Elisabeth Semel, director of the University of California at Berkeley Law School's death penalty clinic explains; --The exclusion of African Americans from juries remains--across the nation--one of the starkest examples of continued racism."
She adds that this is --not a debatable issue; it's pervasive. And cases like Cole's [Andre Cole] are evidence of the fact that courts give short shrift to this issue. They give prosecutors a pass."
Semel concluded that""It's really difficult to watch the court apply the law so unreasonably, so improperly." "It's dismissive to the point of being glib; it's not a serious examination of such a serious civil rights violation."
Across the continent, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that""racial discrimination remains rampant in jury selection." (Source : http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/04/01/st-louis-county-has-jury-selection-problem-and-it-s-killing-black-people)
Admission by former St. Louis County Prosecutor that jury exclusion by race is endemic and recommended"
A former St. Louis County prosecutor admitted on the record to defendant Andre Cole's attorney Joseph Luby that the 'postman gambit' is informally recommended to new prosecutors as a --way of systemically excluding people of color from juries without mentioning their race." This admission is referenced from sworn affidavits filed in an appeal on Cole's behalf. (Source : http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/04/01/st-louis-county-has-jury-selection-problem-and-it-s-killing-black-people)
St. Louis County a hotbed of prosecutorial misconduct and racial bias according to Harvard study"
St. Louis County has been identified by legal scholars as a hotbed of prosecutorial misconduct and racial bias. According to Harvard Law Professor Ronald Sullivan, --This report suggests that the 'win-at-all-costs' mentality adopted by a small group of prosecutors has led to shockingly high rates of prosecutorial misconduct and wrongful convictions." (Source : http://www.madpmo.org/misconduct-of-two-deadly-missouri-prosecutors-featured-in-harvard-report/)
In light of what can only be called blatant prosecutorial crimes of racial bias and 'gerrymandering' juries, how can any black person receive a fair trial? It is incomprehensible that federal authorities cannot see what is a systemic 'hate crime' being committed against blacks by the concomitant systemic rigging of juries to insure an all-white composition. The Ferguson prosecutor Bob McCulloch, and his staff know from experience that all-white juries sitting in judgment against a black man--will convict and deliver a death penalty in most cases. The 'postman gambit', once again, merely provides a thin veneer of plausible deniability regarding the inherent racist policies of prosecutors. It is 'dog-whistle politics' worthy of Sheriff Arpaio--but in St. Louis County prosecutors provide the appearance of civility. Unfortunately for Marcellus Williams, it insured his conviction on nothing more than the word of a jailhouse snitch--and a cocaine addled ex-girlfriend. DNA evidence, the only physical evidence in this entire case, has surfaced which proves that Marcellus Williams is innocent--so a 12thhour appeal was made to the Missouri Supreme Court.
Missouri Supreme Court Denied Execution Stay in spite of DNA Evidence Exonerating Williams"
On August 16, 2017, the Mo. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution after DNA evidence proved that Marcellus Williams could not have committed the murder. Williams' attorneys stated that recent DNA testing conducted this December used scientific techniques not available in 1998. The court denied the request with no explanation. (Source : http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/missouri-supreme-court-denies-request-stay-execution#stream/0
The new report unequivocally proves that DNA found on the murder weapon could not be that of Marcellus Williams. The DNA expert concluded that Williams "could not have contributed to the detected [DNA] profile" and the other found "a clear exclusion of Marcellus Williams from the knife handle." The petition alleged that the "physical evidence collected from the crime scene"--which included fingernail scrapings from the victim, who had been stabbed more than 40 times--"did not match and could not be linked to" Williams.(Source : https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/files/pdf/HampikianDNAReport_Williams.pdf)
Earlier DNA testing of hair and fingernail scrapings from the victim excluded Marcellus Williams as the perpetrator, yet the Ferguson prosecutor pushed ahead to convict an innocent man of a capital offense calling for the death penalty. (Source : https://apnews.com/37d81b5ced294eaba45f39be27fe8ca3)
Williams Attorneys requested a Special Master".
Attorneys for Marcellus Williams requested that the Mo. Supreme Court appoint a special master to review the guilt or innocence in light of this new evidence and commute the death sentence to life in prison. (Source : https://apnews.com/37d81b5ced294eaba45f39be27fe8ca3)
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
