodneystanberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/u7am0916AshleyRich1.mp3.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

She seemed very adamant about the issue and said that the integrity of every conviction is important to her.<\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2011-March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup>-2012<\/strong>Year 15<\/p>\n

Shortly after her swearing in, Rodney K. Stanberry supporters from around the country called her office and signed a petition in support of his release.This put Rodney\u2019s case on her radar screen as District Attorney, not simply as candidate for the office.As stated: [District Attorney Ashley Rich] has received so many calls that she asked her new investigator to call around to see why people were calling. In honor of her first year as DA, I am asking that people call to follow up to see what she is doing with regard to [Rodney\u2019s] case. More importantly, I\u2019m asking people to ask her to take steps to either get the Attorney General to investigate Rodney\u2019s case, retry or release him immediately. http:\/\/newsone.com\/1809115\/rodney-k-stanberry-is-alabama-still-the-land-of-jim-crow\/ <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Journalist Kirsten West Savali was able to get District Attorney Ashley Rich\u2019s Office on record to discuss Rodney\u2019s case. You can read that interview here: http:\/\/newsone.com\/1809115\/rodney-k-stanberry-is-alabama-still-the-land-of-jim-crow\/ <\/a><\/p>\n

March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2012- March 24<\/strong>th<\/sup> 2013<\/strong>Year 16<\/p>\n

LagniappeMobile<\/em> calls for an innocent project, the editorial includes the following: \u201cAnother case I believe needs an independent look is that of Rodney Stanberry, who has been in jail for murder for roughly 20 years now. A Lagniappe story in 2009<\/a> detailed the very shaky circumstances surrounding his conviction.\u201d (Nov 2012: http:\/\/classic.lagniappemobile.com\/article.asp?articleID=5978<\/a>)<\/p>\n

March 2013:<\/b> Investigative Journalist Beth Schwartzapfel completed and published her investigation in the Boston Review<\/em>.You can read it here: \u201cWho Shot Valerie Finley: Why Is One Man\u2019s Innocence So Hard to Prove\u201d http:\/\/www.bostonreview.net\/BR38.2\/beth_schwartzapfel_valerie_finley_innocent_convictions.php<\/a><\/p>\n

In this article, she includes the confession by Terrell Moore, a confession that the District Attorney\u2019s Office worked to suppress BEFORE Rodney\u2019s trial, even as he confessed in front of the prosecutor and was given immunity from prosecution if he did so, AGAIN, before Rodney\u2019s trial. You can read the confession here: http:\/\/freerodneystanberry.com\/yahoo_site_admin\/assets\/docs\/20100914155256.256155350.pdf<\/a>\/20100914155256.256155350.pdf.<\/p>\n

But here is a portion of investigative journalist Beth Schwartzapfel\u2019s article as it relates Moore appearing before Rodney Rule 32 Post Conviction Hearing:<\/p>\n

\u201cAside from Mike Finley, Taco Jones, Tyrone Dortch, and five of Rodney\u2019s coworkers who testified at Rodney\u2019s trial, there was one additional person who would not have corroborated everything that Valerie said: Terrell Moore. Hoping that Terrell would finally \u201ccome clean,\u201d as he had promised Ryan Russell he would, Knizely called him to the stand at the hearing. Terrell seemed prepared to testify.<\/em><\/p>\n

But Knizely had no sooner asked Terrell his name than Martha Tierney, the assistant district attorney, jumped in. \u201cJudge, I hate to interrupt Mr. Knizely, because I have the world of respect for him,\u201d she began, \u201cbut if Mr. Moore is going to testify about the things we anticipate he will testify about, and I\u2019m concerned this is a state forum, and that he would take this stand unrepresented and with no grant of immunity to make statements that could have life consequences for him. I just wish that the Court be apprised of that and our concern about that, sir.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Knizely was incredulous. \u201cJudge, from our understanding, the State\u2019s [position is that] the man\u2014he has no credibility. And are they are telling us now they are going to prosecute him if he confesses to it?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>It was a good question. If the district attorney\u2019s office truly believed, as it had maintained all along, that Rodney was guilty and Terrell was (for some inscrutable reason) lying about his involvement, then why threaten to prosecute him? To prosecute him, the state would have to believe he was guilty. It would have been almost impossible for both Terrell and Rodney to be guilty, since one story contradicted the other. And yet Tierney was simultaneously defending the verdict against Rodney and threatening to prosecute Terrell. It seemed she was trying to scare Terrell off the stand in order to preserve Rodney\u2019s conviction. The Mobile District Attorney\u2019s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment, submitted via email, by phone, and in person.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Tierney pressed on. \u201cIf he comes in here and says \u2018it\u2019s me pals,\u2019 then it\u2019s goodbye sunlight for the rest of his living life, and he\u2019s young,\u201d she said.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Finally, after some additional back-and-forth, Knizely was allowed to proceed. \u201cMr. Moore,\u201d he began, \u201cyou recall whenever a lady named Mrs. Finley was shot? Do you remember back in those days when you were called as a witness in this case?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Tierney interrupted again. \u201cJudge, may I object sir, for one minute? Could you just, Your Honor, if I may respectfully ask that at least you instruct him that he does have the right under the Fifth Amendment not to make any statements.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>\u201cI thought I just did that,\u201d McRae said, \u201cbut I\u2019ll do it again. Under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution,\u201d he told Terrell again, \u201cyou do not have to answer any question which could even possibly incriminate you. Do you understand that?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>\u201cYes, sir, I understand it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>\u201cOkay, proceed,\u201d McRae said. But Tierney interrupted again.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>\u201cAnd that the State would use anything he says today, Your Honor, against him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>\u201cThe State can and may,\u201d the Judge said.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>\u201cYes, Your Honor, I understand,\u201d Terrell said, \u201cand I plead the Fifth Amendment.\u201d<\/em> http:\/\/www.bostonreview.net\/BR38.2\/beth_schwartzapfel_valerie_finley_innocent_convictions.php<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

Year 18- Parole Hearing\/ Parole Denied<\/b><\/p>\n

After Rodney was denied parole for a second time, it was hoped that he would be granted parole at his 3rd<\/sup> parole hearing.\u00a0 Again, Rodney had everything a parole board would look for, but his not being guilty may have played a role in his remaining in prison. A member of the victim\u2019s family told the parole board that Rodney had deluded himself into believing he is innocent. When inmates come before the parole board, the parole board wants to hear that they are guilty and express remorse .Rodney refuses to say he is guilty for crimes he did not commit. It doesn\u2019t matter that he has jobs lined up, family support, sponsors, supporting letters from co-workers, friends and even, as occurred during his previous parole, a letter from the arresting officer, the parole board wants to hear that a person is guilty. \u00a0Rodney \u00a0faces the prison dilemma of the wrongfully convicted: NYTIMES<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Below you will find links to articles and news reports concerning Rodney\u2019s parole hearing:<\/p>\n

Here is a WKRG TV<\/a> (Mobile, AL) segment shortly before his parole hearing, a WKRG segment<\/a> after his parole hearing, and a Mobile Press Register article before<\/a> and after his parole hearing.<\/a>\u00a0 Here is another piece published in the Boston Review regarding his parole denial.\u00a0 It is entitled Rehabilitation, Remose, and Innocence: Rodney Stanberry Tries for Parole<\/a>. (Beth Schwartzapfel was runner up <\/a>for a prestigious journalism award\u00a0for her investigative piece about Rodney’s case)<\/p>\n

As Rodney begins his 18th<\/sup> year of incarceration, will Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich work to release Rodney K. Stanberry?<\/p>\n

This is a true travesty of justice.<\/p>\n

Contact Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich at (251) 574-6685 or ashleyrich@mobileda.org<\/a> or her Chief Investigator Mike Morgan at (251) 574-8400 or mikemorgan@mobileda.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Peace and Sincerely,<\/p>\n

Artemesia Stanberry<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.yourblackworld.net\/2012\/11\/black-news\/black-community-rallies-to-re-open-the-case-of-rodney-k-stanberry\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Please join us on Facebook:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Free-Rodney-K-Stanberry\/228205690552328<\/a> and https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/freerodneykstanberry\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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