Technical difficulties

I am having some technical issues at the moment; tonight's post will be delayed.

The Trap

A question that I get a lot is, why hasn’t Coy had a retrial yet? Either from fans who want to know what’s taking so long, or from opponents who assert that, if Coy were innocent, he would have seen justice by now. Well, the Washington Post has a great article by Radley Balko about the unclear laws and difficulties prisoners face when trying to appeal based on the testimony of ‘experts’ revealed to be unreliable.

            In order to appeal, Coy would need new evidence; evidence that any expert who testified against him is no longer a credible witness may be enough, but what would constitute evidence of that? He would have to prove that the evidence was either new, or unavailable during his trial; that it would have substantially changed the outcome of the trial, and he would have to appeal within a year of it becoming when it was discovered.

            The article points out that that evidence of this kind is notoriously slippery; he uses some examples of courts simultaneously upholding an expert as credible in cases they are defending, while attempting to discredit the same expert when he testifies for the defense.

            The article describes the situation in much greater detail, and if you’re interested in how the appeals system works it’s a great read. Unfortunately, I don’t have an answer for it. It seems like Oncken’s Brady violation in the caseof Glen Kahlden, or the questionable work by the CAC’s Colleen Taft 

would be enough to at least re-open the investigation. However, with the laws currently in place, it doesn’t look like they are.

           

It's a depressing note to end on, but keep in mind that Judge Ellis, the same one who presided over COy's trial, has requested a new trial for a defendant in the past, and Lisa Andrews, one of Coy's prosecutors, was responsible for Oncken getting called out on the Brady violation. There is always hope.

SPM Lives

No post today; instead, head over to www.spmlives.com and check out the new website. There is a blog, and you can hear SPM and Rasheed talking on the latest one: http://spmlives.com/site/ghetto-tales/spm-rasheed-part-1/

SPM mentions that he caught a case when the album was released, and gives a little information about what he expects to happen. Please, leave them a comment and let them know what you think of the site!

Dear Family 20

                                                                                                10/25/2014

Yung Fam,

            First let me thank everyone who supported The SON, and also everyone who supported the DOU (Day of Unity.) I’d like to thank Carlos Martinez for starting the whole thing, and of course my sister, Sylvia Lynn, for taking it to an unbelievable level. That girl is amazing. You know, The Son, was the only project ever released, (only SPM project), that I never got a chance to hear the final version of. The project is great, the lyrics are dope, but I’m a little concerned about the mix. Man, all I can do is be honest, you know that about me. And, I think there was a misunderstanding about the mix, and I’ll probably do something about that in the future. A remix, or something. Maybe I’ll put the remixed version in the next project.

            Then again, it could just be me. But I will investigate the mix. I think there may have been a mix up between the back-up vocals and the main vocals. Maybe I’m wrong about this, but I don’t know, man. I’ll talk to Jaime “Pain” Ortiz about it in our visit this weekend. Actually, I’m pretty pissed off about the situation but we’ll see if my anger has justification.

            So, how have you been? I’ve heard lots of your input, lots of comments, but I don’t have anything in front of me at the moment. I do remember one person saying something, like, “Please don’t use Carolyn for the hook of ‘The River’, SPM does the hook so much better.”

            Well, you probably know by now that it was not Carolyn on that new hook, it was Ayana Mack, who is a really good singer. She sings the hook for “High Everyday” and “All Caught Up”. The original plan was that I was only going to show how the hook was supposed to be done. But Pain used my hook, and I was, like, “That was only an example for someone else.”

So, we went back to our original plan, and used someone else. I guess my version was better, and I’ll make sure to use my version when I do a remix.

            I want to shout out to my girl Marisol, who is always asking me to give other people shouts, and never thinks about herself. She’s always there to support Incandesio with every write up the spmaftermath founder does, and Mari works very hard for my cause, for my justice, all from the heart.

            Another comment that I just saw on Incandesio’s most recent letter to me was from an anonymous who was disappointed with the Houston Chronicle’s article of the Day of Unity march, He said that it was only seven paragraphs, and it made me look really bad. He used the word “terrible.” He said the headline was “Rapper, child molester's supporters march in hope to free him.” lol! That’s hilarious. Whoever read that headline was probably, like, “What the fuck is wrong with those peopl!”

            I’m still over here laughing my ass off. But people really believe I did this shit, so bless their heart, man. They’re only trying to make our efforts backfire in our face, but hate only makes us stronger. That’s what haters can’t see. The stronger the opposition, the greater the reward. I’m working on a documentary that’s going to blow the world’s mind, and I’m using the exact words and actions used to get me convicted. That’s why I call myself a “Visionary” because it’s so clear to me, I understand the immense value of haters. I want you to see what I see. Yes, it sucks to be in the middle of this fight, but it’s building us. If I bought you a ten-million-dollar gym, you’d be thrilled. Haters are that gym. It’s resistance that builds muscle. It’s resistance that builds greatness. It keeps us sharp, keeps us focused.

            I think it was Incandesio that commented about Houston Chronicle’s article, saying, “If it reaches one person who hasn’t thought about the case in years, and inspires them to look into it more deeply, then it’s a win.”

            Before I go, I want to thank everyone for wishing me a Happy Birthday. I hope you never get tired of hearing me tell you that I love you and thank God for you, because you’ll hear it a lot.

            Last thing, please let me know what you think about The SON. If you like everything, let me know. If you had complaints, let me know. Your comments help me with the direction I’ll take as we move forward.

Con Amor,

Los

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