FairPlay | Challenging Wrongful Convictions with Imran Siddiqui

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FairPlay is an original discussion series on Wrongful Convictions from JustcieNews.Net where a "Fair" dialog takes place from the vantage point of the accused, and brings forward those voices that are mostly ignored by the society. Hosted by Justice News


    • Jun 19, 2022 LATEST EPISODE
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    Latest episodes from FairPlay | Challenging Wrongful Convictions with Imran Siddiqui

    Michael Smith | FairPlay EP24 S2 | The Case With No Indictment

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 19, 2022 24:28


    June 19, 2022 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News | This was the first message I received on Twitter from Michael Smith of Kentucky on Jan 3 2022. QuoteLexington Kentucky fraud on the court case number 3:08-cr-31(Jmh) denied due process malicious prosecution fraud-The federal grand jury declined to indict YET WE had a five 5 week trial and spent nine years in federal prison wrongful conviction miscarriage of justice malicious fraud by Kentucky bar members Then on April 30th I received sequences of Tweets containing messages like these. QuoteAll was malicious prosecution, malicious fraud on court - malicious civil rights violation. malicious injustice. -Malicious politics by political leaders QuoteI have typed on Twitter 7000 times wrong full conviction miscarriage of justice actual innocent no crime no indictment malicious prosecution fraud-Fraud on the court case number 3:08-Cr-31(Jmh). Lexington Kentucky-malicious abusing of political power on a East Kentucky family On May 10 2022, after almost 4 months, which was wrong, but this was my response to Michael. QuoteGood morning. Typing it a million times won't do anything until you stand up and raise your voice and both your fists. I wanted to add more to the fists part, like where to take them, because the deeper I dug into his case the more nauseating it got. It is a case unlike what you see or hear about everyday. The case has never had an actual indictment, or if anyone has really seen one, and yet Michael spent over a decade in Prison for something he maintains he did not do. In fact they put him in prison, just to put him in prison, even they don't really know why they put him in prison. On the same day, May 10 2022, Michal sent a few more messages saying "it's a 1 in a 10 million case". Continue reading on The JBlog on JusticeNews.net

    Omar Muhammad | FairPlay EP23 S2 | A Crime With No Victim?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2022 36:21


    June 1, 2022 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News | Like thousands of other young black men wrongfully incarcerated in the United States of America, there is another young and articulate man by the name of Omar Muhammad pulling a 26 year sentence in Minnesota for an alleged sexual assault that he maintains he did not commit. He says his girlfriend, C.M., who had a consensual relationship with him, was coerced by her co-workers, her parents and the police, to set up a trap for him. According to Omar, this is what happens when a 20 year old black man in Hugo Ohio falls in love with a 40 year old white woman, both madly in love. After leaving Chicago, Omar moved to Ohio looking for work and wanting to make something out of his life. He found a job at a local grocery store and there he met C.M. Both fell in love and soon moved in together. Omar says, nobody liked that and the stares were obvious. People accused Omar of using an older woman by taking advantage of her but there is no record of C.M accusing Omar of abuse, let alone, an assault. In fact there are letters and messages, confirming C.M's love for Omar. Continue reading on The JBlog - https://www.justicenews.net/thejblog | Imran Siddiqui is the managing editor at Justice News and the author of The JBlog. Listen to Imran's podcast FairPlay Challenging Wrongful Convictions on J107 Justice Radio

    John Merritt | FairPlay EP22 S2 | Florida Commissioners on Offender Review Are Corrupted Vermins.

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2022 18:29


    When The Tsunami of Justice Comes. The Unjust Are Mowed Down and Destroyed. April 30, 2022 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News | I have always felt that audio does not lie, audio is naked, no matter how hard you try to dress it up, you can't, you can always catch a person's true character in their audio, the sound, the spoken voice will say it all. This is one of those episodes where I don't have to say much. I chose to do audio so I can show people the reality of what we can really become, as human beings - and mostly we are worse than animals. A clear example of what I'm writing about is not just in the case of John Merritt a "Florida Shame" or any other external reference link that I will give you to source. Instead I will give you the pure audio, in it's closest raw form, and because you are reading this, then you do have a brain cell and you can think, listen and understand what's being said and then make up your own mind. This is an audio of John Merritt's parole hearing which was a public hearing that took place on April 27 2022 at the Florida Commission on Offender Review in Tallahassee, Florida. Merritt's Private Investigator Dennis Forrester of the Beacon Investigative Solutions was there along with John's attorney Gray Thomas, John's sister Darlene Roy and myself. What we heard at the end was absurd and shocking to the senses. This is what you get after 36 years of wrongful conviction. Continue reading on the JBlog -  | Imran Siddiqui is the managing editor at Justice News and the author of the JBlog. Listen to Imran's podcast FairPlay Challenging Wrongful Convictions on J107 Justice Radio

    Michael Thompson | FairPlay EP21 S2 | Life After Clemency

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2022 59:30


    April 24, 2022 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News | After spending over 2 decades in a Michigan state prison for selling marijuana to an informant in 1994, Michael Thompson is thankful to God that he was saved from life in prison. Michael was granted clemency in 2021 by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, he wouldn't have been eligible for parole until 2038, he is over 70 - another possible death by incarceration - just for selling some weed, in a state that legalized recreational marijuana in 2018. So why now and how? How did it work out for Michael - Well, this is how it looks like when public pressure becomes something so big that the state can't ignore it anymore. Continue reading on The JBlog - Justice News

    Kemen Taylor | FairPlay EP20 S2 | False Eyewitness Testimony Breeds Wrongful Convictions.

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 21, 2022 81:07


    March 21, 2022 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News | If you give a ride to some guys you kinda know, and they go and shoot someone else, will you be held responsible for the shooting? False or Mistaken Eyewitness Testimony is something that is loved by the U.S. In-Justice System. They love it so much that it makes up almost 70% of the more than 375 wrongful convictions in the United States that were overturned by post-conviction DNA evidence, according to some reports. But do you need more reports, when day after day, year after year, you yourself watch these cases unfold right in front of your own eyes? Would I be enough of a witness for you, who witnesses on a daily basis, the negative and disastrous effects of these, False Eyewitness Accounts destroying people's lives forever? The Case of Kemen Taylor is a prime example of such False Eyewitness Testimony that is devastating the core Justice Values of America while decimating the lives of real human beings and their families, along the way. Continue reading on The JBlog | Imran Siddiqui is the managing editor at Justice News and the author of the JBlog. Listen to Imran's podcast FairPlay | Challenging Wrongful Convictions on J107 Justice Radio FairPlay is brought to you by Justice News Warrior Patrons and Justice News Super Patrons

    David Thorne | FairPlay EP 19 S2 | Harmless Error. A Lifelong Damage

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2022 65:37


    February 11 2022 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News | When the woman you admire becomes the mother of your child, it's just a very surreal moment. Why would anyone want to throw all that away to oblivion? And just for a couple of hundred bucks? If you are insane then I can understand it, but if you're ready to cut a check for one year of advance child support then you wouldn't want to brutally kill your child's mother for the sake of a few hundred bucks in child support, even if it's in two months arrears, because of the red tape, not because you didn't have the money to pay, especially when you were no where near that crime scene with zero motives to kill anyone. End result - A "Harmless Error "of the State, but a "Lifelong Damage to the Innocent". And no one really knows why. In United States law, A Harmless Error is a ruling by a trial judge that, although mistaken, does not meet the burden for a losing party to reverse the original decision of the trier of fact on appeal, or to warrant a new trial. In easy language. If you end up in prison due to the mistake or negligence of others, chances are you will never get out alive. The damages caused by these kinds of unjust laws can completely devastate an innocent person's life, while the real killer remains out there. With such laws in effect how can one bring justice to the victim and the accused? What remedies are in place to correct the wrongs of the State and the Government? The story of the wrongful conviction of David Thorne is not new and sadly not rare. The end result, of one of the oldest failed methodologies to falsely convict someone, is to simply use false eyewitness testimony. Because of these archaic practices against their own fellow citizens, David Thorne has been sitting in Ohio State prison for over 20 years for a crime he says he did not commit.  | Imran Siddiqui is the managing editor at Justice News and the author of the JBlog. Email - imran@jnews.network or Catch his podcast FairPlay on j107 Justice Radio

    Mahdi Ali | FairPlay EP 18 S2 | Juvenile Injustice. Growing Up Wrongfully Incarcerated.

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2022 79:44


    January 16 2022 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News | Mahdi Ali did not grow up like a so-called typical kid, who bikes, goes to school, has fun with friends hanging out or just playing video games, nor did he go to college, he did get his GED but not in the way you might think. Because for the past 11 years, he's been figuring out how to grow up and survive in different prisons across the state of Minnesota. He had to grow up fast. He had no choice. Mahdi Ali was convicted as a teenager, for triple murders in Minneapolis that occurred on the night of January 6 in 2010, Murders that he claims he did not commit. Mahdi says despite his numerous efforts to reach out to Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison and his office, including the conviction review unit, no body has responded to his requests so far even when the facts are absolutely clear. The actual accomplice, Ahmed Ali, who was with another unknown person during the time of the robbery, implicated Mahdi Ali at that time, but recently, in a shocking move, Ahmed Ali recanted his statement. This happened on camera while Tom Lyden of Fox 9 Minnesota was interviewing Ahmed Ali in regards to Mahdi's case. Even in the light of such a revelation, the state is not responding to Mahdi which makes him feel that once again the justice system of his own state of Minnesota will let him down. Mahdi also says that the Somali American community in Minneapolis has been mislead by the state convincing them to believe a false narrative about the murders in a rush to solve the high profile case and now the state is ashamed knowing they had the wrong guy all this time. Those horrific murders took place at about 7.44 pm. The biggest evidence of Mahdi's innocence, is the actual time stamped video footage from his alibi, which was never used in court. It states 7.41 pm. Mahdi has maintained his innocence since the beginning because Mahdi Ali won't admit to a crime he says he did not commit. It's been over a decade now and he has never changed his story, and it fits the facts. Who is telling the truth? Did Mahdi Ali's story change this time? Find out on this episode of FairPlay on Justice News - Where Justice Has No Color. | Imran Siddiqui is the managing editor at Justice News and the author of The JBlog. Email - imran@jnews.network or Catch his podcast FairPlay on j107 Justice Radio Discover More on JusticeForMahdiAli.Com |  FairPlay is brought to you by Justice News Warrior Patrons and Justice News Super Patrons

    Paula Kensu | FairPlay EP 17 S2 | Families of The Wrongfully Incarcerated

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2022 65:43


    January 9 2022 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News | If you are reading this while married, and if you have a spouse, a husband or a wife, and they are next to you, then immediately thank God. Because things can turn around for worse, any second, and all that you are taking for granted everyday, could be gone in the blink of an eye. I thank God for all that and more - Half of Americans have family members who are incarcerated. And that is from the data in 2018. Probably half of the incarcerated are innocent. And there is no real clear data on this. No one has it. What about those who are married and would do anything to be together but just cannot. Like the women who visit their innocent husbands incarcerated in prisons across America. They go through a lot of trouble, and embarrassing searches just to be able to meet and hug and see each other and spend some time together, until it's time to go. And then you turn around to have that one last look, holding on to that last hug and the beautiful smell that it left in your mind and your memories. Irreplaceable!. What kind of a toll does it take on a spouse when she knows her husband is innocent but in prison for something he did not do, and has been there for over three decades and she really doesn't know when he's coming back? What kind of an emotional and psychological impact does it leave on spouses who have innocent loved ones incarcerated? For many it's heart breaking. To help us understand the human side of the equation to wrongful convictions, and speak about what Imprisoned Families go through, joining us on this episode of FairPlay is Paula Kensu, the wife of Temujin Kensu, who is serving life in prison for the alleged shooting death of a Port Huron college student Scott Macklem in 1986. Mr. Kensu has maintained his innocence for over 3 decades now and is currently fighting for his freedom from inside the prison in Michigan. But the Governor of Michigan is not listening to the truth. Yet. | Imran Siddiqui is the managing editor at Justice News and the author of the JBlog. Email - imran@jnews.network or Catch his podcast on wrongful convictions FairPlay on j107 Justice Radio

    Bruce Smith | FairPlay EP 16 S2 | How To Screw The Poor in America.

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2021 59:51


    December 29 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News | Bruce Smith has spent over 20 years in a Florida state prison as part of his conviction of Life without parole plus 15 years for allegedly killing a 4 year old boy Cameron in 2000, who was also the son of his girlfriend at that time. Bruce has maintained his innocence all these years and he says he has never hit a child let alone killed one, particularly when he has helped raise 6 of his own kids. It's a bizarre case of a bad mother, a good boy and a scapegoat which is obvious after going through the facts and the available evidence as you will hear in the show. What is also crazy is that you can't find much about his case on the internet, it's like the data has been wiped out, except a lousy, one sided, police fed article from the Orlando Sentinel that I don't even want to mention here, but you can read it for yourself. It's like no one even bothered to check the facts of this case? Nor follow up on what really occurred. Joining me from Clermont State Prison in Florida on this episode of FairPlay is Bruce Smith who despite being wrongfully convicted for a crime he says he did not commit, and with so many Brady Violations in his case, has no recourse left, after all his appeals and motions have been denied so far. What I fail to understand is after listening to Bruce and going through the facts, with what face can a judge deny him a fair hearing? According to the medical records, Bruce was deceased in 2008, but then he woke up, while some nurses were being trained using his body. Bruce has some unfinished business to take care of. His final push is to get his hands on the evidence box that's sitting somewhere in a Florida state prison or a crime lab that can potentially help to exonerate him. The question is, who will get to it first? | Imran Siddiqui is the managing editor at Justice News and the author of the JBlog. Catch his podcast FairPlay on j107 Justice Radio

    Trent Taylor | FairPlay EP15 S2 | Dis-Qualified Immunity.

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 24, 2021 72:11


    December 24 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News | Who Watches The Watchers? Especially when the so-called "Watchers" "Guards" are evil and mentally sick. So imagine you're in prison for something that you did and you've been judged upon by the court system and you're in there paying the price of what you did. Fair enough. But what happens when while you're in there paying the price of the wrong that you did, you also get some extra benefits, like - Being Punched Beat Up Your Balls Getting Smacked With a Rod Leaving You Naked For a Couple of Days in Freezing Temperatures While You Sleep In Urine With Shit All Around You, on the Walls the Ceilings, the Floor - spread by A Hepatitis C Patient. Why? Well, because they want to teach you a lesson, punish you so badly that you never forget it. Yes. Trent won't forget it. Continue on The JBlog - FairPlay.

    FairPlay EP14 S2 | VAMJ and Michael Krawitz. Marijuana Justice Reform.

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2021 78:55


    VAMJ with DCMJ Helped Legalize Cannabis in Virginia on July 1 2021.  Now they want the non-violent marijuana convictions thrown out so people can finally go home. December 6 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News. Once there was a time, long long time ago, when people didn't have to look shocked or dumbfounded if someone mentioned the word, Marijuana or Cannabis. In fact, no one even bothered, they used it in many different ways and extracts of it were available over the counter, like Aspirin today, but just better. It's been a long time coming for Marijuana Justice in America. Decades of locking people up just because they were consuming a plant that God created, while allowing all the harmful chemicals, actually poison in your food, to be a part of our daily diet. Look at the consequences on your own health because of the garbage that we eat or put in our bodies. Michael Krawitz cofounder of VAMJ Virginia Marijuana Justice and executive director of VMCA, Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access, after legalizing Cannabis in Virginia, a southern state where tobacco was monopolized, he wants to do more. Michael says, together with VAMJ cofounders Rachel Ramone Donlan from DCMJ and Lennice Werth from the Virginians Against Drug Violence, they are now focusing on criminal justice reform and working towards releasing all non-violent Cannabis offenders suffering long jail terms in prisons across Virginia. Read the full post on The JBlog. Listen to this episode on FairPlay. Justice Has No Color.

    FairPlay EP13 S2 | Temujin Kensu. The Man They Don't Want To Let Go

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2021 118:47


    FairPlay EP13 S2 | Temujin Kensu. The Man They Don't Want To Let Go November 21 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News. Reader Discretion is Advised. Imagine being in prison for over 35 years for a crime that you did not commit and no matter how hard you tried, no matter how clear the evidence of your innocence is and who else on this earth comes to support your exoneration, the state nor the government with no remorse or shame, just won't let you go. Who's face are you going to punch? When there is not one but many hidden behind a gigantic machine. But David, killed Goliath! There are only two scenarios here. One is that they are favoring someone from their own cult and trying to save his ass from being humiliated for the wrong they have done, collectively, and the repercussions of which they are about to face, and that is of course, inevitable. Discover the other scenario and the truth in this episode of FairPlay and see how screwed up is your justice system and your government that you take as your gods. They will eventually come to destroy you unless you take over first. Read on at The JBlog. FairPlay | Justice Has No Color | JusticeNews.Net

    FairPlay EP12 | John Merritt. An Indictment of America.

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2021 76:14


    October 24 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News. Reader Discretion is Advised. Full article on The JBlog. There is a reason why they call it "Systemic Corruption" and the more it gets ignored it has morphed into a "Systemic Disease" that's slow gouging on its own self and people either become a part of it, sucked in as the final meal to the systems' self destruction, or there are those who resist oppression in all forms who still have some sanity left in their souls, they fight against this unnatural flow, they fight with their words, they fight with their voice and then they fight with their hands when they are forced to. But when they do, they fight so hard that either it ends in complete submission or the total annihilation of any unjust government. John Merritt is one of those last remaining Americans who still hold that sanity despite being wrongly imprisoned for more then 36 years for a crime he says he did not commit. God knows the truth and what happened, we wont know everything, but if you read the facts before you make your judgment on this then you might be in for another shock of your life. Then listen to John's sister Darlene Roy speak. His case will ring a bell to those who are familiar with "Prosecutorial Misconduct" the disease that's eating up America's sense of "Justice" while the "Unjust" remain in charge of it. Those who still don't know about this kind of a misconduct then they should get their heads out of their asses pretty soon before they become the victims of it. The cognitive dissonance of the nation, the people and the rigid elements of this archaic machine will not see this. Simply because you choose not to see it, they will not allow you to see the truth in this case. Which is why the lead Pied Piper entices the mice, and convinces them, to go over the edge of the cliff. Read the full article on The JBlog | Imran Siddiqui is the managing editor at Justice News and the author of The JBlog. Catch his podcast FairPlay on Justice Radio

    FairPlay EP11 | Charmon Sinkfield. Cattle for The U.S. Prison System.

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2021 104:49


    FairPlay EP11 Charmon Sinkfield | Cattle for The U.S. Prison System. What Happens To The Innocent While The Judges Defecate On Their Oath. October 9 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News. Could it be possible that for over a decade, most people in America and their dogs have been screaming at the top of their mouths and blaming the wrong guy for the 2009 murder of the Olympic boxer Vernon Forrest? What are the odds of this occurring? Think about it. Even if it's 1 percent of the total U.S. prison population, that would be around 20 thousand people. Now imagine if your family member is one of them. Check out more at The Jblog and listen to the full show at FairPlay Justice News.Net

    FairPlay EP10 | Justice For Leonard Coleman - Not Done Yet

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2021 135:12


    Explicit Content Warning | 18 + | For Mature Audience September 8 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News Isn't it the responsibility of the prosecutors, the judges and the police officers to seek the truth, to seek justice? Or are they in it just to seek convictions? Many argue that now in America, you are first presumed guilty rather than innocent, and after getting wrongfully convicted, you can spend the rest of your remaining life, fighting for your freedom. They call it, The Prison Industrial Complex, a state of the art human algorithm of banking on other peoples misery. It's an industry that needs to be fed, so they say, so it can feed them. But what they don't understand is they are only feeding a false narrative that will eventually come to bite them as it comes to a collapse because it's fundamental foundation is based on injustice. You can call it, The Justice Industrial Complex, in the guise of pretending to be just, where everyone is mostly after making some money while some are after freedom and justice. Take a Deep Dive in to the case of Leonard Coleman, he's serving a life sentence at the St Clair Correctional facility in Alabama. For the past decade, he's been trying to fight what he calls, his unjust conviction of the murder of Kimberly Mixon who was found dead in December 2010 with a gunshot wound to her eye. Kimberly is also the mother of Leonard's son, Xayvion who was 4 when his mother died, and they allege it all happened in front of him. But what you or I say or think is the truth doesn't really stand in front of the facts, the ground realities, and no matter how much you would hate it or how hard you try to accept it, or not, the truth does not have your or my versions, nor does it need any of our permissions, the truth is simply just the truth. In the case of Leonard Coleman, the biggest element that is missing is the whole truth. It's a story riddled with holes that would make you want to gasp for air. If you have the patience to go through a conversation of over 2 hours, which I highly doubt that you would do, not because you would rather want to watch or listen to the latest flick on your chosen streaming platform to kill time, but because you don't want to know what is actually going on in your own country, in your own backyard. And if you don't know it, and if it comes to you too, then you won't know what to do and would fall victim to this joke being played upon us. Leonard Coleman has been fighting back attacks all his life and he even fought another case from inside the prison and actually won and was acquitted. Can he do it once again? This is the first time in over 10 years Leonard has spoken about what really happened in great detail and after listening to this, to me it feels like this may not be the last time you hear from him. How can you accuse anyone of murder and send him to a life in prison, and get away with it, when that person was in reality not even there? Did Kimberly Mixon get Justice? Did anyone else involved in that case do Justice? Find out on this episode of FairPlay on Justice News.Net. Peace. The JBlog

    FairPlay EP9 | Trinity Milford Matthisen - Time and Circumstance

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2021 73:03


    At the Wrong Place. At the Wrong Time. Explicit Content Warning | 18 + | For Mature Audience August 19 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News Trinity Matthisen has spent the last two decades of his life inside a prison. Right now he is somewhere in Michigan, behind bars, in a small, very uncomfortable cage, for something, he says, he did not do, for a crime, evidence may prove, he did not commit. Can you imagine what I just said, does it sound so repetitive that it has become acceptable to hear this? Have we become accustomed to this, so used to it by now, is it something normal? We have been desensitized to the fact that we love to incarcerate people who probably are innocent of the crime for which they have been punished for, and punitively, unjustly, wrongly, wickedly punished and for what? Prison as Rehabilitation, Matthisen says, is a lie. Trinity Milford Matthisen, originally from Colorado, is at Chippewa Correctional Facility in Kincheloe, Michigan doing time for convictions of assault with intent to murder, felon in possession of a firearm and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was sentenced as a third habitual offender to 40 to 70 years imprisonment for his assault conviction, 57 months to 120 years imprisonment for his felon in possession of a firearm conviction, and two years' imprisonment for each felony-firearm conviction. The felony-firearm sentences run concurrently to each other, but consecutively to his other sentences. That sounds terrifying, in many ways, and especially when you hear the word felon, but you need to hold the judgements until you know both sides of the story and especially coming from someone who is actually living that kind of a reality. Matthisen is in for “at least 40 to 70 years”. In his own simple words, they have destroyed his life and he was railroaded by a few friends, the prosecutors and lies from false witness testimony. But Trinity Matthisen is not giving up that easily, he argues that the obliteration of his rights, just because he had a prior record, is evident in his court records and you don't need much to find out how he was denied his basic constitutional rights even before his trial began and during it. He says, to get to that conclusion, all you have to do is go through his entire case files, and probe the police reports that are not publicly available, along with more than 30 eyewitness accounts that are missing or have been lost or hidden. He is also stunned at the jaw dropping denial of his FOIA requests. Trinity argues that evidence is being kept away from him, evidence that can potentially exonerate him and that he has enough material to push for a retrial of his case, as long as an attorney has the courage to seek the truth, without prejudice. But what is there to hide? And how much truth is there in the online docs? Late in the evening on March 7, 2003, Quincy Olds and his cousin, Deandro Sweet, went to Pablo's Bar in Battle Creek. Mr. Olds met his friend, Paul Heise, at the bar, who invited Mr. Olds and Mr. Sweet to an after-hours party at his home. Mr. Olds and Mr. Sweet arrived shortly after 2:00 a.m. on March 8, and joined a party of twenty-five to thirty people in Mr. Heise's living room. At some point, a fight erupted in which Trinity, a friend of the owner of the house, became involved to help his friend. And the rest is history. Could this be a case of mistaken identity, screwed up eyewitness testimony resulting from actions that came about as an unconscious act of defence. This situation is complex and it cannot be understood just by going through the court documents or by listening to what the media says, judgements on scenarios like these can only be made when the entire case is reconstructed from the very beginning in order to understand what exactly occured. Here, out of the Who, What, When, Where and Why, we have answers to none except one, and that is where we begin as we unload the facts in this episode of FairPlay on Justice News. Peace.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        The JBlog

    FairPlay EP8 | John Ortiz Kehoe. 25 Years and Counting

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2021 77:28


    FairPlay EP 8 | John Ortiz Kehoe | Justice for an Accuser a Defendant and a Missing Girl -  Explicit Content Warning | 18 + | For Mature Audience Only. August 14 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | Justice News.Net What do you do when out of three the people you have, the only one who can tell you exactly what happened, is dead? How much truth can you find in the remaining two people, one of whom is an accuser and the other one, a defendant. Michigan resident Rose Larner was killed, or overdosed on cocaine or murdered somewhere between the late afternoon and evening of a December day in 1993 and all this occurred between three friends. Bill Brown, Rose's childhood friend, accused another friend John Ortiz Kehoe of the murder, three years after it allegedly occurred. Bill's account given to the prosecutors was the only eyewitness testimony used to convict John Ortiz Kehoe and it sent him to life behind bars without any possibility of parole. But a new hearing on John's case raises many questions about what really occurred on that day in December of 1993. Since the past 25 years while incarcerated John has maintained his innocence, and according to him, it was Bill Brown who was the last person left with Rose because John left the two together and went to Mcdonalds to get some food and upon his return found a highly nervous Bill Brown and the dead body of Rose in the bathroom. Too much has been said about this case in the past two decades. I accidentally stumbled upon John's case while listening to the FreeMe Podcast hosted by Thomas Herold. In the case of John Ortiz Kehoe not a single witness was presented from his side. The more you read some of the actual case files the more bizarre the case looks, not because of what the actual accusations were, nor by what the prosecutors were trying to do and not by what was being reported by the media, it looked bizarre because it has so many holes in it that it is now impossible for it to hold any water. This could probably come out as one of the most erroneously reported cases in the history of journalism in the United States of America, and if and when that occurs, it can help address the allegations being made in this case that big media took spoon fed information from the prosecutor's office and ran with it without even taking an independent look at the facts and then made a business out of that lie for decades. More digging may even show, how some of the media companies, thinking they might have fucked up big time, are trying to now carefully inject, that final argument from the sidelines, that oh, maybe this guy didn't do it after all, and maybe they played a huge role in sending the wrong man to prison for life. Prosecutors caught lying is nothing new, it's just people don't give a damn anymore and thus corrupt officials mostly get away with it. If you are a human being, and you are reading this, then you understand, that when a person accuses the other of harming someone, especially of things like murder, incineration, dismemberment and cannibalism, they have to show some kind of an evidence to prove that in a court of law and they must also provide the other side the right to freely present their case, their witnesses, their alibis and their testimony impartially and without any fear of bias,  harassment, lying, coercion and intimidation. If this is missing then understand that it's unfair from the start, and there is no other moral way to look at it. This is the first time John Ortiz Kehoe is speaking with Justice News and freely describing what really happened on that dreadful day in December of 1993. This conversation intends to seek the truth and justice for all parties involved, especially for Rose Larner, who is no longer here to defend herself. There are 3 core elements to this case, Bill Brown, Rose Larner and John Kehoe. A lot has been said about the three in a very chaotic and psychotic manner, most of which was actually based on hearsay, prosecution fed material and rumors. What we are trying to do in this episode of FairPlay is shed light on the facts of what has not been said or done about this case, so far. Peace. The JBlog

    FairPlay EP7 | Luke Wirkkala, Acquitted

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2021 77:15


    FairPlay EP 7 | Luke Wirkkala, Acquitted The Right To Defend Myself July 22, 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | JusticeNews.Net You have got to seriously pause for a few seconds and put yourself in this situation, after I ask you this question... What do you do in a moment when you are under assault?... Should you give in. Should you run? Or Should you fight… There's not much time left for other questions here. But what if the attack is also a sexual assault A man to another man... Someone in your home... Would that make you think twice about what to do next? Are you thinking that this is something that cannot happen to you? If you do, then you live in a dreamworld, like most of us do. But if you think that you can also be a victim, under assault by a person who was known to have a record and history of aggressive assaults, but you didn't know about it, then you are not alone. Luke Wirkkala was also asking himself the same questions, when he was under a sexual assault by someone he had trusted and had invited him to his home after a day of super bowl drinking, but after Luke passed out on his couch, he was awoken at 2 am while David Ryder was assaulting him. It was a moment of reckoning, thus activating the instinct to defend himself. Luke was wrongfully convicted of murder in 2013 and after a long, exhausting and cruel battle, he was acquitted of that murder in 2021. In this episode of FairPlay Luke Wirkkala takes you through a weird reality that can turn anybody's dream into a nightmare and then witness the power of principles, persistence and faith. Read more at The JBlog on Justice News.Net Peace.

    FairPlay EP6 | Lydell Grant Is Exonerated

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2021 81:24


    FairPlay EP 6 | Lydell Grant Is Exonerated How to convict an innocent man in America, but not get away with it, this time. June 10, 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | JusticeNews.Net Justice for Lydell has finally been achieved but not without a hard fight. In our previous episode of FairPlay we spoke to Mike Ware the defense attorney for Lydell Grant and we discussed Lydell's extraordinary case of wrongful imprisonment and its following consequences. In this week's episode we speak to Lydell Grant himself as he unloads some facts about his case and lays bare the injustices within the U.S. criminal justice system that can completely decimate an innocent man's life forever. God is in control, says Lydell, and the truth is always enough to stand on its own. And that he is not looking for apologies, though he deserves it, from all parties involved that wrongfully convicted and incarcerated him for life, only if they could, because he got exonerated within a decade. According to Grant, there was a higher power watching over him. "It was God", says Lydell Grant, "Who took him out of the clutches of an unjust criminal justice system". The question is, how can you proceed to charge an innocent man in a court of law for a crime he did not commit and when there is no evidence proving that he committed that crime? Shouldn't this be outlawed. What happened to the "innocent until proven guilty" part? Currently Grant is working on his music career and he also plans to launch his own non profit organization that will seek to exonerate other individuals who are innocent but incarcerated and still left behind, but not for long. The times have changed, so the system must change as well, says Lydell. Lydell wants a law enacted that can hold those prosecutors and investigators and judges accountable who act maliciously against a defendant. Grant talked about something he says he never mentioned before, how he had to fight major conflicts of interests in his case and how he endured his decade long nightmare in prison where the odds were already stacked up against him from the beginning. He says the truth is not biased and DNA does not lie. Humans lie. Find out how they can so easily convict an innocent man in America, but not get away with it, this time. Listen to the full episode of FairPlay on Justice News.net or check out FairPlay.show for more. Peace.

    FairPlay EP5 | Mike Ware. Fighting for Lydell Grant

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2021 39:37


    June 1, 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | JusticeNews.Net Lydell Grant spent more than 9 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, but being free now, safe in the comfort of his home in Houston Texas, didn't come without a fight. It took him a decade to break free from the chains of a Cruel Prison-System where he was unjustly incarcerated for almost a decade. On this journey Lydell didn't fight alone. His attorney Mike Ware was there to pull some hard punches, and some of them, landed right on their opponents faces and bled and broke a few noses and bones. Mike Ware is a seasoned criminal defense Lawyer based out of Fort Worth in Texas. Mike is also an adjunct professor at the Texas A&M School of Law and is the Executive Director of the Innocence Project of Texas. You can read more about his work on Mike Ware Law. Lydell Grant was arrested for the 2010 murder of Aaron Scheerhoorn outside a nightclub in Houston's Montrose district. Six eyewitnesses, looking at a photo lineup, identified Grant as the killer. And in the words of Michael Hall, a reporter at TexasMonthly.com, Grant swore he was innocent. “We have six eyewitnesses that can positively identify you as the killer,” Grant remembers a detective telling him. “I don't care if you have six hundred witnesses,” he said. “I didn't kill him.” Six eyewitnesses testified against Grant at trial and he was convicted in 2012. According to the Harris County District Attorney's Office, Lydell Grant was wrongfully accused in the 2010 stabbing death of Aaron Scheerhoorn outside a Montrose bar in downtown Houston. Jermarico Carter, turned out to be the real killer, with DNA evidence, and who confessed to the murder almost a decade later. Lydell was out on bail in 2019 and then in 2021 Texas board of appeals declared Grant innocent and finally exonerated. Mike touched on many critical issues related to the bitter realities of the U.S. justice system. From the role of a spoon-fed media, or the corruption of judges and prosecutors and a widespread sickness called "Evidence Tampering". I asked Mike that knowing Grant is not his first and hopefully won't be his last exoneree, why is it so tough to get an innocent man out? Check out The JBlog. Listen to the discussion on FairPlay at JusticeNews.Net/FairPlay or visit FairPlay.Show. Peace.

    FairPlay Ep4 | Exonerated with Valentino Dixon

    Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2021 42:29


    FairPlay Ep4 | Exonerated with Valentino Dixon It Took 27 Years For Him To Get Justice May 17, 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | JusticeNews.Net Joining me on this episode of FairPlay is someone who persistently fought for justice for his own life and his freedom and for the truth and he got it but it took him about 27 years to get there, and his name is Valentino Dixon. And he spoke with us out of Buffalo NewYork. On June 12, 1992, the jury convicted Dixon of second-degree murder of Torriano Jackson, attempted murder, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon. He was sentenced to 38 1/3 years to life in prison. Fast forward to 26 plus years to September 19, 2018, Lamarr Scott, the actual shooter, who admitted to this crime many times before, pled guilty to manslaughter in return for a sentence that would run with the 25 to 50 year sentence he was already serving for another killing. That same day, Dixon's convictions for second-degree murder of Torriano Jackson, attempted murder, and assault were vacated and the prosecution dismissed the charges. The conviction for criminal possession of a weapon remained intact because the TEC-9 that Scott said he used in the shooting belonged to Dixon. Dixon was then released from prison more than 27 years after his arrest in 1991. Valentino's case is best described in the words of Max Adler at The Golf Digest. "The case is complicated, but on the surface it involves shoddy police work, zero physical evidence linking Dixon, conflicting testimony of unreliable witnesses, the videotaped confession to the crime by another man, a public defender who didn't call a witness at trial, and perjury charges against those who said Dixon didn't do it. All together, a fairly clear instance of local officials hastily railroading a young black man with a prior criminal record into jail. Dixon's past wasn't spotless, he had sold some cocaine, but that didn't make him a murderer." A lot of the unjust and cruel treatment that Valentino has suffered throughout his 27 year long nightmare can easily be understood by going through the work of Phil Fairbanks at The Buffalo News and by Maurice Possley senior researcher at the National Registry of Exonerations. For now he awaits the result of a pending law suit against his accusers. His nightmare, partly continues, he says in the interview, the city ran out of money. But do you think someone who's been exonerated, proved out to be right and innocent of the crimes they said he committed, do you think that person can ever lead a normal life? Do you think they have destroyed that person's life? What's next for Valentino Dixon? Find out on FairPlay at Justice News.net Explore Valentino's art at ValentinoDixon.com

    FairPlay Ep3 | Exonerations with Barbara O'Brien

    Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2021 45:40


    FairPlay Episode 3 | Exonerations with Barbara O'Brien The cost of incarcerating the innocent May 9, 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | JusticeNews.Net The mission of The National Registry of Exonerations is to provide comprehensive information on exonerations of innocent criminal defendants in order to prevent future false convictions by learning from past errors. But have we done just that? Joining me on this episode of FairPlay and to speak about The Registry is Barbara O'Brien. Barbara is a professor at the Michigan State University College of Law, where she teaches classes in criminal law and procedure. She is currently the Editor of the National Registry of Exonerations, which “collects, analyzes and disseminates information about all known exonerations of innocent criminal defendants in the United States from 1989 to the present.” The Registry provides a virtual home for exoneration stories and also an accessible, searchable statistical database about the cases. Barbara spoke about how the Registry started and evolved and has contributed to positively impacting many lives across America. She differentiated between DNA evidence, jailhouse informants, false testimony, and witness tampering. She talked about prosecutorial misconduct, unfair judgements, bail bonds, the prison industry and how can we, if possible, and if ever be able to predict false convictions. I asked her, why is it so easy to incarcerate someone wrongly in America, but so difficult to get the same individual honorably released?. We also talked about the role of race in a fair and impartial jury selection and in the final outcome of most cases and punishments. I asked Barbara if the Registry has been successful in making police officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges more sensitive to the problem of wrongful convictions and more willing to reconsider the guilt of defendants who have already been convicted when new evidence of innocence comes to light. One of my suggestions to her was to implore the concept of developing an "Innocence List", to at least start collecting basic data on those individuals who are claiming to be innocent with clear evidence. The question remains, have we learned enough to prevent future false convictions, have we learned enough of anything from our past errors?. Find out on FairPlay.show

    FairPlay Ep2 | Christopher Tucker. 19 Years and Counting.

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2021 31:56


    FairPlay EP2 | Christopher Tucker 19 Years And Counting For A Crime He Says He Did Not Commit April 26, 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | JusticeNews.Net Here we go again. Another one of those bizarre cases where you can easily see the ongoing injustices within the U.S. judicial system, despite the claims that America is one of the last beacons of hope to find justice in this wretched world where power, greed and self righteousness rules the minds and the corrupted souls of our scattered societies. I'm not saying that everything is screwed up in America, when compared to the rest of the world, no doubt North America is one of the last frontiers where common sense and compassion prevails and there are examples where justice was achieved. But that was because people fought for it, it wasn't like the State would voluntarily come forward and say, oh, sorry, we destroyed so many lives forever, so let us be morally just and right this wrong that we have brought upon others. Christopher Tucker is at the Richland Correctional in Mansfield Ohio, and from there, in his own words he says, " I'm not a saint, but I never took another person's life". Then why is he still in prison? The evidence, that he clearly holds, proves a lot of what he's been saying, and the fact that he has spent more time in prison than what was offered to him in the plea deal, also proves what he's been claiming the past 19 years. He has stuck by his innocence for almost two decades now, we dont keep a promise for two weeks. All that he asks for, is to give him a chance, to prove his innocence in a court of law. But that chance is nowhere to be seen, yet. His appeals have been thrown out, evidence discarded, witnesses tampered with and coercion at it's core, now the only course of action he's left with is to go to the supreme court. It's a long shot. Chris says he's got nothing left to lose, except his wrongful conviction and an unjust imprisonment. Listen to the full show on FairPlay at Justice News.Net FreeChristopherTucker.Com #FreeChristopherTucker  #FreeChrisTucker

    FairPlay Ep1 | Kimberly Kendall Corral and The Case of Michael Thompson

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2021 44:52


    FairPlay Episode 1 | Michael Thompson 25 years of torment. Much deeper are the wounds. April 18, 2021 | Imran Siddiqui | JusticeNews.Net To discuss the challenges in finding justice in America we are joined by Kimberly Kendall Corral on our debut episode of FairPlay. Kim is a criminal defense attorney at kimlawcrimlaw.com based out of Cleveland Ohio where she handles multiple criminal defense cases that can make your head spin. Like the case of Michael Thompson. Michael's story is unique, in so many different ways, and yet like so many others who are still out there suffering an unjust punishment at the hands of a justice system that repeatedly fails to correct itself. FairPlay is the original Audio Series from JustcieNews.Net where Justice News editor Imran Siddiqui and guests candidly discuss the injustices in the U.S. justice system, based on facts, data and ground realities, without any fear, contempt or intimidation to speak the truth. FairPlay covers a wide variety of issues ranging from social reform, race, discrimination, crime, punishment, rehabilitation and seeking justice for the wrongly convicted. FairPlay guests are from all walks of life mostly representing the voice of the middle who participate in the show with their voice and share experiences pertaining to life-altering decisions made by the judicial systems. Justice News.Net highlights and uncovers the Injustice taking place in communities across America today and provides analysis on how the United States Justice System ensures fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. Our focus is on “Justice for all” and particularly for those individuals who are incarcerated, in captivity or convicted and imprisoned wrongfully. Check out the The JPaper read The JBlog listen to the audio series FairPlay and discover the FreeCaptives. At Justice News we report the under-reported through the eyes of justice, ears of mercy, heart of compassion and we are armed with the truth. JusticeNews.Net

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