April 2016

As told before, I had a hearing set for Tuesday, August 25th 2015. I had filed an extraordinary motion for a new trial. Instead, on newly discovered evidence, the Georgia Innocence Project took my case, after interns, Catherine O’Neill and Bryan Reines, went to the district attorney’s office on July 30th 2015, to review the case file. They expected to find documents saying the evidence in the case had been destroyed or to find nothing at all. Either way, the case would be closed for them. While digging through a box, they found a lumpy manila envelope and peered inside at pieces of black and white fabric. Writing on the outside said the envelope contained a bathrobe belt and neckties.

G.I.P. filed an amended motion asking the judge in the case to allow testing for DNA. The assistant district attorney Brad Bickerstaff asked for a 60 day delay since the amended motion was filed a week before the August 25th hearing and the judge granted his request.

The motion for extraordinary motion for a new trial was filed by me in 2010.  In 2011 court hearing I showed the court evidence that was not known to the defense; confession of a white male, witnesses whom could place him running away from the crime, others placed him at the mortuary, foundling the victim’s body. Police officers, who mentioned they had no doubts that this person had commit the crime and that this person knew  what he was talking about, when he confessed.

In 2002 a hearing was held to try to find any evidence from the crime. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Columbus Police Department and the District Attorney all said that all evidence was destroyed. Lawyers even asked for the belt and neckties. It was told they were destroyed too. Judge Allen even stated in court any evidence shown up after this case, someone will answer for it.

Life without parole, I was on my own to fight for myself . In 2011 I brought the semen evidence. Semen that was found on the bath robe the victim was wearing. The semen was tested in 1976. The semen blood type was in the B-blood group. My blood is the O-blood group. The jury never heard this. Why not? When you have someone charged with rape? It seems to me that, you want to give the jury every piece of evidence, unless you know it doesn’t match.

You got a white woman that has been raped, killed, in the south, 1976. Charging a black man with the crime, get an all-white jury and make them believe everything. Every piece of evidence match pointed to me. They own the Public Defender office, whom gave me no defense at all.

In 2011 hearing, pointing out the semen on the bathrobe and blood type. The assistant district attorney said to the court that they were determined that the semen on the bathrobe belonged to the husband. The defense wasn’t told of this. The D.A. withhold this from the defense with doing trial in 1977. Doing this trial, everything pointed to me. That alone is a Brady violation. The police, the state acted in bad faith. Now December 2015 court hearing, while asking for DNA testing on the bathrobe-belt and neckties, assistant district attorney Brad Bickerstaff said in court that they had this evidence in 2002 and that they gave in to the clerk. So, again another violation of law Brady US Maryland 373 US 83, 835 CT 1194 (1963) a powerful case.

I’m not nervous and I have no reason to be, because I’m not guilty. Forty years ago I was sentenced to die because I was black. I’m still black and not much has changed over the years. A black man is guilty when he’s first charged with a crime and it takes too much to undo the injustice that was done to a black man…