{"id":80,"date":"2012-03-10T23:35:35","date_gmt":"2012-03-10T23:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freerodneystanberry.com\/blog\/?p=80"},"modified":"2012-03-12T22:37:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-12T22:37:00","slug":"what-would-you-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freerodneystanberry.com\/blog\/?p=80","title":{"rendered":"What Would You Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 10, 2012\u00a0 <\/span><\/h2>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cEVURKsGoMI<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

What Would You Do?<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

What would you do if you worked for a district attorney\u2019s office and discovered a possible wrongful conviction case?<\/span><\/h2>\n

What would you do if you are the district attorney and you discover that an employee may have perpetuated and\/or condoned \u00a0a wrongful conviction?\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/h2>\n

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?<\/span><\/h2>\n

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?\u00a0 Would you challenge the Mobile District Attorney\u2019s Office and the local\/national media to prove you are guilty? \u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

What would Rodney K. Stanberry do<\/span><\/strong>? 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.\u00a0 <\/span><\/h2>\n

What could you do<\/span><\/strong>?\u00a0 Read the letter below, contact the Mobile Press Register<\/em>, sign and share this change.org<\/a> petition (http:\/\/www.change.org\/petitions\/free-rodney-k-stanberry<\/a>) , share on your webpage, talk to media, attorney, blogs, call the Mobile District Attorney\u2019s Office, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange,\u00a0 elected officials in Mobile, and friends and family members in Mobile, Alabama.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This injustice has got to end.\u00a0 District Attorney Ashley Rich can be tough on crime AND do what is within her powers to release an innocent man. <\/span><\/h2>\n

Peace, \u00a0Artemesia\u00a0 <\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 March 10, 2012<\/span><\/h2>\n

Rickey Mathews- Publisher<\/span><\/h2>\n

c\/o Mobile Press Register<\/span><\/h2>\n

401 N. Water St<\/span><\/h2>\n

Mobile, AL 36602<\/span><\/h2>\n

Email: <\/span><\/a>rmathews@press-register.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Phone: (251) 219-5673 <\/span><\/h2>\n

(note, this was sent via email on February 25th<\/sup>, 2012)<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Dear Mr. Mathews:<\/h2>\n

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.\u00a0 In fact, I have a letter I wrote to former columnist Jay Greelan on www.freerodneystanberry.com<\/a> from the 1990s.\u00a0 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\u2019s Office and crime matters).\u00a0 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.<\/h2>\n

My purpose in writing to you now is to ask you to prove Rodney is guilty.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 NBC news correspondent Luke Russert recently aired an investigative report entitled “Conviction” (http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/3032600\/#\/46359709<\/a>)\u00a0 where NBC allowed him resources to take on inmate Jon Adrian Velazquez’\u00a0challenge\u00a0\u00a0to prove him guilty.\u00a0 When people are 100 percent innocent and certain of it, they have no problem with getting reporters to investigate their cases.\u00a0 In Raleigh North Carolina, the News and Observer did a series entitled “Twisted Justice” (http:\/\/www.newsobserver.com\/tags\/?tag=Twisted+Truth<\/a>) that has resulted in the Durham County, NC District Attorney (Tracey Cline) being dismissed from her job.\u00a0 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<\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When newspapers use their investigative powers, reforms can be put into place.<\/h2>\n

According to the prosecutor in Rodney’s case, Joe Carl “Buzz” Jordan,\u00a0Rodney was the accomplice of the shooter, who would\u00a0later be tried for shooting the victim.\u00a0 Or so Jordan assured\u00a0your newspaper and the jury.\u00a0 But that never happened.\u00a0 After Rodney was <\/em>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\u00a0or\u00a0was 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?\u00a0 Your newspaper reporters were on this case\u00a0from the beginning to the trial, but the\u00a0final story of\u00a0truth and justice\u00a0has yet to be written\u00a0(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<\/a>).\u00a0<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Just as the News&Observer’s<\/em> \u201cTwisted Justice\u201d 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\u00a0your time and money.\u00a0 Prove him guilty of attempted murder, First Degree Robbery, and First Degree Burglary.\u00a0 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.\u00a0The 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.<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Peace,<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Artemesia Stanberry<\/h2>\n

Artemesia@freerodneystanberry.com<\/a><\/h2>\n

(cc local\/national media figures<\/p>\n

Governor Bentley<\/p>\n

Attorney General Luther Strange<\/p>\n

PS- In case you want to read and listen to more:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/freerodneystanberry.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=78<\/a>
\nDr. 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.<\/p>\n

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