Getting stuck in the court system!

Justice should be about righteousness and not about procedural bars. A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

My case has been overlooked by the court system. I pled guilty to the attempted murder charge in 1992 due to the fact that my then attorney (mrs. Pantle) told me I had no choice. A week later the victim contacted my family to see why I would plead to a charge I didn't do. I immediately tried to withdraw my plea with the victim's affadavit and argued that my lawyer coerced the plea. She filed a motion to withdraw as my counsel to be a witness for the state against my motion.
So what did the court do? It denied my motion without an evidentiary hearing and then denied counsel motion to withdraw, leaving her to represent me on my murder case. With the results as described on this page.

So you can see how my defense was limited at my murder trial. None of the evidence proving my innocence was presented and only a few issues were preserved for direct appeal. My appeals were affirmed. As well as my post conviction petitions. On my appeal and first post conviction petition I raised the issue of my innocence and mentioned that two witnesses could prove my innocence. However under Illinois law you must provide a sworn affadavit from any witness. Since I was locked up and did not have any way to contact these witnesses on time, let alone if they wanted to cooperate, my appeals were denied.

I filed a successive petition based on a new court ruling that dealt with the way a jury trial should be conducted. At this time a lawyer was appointed for the first time to assist me in my post trial rulings. At this time the lawyer sent investigators to find two witnesses whom gave sworn statements proving my innocence.

However, now I am in a catch 22 situation trying to get this evidence heard. Since it was raised on an earlier court date I have to overcome a legal situation called res judicata. This means that you can't bring up evidence that was once brought up before. In essence the court system can deny my issues without as so much as a hearing from a single witness.
Besides the court system there is executive clemency which the governor can take into consideration regarding these factors.

I have been petitioning the governor of Illinois since 2005 trying to get my case a fair review. Witnesses never heard by the court gave live testimony to the prison review board that support my innocence claim. I still have not received a fair review.

In 2002 former governor Ryan pardoned 4 death row inmates who claimed they were forced to make incriminating statements (these were high profile cases). These inmates are free. Not one of them had a single shred of evidence that they were innocent but did have proof that the police beat them. Should they have been granted clemency? YES, but not because they were high profile cases and had political support.

Illinois has a long history of placing innocent men on death row. One point that is overlooked is that in Illinois death row inmates receive more safeguard than any other inmate / criminal defendant. Despite these safeguards a vast amount of inmates still are places on death row. Considering these facts, how many non-death penalty cases do you think innocent men are sent off to prison?

Something needs to be done about this.
Justice should be about righteousness and not about procedural bars. A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Patterson case

There was this case that our Supreme Court heard, called the Patterson case. His case was the groundbreaker on the police torture claims. Ironically the court still refused to grant him release. Our former governor (Ryan) granted four of these individuals full clemency and released them. The court system just turned a blind eye.

The only thing that upset me about their cases and mine is that the only reason they got so much attention was because they were high profile cases (death penalty). The average case gets swept under the rug. Second, it is no doubt that these individuals were beaten y the police but none had evidence showing they were actually innocent. No witnesses came forth and most had other evidence besides their statements adding to their guilt. I do and that is why I am pushing hard for my case.

Burge reports

Just last week a professor at the school was on the news, talking about the ‘Burge Reports’ as it has all become known. He said the special investigation into the allegations was whitewashed. The Special Prosecutor who was assigned to the matter wasted the taxpayers’ money and to date not one police officer has been held accountable. They want Burge charged criminally, (he is retired in Florida), but it is unlikely, since the statue of limitation on the crimes committed have run its course.

What frustrates me is everybody acts like this is something new. I remember during the time in question, suspects were so scared to go into police station areas #2 and #3, they used to turn themselves in to Rush Ewing (a reporter). Now that the matter has come to light, a lot of politicians see this as a chance to get noticed. But no one is getting involved in these cases.

What my day looks like

In the morning I go to the gym or yard to exercise. I then come in and get ready for work. I work in the prison industry program (bakery). I don't cook or bake. I just load trucks and process shipping orders. I work from 2-10 pm (often overtime). I then come in and listen to my radio (mostly 80s music). I really don't watch tv too much because it seems like the same things are on. Reality shows are taking over. So I read novels on my off days.

Dignity

I think in prison all can be taken from you except your dignity. For a man to be dependent is a strike against his dignity. It's a different feeling when you get something knowing you earned it as opposed to someone giving you something. I think this should carry over to when guys are released. If you get out of prison (often called the belly of the beast) with a dependent mind you'll be lazy, full of content, and always looking for a handout in life. Then when you don't get it you tend to blame other people or get frustrated and try and take something that belongs to someone else and pretty soon you'll be back in prison.