BACKSTORY
Growing up in Nashville, TN in the 70’s and 80’s was quite an experience for a young, poor black kid. I grew up in a working class, but close-knit neighborhood called Bordeaux Hills. In my youth, between school and sports, such as football, basketball, baseball and track, and as a member of the Boys and Girls Club, Boy Scouts of America, Junior Achievement, Who’s Who (Among High School Students) and various other youth programs, organizations and social clubs, I met a very large and diverse group of young people.
I was an athlete who did well even into the high school level. My classmates described me as intelligent and self-assured. At age 15 my parents separated and I continued to live in the house I had grown up in with my father. Though I did odd jobs to earn money as a kid, I got my first real job at age 15 working at McDonald’s. My second real job was cleaning office buildings at night. These were the jobs I worked throughout high school.
Between the ages of 18 and 27, I have various jobs; security officer, dietary aide, salesman and order puller. I also worked various positions through the Man Power temporary agency. My last and most consistent employment was with CSM Construction a home repair and refurbishment business. I also had a side business silk screening and selling t-shirts and sweatshirts, mainly at historically black college/university (HBCU) events such as football classics and homecomings.
I was an athlete who did well even into the high school level. My classmates described me as intelligent and self-assured. At age 15 my parents separated and I continued to live in the house I had grown up in with my father. Though I did odd jobs to earn money as a kid, I got my first real job at age 15 working at McDonald’s. My second real job was cleaning office buildings at night. These were the jobs I worked throughout high school.
Between the ages of 18 and 27, I have various jobs; security officer, dietary aide, salesman and order puller. I also worked various positions through the Man Power temporary agency. My last and most consistent employment was with CSM Construction a home repair and refurbishment business. I also had a side business silk screening and selling t-shirts and sweatshirts, mainly at historically black college/university (HBCU) events such as football classics and homecomings.
1995
In 1995, the unemployment rate among black males was 13% nationally, while black males made up 43% of the incarcerated population. O.J. Simpson has been acquitted of murder. Louis Farrakhan called a ‘Million Man March’ on Washington. The war on drugs was being waged in poor black neighborhoods across the country. The weapons of the war on drugs, the disproportionate drug laws and the systematic ideology of mass incarceration were in full effect. The get tough on crime, slogans and mantras of politicians was reverberating across the county. In Tennessee, truth in the sentence laws had taken effect and the time to serve on a life sentence before parole eligibility was raised from 36 calendar years to 51 calendar years.
At this point in the story, I was a 27-year-old young man, living my life and trying to find my place in the world and my mission in life. At that time, I was a father of three young toddlers, one son and two daughters. In September, 1994. I lost my youngest son due to medical complications from a pre-mature birth. The loss of our son, among other stresses, strains and pains caused the ending of my engagement to my then fiancé in the spring of 1995. I was a man whose recent past events caused me to go through personal turmoil.
Fast forward to December 17, 1995. I am at home cooking dinner for my new girlfriend (Angie). I was attempting to make up to her that the fact that I did not spend any quality time with her the previous weekend (December 10th) which was a rare weekend that she was off work. The menu consisted of roast beef, turnip greens, macaroni and cheese and hot water cornbread. I woke that morning saw her off to work, put my roast on and began cleaning the house. Although it was a cold and dreary day, I wanted to be sure that I put positive vibrations in the atmosphere with incense and music to create a warm, festive mood in our house. Angie and I talked a few times that day on the phone during her breaks. We laughed and kept it light, talking about our plans to make it hot later when she came home from work. My philosophy was that if I wanted to make up for something, I would need to go above and beyond the extra mile and do all in my power and ability to drive the point home. I thought a romantic dinner and quiet evening at home would help convey my commitment to her and our relationship. As well as be a pleasant surprise since up to that point I had only prepared an occasional breakfast and helped her cook dinner on occasion. I put the mac & cheese on around 2pm. Angie called a few minutes later and we talked about 10 minutes. After that call, I took a shower, dressed and just chilled. At around 3pm, I began to fry the hot water cornbread. At around 4pm, Angie and Eboni came in from work. They were both surprised that I had prepared a classic soul food meal all by myself. Eboni sampled the food, which she complimented as very good, and left Angie and I to enjoy our evening. Angie took a shower, changed clothes and we ate dinner together. After dinner, we did the dishes and went into the living room to watch television. While watching television, a news report came on revealing that around 2pm, three or four masked gunmen fired multiple rounds into the market at the corner of 7th Avenue and Garfield Street in Salem town killing a 12-year old Jermiyer Warfield. After a few minutes, we turned off the television, put on some music and just chilled out, enjoying each other for the rest of the evening. This is the who, what, when, where and how of December 17, 1995.
How can I remember the approximate times you ask? The simple answer is because I was cooking dinner. As any decent cook knows, when preparing a roast, you must pay attention to two things, temperature and cook time. In trying to ensure the meal was ready when she arrived home, paying attention to time was paramount.
How can I remember December 17, 1995 so clearly and accurately, you ask? The simple answer is December 10th. December 10th comes one week earlier on the same day of the week as December 17th no matter what year it is. December 10, 1995 was the Sunday before December 17, 1995. December 10th is my mother’s birthday. December 10, 1995 was her 45th birthday, which she asked me to spend with her and I did. My mother, step-father and I attended church, followed by a celebratory birthday dinner at my grandparent’s house. Also, my girlfriend happened to be off work on Sunday, December 10th, which was unusual because she normally worked on weekends and had days off during the week. Angie and I were going to spend some quality time together on December 10th, however she understood me spending the day with my mother since it was her birthday. Although I did invite Angie to accompany us, she declined, opting instead to stay home and catch up on her rest. My appreciation of her understanding is why I decided to prepare a special dinner for her the following Sunday, December 17th. In fact, the turnip greens we had on the 17th were given to me on the 10th by my grandmother who had prepared them as part of my mother’s birthday celebration meal.
I am a husband, father, grandfather, and son. I am a man who refuses to give up or be broken. I also refuse to be denied justice. I have taken this time during my incarceration to educate myself and to help others. I have gained state certification in numerous fields such as Career Management for Success, Consumer Science and Family Planning and Victim Facilitator Training. I have held jobs working with men helping prepare them for release. I have most recently done so as a teacher’s aide in Career Management for Success and Success and Release for Success, as well as serving as a Legal Aide helping men with both criminal and civil legal matters.
I am a member of the National Lawyers Guild serving as a jailhouse lawyer. I have been enrolled in Union University where I maintained a 4.0 GPA. I have served as the Vice President of C.A.U.S.E. (Creative Attitudes Undertaking Self Education). This is an organization which offered men help with life skills and job training with the goal of providing the men with the skill sets and attitudes that will help them remain free and become productive citizens.
I hope that the foregoing information was enough to give you a sufficient overview of who I am as a person. It is my sincere desire that those of you who are compassionate and capable will join and help me in my endeavor to be exonerated of crimes which I did not commit. This is also a call to action by all concerned, to join the movement to bring about true criminal justice reform, end mass incarceration and put a stop the incarceration of innocent people across this nation. This should not be occurring so rampantly in the leading country in the civilized world.
I wish I could say that I am in a rare and easily correctible situation, however my situation is far too common in our country. Furthermore, after being incarcerated for over 20 years due to a wrongful conviction, I have discovered that at this time in history our justice system has no easy fix nor simple solution for the innocent who have been wrongfully convicted. Our current justice system is far too reluctant to admit its errors and correct its mistakes. Instead of correcting its mistakes, excuses such as “it is not material or harmless error” are given.
I ask you, how can perjury, withholding of exculpatory evidence, improper or inflammatory comments as well as the recantation of trial testimony be deemed immaterial or harmless? A trial is either fair or it is not, and if it is not fair the results cannot be reliable. There is nothing harmless about an error that contributes to an innocent person being convicted and incarcerated for crimes which they did not commit.
Thank you for taking the time to become acquainted with my situation, and thank you even more for taking action. Whomever you are, you can do something just by getting informed, adding your voice to the conversation and speaking out against injustice. I am asking all who are able to donate, however much you can comfortably afford, to help with the investigation and legal fees and expenses surrounding my case.
At this point in the story, I was a 27-year-old young man, living my life and trying to find my place in the world and my mission in life. At that time, I was a father of three young toddlers, one son and two daughters. In September, 1994. I lost my youngest son due to medical complications from a pre-mature birth. The loss of our son, among other stresses, strains and pains caused the ending of my engagement to my then fiancé in the spring of 1995. I was a man whose recent past events caused me to go through personal turmoil.
Fast forward to December 17, 1995. I am at home cooking dinner for my new girlfriend (Angie). I was attempting to make up to her that the fact that I did not spend any quality time with her the previous weekend (December 10th) which was a rare weekend that she was off work. The menu consisted of roast beef, turnip greens, macaroni and cheese and hot water cornbread. I woke that morning saw her off to work, put my roast on and began cleaning the house. Although it was a cold and dreary day, I wanted to be sure that I put positive vibrations in the atmosphere with incense and music to create a warm, festive mood in our house. Angie and I talked a few times that day on the phone during her breaks. We laughed and kept it light, talking about our plans to make it hot later when she came home from work. My philosophy was that if I wanted to make up for something, I would need to go above and beyond the extra mile and do all in my power and ability to drive the point home. I thought a romantic dinner and quiet evening at home would help convey my commitment to her and our relationship. As well as be a pleasant surprise since up to that point I had only prepared an occasional breakfast and helped her cook dinner on occasion. I put the mac & cheese on around 2pm. Angie called a few minutes later and we talked about 10 minutes. After that call, I took a shower, dressed and just chilled. At around 3pm, I began to fry the hot water cornbread. At around 4pm, Angie and Eboni came in from work. They were both surprised that I had prepared a classic soul food meal all by myself. Eboni sampled the food, which she complimented as very good, and left Angie and I to enjoy our evening. Angie took a shower, changed clothes and we ate dinner together. After dinner, we did the dishes and went into the living room to watch television. While watching television, a news report came on revealing that around 2pm, three or four masked gunmen fired multiple rounds into the market at the corner of 7th Avenue and Garfield Street in Salem town killing a 12-year old Jermiyer Warfield. After a few minutes, we turned off the television, put on some music and just chilled out, enjoying each other for the rest of the evening. This is the who, what, when, where and how of December 17, 1995.
How can I remember the approximate times you ask? The simple answer is because I was cooking dinner. As any decent cook knows, when preparing a roast, you must pay attention to two things, temperature and cook time. In trying to ensure the meal was ready when she arrived home, paying attention to time was paramount.
How can I remember December 17, 1995 so clearly and accurately, you ask? The simple answer is December 10th. December 10th comes one week earlier on the same day of the week as December 17th no matter what year it is. December 10, 1995 was the Sunday before December 17, 1995. December 10th is my mother’s birthday. December 10, 1995 was her 45th birthday, which she asked me to spend with her and I did. My mother, step-father and I attended church, followed by a celebratory birthday dinner at my grandparent’s house. Also, my girlfriend happened to be off work on Sunday, December 10th, which was unusual because she normally worked on weekends and had days off during the week. Angie and I were going to spend some quality time together on December 10th, however she understood me spending the day with my mother since it was her birthday. Although I did invite Angie to accompany us, she declined, opting instead to stay home and catch up on her rest. My appreciation of her understanding is why I decided to prepare a special dinner for her the following Sunday, December 17th. In fact, the turnip greens we had on the 17th were given to me on the 10th by my grandmother who had prepared them as part of my mother’s birthday celebration meal.
I am a husband, father, grandfather, and son. I am a man who refuses to give up or be broken. I also refuse to be denied justice. I have taken this time during my incarceration to educate myself and to help others. I have gained state certification in numerous fields such as Career Management for Success, Consumer Science and Family Planning and Victim Facilitator Training. I have held jobs working with men helping prepare them for release. I have most recently done so as a teacher’s aide in Career Management for Success and Success and Release for Success, as well as serving as a Legal Aide helping men with both criminal and civil legal matters.
I am a member of the National Lawyers Guild serving as a jailhouse lawyer. I have been enrolled in Union University where I maintained a 4.0 GPA. I have served as the Vice President of C.A.U.S.E. (Creative Attitudes Undertaking Self Education). This is an organization which offered men help with life skills and job training with the goal of providing the men with the skill sets and attitudes that will help them remain free and become productive citizens.
I hope that the foregoing information was enough to give you a sufficient overview of who I am as a person. It is my sincere desire that those of you who are compassionate and capable will join and help me in my endeavor to be exonerated of crimes which I did not commit. This is also a call to action by all concerned, to join the movement to bring about true criminal justice reform, end mass incarceration and put a stop the incarceration of innocent people across this nation. This should not be occurring so rampantly in the leading country in the civilized world.
I wish I could say that I am in a rare and easily correctible situation, however my situation is far too common in our country. Furthermore, after being incarcerated for over 20 years due to a wrongful conviction, I have discovered that at this time in history our justice system has no easy fix nor simple solution for the innocent who have been wrongfully convicted. Our current justice system is far too reluctant to admit its errors and correct its mistakes. Instead of correcting its mistakes, excuses such as “it is not material or harmless error” are given.
I ask you, how can perjury, withholding of exculpatory evidence, improper or inflammatory comments as well as the recantation of trial testimony be deemed immaterial or harmless? A trial is either fair or it is not, and if it is not fair the results cannot be reliable. There is nothing harmless about an error that contributes to an innocent person being convicted and incarcerated for crimes which they did not commit.
Thank you for taking the time to become acquainted with my situation, and thank you even more for taking action. Whomever you are, you can do something just by getting informed, adding your voice to the conversation and speaking out against injustice. I am asking all who are able to donate, however much you can comfortably afford, to help with the investigation and legal fees and expenses surrounding my case.