Letter(s) to Devon Anderson 9

Marisol over at All Things SPM is organizing a writing campaign; please, send a letter explaining why you would like to see Carlos Coy receive a new trial on November 3. You are welcome to copy any of the letters I’ve posted here, of course, or write your own if you’d prefer. Remember, there is no magic formula, no perfect combination of words that make it ‘good’ or ‘not good’. Every letter sent accomplishes the goal of reminding the Harris County D.A.’s office that we are still here, and we will continue to demand justice.

Devon Anderson

1201 Franklin St

Suite 600

Houston, Tx 77002-1923

Ma’am,

            I’m writing to you today about the case of Carlos Coy, #908426. As you may be aware, two men recently had their convictions overturned in Dallas; Stanley Mozee and Dennis Allen walked free on October 28, due to prosecutorial misconduct.

It is so common for citizens that have little or no contact with the justice to see cases like this, and either discount it as a technicality or dismiss it as a freak occurence. We trust our courts and prosecutors to do what’s right, and in some ways that’s a beautiful thing. We should always have faith that our fellow human beings are doing the right thing.

Unfortunately, as anyone who’s been involved with the justice system (from either end) can see, sometimes that faith is misplaced. The more I have learned about Carlos Coy’s case, the more I believe that the system failed him. There was no attempt to collect physical evidence, the complainant’s mother refused to say how many times her family had met with prosecutors before the trial; this seems peculiar in light of the fact that the first police interview, as well as the mother’s first written statement, were discarded and re-done days later.

            I am convinced that Carlos Coy’s conviction will one day be overturned, and he will have another day in court. I urge you to help that happen sooner rather than later. Please, review his case, speak with the assistant D.A.’s that prosecuted him, and assign his case to the Post-Conviction Review unit. Every wrongful puts the citizens of Texas at risk, and every exoneration is a victory for those that seek justice.

My name

My address

Redirect

Just a short post tonight; I would like to bring your attention to this article in The Economist detailing the growth of the prosecutor’s growing power in the court room.

"Prosecutors enjoy strong protections against criminal sanction and private litigation. Even in egregious cases, punishments are often little more than a slap on the wrist. Mr Stevens’s prosecutors, for example, were suspended from their jobs for 15 to 40 days, a penalty that was overturned on procedural grounds. Ken Anderson, a prosecutor who hid the existence of a bloody bandana that linked someone other than the defendant to a 1986 murder, was convicted of withholding evidence in 2013 but spent only five days behind bars—one for every five years served by the convicted defendant, Michael Morton."

http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21621799-how-prosecutors-came-dominate-criminal-justice-system-kings-courtroom?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/the_kings_of_the_courtroom

It’s a long read, but well worth your time.

Marisol Garay, of Mexicaninfo.blogspot.com, has challenged every fan to mail out a letter to the D.A on 11/3. I’ll have some ideas for letters up next week, let’s make this happen!

Manual Velez

Another pseudo-exoneration out of Texas; Manuel Velez walked out of prison last week after nine years on death row. He was convicted of murdering his girlfriend’s 11 month old son in 2005...although he was hundreds of miles away when the child received the injuries that lead to death.

The news stories revolve heavily around what appears to have been his incompetent defense; it’s repeatedly pointed out that his lawyer could have easily shown that the child was injured while Velez was out of state with just a cursory investigation. What I have yet to see is a reporter asking why, if his innocence was so easily proven, did the investigators not uncover it before the damn thing ever went to trial?

There’s no mention of some new technology that made this possible; the evidence appears to have been there all the time. Why didn’t the police find it? Why didn’t the D.A. find it? Was it unavailable, or simply ignored?

Legal representation matters, but how much damage should an attorney have to repair? Should he have to overcome a lost ‘outcry’ interview? Testimony that changes mid-trial because prosecutors didn’t verify details?

http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/reasonable-doubt-manuel-velez-case/page/0/1

https://www.aclu.org/capital-punishment/manuel-velez-v-state-texas

D.O.U.

Day of Unity recap, people! Thanks to all who attended & posted pics. It looks like there was a large turnout, no problems, and a wall of cops, shoulder-to-shoulder, blocking the doors of the courthouse; that’s all good, as the point was to create attention and not drama.

Marisol Garay of http://mexicaninfo.blogspot.com/ attended, and has some great pictures posted up on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/marisol.garay.372?fref=nf

Sylvia Coy, one of the driving forces behind the protest, has stated their intention to keep this wave going, and it appears that they are planning a second DOU on December https://www.facebook.com/spmretrial?fref=nf

There’s another planning meeting at the Dope House on 10/12.

I’m currently failing at the internets (I must be getting old), so I’m just going to post the links where you can find pictures, videos and info pertaining to the Day of Unity.

https://www.facebook.com/spmretrial?fref=nf

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dope-House-Army

https://www.facebook.com/marisol.garay.372

There have been a few fans asking what effect the DOU had, what difference it made. I have to tell all of you, this is a marathon and not a sprint. Watching the event take shape and occur filled me with a sense of hope, but it was never meant to be the finish line. It garnered attention, as you can see from the following news mentions:

http://www.freepresshouston.com/spm/

http://www.chron.com/houston/article/Supporters-of-jailed-rapper-march-in-hopes-of-5799345.php

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/2014/10/spm_supporters_plan_day_of_uni.php

...but this is not the end. Let’s keep the momentum going.

S.O.N. Rise

            If you’ve been a coma for the last few days, you’re still probably aware that The S.O.N. dropped on 9/30 and seems to be doing pretty well. I encourage you to try to support a local music shop, but if that’s not an option you can order it from Best Buy, Amazon, Itunes, or Dope House. 

Alright, ladies and gents; the Day of Unity approaches. If you’re not sure if you should go or not, consider this. County election day is November 4^th. Now is the time all those judges, District attorneys, commissioners, etc will be paying close attention to their constituents. We know that the justice system in Harris County has been running on the knife’s edge between Business-as-Usual and Corrupt-as-Fuck for some time now. Although generally I encourage y’all to educate yourselves about the case and spread that knowledge, it has been suggested that we stick to a simpler message for the protest; Retrial.

            I think this makes sense, given the potentially volatile nature of a public protest. If you decide to respect this, don’t let yourself get drawn into an argument; there is a time and a place for debate, naturally, but let’s try to keep 10/3 focused on the retrial.

            Nibu Abraham of Free Press Houston interviewed Carlos Coy for an article that you can read here: http://www.freepresshouston.com/spm/. I don’t think that anyone could have summed up this cluster-fuck of a situation any better or more concisely. Please give it a read, and share it with your friends. Post it on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, wherever you spend time. If you comment remember to stay calm, be clear, and don’t let anyone get under your skin.

            I will probably not be in Houston for the protest, so if you go please take pictures and post them to the blog Facebook page. Those of that can’t be there would love to see how it goes.