Families of Wrongfully Imprisoned Ask Governor Cuomo, State Legislators and Chief Justice Lippman for Innocence Commission

From:  Families of Wrongfully ConvictedContact: Lonnie Soury, Falseconfessions.org, (212) 414-5857, (917) 519-4521 Lsoury@aol.com


For Immediate Release

FAMILIES OF WRONGFULLY IMPRISONED ASK GOVERNOR CUOMO, STATE LEGISLATORS AND CHIEF JUSTICE LIPPMAN FOR INNOCENCE COMMISSION

(New York, NY – June 16, 2011) Families and friends of a group of men wrongfully imprisoned for life in New York State prisons held a rally on the steps of City Hall to call attention to their cases. They are asking Governor Cuomo, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the legislature and Court of Appeals Chief Justice Jonathan Lippman to create an Innocence Commission that would have the power to review not only cases of those exonerated, but those of people who are currently serving life sentences for crimes they did not commit.

Derrick Hamilton said, “I have been here for 20 years although I am innocent. There is indisputable evidence that I did not commit the crime for which I am serving a life sentence. I have been here with far too many men who are innocent like me. It is time to change the way innocent men and women are treated by our system”

Family and friends of those wrongfully convicted include:

Derrick Hamilton has been imprisoned for 20 years for a January 4, 1991 murder in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, despite convincing evidence from an eyewitness that he is innocent. A highly decorated New Haven, Connecticut police officer and other witnesses have provided evidence Hamilton was in New Haven at the time of the murder. Derrick Hamilton was wrongfully prosecuted based solely on the testimony of Jewel Smith, who was allegedly coerced by police and prosecutors into testifying and has since recanted. www.freederrick.com

Shabaka Shakur has been in prison since 1988 for a double murder. There was no physical evidence to tie Shabaka to this crime. No fingerprints, no DNA, no bloodstains, no gunshot residue. Shabaka advised the police he was in Queens not Brooklyn when the murders were committed. He provided names of people who the police contacted that corroborated his alibi. Yet when he proceeded to trial, the jury never heard from his alibi witnesses. www.freeshabakashakur.com

Danny Rincon was sentenced to 158 and 1/3 years to life and has been in since June 1992. Danny and three other men have served almost 20 years. Credible evidence provided by a government informant advised the prosecutor Rincon was not the driver of the getaway vehicle. The informant has confessed that he himself drove the vehicle and he never saw Rincon that day.

Ricky Caldwell has been in prison since 1983 after being convicted and sentenced to 50 years to life on two counts of attempted murder of police officer. An eyewitness testified at Caldwell’s trial that he was not the person he witnessed commit the crime. Police officers testified they were sure they shot their assailant. Caldwell had no injuries or gunshot wounds when he was arrested.

Richard Rosario has been in prison since 1996 when he was arrested for a murder in the Bronx and sentenced to 25 years to life. On the day of the murder, Richard was in Daytona, Florida. He returned to New York and immediately went to the precinct to speak with police as they surely were looking for the wrong man. Although Rosario supplied them with the names of 13 alibi eyewitnesses to his whereabouts on the day of the murder, he was arrested, tried and convicted based upon two witnesses who picked his photo out of a book. There was no other evidence linking him to the crime. He did not know the victim, and he did not know the witnesses.

Aaron Waymon was convicted in 1998 and is serving a 25 to life sentence for a murder that another party has confessed to committing. Demaris Tolbert was convicted of the same murder, but Waymon is still imprisoned. A police officer at the scene of the crime gave a description of the perpetrator that fits Tolbert and not Waymon.

Sherman Adams was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. Adams was tried three times for allegedly killing two men during a shooting outside a crowded nightclub early on the morning of September 13, 1999. The first two trials resulted in hung juries. At his third trial, the eyewitness described the two shooters in a way that excluded Adams: one wore a multi-colored Coogi sweater and the other a white t-shirt. Adams wore dark clothes on the evening of the shooting.

Lonnie Soury, founder of Falseconfessions.org, an advocacy website for wrongfully convicted, said, “There are thousands of men and women in New York State prisons who are innocent. The families here today are fighting to free their loved ones and right a terrible wrong, a life sentence and a wrongful conviction.  We must have a mechanism to bring justice to these men, their families and the victims. Our judiciary and our legislators should follow other states like North Carolina which has established a commission to review these cases.”

James Rivers, Director of Communications for Redemption Point, said, “We are dedicated to saving lives and giving individuals who emerge from prison the resources to succeed . As a result, we are committed to the cause of justice and believe that far too many of the incarcerated have been wrongfully convicted. We call upon the Governor, Attorney General and Chief Justice to provide solutions to this tragedy.”

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