Where to begin? I don’t know how to ask people for help. Being in my shoes, I feel like I’m asking what a life is worth. How do you put a value on life? You don’t. A life is priceless.
So I thought, until I went toe-to-toe with our justice system. The justice system where police officers kill men by choking or beating them to death or they shoot unarmed children. I guess it is easy to justify one’s actions when the public only hears one side of the story and cannot see with their own eyes what really happened.
Many people are aware of the double standards in the state and federal courtrooms across the United States. When you are fighting for your life after being charged with a crime, you are given a public defender. When police officers commit crimes, they are provided private attorneys paid for by the police department or county/state in which they are employed. These lawyers cost the taxpayers (which include the victim’s family) of that city, county, or state tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars. Where’s the equal protection?
I’ve been in the courtroom with a public defender and can tell you it is an uphill battle. These public defenders talk about having only limited resources; they also fail to properly investigate, don’t take time to find out your side of the story, much less have and/or take the time needed to work on your case, then negotiate a plea agreement to get rid of your case and move on to the next case/victim. Where does this leave you? In prison – maybe not for as long as it would have been had you gone to trial and been found guilty (assuming you were guilty), but nonetheless still in prison – even if you are innocent. You now have become a victim of the justice system. Approximately 95% of the criminal cases are plead out, and individuals who take a plea and are charged with a crime (which may be a lesser crime than originally charged with) will have a misdemeanor or felony on their record for the rest of their life. If you have a felony on your record, you loose a lot of your civil rights and it is very difficult, if not almost impossible, to get a job.
This is exactly what has happened to me. I fought for my life and am continuing to fight for my life. I never thought it was possible to be framed. How can you be at a crime scene when you are on video tape at another location? How do police officers get away with destroying court-ordered evidence? How do police officers justify destroying police reports and affidavits or falsifying evidence? The answer is that they hide their crimes from the public eye; no one will ever be the wiser. Recently, a documentary was produced by Netflix on this same type of issue.
This kind of situation happens when you are given an attorney that used to work with the attorney currently prosecuting you, that files motions with bad case law, an attorney that fails to object when needed, that doesn’t ask for the evidence that supports the prosecution’s argument/case, much less question the evidence against his/her client.
A lot of the people in our justice system have no accountability for their actions, violating the constitutional rights of those they are supposed to uphold the law for and provide equal protection to under the law, guilty or not. Though as regular citizens, we are accountable for our actions, like breaking the law. If we break the law, we are charged with a crime. Our justice system protects those within the justice system who are corrupt or commit judicial misconduct. These individuals are protected by either qualified immunity or absolute immunity.
Until you or a family member are put in such a position, such as I have described above and what is currently happening to me, it is hard to believe that our justice system is not a fair system and those within that system would actually do such things regardless of whether that person is guilty or innocent.
I don’t have money for an attorney. I am trying to raise money through various resources to be able to receive proper and just legal representation. In asking for your support, I would like you to think of one of your family members being in a situation such as mine: father, mother, sister, brother, cousin, uncle, aunt...or even your best friend. Could you put a value on their life? Would you not want to get the best legal representation for that family member or friend? Hiring an attorney costs a lot of money; money most of us do not have.
By helping support my cause, it will help to bring to light the corruption, inequality in the justice system, the falsifying or destroying of evidence, allowing witnesses to falsely testify, not following rules of evidence, and other wrongdoings within this system. Though, your support should not stop with my case. When the public really sees the corruption within our system and they take a stand, hopefully, others will not fall victim to bad police officers and others within our current justice system.
I have no wife, no children, but I do know what a life is worth. My mom is patiently waiting until she and I can sit next to each other on the couch watching a movie. It is not until your life and freedoms are taken away from you do you really realize what is most important.
Hiring the right attorney can save my life from continuing to suffer from being wrongful convicted.
I am not just asking you to donate; I’m also asking you to take a stand for fair and equal protection under the law. With this donation and others, it is a start. Maybe if my case gets into the spotlight, like others have through the Innocence Project and other well-known attorneys, we can request from our Congress a Bill of Accountability for all those within the legal system who are currently protected by either qualified or absolute immunity to being accountable for their on-the-job actions. It is possible for someone to turn their cheek the other way, especially if that person knows he or she will not held accountable for their actions.
All I can hope for is power through the people of our country. Set aside the color of the perpetrator, let’s quit making justice just about race. Let’s see things for what they really are, that being the legal system of our once-great nation having lost its way.
The wheels of justice have been going backwards for many generations. It’s time to push those wheels forward down the right track to fair and equal protection under the law for everyone.
If you would like to donate and feel more comfortable writing a check, please mail your check to: Sweet Justice, Inc., P.O. Box 10786, Reno, Nevada 89510
For more information please click here or visit Funded Justice
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