Weekend Reading 30

I introduced myself to Rasheed and Carolyn Rodriguez at the car show last weekend; if you got a card from me and decided to check out the blog, thanks for stopping by!

Dope House had a booth set up and I stopped by to ask about S.O.N. The guys working there said 'November or later'. I know there's a lot of conflicting information out there; somebody in the comments said they called DH and were told July 17.

Bottom line is, nobody seems to fucking know. Carolyn talked about it a few days ago on Twitter, you can see that here: https://twitter.com/#!/medicinegirl

In the meantime, check out Big Slater feat. Rasheed: http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/artist_songs/1025775?song_id=12352140

Ruiz's Taint

In 1994, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that, if the defendant could provide ‘some proof’ that a child witness’s testimony had been screwed with by the adults in charge, then they were entitled to a taint hearing to review the interviews.

What taints a child’s testimony? Coercive interviewing techniques such as…

Repetitive questioning

Multiple interviews

Multiple interviewers

Suggestion (Did this happen to you? How about this?)

Reward (encouraging a child to continue; smiling when they make an accusation.)

The question in these hearings is about reliability, not credibility. It’s about whether the child has been told, with words or non-verbal cues, what to say. The reason they allow the hearings is because it is well-documented that after being subjected to coercive or suggestive interviewing techniques, a child may truly believe she’s telling the truth, even if she was only repeating what the interviewer implanted in her mind.

Sounds crazy? The court didn’t think so, when they came to the landmark Michaels decision.

Among the varying perspectives, however, the Appellate Division found a consistent and recurrent concern over the capacity of the interviewer and the interview process to distort a child's recollection through unduly slanted interrogation techniques. The Appellate Division concluded that certain interview practices are sufficiently coercive or suggestive to alter irremediably the perceptions of the child victims.

The kids in the Michaels case were not intentionally lying; a story was cultivated in their minds, fleshed-out by ‘helpful’ adults, and by the time they got to court they truly believed they had experienced it. If you’re asking if a taint hearing could help SPM, probably not. The time to ask for one is pre-trial, and Texas, as far as I can tell, has never granted one.

But think about this; at least one court in this country has acknowledged that a child can be led to make an accusation, come up with believable details, honestly testify about it in court, and it doesn’t take a malicious intention to do it. All it takes is one person who truly believes the child was harmed, who either doesn’t know how to conduct an interview, or who just doesn’t give a fuck what it takes to get the kid to talk.

So we arrive once again at that unrecorded first interview, with Officer Heidi Ruiz. We know from Coy’s Habeas Corpus that Jane Doe’s mother had already given a crime report to Officer David Milligan; why Ruiz had them bring Jane Doe come in to speak with her, instead of just sending them straight to the C.A.C. is a mystery.

Was she capable of performing an unbiased interview? A write-up from the Bravo award she received sometime in the recent past:

 

“she is  [a] relentless tigress when purs[u]ing facts to build strong cases against suspects.”

As Tony says, Grrrrrrrrrreat! How relentless is she? Will she go so far as to assist a child in ‘remembering’ facts? Will she encourage this child’s parents to do the same? Will she suggest things that might have happened, then reward the child with a hug when one is chosen? While investigating Coy's case, she apparently pursued one individual all the way to San Antonio to elicit an accusation:

Asis Award Write-up:

Officer Ruiz showed a relentless pursuit of the facts and discovered seven additional victims. One victim in San Antonio, who failed to disclose any sexual abuse after being interviewed by the District Attorney’s Office, revealed details of the offense to Officer Ruiz.

Again, that word ‘relentless’ pops up. What’s it mean? Showing or promising no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace.

Does that sound like the type of person you want conducting a sensitive first interview, hidden from the world because of malfunctioning video equipment?

Her interviewing techniques were called into question during another child molestation case, Penaflor vs. Texas. In this case there was DNA evidence, but the man convicted of the crime had an identical twin brother. Who was guilty? Apparently whichever one could be twisted into a confession:

Specifically, appellant argues that (1) Ruiz engaged in a "campaign of promises to help" by telling appellant she was there to help him, and, if appellant was willing to tell her the truth about what happened, she would tell the judge appellant was truthful; (2) Ruiz told appellant he needed to confess in order to protect himself; (3) Ruiz induced appellant to confess by offering to get him psychiatric counseling; and (4) Ruiz and Yanez told appellant he could avoid a life sentence by confessing.

I could go on, but fuck it. The point is, the Houston PD turned their ‘Relentless Tigress’ loose in a room with a kid who was already experiencing photophobia, phonophobia, severe headaches and possible hallucinations. This little girl had been stuffed full of the same medication they use for adults that suffer from PTSD, which at the time had not been tested in children younger than twelve. 

Jesus. But hey, there’s no reason for a taint hearing or any kind of oversight! We accept Officer Ruiz’s testimony about what happened at that interview as God’s own truth!

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mcmartin/michaelsdecision.HTM

http://www.asishouston.org/MeetingMinutes/MeetingNotes/m033005.htm

http://www.houstontx.gov/bravo/past/ruiz.htm

http://www.scribd.com/AshliAnne/d/33106215-Coy-Trial-Habeas-Corpus

Questions for SPM

Got a question? Send it to the address below!
Case-related questions will be up on the Facebook page in one week, for voting; all others will be sent to Carlos directly.

SPM Responds (Part 6)

For context, click here.

The Question:

A rapper by Filero says SPM stole his stuff/hustled him

I felt really shitty after reading this [interview]

I don’t want to think I’m bumping SPM and I’m listening to this chump.

I guess it could be asked in many ways but I don’t just want an answer, I’d rather SPM explain his side of the story. Is what Filero claims about doing a big percentage including 80% of “Hustle Town” true?? Man, I hope this is answered because it just changed a lot.

The Answer:

Filero raps one verse, that I helped him write, on the song “Hustle Town.” He says something about his father dying at the park when he was seven years old. So whenever you hear that verse, that’s when you’ll be listening to this “chump”, as you call him.

            Filero is not saying that he rapped 80% of “Hustle Town”, the dumb bitch is saying that he made 80% of the beats, which is a lie from the mouth of a fraud-ass nigga. Let me explain what happened.

            My first album was “Hillwood”. A brother named Delwin “Mad Reel” Bell, who I love to death, made the beats for that album. One day Delwin took some time to show me a little on how beats were made. He let me add my own instrument to a song called “Comin Up Comin Down” on the “Hillwood” album. I played the instrument, using his keyboard, and Delwin recorded it into the song. He said “Damn, that sounds good.” And, honestly, that one instrument gave the beat a beauty it wouldn’t have otherwise had. I was inspired by my contribution to the song.

            When it was time to work on my 2^nd album, “Hustle Town”, I asked my brother, Tudy, to buy me a keyboard. I told him that I wanted to try to make my own beats. He bought me an ASR-88 which costed about $3,000 dollars. Filero knew how to operate that keyboard because he had an ASR-10 (the smaller version of an ASR-88) and he showed me how to use it. It wasn’t long after that I was making bad-ass music, I mean amazing melodies. These beats would eventually make up the music that would be “Hustle Town.”

            Before I go on, let me explain what “drums” are: All you have to do is look at a drum set and that’s what drums are. You’ve got your kick drum, snare, symbols, high hats, congos, etc. Drums basically make sounds that go boom, bap, ding, pop, but drums can not make the melodies. The body of the beat is the melodies that you create with instruments. The keyboard has thousands of instruments you can use: different guitars, pianos, horns, violins, synth sounds, the selection is infinite. I made all the beats/music for “Hustle Town” except for a song called “Ghetto Imprisonment” done by a guy named Chief, and the core melody for “Block of Rock” was created by my homeboy Jose DeLeon. I took that core melody and added the bass line, the boom, the drums, but without Jose’s melody, the song would be nothing.

Here’s where Filero came in:

            Filero is a monster at making drums but he couldn’t create a dope melody to save his momma’s life. He just doesn’t have that talent. I decided to ask him to come over and re-do the drums on “Hustle Town.” So, that’s what he did, and he did a great job. He came in and erased my drums and created his own drums. On this interview, Filero told Rolando Rodriguez that I didn’t give him credit for what he did but on the “Hustle Town” credits it says that the drums were produced by Filero. Do you honestly believe that if Filero made beautiful songs like “Mary-Go-Round”, “Riddla on the Roof”, “Streets on Beats”, “Block of Rock”, “Wizard of Oz”, that I would fuck him over, give him a G and a bottle of Crown, then screw him out of his credits? Come on, man, I would be begging him to make more music for my next album.

If Filero had really made those songs then why did his brilliant talent just stop after “Hustle Town?” Why couldn’t he ever make another legendary song again? I went on to make brilliant music and I kept blowing the fuck up. Any decent beat Filero has ever made was always with a sample or a re-play of another song. All the songs on “Hustle Town” are original melodies.

It’s sad that Filero said all this dumb shit because the music doesn’t lie. He just showed the world what a fraud bitch he is. Listen to “Never Change”; I made 90% of those beats. Listen to “Reveille Park”; I made 90% of those beats. I’m not trying to brag because it’s God that gave me that gift, but where’s Filero’s beats? He was right there recording the whole “Reveille Park” album for me. If he made a classic album like “Hustle Town” then why is “Reveille Park” Filero-free? That dumb bitch knows he didn’t make “Hustle Town”.

What’s funny is this dude, Rolando Rodriguez, says, “After talking to Texas Latin rap pioneer, Filero, we got drowned with reality.” Please, weak nigga. What happened was two busted-ass hoes got together to gossip about a man, which is exactly what hoes do. Y’all ain’t doing shit so you talk about someone who accomplished something so that your little interview can be interesting. Afterwards, Filero got into his bucket and drove back to the bitch’s apartment who he’s living with.

And for the player who asked this question: Listen, homie, you can’t believe every broke-dick nigga that says something to get attention. These hoes are buying non-brand cereal and shopping at garage sales. These niggas eatin “Tony the Lion” frosted flakes and shit.

Well, I’m happy to answer your question, I’m just sad that you felt shitty after reading this fraud-ass interview. Filero said a lot of other outrageous shit so if you guys have any other questions I’ll be glad to expose his ass even more.

Los

P.S. Here’s a few words to Filero since I know he’ll be reading this: what is you doing, nigga? You get on a hoe-ass newspaper lying like a dumbass? Then you say you punched me twice? Bitch, I backhanded you like a fucking prostitute because you broke my mom’s window. Of course you hit me back but I was driving on the freeway. You forgot to mention that, huh? You hit me one time and I laughed. I told you, “Nigga, when we get to my mom’s house I’m gonna beat your hoe ass.” We got there and you wouldn’t even pick up your hands, nigga.

What I look like beatin up a half-drunk bony bitch. Instead I told you to get somewhere and you got somewhere. Then you say Kid Frost punched you in the restroom and ran? Nigga, when Frost hit you, you dropped like a sack of potatoes and started shaking like you were having a seizure. Niggas had to carry you out of that bathroom. Lord Loco told me you got, like, 18 stitches on the inside of your mouth.

Come on, Filero, who you trying to fool, man? Who you trying to be? You weigh 120 pounds with cement boots on, nigga. You know I’ve got a very forgiving heart, and I’ve still got love for you, but it’s just sad that you got with this Rolando bitch and did this. You forty years old, nigga. You should be showing our kids how to be real instead of how to ride the next man’s dick.

I’m out.

Weekend Reading 29

I received a question not long ago, asking SPM about a two part interview that Filero gave to the Houston Press back in 2010; in it, he makes some pretty bold statements about getting fucked over, punching SPM & Kid Frost, and claims credit for "80% of HustleTown".

Well, I sent the question and the article in, and just received SPM's answer, which will be posted up Monday. In the meantime, if you haven't read the interview, check it out here:
Part 1
Part 2

I also want to point out that this was written by Rolando Rodriguez, whose previous work we talked about in the blog post Daughters.

Allen Cowling

I found the website of Allen Cowling, a man who’s spent the last 20-some years helping those that have been falsely accused or convicted of Sexual Assault of a Child prepare their case or appeal.

There is a ton of information available at his site, and I highly recommend it. He’s not a lawyer or a psychologist, only someone with a great deal of experience in this narrow field. Here are a few things I found interesting:

False allegations do grow and they grow many times because a child believes that they must keep refreshing, or adding to their story to be believed and to keep the attention they are getting. The unfortunate thing is that the "professionals" who deal with these children are not looking for the truth, just information to validate the allegation.

Coy said he was first accused, in the mysteriously un-recorded first interview, of touching the Jane Doe’s privates. But the equipment wasn’t functioning that day, and the first written statement from an outcry witness, which could have nailed down exactly what the girl said happened, was tossed out.

After this failed interview, the family was sent home. There was no tape, no documentation of her claims at the first interview, no medical records or physical evidence. Everything was still up in the air. They could change what had been said, what had happened; once they had a story they liked, they could rehearse it with her, but first she would have had to produce something bad enough for the DA to file charges.

Mr. Cowling writes in detail how charges like this are built from nothing:

In some cases, after the child has said "yes," the mother may push for details or may take the child to a counselor, human services or a local police department, but whoever she takes the child to, depend on the fact that the mother will do the initial talking. If she does take the child to the police, the mother will tell the detective what she was told and normally, at that point, in everyone's mind, including the detective, the child was molested and indeed, is a victim. Once the detective completes his interview with the mother, he/she may interview the child. At this point, carefully consider the psychology of what is taking, or about to take place. Most children are told the "police" are good, are there to protect them, but never lie to a policeman. Here is the child, talking to a detective, well meaning or not, who already has a preconceived opinion and the child has been brought up not to lie to the police. At that point, the child may reason, "Well, I have to tell him what I told mama," so they repeat the allegation. The problem is, usually the detective will want more details than the child's mother did, so the child begins to provide them. Why? Because the detective is all but in tears, something the child may easily see as positive support and something that gives a clear message to the child that they can say just about whatever they want.

                                                                                                                            

 What went on in the child’s home between interviews? Was she being asked constantly if she wanted to talk about it? Asked if she was hiding anything? Was anything suggested to her? Was she encouraged to embellish the story to keep her parents and the police interested?

Of course there’s no way to know, but if her parents believed that she had been assaulted I’m sure that it would have been hard to talk about anything else. In what ways did this discussion change her story?

The key to breaking down a false allegation, as is discussed in other areas of this website, is to carefully analyze every statement a child has made, and compare each individual allegation against the other. For the most part, a description of real abuse remains constant where a false allegation tends to change like the wind.

Coy talked about how the girl’s version of events changed from the criminal trial to the civil trial…From a five minute assault to ‘just a second’. How the credibility the prosecution enjoyed during the first trial was blown away in Civil Court, when his lawyer was allowed to talk about her background and her home life, to bring some much needed context into the discussion of her medical problems.

Finding this website was a big deal for me, not just because he outlines his strategy in detail for those that cannot afford his services, but because it shows that someone else out there sees what we do; that a false conviction in this type of case is not only possible, but likely. It happens, because of lawyerly incompetence, inherent jury bias, and police and prosecutors who are more than willing to help shore up a weak story in order to ‘get the bad guy’.

If you have a few hours to spare, read a few of the pages below. He doesn’t sugar-coat anything…the situation is dire, the task time-consuming. But in the end it gives me hope that we can prevail against the corruption.

http://www.allencowling.com/revconv2.html

http://www.allencowling.com/childlie.htm

http://www.allencowling.com/false11.htm

Dear Family (Part 3)

Family,

I wrote the following letter to a girl named Cari. She just did two years in prison, and is now living in Kansas. I believe her vice was drugs, because she mentions that she’s staying clean. I wanted to give her a few words of insight and I thought I’d share my letter with you.

Cari,

I just wanted to thank you for your letter and drop you a few lines. You asked for an autographed pic and Im completely out at this time. If you’d like, you can write me in a week or two and I should have some by then.

            I hope you’re staying out of trouble and building your life stronger as each day passes. A lot of times people have this addiction to a more exciting life, but in the negative sense of the word exciting. In other words, a clean, normal life is just too fucking boring. They’re like hogs, they can’t stay clean for too long, they’ve got to roll around in the mud.

Although mud is cool for hogs, it’s not cool for people’s lives. Trust me, boring is better. Try to find excitement in boring. For people raised in storms, a normal life is bland but learn to love bland. Some people love greasy cheese burgers and fries, but it’s much healthier to eat dry tuna, carrot sticks and drink water. It might not taste as exciting as the meat lovers pizza with an ice cold Coke, but you’ll feel better at the end of the day. Sure, the exciting food gives you the flavors you’re addicted to, but the end result is destruction.

Of course, I’m using food to explain life. Many people just can’t settle down and make good decisions. All the dumb shit is what makes them feel alive, so they choose the “exciting”, unhealthy and short-lived lives of fools. But if you keep eating the dry tuna and carrot sticks of life, your tastebuds will begin to change and you’ll start finding the excitement in being healthy.

It’s not an easy fight, but fuck it, man, just fight with all you got because you’re worth it. Get your “ life tastebuds” on healthy mode, even if it’s a bit boring. The days might taste a little bland for 3 or 5 or 10 years, but one day you’ll look around and see that you’ve built a beautiful world for yourself.

Con Amor,

Carlos

Family,

I hope you enjoyed this short letter, and maybe even benefitted from it. I’ll write you more, in a bit.

Sincerely,

Los

P.S. If you guys have any questions about the letter, please ask.

Richard Miles

Richard Miles, of Dallas, was officially exonerated February 15 of a murder and attempted murder he had spent 14 years in prison for.

Two police reports were hidden from his defense team. An eyewitness recanted his testimony in 2010. He said that he was never absolutely sure that he could identify Mr. Miles, but when he admitted this to the prosecutor before the trial, he was simply told exactly where Miles would be sitting in court. The trace analyst, in a later statement, changed her opinion of the gunshot residue evidence that helped convict him.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stated “no rational jury would convict him in light of the new evidence.”

Uh, it’s not new evidence. You dicks.

The police reports and gunshot residue are OLD evidence, in existence at the beginning of the case, but hidden or misinterpreted. Will there be any accountability for those that helped steal over a decade of this man’s life?

You may be asking yourself why, if we now have access to Carlos Coy’s own writing about his case, these stories about other exonerated prisoners matter. If you’re going to make the case that Coy was wrongfully convicted, first you have to lay the groundwork; you have to allow people to see that innocent men in prison is not just something you see in movies, but something real that could happen to anyone. So learn a few of these men’s names. Use them when someone asks you why you believe that Carlos Coy was wrongfully convicted.

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/02/two_years_after_wrongfully_convicted_richard_miles_was_released_hes_officially_innocent.php

New Case Update

If my understanding of the public court documents is correct, it appears that the charges against SPM in the new MP3 player case have been dismissed.

I'll let you know if I find out more.

Speaking of the TCCA...

You may remember last year, near the beginning of the blog, I recommended you start reading Defending People, written by a lawyer named Mark Bennett. At the time, I just appreciated his writing, and his intolerance of judicial shenanigans. What I later found out is that he had actually represented Carlos Coy in a few cases before the big one.

If you read his blog you will see that he is harshly, unapologetically pro-liberty. He sees the depredations of the state and fights against them.

Well, he just announced that he will be running for a seat on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Now, he’s running as a libertarian, which means he’s got about a snowball’s chance in Hell of getting elected. In fact, Grits For Breakfast seems to believe that he’s only running to make some kind of political statement.

My opinion? It’s a small chance, but a chance. I believe that having Mr. Bennett on the TCCA would be an amazing thing for everyone that comes before the court; not because he’s soft, but because he’s fair; because he sees the tricks that Texas plays to uphold their bullshit convictions and he doesn’t like it.

When Coy wrote about his appeal, he mentioned that they are looking for new evidence; when it’s found, the case will eventually end up in front of the TCCA. How many of you vote? How many of you would be willing to show up at the polls specifically to cast a ballot for Mark Bennett, with the understanding that his interest in true justice and individual liberty may have a positive effect on a case that you have a personal interest in?

Take a look at Bennett’s blog, Defending People, and consider asking those around you to give him a vote this November. Many of you have contacted me, asking what can be done to help. Well, this. We absolutely have to toss out those that worship the finality of conviction, ANY conviction, no matter how it was obtained. If we want a level playing field, that's going to mean plowing most of the existing structure into the ground.

Want something to do? Find out how you, personally, can support Bennett's bid. Let's get him into that seat, whether he truly wants it or not. Whether it benefits Carlos Coy immediately or never, it'll do Texas a world of good.

http://www.bennettdissenting.com/

Letter to Pat Lykos 15

So the question remains; What now? Here are the basic needs, as I understand them:

A greater knowledge of what happened in the court room.

 Increased public awareness

 
Pressure applied to the Justice System

Consistent, long-term effort

1)      Greater knowledge

We have to know more than our opponents. We have to uncover any information that might be important. It sounds like it should be as easy as reading the transcripts, but it won’t be. We’re not lawyers, and we don’t instinctively know what tiny little fact will be helpful to our cause.

We need questions; we need people to engage with SPM, to consider his answers carefully and help him find the information that we need. If you believe something he’s written needs further explanation, don’t keep it to yourself! Send it in to the blog.

This will give him direction and allow him to clarify and expand. I can come up with a lot of questions, but there’s no way I can think of all of them. Please, participate in the Q&A!

 

2)      Increased Public Awareness

After receiving new information, don’t just nod your head and say “I knew it!” Share it with someone. If you’re not sure of your ability to say it, use the YouTube videos provided by SouthParkMex713. These were made for you to spread around.

Start the conversation by wearing a ‘Free Spm’ t-shirt, or carry some of the printable flyers with you; if you hear someone bumping Dope House music, take a minute to ask if they’ve heard about the new case updates.

3)      Pressure on the Justice System

How do you apply pressure? Give them work to do. Write a letter asking for action, or information. This could be to the DA, the Houston Police Department, your Congressman, or the AG. They will hesitantly dismiss a couple of letters; four or five will require them to do something to address the concerns presented, which means more work for them. I focus on writing twice every month to DA Pa Lykos, and I encourage you to help me with this. She can make a difference in this case, if we can convince her that a) we’re right, and b) we won’t go away.

4)      Consistent, Long-term Efforts

This has the potential to be the most difficult, but in our case it’s already taken care of. SPM has had support from the community since his incarceration; that support has been muzzled as his appeals wound their way through the system. Now is the time to become more vocal, to demand that the courts explain their evidence-free conviction.

There may be a recall of the Dope House Army at some time in the future; if that occurs, there will be more specific guidance for those of you that want to act. If you like the idea, why not send SPM a letter and let him know?

Here’s something you can do today; join me in writing a letter to Pat Lykos. By itself, my letter means nothing. You can copy this one, write your own, or just print off one of the downloadable flyers to your right and send that. Please, get involved.

The Honorable Patricia Lykos

1201 Franklin St
Houston, Tx
77002

Ma’am,

I’m writing today about the case of Carlos Coy, #908426.

I saw an interview with former DA Johnny Holmes published on a Houston Chronicle news blog. In it, he expressed his support for your opponent, Mike Anderson, based mostly on the fact that you yourself have never been a prosecutor. He also dropped this gem when speaking of his term as DA: “He said it felt good to be on the right side of the law every day.”

He may believe that, but the convictions of Michael Anthony Green, Allen Wayne Porter, George Rodriguez, and even Timothy Cole, innocent men who were convicted under DA Holmes and later exonerated, suggest otherwise.

You have been instrumental in freeing innocent men who were convicted by an office blinded by its own power. I believe you understand that being on the side of the state doesn’t always mean you’re on the right side of the law. Mistakes will be made, and the solution is not to hide them or fight those who try to correct them.

I am asking you to give us justice. Examine Mr. Coy’s case; take a look at the behavior of those involved and see if you can understand why we fight for a new trial. Despite what some of your detractors seem to think, we know that you do not have to be a prosecutor to understand justice.

Thank you for your time.

Me, My Address, Blah Blah Blah.

So What Now?

Normally the first post of the month is a letter to Pat Lykos, but I’ll be posting that up on Thursday. Consider todays post a letter to you.

Last Thursday’s post was an answer from SPM, addressing his appeal. It would be very easy to read it and give up; the appeal’s been rejected by almost every court in the country so there’s nothing more we can do, right?

Bullshit.

Appeals get denied. That’s how the system is set up. They want to maintain their ‘Finality of Conviction’. They want us to believe that their word is the last word.                                             

If Coy’s appeal was still active, their response to our demands for justice would be “Just wait until the appeal is done.” Why? Because they are counting on that feeling of helplessness once the ‘final’ word comes down. They are counting on the system’s ability to grind us down, to make even the strongest supporter give up in frustration.

 Please, don’t buy it. Their game has been played; now is when they should fear us most, because we can work for change without getting entangled in their red tape, without the fear of pissing off a judge and fucking up a pending appeal.

I had some doubts about posting up that last answer; I knew it would get people down, and I don’t want to do anything that might discourage you. But truth is power. Knowledge is power. Keeping a hard truth from you would be no different from when the media kept inconvenient facts about this case from the world. If it’s painful to accept, then so be it. Man the fuck up and deal with it.

Can you handle it? Can you handle the knowledge that innocent men are imprisoned? That appeals are denied, families are torn apart and dreams, potential, and lives are extinguished with the stroke of a pen? The innocent are incarcerated, even executed, and the only way to deal with it is to keep fighting no matter how hopeless it seems. Appeals lawyers deal with this shit every day of the year because they are paid; are you willing to do it because you believe in someone?

Are you willing to acknowledge that the system is broken and it can only be fixed one case at a time, one heartbreaking, bone-grinding step at a time? And then, after accepting it, putting one foot down in the first step of a long, hard journey?

You can let the corruption of the system overpower you, or you can take strength from it knowing that no matter what the government tries to force on us, they can’t make us believe they are right. They can present us with fabricated evidence, well-paid ‘experts’, and tell us that "It’s for the children", but they can’t hide the truth forever.

Weekend Reading 28

More accurately, Weekend Viewing.  Check out SOUTHPARKMEX713’s YouTube channel for the latest video update, including as-yet unpublished quotes from SPM.