DID TENNESSEE EXECUTE AN INNOCENT MAN - PHILIP WORKMAN?

(16 links in this article)   Was Philip Workman, who was executed by the State of Tennessee in 2007, an innocent man?  Workman's case has striking similarities to the Troy Davis case.  Both men were convicted of  murdering a police officer and condemned to death, and both their convictions were based on witness testimony that eventually fell apart.  Despite three stays of execution and no reliable evidence against Workman, he was executed 25 years after his 1982 conviction.  Workman claimed innocence during his trial and throughout his imprisonment, saying it was actually another Memphis police officer who shot Officer Oliver as three policemen pursued Workman to arrest him for robbery. Davis also maintains that he is innocent of killing Officer MacPhail.  Millions of people believe strongly that Troy Davis is innocent, and Workman also had many supporters who wanted him to have a new trial after witnesses recanted their testimony against him.

Three years after Workman's execution, speculation continues.  Excerpts from Salon.com news article "DOUBT ON DEATH ROW"* are followed by new information in Workman's case in MARY'S COMMENTARY and an update on the Troy Davis matter.  Four of my radio interviews are accessible at the links below. 

SALON.COM report excerpts:     Seven of the original eight jurors who condemned Philip Workman now say they doubt he shot Oliver. Five of them have signed sworn statements that they would have decided the case differently had they known then what has come to light today. But it is Paula Dodillet, Oliver's daughter, who has attracted national attention for joining those jurors in their pleas for granting Workman clemency.


-    In 1999 the defense finally tracked Davis down in a Phoenix motel room ( a "vagabond alcoholic" who testified as an eye-witness for the prosecution at Workman's trial). He tearfully confessed on videotape that he saw nothing, but was bullied by members of the Memphis Police Department to testify otherwise.


-    An X-ray (which was not used in Workman's trial, but surfaced 17 years later) shows that the bullet that killed Officer Oliver did not fragment inside his body. This is significant because it likely was not a .45 bullet - the kind of ammunition Workman's gun used.


[There was a hearing to determine if Workman deserved a new trial.]


-    It looked as if the majority of judges would vote in favor of granting Workman a new trial [based on new evidence]. But at the last minute, two senior, or retired, judges - both appointed by Republicans - decided that they wanted to be part of the panel. Senior judges have the right to join deliberations when they choose. Those same judges also happened to be on the three-judge panel that had already denied Workman's request for a new trial. The senior Republican judges swung the en banc vote to a tie.

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MARY'S COMMENTARY

NEW INFORMATION:  Ronald Oliver, the murder victim, was one of three Memphis police officers who responded to the 911 call when Philip Workman robbed Wendy’s Restaurant on August 5, 1981. According to a recent report, months prior to being killed while attempting to apprehend Workman, Officer Oliver had crossed a police picket line. After the strike, Oliver was placed on guard duty at Memphis Shelby County Jail for a period of time, possibly because of animosity against him by his fellow officers. Oliver was killed almost immediately after resuming street duty. Did Workman's attorney bring up Oliver's enmity with his fellow officers at Workman's murder trial?   More about Workman’s case is available at this Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Workman#1981_Armed_robbery_and_death_of_Lt._Oliver
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Dr. O.C.Smith

Dr. O.C. Smith was Shelby County, Tennessee's Chief Medical Examiner when Officer Oliver was killed. His testimony at Workman's trial was key evidence for the prosecution. In June 2002, when Workman's execution was imminently pending, Dr. Smith is alleged to have staged a kidnapping - of himself. Dr. Smith was found in a stairwell to the Shelby County Medical Examiner's office with his head wrapped in barbed wire; explosives and notes secured to his body. The notes accused Dr. Smith of lying about bullet trajectory during Workman's murder trial. Dr. Smith's alleged antics are covered in a 40 Hours special called, Terror at the Morgue.  The link is provided at the end of this article.

Despite Dr. Smith's apparent attempts to cast doubt on his damning testimony about bullet trajectory during Workman's murder trial without making an outright admission of perjury, and despite other new evidence presented above, Workman was denied a new trial and executed by the State of Tennessee after having spent a quarter of a century on death row and saying final goodbyes to his daughter four times.

Dr. Smith was under federal indictment for staging his own kidnapping and for having explosives, but he never stood trial. When the case against Dr. Smith was dismissed, some of the federal prosecutors were reportedly dissatisfied and quit their jobs over it. There was renewed discussion around bringing Dr. Smith to trial on those charges in 2008, but it did not happen. One cannot examine Smith's "kidnapping" without possibly exposing other criminals among police officers and Shelby County officials.  It might also be necessary to examine the possibility that Tennessee denied an innocent man a well-deserved new trial, kept him on death row for 25 years, and killed him in disregard of the fact that the main witnesses used against him had both recanted: (a) Davis, the alcoholic vagabond who police put forth as an eye-witness to Oliver's shooting, and (b) Dr. Smith, who seemed to try desperately to cast doubt on his own expert testimony that was used to condemn Workman.  Dr. Smith is no longer chief medical examiner for Shelby County, Tennessee, but he is frequently used as an expert witness to testify in trials against other defendants across America.  What do you think about that?

I suppose Workman's execution was important to the two Republican judges who stepped out of retirement to swing the vote against a new trial for Philip Workman. I wonder why people do things like that.

DEATH TO THE DEATH PENALTY!

QUESTION:  What part of "Thou shalt not kill" do capital punishment supporters not understand?  There are many things that can go wrong in murder investigations and before or during trials, such as tampered or lost evidence, coerced witnesses, false confessions, and ineffective counsel.  Hundreds of people have been exonerated and released after new trials and hearings or DNA tests.  Although the number of wrongful convictions could be reduced by allocating more funds for public defenders and more careful police investigations, innocent people will undoubtedly continue to be convicted from time to time.  Ending the death penalty is the only way to eliminate any possibility of innocent people being executed.  Not only would repealing capital punishment save lives, but billions of dollars could be saved.  It costs significantly more to condemn a man to execution than to sentence him to life without parole.

Philip Workman's case came to my attention while researching the Memphis Coroner's office after the secret arrest and wrongful death of Larry Neal, my mentally ill brother who MPD arrested and held in Shelby County Jail for nearly three weeks, but denied having him under arrest until he died on August 1, 2003. This was presumably done to kill Larry by deprivation of his heart medication because police were tired of "fooling with Larry Neal," as a county employee warned one of his relatives two weeks prior to Larry going "missing." But despite Larry's numerous arrests caused by his acute mental illness, the State of Tennessee refused to re-hospitalize him as an inpatient, as he had been for about 20 years before many mental institutions were closed in the 1970's.

Although it appears that Workman did not kill Officer Oliver, at least he did rob Wendy's Restaurant and create the chaos that resulted in the officer's death. My poor brother, on the other hand, was guilty only of being sick and DENIED inpatient care. The only thing Larry Neal created was a headache for Memphis Police officers who tired of "fooling with" the acutely mentally ill black man who they knew had a heart condition requiring prescription meds.

As punishment for being sick, Larry got a back-door death penalty.  He often sang too loud outdoors or quoted historical speeches.  We do not know which one of these "crimes" made police secretly arrest and murder him since Shelby County Jail and the United States Department of Justice refuse to release records.

The fuzzy autopsy report we received via facsimile from the Memphis Shelby County Medical Examiner's office appeared incomplete, and we were informed there was no coroner's inquest or other investigation being done regarding Larry's arrest and death. Despite asking for almost seven years, that faxed autopsy report and Larry's death certificate are the only documentation Larry's family has been able to ascertain on his final arrest and wrongful death. Gathering records in a case like this is something that is usually done by one's wrongful death attorneys; however, the law firm the Neals contracted with had a long-standing Shelby County Commissioner as managing partner in the firm's Memphis office.  That conflict of interest was deliberately kept from Larry's family although the Shelby County Commission owns and operates the jail where Larry died.  What ethical law firm would take a case to essentially sue its own managing partner in his other official position?  The (Johnnie) Cochran Firm Fraud was used to prevent our lawsuit against Shelby County Jail and the State of Tennessee by allowing the statute of limitations pass without doing any legal work on the case.  Larry's file was still empty when Tennessee's one-year statute of limitations for personal injury ended, although The Cochran Firm signed contract with the Neals immediately after Larry's demise  and sent its clients lying letters about a non-existent discovery process via U.S.Mail fraud.  When Larry's mom and sister, yours truly, sued The Cochran Firm for fraud, Georgia Superior Court dismissed the case without trial, saying there is no Cochran Firm in Georgia - with the law firm advertising prolifically and open for business every day on Peachtree Street in Atlanta.  NOTHING I ever saw on television, in movies, read about, or dreamed tops that or the things that have happened since, some of which is published in FreeSpeakBlog.

In 2003 when Larry died, the USDOJ was in oversight of Shelby County Jail following a lawsuit by the USA for violating inmates' civil rights.  Larry had numerous prior arrests in the same jail due to mental illness, but jail officials repeatedly lied to Larry's family and social worker for nearly three weeks, denying Larry was incarcerated. Yet the federal agency that is charged with protecting institutionalized persons and Americans with disabilities refuses to investigate Larry's death. Dr. O.C. Smith, who as much as confessed to lying on Philip Workman during his capital murder trial to protect Memphis police, was still Chief Medical Examiner when Larry Neal was autopsied.  There is an elaborate cover-up conspiracy against the Neals learning how Larry died and our fair treatment in court.  Justice was denied for Larry and his family, as it was for Philip Workman, who deserved a new trial.

Forbes rated Memphis third on its 2009 list of the ten most miserable cities.  Forbes cited the high number of corrupt government officials in Memphis who were convicted and sentenced to prison as one reason why the city is undesirable.  It was interesting to learn that Dr. Smith seems to have a history of using his position to cover for Memphis police, and the government apparently has a history of allowing such cover-ups.  I can understand why federal prosecutors quit their jobs after the judge dismissed Dr. Smith's case without trial. The prosecutors are probably honest people who were disappointed like I was to learn that the USDOJ is a corrupt agency that sometimes stands AGAINST justice to protect corrupt Memphis officials. See the link below for more information about denial of justice for Larry.

ERIC HOLDER, THE USDOJ HAS BLOOD ON ITS HANDS
http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/1038156

See our Freedom of Information Act Request to the USDOJ regarding Larry's death at this link:

FOI Request to USDOJ re: Larry Neal and The Cochran Firm Fraud
http://my.nowpublic.com/health/foi-request-usdoj-re-larry-neal-and-cochran-firm-fraud

Read more about justice issues facing acute mental patients and other people in my NowPublic.com articles:
http://NowPublic.com/duo  and my Care2 Sharebook as well as my blog, http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/

A youth in Guantanamo Bay Prison Camp

WATCH how the USDOJ under our new administration handles the Secret Arrest and Wrongful Death of Larry Neal and the conspiracy of cover-up that followed and includes lawyer fraud and endangerment of Larry's survivors to force us into silence.  Do you believe the DOJ has actually CHANGED from the agency that shocked the world by ordering secret arrest and torture, including waterboarding, for hundreds of foreign detainees in Guantanamo Bay and Gitmo?  Dozens of camp detainees are still unaccounted for, according to the Red Cross.  What was done to those people was also done to Larry Neal, a middle-aged African American, a harmless mentally ill heart patient who spent 20 years in a mental institution before being released when he and hundreds of thousands of other patients were "de-institutionalized" in the 1970s.  Getting records and accountability for Larry's death is even more difficult than it was to get straight answers and some of the records regarding the camp detainees.  Torturing prisoners was supposedly done to fight terrorism, but there is no excuse whatsoever for Larry's secret arrest and murder.  Thus, the DOJ does not even try to answer the FOIA request about his death. The silence seems to say, "We in the justice system kill who we want and answer to no one."  That is why I advocate for prisoners.  Their fair and humane treatment is in the hands of people who seem to lack respect for human life but spare no effort investigating and prosecuting people for animal abuse.

Mary Neal's Radio Interviews:

Wake-up Call BlogTalk Radio
Jan. 2008: "The Wrongful Death of Larry Neal Show"
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wakeupcallshow/2008/01/22/TBA

Mary Neal's Radio Interview w/ Rev. Pinkney
Oct 11, 2009: "Mary Neal, a Warrior"
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Rev-Pinkney/2009/10/11/MARY-NEAL-A-WARRIOR

Real Talk with Brothas Keepa
May 2008: "Mental Illness in the Black Community"
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nbbta/2008/05/28/Real-Talk-With-Brothas-Keepa

The NVO Radio Hour - Second Guest: Mary Neal
March 2009: "CHANGE the Justice System"
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/NVO/2009/03/26/The-NVO-Hour

Let us continue to support innocent people on death row like Troy Davis in Georgia, Thomas Arthur in Alabama, and Darrell Lomax in California.  A Savannah USDC judge heard new testimony in the Troy Davis case on June 23, 2010, and the world awaits the court's ruling.  I agree with Paula Dodillet, Officer Oliver's daughter, that Philip Workman deserved a new trial because the case against him fell apart over time like Troy Davis' case has.  As also happened in the Troy Davis matter, Workman received three stays of execution because there was reasonable doubt of his guilt and he had substantial public support.  However, retired judges came forward to block Workman's opportunity to prove his innocence and live.  Thomas Arthur has been on Alabama's death row for nearly three decades, begging for a DNA test to prove his innocence for much of that time.  Arthur was finally granted a DNA test in 2009, and his DNA matched none of the crime scene evidence tested.  Surprisingly, a judge sealed Arthur's test results immediately after they were released, and an Alabama D.A. announced plans to ask for Arthur's death warrant and kill him in Birmingham News a month after the state knew Arthur's DNA indicated innocence.  Arthur remains on death row.  Most Americans are under the mistaken impression that innocence matters in the justice system, but innocence matters too little in the minds of many people who work in criminal justice.

Unfortunately, some judges and prosecutors do not care if innocent people serve long prison terms or suffer execution.  Many sincere men and women work in the justice system as police officers, prosecutors and defense attorneys, judges, prison guards, and as high-ranking officials, but plenty of them are sociopaths.  I hope this article about Philip Workman and the wrongful death of Larry Neal helps to reveal the fallibility and gross inequities that exist within America's justice system - in both criminal and civil courts.  I could have used a case where the inmate was proved innocent beyond a doubt after his death, but I chose to write about Philip Workman's case because of its similarity to the Troy Davis matter.  Both convictions rest on faulty witness testimony that was eventually retracted or proved to be badly tainted.  Nevertheless, Workman was executed, perhaps because the justice system hates admitting an error and cares too little about human life. Execution is irrevocable. Even capital punishment supporters should agree that nothing less than irrefutable proof should be used to issue a death sentence.  Forensic evidence can be tainted by accident or fraudulent by design; witnesses often make mistakes or tell outright lies, and 25% of wrongful convictions result from people lying on themselves (false confessions). 

Please pray for Troy Davis and all death row inmates, and pray for decision makers in the justice system.  We need all of them to be people of their word who and honor their oaths of office.  As Amnesty International states, innocence matters.  Please share this article and others in FreeSpeakBlog with your friends and online groups.  It is too late to help Philip Workman but not too late to remind the justice system that we care about Troy Davis and other people who are condemned to death, especially with insubstantial evidence.  Remind them also that Americans care about chronic mental patients who should be hospitalized or treated in their communities, not imprisoned and/or murdered without accountability like Larry Neal was.  More information about people in this article is available at the links below. 

Exposed: Cameron Todd Willingham's Wrongful Execution - and Others
http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/cameron-todd-willinghams-wrongful.html 

TERROR at the Morgue - 48 Hours Special re: Dr. O.C.Smith
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/18/48hours/main688910.shtml

Mary Neal
Website:  Wrongful Death of Larry Neal -  http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com/

ASSISTANCE TO THE INCARCERATED MENTALLY ILL
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI

Follow me at Twitter, where I am KoffieTime!  http://twitter.com/koffietime
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*The referenced Salon.com's article on Philip Workman is available at:
http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2000/09/14/tennessee/index1.html

JAIL IS THE LAST THING MENTAL PATIENTS NEED ... AND TOO OFTEN, JAIL IS THE VERY LAST THING THEY EXPERIENCE. Several states have mentally ill inmates on death row.  Please join our quest to help decriminalize mental illness in America. No one should be punished for having a disability.

Please support federal bill H.R.619 to resume Medicaid for mental hospital inpatients, and support Kendra's Law to provide subsistence assistance and psychiatric treatment for outpatients who are released from prisons and hospitals.  When it comes to repealing capital punishment and decriminalizing mental illness, it is financially prudent to be humane.  Life without parole is substantially cheaper than death sentences, and timely treatment for mental illness is much less expensive than imprisoning sick people long-term or repeatedly after avoidable crimes.  PLEASE VOTE at OpenCongress.org in favor of H.R.619 to resume Medicaid for mental hospital insurance . http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h619/show  (H.R.619 regards hospital insurance coverage only).

Thank you for your interest in love, justice, and human rights.  Your questions and comments regarding information in FreeSpeakBlog are invited in the comments field after each blog entry.  Access more justice articles from a laywoman's perspective using the handy index in the right margin.  Please add me to your mailing list for human rights news - MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com
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Declining Prison Population and Death Sentences

Judge Kevin Fine, Dist. 177, TX
Ruled Capital Punishment Unconstitutional




(5 paragraphs)

THANK YOU, JUDGES! Judges and juries are changing justice in America for the better. I was surprised and delighted to read that the U.S. prison population declined for the first time in decades. Many people are grateful to you for using drug courts, mental health courts, and being more careful to evaluate the evidence presented against defendants. Thank you especially for the decline in death penalty sentencing in every state except California. Even Texas' death sentences declined, a state that can be very proud of judges like Judge Kevin Fine. We appreciate all that you do to be just and compassionate, judges and juries of America. We count on you, and you are demonstrating that you care about justice.

The Bible refers to the leaders of God's people as being judges. Judges and juries have the power to determine the course of lives, and we appreciate your using it righteously. Thank you, defense attorneys, especially hardworking public defenders. Many of you struggle to defend people caught in the justice system and win victories despite the poor budget you have and heavy caseloads. Police officers are probably being more careful with evidence. I believe even our prosecutors may deserve praise, also. Obviously, they are being more fair. Withholding evidence from defense attorneys and ascertaining false testimony from witnesses by coertion should be beneath you. Most inmates are guilty of the offenses for which they were sentenced. However, NO innocent people should be imprisoned or executed. The only way to ensure that innocents are not executed is to do as New Mexico did and repeal the death penalty. As wrongful convictions are overturned by the hundreds, people in the justice system and jury pools across America recognize the flaws in the justice system and increasingly say, "Death to the death penalty."

Indiana increased in prison sentencing while most of the nation experienced a decline. California has a dismal report at number 11 below, but this article is a good news report otherwise. See the exciting headlines beneath my signature block. Links to more articles are in the handy index in the left margin of this blog - http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/ - California reported the state will resume executions after decades when no condemned inmates were killed. The story of one inmate who faces wrongful execution in California follows the headlines below - the wrongful conviction of Darrell Lomax. Darrel's story is also presented in an article in this blog about wrongful convictions, executions, and excessive sentencing called "Cameron Todd Willingham's Wrongful Execution - and Others" http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/cameron-todd-willinghams-wrongful.html

God loves justice, and so do I. Google for "Mary Loves Justice"! Follow me at Twitter, where I am KoffieTime, and I will follow you back - http://Twitter.com/KoffieTime - If you write about justice issues, please add me to your mailing list - MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com

Mary Neal
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI

1.
Texas Moratorium Network: Death Sentences Decline, Life Without ...
Dec 28, 2009 ... Death Sentences Decline, Life Without Parole Sentences Rising, ... to die in prison, so they constitute a new kind of condemned person. ...stopexecutions.blogspot.com/.../death-sentences-decline-life-without.html - Cached

2.
Federal Drug Sentences Decline - NORML
Marc Mauer, assistant director of the Sentencing Project, credits the decline of prison sentences to changes in sentencing laws in 1994 that allow judges to ...www.natlnorml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4109 - Cached

3.
U.S. Prison Population in Decline for First Time in Decades ...
Dec 21, 2009 ... The decline in prison population is largely the result of the harsh ... that forced inmates to serve 85 percent of their prison sentences, ...www.politicsdaily.com/.../u-s-prison-population-to-decline-for-first-time-in-decades/ - Cached

4.
News results for prison sentences decline
Grand Forks Herald
Indiana Prison Populations Rise As Nation Sees Decline‎ - 7 hours ago
Prison officials blame the surge on lawmakers not pursuing alternatives to incarceration. Instead, they've relied on tougher sentences for crime. MyWabashValley 450 related articles »

5.
Death Sentences Decline, Life Without Parole Sentences Rising ...
Dec 27, 2009 ... Death Sentences Decline, Life Without Parole Sentences Rising, ... row in the four years since the law took effect, state prison data show. ...open.salon.com/.../death_sentences_decline_life_without_parole_sentences_rising_creating_new_kind_of_condemned_person - Cached

6.
Newsvine - Report: Death sentences decline; death rows shrink
Dec 18, 2009 ... Report: Death sentences decline; death rows shrink ... penalty and laws that allow inmates to be sentenced to life in prison without parole. ...www.newsvine.com/_.../3648149-report-death-sentences-decline-death-rows-shrink - Cached

7.
Sentencing Law and Policy: Notable prediction that prison ...
Dec 20, 2009 ... Notable prediction that prison population may decline in 2009 ... law required drug offenders to serve 85 percent of their sentences. ...sentencing.typepad.com/.../notable-prediction-that-prison-population-may-decline-in-2009.html - Cached

8.
Report: Death sentences decline; death rows shrink - Crime Library ...
1 post - 1 author - Last post: Dec 18, 2009Report: Death sentences decline; death rows shrink Death Penalty. ... that allow inmates to be sentenced to life in prison without parole. ...boards.library.trutv.com › ... › Death Penalty - Cached

9.
Report: Death Sentences Decline; Death Rows Shrink - cbs11tv.com
Report: Death Sentences Decline; Death Rows Shrink. MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) ― Texas and other states that lead the nation in ...cbs11tv.com/wireapnewstx/Report.Sharp.drop.2.1377368.html - Cached
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10.

Report: Death sentences decline; death rows shrink
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick ViewReport: Death sentences decline; death rows shrink ... death penalty, life in prison without parole becomes a very viable option they can feel safe and ...www.floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/.../Death%20Sentences%20Decline,%20Death%20Rows%20Shrink.pdf
.

11.

California's death row grows as death sentences decline nationwide ...California's death row grows as death sentences decline nationwide .... San Quentin State Prison's death row now houses more than a fifth of the 3279 ...articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/19/.../la-me-deathpenalty19-2009dec19 - Cached

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DARRELL LOMAX is in San Quentin State Prison in California. He was convicted of murder and defended by the same attorney who defended the State's witness against him. His second attorney was a prosecutor who called none of Darrell's witnesses to the stand. None of the evidence in the case pointed to him. Darrell Lomax has been on California's death row for more than 15 years, yet somehow, he has a beautiful smile. Darrell's smile denotes his faith that being innocent is enough assurance that he will not be executed. Please meet Darrell and review his case at http://freedarrell.com/ . Help his confidence in justice be validated. Sign his petition, please. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for Friendship, from Mary Neal

To my new friends (11 links, 14 paragraphs, counting this one - pls confirm receipt). Thank you for including me in your circle of online friends. To see videos about censorship and terrorism to prevent my human rights advocacy, including real-time cyberstalking and terrorism law enforcement ignores, please visit my YouTube channel jkempp703 at this link - http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jkempp703&aq=f  
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Network groups are very useful for uniting people who work together for a common goal. I have joined many groups, although I am not permitted any longer to send mass emails to the African American and prisoner activists groups I joined at YahooGroups. Cyberstalkers nearly always kick me offline when I try to do so. That started last spring after I announced the Human Rights for Prisoners March, which was planned for May 16 in Atlanta. As it happens, there were thunderstorms that day and the march was canceled. See information about it online and what I consider to be 26 main justice concerns - "Human Rights For Prisoners March." It is hopeful to see that some of those concerns are being addressed by lawmakers who recognize the urgent need for change. Many bills are pending before the 111th Congress that would help regarding justice, and some have already passed. Judges are also effecting positive changes. More defendants are being remanded to drug court and mental health court now, and death sentences are down to 1976 levels. In fact, Judge Kevin Fine (USDC, TX) recently pronounced capital punishment as being unconstitutional. That was a major step forward in the state that leads the Union in executions - over 400 since capital punishment was re-instated in the 1970's and over 200 under Texas' present governor.

As you probably know, I am a human rights advocate. Our group members at Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill, founded after the denial of justice following Larry Neal's murder, try to help victims have a voice regardless of their race, religion, or ethnicity. In fact, I was late coming to realize the level of prejudice that exists in America and how much it impacts our lives on nearly every level. I believe that classism is also a major problem in America. A white person who lacks wealth is subject to discrimination in the justice system like Africans are, although at a much reduced ratio - nowhere near the 1 in 9 rate of imprisonment that young African males reportedly have. Although being white reduces the likelihood of being arrested, it seems not to help people who get caught up in the system. For example, in August 2009, a man named Thomas Arthur was about to be executed in Alabama although results from Arthur's DNA test that the forensic lab released in July reported Arthur was no match for the crime scene evidence that was tested. Judge Pulliam sealed the results of Arthur's DNA test, and prosecutors planned to ask for Arthur's death warrant in August. Apparently, the public was not intended to know about Arthur's wrongful execution until years later, like in the Cameron Scott Willingham case (another white man who was executed in 2004 for murdering his children, but information released recently indicates he was innocent). Mainstream news was quiet about the results of Arthur's DNA test, which he had been denied until 2009 after 26 years of imprisonment for a murder it appears Arthur did not do. Fearing that Arthur might be wrongly executed, I worked all night against cyberstalkers on August 31 to alert people about the inmate's predicament.

It is going to take unity among oppressed people to accomplish justice reform. I work as hard to save Thomas Arthur and Jeff Wood, white men, as I do for Troy Davis and Darrell Lomax, wrongly convicted Africans. Now Thomas Arthur is going to get a hearing "before execution" I read. That sounds like the hearing is only a formality. Hopefully, I am wrong about that. See one of my articles at the link below for more information on Arthur and others. It carries information about Troy Davis, Darrell Lomax, and the Scott Sisters as well as other people who are/were victimized by the unjust justice system.

Cameron Willingham's Wrongful Execution and OTHERS http://bit.ly/1iADKT

See the extent of censorship against me at the link below in an article about Arthur's DNA results being ignored and InfoWar that ensued: Care2 eCards program was attacked on September 1, and gMail actually went down. I really don't believe those were coincidences.

Original Thought Magazine re-published the article at this link, and I really appreciate them for doing that: http://www.originalthoughtmag.com/mag/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1428&Itemid=1428

I learned this week that my Twitter tweets may be going to some set-aside area. None of my tweets to save Troy Davis or Hank Skinner, who is scheduled for execution on 3/24/10 in Texas, appear to be registering with the regular tweets. I did a search for both men's names at Twitter's "real time tweets" field on the log-in page, and NONE of mine for those two men showed up although I have tweeted about little else lately. Last night when I conducted a search at Twitter's "real time tweets" field for Troy Davis' name, I got a response from Twitter saying, "NO RESULTS FOR TROY DAVIS." I cannot tell whether that response really came from Twitter or from the cyberdogs who illegally put my computer on their Intranet in order to monitor and control my use of the Internet. I hope they are not trying to tell me something. We all want good results for Troy. We want justice.

Google my name with Troy Davis' name to see many articles I wrote about his denial of a new trial. He has a chance at a new trial now that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a USDC judge in Atlanta will review his substantial new evidence and make that determination. To access more articles I wrote for victims since learning where I live, please see my Google profile at http://Google.com/profiles/MaryLovesJustice

I feel blessed that you granted me friendship and the opportunity to share my struggle for justice with you. I hope you visit my blog at http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/ and share some of my articles with your friends and groups. I am heavily censored, as I tried to show you, and I have trouble posting news. If it were not for people helping by re-publishing articles, AIMI could not be effective promoting HUMAN RIGHTS FOR PRISONERS. Although every justice issue is important, we mainly use online services to help decriminalize mental illness and end capital punishment. Roughly 1.25 million mentally ill people are prisoners like my unfortunate brother Larry Neal was when he was murdered under secret arrest in 2003 in Memphis/Shelby County Jail. AIMI members support H.R. 619, a bill by Representative Eddie Johnson (D-TX 30) to resume Medicaid funding for inpatient treatment in hospitals. Passing that health care bill would create an alternative to imprisoning people for having a common, treatable health condition - mental illness. Mentally ill people, whether black, white, or other, are probably the most discriminated-against people in America. If they have the triple distinction of being a minority person, poor, and mentally ill, they can actually be murdered behind bars like my brother Larry was, and the USDOJ will refuse to investigate their deaths. Pit bulls get more respect.

Please advise me on how to improve my advocacy, and let me know how I can contribute as a group member. Contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you personally as my new friend. If I fail to respond to your attempt to communicate with me via group mail or by email to my MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com email box, it is likely because I did not get your message. The email I was sent about yesterday's radio show was held up until three hours after the show was over, for instance. I feel confident some of you experience the same things. Last week, my family's phones would not work for outgoing calls when it was time for me to call in to the Women Warriors radio show. Cyberstalkers often redirect my incoming mail to Spam or Trash, and they frequently delete it altogether before I have a chance to read it. They do this constantly with emails announcing my new Twitter followers; then they delete the notices from my Twitter followers list as well. Therefore, please note my mailing address below my signature block and add it to your mailing lists. Cyberlords do not welcome online news and views regarding Human Rights for Prisoners, but still we rise!

Please help promote H.R. 619, which was also endorsed by NAMI and other mental health organizations. Mentally ill people should be treated in hospitals and not imprisoned for being sick. Also, help protest the execution of Hank Skinner, who I understand was a prisoner activist before his conviction. Some people believe that is why Skinner is scheduled to die in Texas on March 24, 2010, and is deprived of DNA tests to prove his innocence. Since I have been gangstalked and intimidated for asking WHAT HAPPENED TO LARRY NEAL and advocating for justice reform, it is easy for me to believe that about Skinner's impending execution. Please help. We all need each other.

Follow me at Twitter, where I am KoffieTime (sometimes my tweets post), and I will follow you back! Link - http://twitter.com/KoffieTime

See this link: HOW TO SHARE MY CYBERTERRORISM VIA GOOGLE DOCS?
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Docs/thread?fid=56924cd29a47031f000481a6ec25228d&hl=en
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Blessings!

Mary Neal
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com/
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI
P.O. Box 153, Redan, GA 30074-0153
Google Profile:  http://google.com/profiles/marylovesjustice

Sean Isbell and Other Wrongfully Convicted

The Patriot Act - the power to seize liberty

A YOUNG MAN wrote to me seeking help publishing the fact that he is wrongly convicted. Sean Isbell laid out substantial evidence on his website attesting to his innocence. He is 23. Like most innocent people who wind up behind bars, Sean is convinced that he needs only to prove his innocence, then he will be released. It is not that simple. Sean has already been convicted. Courts have no burden to consider even irrefutable proof of a convicted person's innocence and overturn a wrongful conviction, according Supreme Court Justice Scalia. Furthermore, the High Court determined in a 2009 ruling that convicted persons have no constitutional right to prove their innocence after conviction through DNA tests. What matters is the conviction, not fairness, justice, or the fact that while innocent people are behind bars, guilty parties remain free and may continue to commit crimes. Please visit Sean's website. Google "Sean Isbell Wrongful Conviction," or use this link: http://tiny.cc/Ocqt6 (If the link fails, please use the name of Sean's website. Links that pertain to human/civil rights are frequently attacked by cyberstalkers, especially with regard to prison issues. For instance, none of Sean Isbell's links on his Twitter page work.)

Sean said the "Pledge of Allegiance" every morning in school and at ball games. He went to fireworks on Independence Days and probably has family members who are or were in the military. Therefore he believes we live in a land of liberty and justice for all. He probably does not know yet what I was late learning: Americans' "inalienable rights" to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness are really quite alienable. Those rights are easily set aside when one is charged with crimes and lacks the resources for a good defense at trial or if convincing evidence of innocence arrives after conviction. Furthermore, "inalienable rights" are not bestowed equally on all Americans in the first place. Minority citizens, poor people, and the mentally ill are therefore over-represented in prisons throughout the country.

Sean doesn't get it yet. I imagine he worked for many hours building a website to display his proof of innocence. He probably agonized over which documents to present and in what order. Poor young man. I wonder how many years wrongly convicted people do that sort of thing before they finally understand that their innocence does not matter. Some wrongly convicted people hope that public exposure about their wrongful conviction and support from We the People will help make the justice system behave fairly. I am inclined to disbelieve that since I have spent the past six years on a justice quest after the secret arrest and wrongful death of my mentally and physically disabled brother - an executed man who was not convicted of any offense whatsoever. Larry Neal wound up dead in a jail that had denied having him incarcerated for weeks and ignored his missing person reports.

After Larry Neal's death, the same justice system that drags healthy people down corridors and straps them on lethal injection tables to take their lives refuses to answer how Larry Neal was murdered in government custody. In defiance of the president's executive order to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act, boastful claims of transparency in government, and in total disregard of Larry's and his family's human and civil rights, the jail refuses to release information and records on Larry's secret arrest and murder. The Department of Justice also refuses to release records or ask police how they killed the lifelong mentally ill heart patient. Instead, the justice system decided to cover-up Larry's inconvenient death in 2003, and the cover-up continues.

Larry Neal was black. It is less common for black men to be lynched than a few decades ago, but African Americans being killed by police and black families having their civil rights ignored are American traditions. Therefore, Sean Isbell and other white citizens may be more surprised than African Americans are when they are wrongly convicted. It is one of those tragedies that one never expects to happen. The truth is that wrongful convictions happen regularly to people of all races, men and women alike. Sean asked for help getting his case before the public, and I hope this blog helps him to do that. You are invited to assist Sean by copying this information, emailing the link, or you may use the handy "Add This" feature. For people who have suffer great injustices in the justice system like Sean and my family, it helps when others know about the wrongs and express concern.

I have much in common with Sean and other wrongly convicted people. When Larry's death was followed by a cover-up facilitated by our wrongful death attorneys, The (Johnnie) Cochran Firm, various officials, and the USDOJ, I responded by taking the matter before the public on a website. Like Sean, I published documents that evidence the injustices against Larry and our family, expecting change. See the DOCUMENTS tab at my website, "Wrongful Death of Larry Neal" - http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com/ . Larry's family had to publish our own injustice like Sean is doing, because mainstream media blacked out The Cochran Firm Fraud (Google the term). I imagine that most innocent inmates are as disappointed at the lack of repentance the unjust justice system shows as I am. Not only is the system reluctant to set things right, but district attorneys actually argue against possibly innocent inmates getting new trials or DNA tests on evidence that was used to convict them (even at the inmates' expense). When the system is wrong, it does not appreciate any DNA test results or witness testimony evidencing the fact. Instead, there is an unGodly tendency is to cover-up mistakes or intentional wrongdoing by people in the justice system, even by illegal means. Regarding Larry Neal, the justice system plans never to investigate his lynching while under secret arrest (and have to prosecute its own members), but instead, my family is persecuted for asking, "What happened to Larry Neal?"

Unfortunately, America's voting machines do not give receipts. Many elected officials no longer seem to care what the public thinks about injustice, and they now propose to expand/improve railroads and build six concentration camps within our country for Americans using taxpayers' money (Google H.R.645). Like many people, I find it alarming that prison is planned for millions more Americans, perhaps under the Patriot Act, which requires no criminal charges. I express my concern and so do relatively few other brave citizens. Our criticism is not welcome; in fact, I am greatly censored. See an example of my online censorship in a YouTube video called "PRISON LABOR PROFITS" at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icRD77mugaI (use the name if the link fails). Public opinion simply does not matter as much as Sean thinks it does, and neither does the Constitution. Even if Sean and other wrongly convicted persons do get substantial public support as they hope, most judges and parole boards continue to ignore their evidence of innocence and deny them new trials. The Thomas Arthur case, involving another wrongly convicted white citizen, is evidence of that fact. When Arthur's DNA results ruled him out as being Troy Wicker's murderer according to the crime scene evidence tested, a judge simply ordered Arthur's test results sealed, and Alabama's D.A.'s office announced plans to ask for Arthur's death warrant a month after his forensic evidence indicated innocence. Arthur's daughter, another blogger, and I reported Arthur's dilemma, unlike mainstream media, and he will now get a hearing. Meanwhile, Arthur remains on death row.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING, REPRESENTATIVES? WHO ARE YOU REPRESENTING?

Democrats vote to renew Patriot Act
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/patr-f27.shtml
By Bill Van Auken 27 February 2010

With almost no debate, the Democratic leadership in Congress pushed through an unamended extension of the USA Patriot Act’s most notorious provisions, granting sweeping powers to eavesdrop and seize library, Internet and other personal records of US citizens. The provisions were set to expire by Sunday. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the legislation before then, securing his administration the ability to continue and expand the domestic spying and attacks on basic democratic rights that he and other Democrats had pretended to oppose under the Bush administration.

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To illustrate how deaf the justice system is to public outcry against injustice, consider Troy Davis' case involving the wrongful conviction of a young African American. Davis was convicted for the murder of a white police officer in Savannah, Georgia nearly two decades ago. The case against Davis is so weak that he has fervent support from a former president, the Pope and other world leaders, as well as millions of people worldwide. Yet Davis remains on death row, gagged to prevent him from discussing his evidence of innocence like Sean Isbell can. Public protest against Davis' execution in the absence of proof of his guilt and millions of requests for him to have a new trial were ignored for years. Finally, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in July 2009 that the Davis case will be heard by a Georgia USDC judge to determine if Troy gets a new trial. The High Court placed stipulations on the judge's decision, however. First, Davis must present irrefutable proof of innocence (although his case has no forensic evidence), and secondly, the proof must come from evidence that was not available when Davis was convicted. If Davis' overworked public defender overlooked any evidence that should have been used in his initial trial, it will apparently be ignored when the judge decides whether to grant Davis a new trial.

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NOTE: I do not care about people's race. However, race is a definitive issue in criminal justice matters. I pointed out the races of persons being treated unjustly in this article to dispell any belief my readers may hold that denial of justice is something that pertains to only one group of people. Wrongful incarceration can happen to any of us. With the Patriot Act being extended and H.R.645 gaining support in Congress and in view of Massachusetts' Martial Law Bill that passed on October 13, 2009, imprisonment in the absence of crime may be the future being planned for millions more Americans. Congressional members and other leaders who are righteous and courageous should stop the End Game and support justice system reform.

Innocent in Prison Project International carries stories of wrongly convicted people from all over the world. Visit at http://www.iippi.org/ - Please see more about wrongful convictions in the article below by Dave Mann.

Who Gets Wrongly Convicted and Why - Published on Thursday, February 25, 2010

On Feb. 4, Freddie Peacock was cleared of his wrongful conviction for rape 33 years ago in New York state. He’s the 250th innocent person exonerated in the United States by DNA testing, according to the New York-based Innocence Project. To mark the occasion, the Innocence Project released a report that details each of the 250 cases.



The report has some fascinating figures on who gets wrongly convicted and why. I've listed a few of the most interesting numbers below.

The 250 innocent people have been sent to prison in 33 states for a combined 3,160 years. That's an average of 13 years in prison. Think about where you were in 1997. (I was in the middle of my sophomore year in college). Bill Clinton was just a year into his second term. Now think about spending every day from 1997 till now in prison for a crime you didn’t commit.



—60 percent of the 250 exonerees are African American; 29 percent are white.

—17 were on death row when they were exonerated. That’s 17 innocent people who would have been executed had DNA testing not cleared them. You have to assume there's been an innocent person somewhere who wasn’t lucky enough to have testable DNA in their case and was wrongly executed in this country—quite possibly in Texas and quite possibly Cameron Todd Willingham.

—76 percent of the wrongful convictions were caused, at least in part, by witness misidentification. In 38 percent of the cases, more than one eyewitness wrongly identifying an innocent person.

—52 percent of the cases involved faulty forensic evidence. Makes me think of the flawed arson convictions of Curtis Serverns and Ed Graf that the Observer chronicled last year.

—In 27 percent of the cases, the accused falsely confessed to a crime that DNA would later prove they didn’t commit.I know many people can’t envision how someone could confess to a crime they didn’t commit, but it clearly happens. And I believe that’s what happened to Alfredo Guardiola, who the Observer profiled last fall.



—Finally, the 250 wrongful convictions allowed the actual perpetrators to commit at least 72 violent crimes that could have been prevented. This is the facet of wrongful convictions that’s often overlooked. Wrongful convictions harm many people, not just the person imprisoned for a crime they didn't commit. That includes the victims (and their families) of violent crimes that could have been prevented had the right person been in prison all along.
http://www.texasobserver.org/contrarian/who-gets-wrongly-convicted
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May God bless Sean Isbell, Troy Davis, Darrell Lomax on California's death row, the Scott sisters who are serving life sentences in Mississippi for an $11 theft they dispute, and all other wrongly convicted persons. May God also bless inmates who received excessive sentences, thousands of innocent women who are imprisoned under the War on Drugs "girlfriend" law (jailed for loving "bad boys" - no crime necessary), children tried and sentenced as adults, and the 1.25 million mentally ill inmates who suffer cruel incarceration because punishment has replaced treatment for mental illness in America.

WAKE UP! IT IS KOFFIETIME!
Follow me on Twitter, where I am KoffieTime: http://Twitter.com/Koffietime

Mary Neal
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI
P.O. Box 153, Redan, GA 30074-0153
**Use the mailing address to make donations and request CDs filled with more examples of cybercensorship like "PRISON LABOR PROFITS" on YouTube.

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Mary Neal's Google Profile - http://www.google.com/profiles/MaryLovesJustice - Get the RSS feed for my Care2 Sharebook at: http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/rss.html/513396753/0/ - Get the RSS feed for my Twitter KOFFIETIME at http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/59790083.rss - Current, urgent justice issues from a laywoman's viewpoint at my primary blog http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/ (the name is a joke, believe me) Articles: http://NowPublic.com/duo - Recommended articles - http://topsy.com/site/freespeakblog.blogspot.com

Cameron Todd Willingham's Wrongful Execution - and Others

This blog does not open links in a new window.  Please read about all the cases before opening any links, or use your back arrow to return and complete the strong cases for innocence regarding death row inmates in several states and cases of aggrevious excessive sentencing. Thanks for visiting the justice blog at http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/

Cameron Todd Willingham

PRESSURE MOUNTS on Texas' governor regarding what appears to be the wrongful execution of a young father.  Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted for setting fire to his home with his three children inside.  The children perished in the fire, and Willingham was charged with arson and murder.  At a time when Todd's heart was breaking from the tragic loss of his children, he had to defend himself (unsuccessfully) for murder.  He was on death row for over 12 years, which was certainly long enough to determine the cause of a fire.  In fact, a determination was made prior to Willingham's execution.  An arson report wherein fire investigators determined there was likely no arson was recently made public.  Many people are calling for a moratorium on capital punishment in Texas, which holds the record for executions in America.  A lawsuit has been filed against Governor Rick Perry in connection with Willingham's 2004 execution.  The governor's office reportedly received a fax of the arson report stating that there was likely no arson before Willingham's execution.

Learn more about the Willingham case and access a petition to sign in support of his post mortem exoneration.  The petition sponsored by the Texas Moratorium Network can be accessed at this site: http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/execution-of-cameron-todd-willingham.html   - The site also has a VIDEO about another executed Texan who was also allegedly innocent.  The case regards a middle-aged Latino man named Leonel Herrera.

The fire report that caused public outrage and convinced many people that Willingham was innocent, which was instrumental in getting Ernest Ray Willis exonerated and released from Texas death row, is below:
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Analysis of the Fire Investigation Methods and Procedures Used in the Criminal Arson Cases Against Ernest Ray Willis and Cameron Todd Willingham - http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/shared-blogs/austin/investigative/upload/2009/08/execution_based_on_bad_investi/D_Beyler%20FINAL%20REPORT%20082509.pdf

Governor Perry is campaigning for re-election.  He acknowledges no wrongdoing regarding Willingham's execution.  Please see the newscast below.

Please be aware that other likely innocent people are on death row.  Consider Thomas Arthur who awaits execution in Alabama.  His DNA test results were returned in July stating that Arthur was ruled out as contributor for any of the crime scene evidence tested.  A judge sealed Arthur's test results, his lawyers were forbidden to disclose his innocence, and the Alabama D.A.'s office reported to Birmingham News in August that a death warrant would be sought for Arthur. 

Thomas Arthur

Mainstream media did not report Arthur's DNA results, although the media had closely followed his quest for post-conviction DNA testing for many years.  All was silent when the test results came back with Arthur  negative as Troy Wicker's murderer.  The only exceptions to the silence that I found on the Internet was a report about Arthur's DNA test results from another blogger and myself.  This writer had major problems publishing the news about Arthur's DNA test results.  Care2 reported a cyberattack on September 1, which was the day I tried to send the news out via ecards.  Gmail, which I use for prisoner advocacy,  suddenly had an outage.  I worked all night fighting cyberstalkers to get the article published about Arthur's DNA test results on August 31, and it finally made front page news at Care2 News Network.  So far, Arthur still breathes.  Arthur's daughter posted his DNA test results on her father's website.  www.thomasarthurfightforlife.com/

See more about that drama at this link:

Should Thomas Arthur be Executed for Telling a Fibb?
http://www.votingcentral.com/VotingCentral/displayPoll.do?pollId=1236f80e-49c4-163d-b520-0cb9ffffffd4

Troy Davis

Troy Davis is another condemned man who has substantial evidence of innocence that arrived after his conviction for the murder of Officer MacPhail, a Savannah, Georgia police officer.  Despite the fact that seven of nine witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony against Davis in his murder case that had no forensic evidence, the system repeatedly refused to grant Davis a new trial.  Millions of people over the world cheered this  summer when the Supreme Court ordered that Troy Davis' case would be reviewed again by another Georgia federal judge who will decide whether Davis will finally have his "just day in a fair court" (Davis' words).  However, the High Court determined that the judge can only consider new evidence that was not available to Davis' attorney initially.  Davis' attorney for his appeals case had 70 other active cases at the time, and it is unlikely that his first state-appointed attorney had the opportunity to adequately defend him on a capital murder charge.  The High Court further ruled that Davis' innocence must be proved by the new evidence he presents to the federal judge, despite the fact that Davis has no DNA evidence to present.  Davis must do better than prove there is a reasonable doubt of his guilt like other defendants - he has to prove actual innocence.  Otherwise, Davis could be executed like Cameron Todd Willingham was. 

Just as the media is silent regarding Thomas Arthur's DNA test results indicating innocence, Troy Davis is under a gag order and not allowed to speak with the press.

Alternet recently published the stories of four other men who may be wrongly convicted, including some on death row.  The article is at this link:
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By Liliana Segura, AlterNet
October 26, 2009

4 Prisoners Facing Executions or Serving Extreme Jail Sentences Who Very Well May Be Innocent
http://www.alternet.org/rights/143499/4_prisoners_facing_executions_or_serving_extreme_jail_sentences_who_very_well_may_be_innocent/?page=entire

Texas is gearing up to execute another prisoner tomorrow, a man named Reginald Blanton, who has a very strong innocence claim of his own. (Blaton was executed.  Read about his case at this link.)  http://www.alternet.org/rights/143417/innocent_until_proven_dead:_will_texas_execute_another_innocent_man/.)

Cruel and unusual though it might seem, for a person to be sentenced to die for a crime he or she did not commit is hardly a unique phenomenon in this country. In the past 35 years, no fewer than 138 people have been released from death row after proof of their innocence was discovered -- including eight this year alone.

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 ANOTHER CONDEMNED MAN who has a strong case of innocence is Darrell Lomax, who is on California's death row.  California has not executed anyone in many years, but made an announcement that executions will soon resume there.  Darrell's story and evidence are presented in this article.

Supreme Court Rules Inmates Have No Constitutional Right to DNA Testing Although Study by Expert Criminologists Shows Capital Punishment Is No Crime Deterrent
http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/supreme-court-dna-ruling-study-shows-dp-no-crime-deterrent

This is a link to Darrell Lomax's website:  http://www.freedarrell.com/

Darrell wrote:  My name is Darrell Lomax and I have been wrongly incarcerated on death row at San Quentin State prison for over 14 years. I was convicted even though:


I passed a gunshot residue test


I have an alibi


the eye witness said it wasn't me


the fingerprints on the gun weren't mine


and it was found in someone else's car


even though the footprint wasn't mine


My witnesses were never called


and I couldn't afford a lawyer so I had to share a public defender with the man who made a deal to testify against me.


When the situation with the public defender was discovered he was replaced by a former DA who made no effort to find the witnesses for my defense.

A second website for Darrell Lomax sponsored by the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty is at this link:   www.ccadp.org/darrelllomax.htm

                                            Jeffrey Wood, Texas Death Row (Law of Parties)

There are numerous other cases of likely innocent people on death row across America.  Part of the reason is because the mentally ill and juveniles are especially likely to sign false confessions, because they are easily intimidated.  Jeffrey Wood awaits execution in Texas, a mentally ill man who was very young when a robber induced him to drive with him to the store.  Jeff was instructed to wait in the truck for Daniel Reneau, who went into the store, robbed and shot the manager.  Jeff had no knowledge that a robbery/murder was taking place.  Nevertheless, Jeff is on Texas' death row under the Law of Parties.  He was treated for mental illness after his arrest to get him trial-ready.  Jeff's attorneys reported that their client refused to allow them to vigorously defend him.  Jeff requested to defend himself, but the judge refused.  He insisted on dictating to his attorneys, however, how the case should be handled.  Since he was declared mentally sound, his attorneys were limited.  The actual shooter in the case has already been executed by the State of Texas.

Although this writer is against all executions, cases involving condemned mental patients are of particular interest to me as director of Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill.  I wrote about Jeff Wood in an article that made front page at OpEdNews on the day Jeff was scheduled for execution in 2008, and the article at the link below, which was carried in my lineup of articles at http://NowPublic.com/duo  - The NowPublic article received some interesting comments, including some from persons who represented themselves as being a relative of David Reneau, the shooter in the murder for which Jeff faces execution,  and a member of Jeff's family. See the article and comments at this link:

Scheduled for Texas Execution: Jeff Wood, a Mentally Challenged Young Man
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/scheduled-texas-execution-jeff-wood-mentally-challenged-young-man

Petition:  Save Jeff Wood from the Executioner  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/save-jeff-wood-from-the-executioner

Andre Thomas was ruled "crazy, but sane under Texas law," by a judge this year after the mentally ill man ate his left eye.  Thomas ate his right eye while awaiting trial several years ago after killing his wife and children and walking around with their hearts in his pocket.  Now poor Andre is blind, "crazy," and awaiting a Texas execution.  (The judge used the word "crazy," not this writer.)  Andre Thomas' petition is below:

Petition to Save Andre Thomas and Stop Executing Mental Patients
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/No-Executing-Mental-Patients



There are many more inmates who were excessively sentenced due to mandatory sentencing laws and three-strikes laws (that disallow judges using their own discretion).  Consider the case of Jeremy Smith.  He is a young man who was schizophrenic from childhood.  He allegedly hit another mental patient in his mental hospital, and was induced to sign a plea bargain for EIGHT YEARS imprisonment in California, a state that its governor reports is practically breaking under the weight of its prison costs.  While in prison, he allegedly made "terrorist threats" to a guard and was further charged for that, which may substantially lengthen his sentence.  California is paying at least $70,000 per year to punish the sick young man in a solitary confinement prison hole 23 hours per day.  Gov. Schwarzenegger's efforts to effect prison reform are reportedly hampered by members of the state legislature.

Jeremy Smith, Schizophrenic California Prisoner

California had to send its senior citizens IOU's rather than live checks this year, but no cost is spared to imprison mental patients like Jeremy who do not deserve to be punished for having a disability.  No one can be punished or rehabilitated into a state of good mental health.  See Jeremy's petition below:

Justice 4 Jeremy Petition - Lifelong schizophrenic in CA prison hole - http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/JusticeForJeremy

Wrongful convictions will undoubtedly continue to happen, because much can go wrong with evidence and witnesses between the time a defendant is arrested and brought to trial, sometimes years later.  However, wrongful convictions can be reduced by increasing the amount of money states spend for public defenders.  Saving innocent people from prison or execution is not only humane and just, it also saves taxpayers a good deal of money in an economy where every dollar counts.  It is more financially prudent to increase spending for indigent defense to accomplish real justice than to have to pay over $50,000 per year per innocent inmate who is sentenced to many years in prison due to inadequate representation.  Wrongful convictions are substantially more expensive than the cost for upgrading public defenders' budgets. 

The USDOJ has made several grants recently to curtail wrongful convictions and to stop prisons' revolving door for mentally dysfunctional people.  Regarding the shocking propensity courts have to ignore evidence of innocence that arrives after conviction, Attorney General Holder made it clear that real justice must take precedence over procedure.

The Scott Sisters - Life Sentences for $11 Theft Conviction

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Excessive sentencing is also unnecessarily cruel and expensive.  Yet, in Mississippi, two sisters were given life sentences for the theft of $11, and they, too, have a strong case for innocence - the Scott Sisters.  Many people believe Gladys and Jamie Scott were wrongly convicted just as they assert, but even if they are guilty, life sentences for $11 with no one physically harmed seems to be excessive sentencing.  They have already been imprisoned for around 15 years.  Mississippi taxpayers are sentenced right along with the women, because taxpayers must foot the bill.

The petition for the Scott Sisters is at the link below:

Gladys and Jamie Scott Wrongful Conviction Case Petition
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Free-Jamie-Gladys/index.html

The website for the Scott Sisters is: Free the Scott Sisters
http://search2.comcast.com/?cat=dnsr&con=ds&url=www.freethescottsisters.com

There is also a blogspot for the Scott Sisters called FREE JAMIE AND GLADYS SCOTT.

Their contact person is Nancy Lockhart at thewrongfulconviction@gmail.com

DEATH TO THE DEATH PENALTY!

Objections to the death penalty include:

~ It targets the poor

~ It is racist

~ It kills the innocent

~ It is barbaric

~ It does not deter crime

~ It is expensive (Taxpayers pay $90,000 per year per condemned inmate over and above incarceration costs for inmates in maximum security prisons, according to the Death Penalty Information Center)

Thou shalt not kill.  ~ Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17 

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
~Exodus 20:16

Mary Neal
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI

Donations are appreciated to continue to fight the good fight of faith for justice and human rights for prisoners in obedience to Hebrews 13:3 and Matthew 25 at http://FreeSpeakBlog.blogspot.com
Thank you for your interest in justice and human rights for prisoners.
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