The
African American community has little faith in St. Louis Circuit
Attorney’s office. So it came as no surprise, it would be outraged when
Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce announced she would pursue a new trial
for Reggie Clemons.
Clemons sits on Missouri’s Death Row for crimes that he has maintained
his innocence. Her decision in the 25 year old case is another chapter
in the legal twists and turns of the Chain of Rocks Bridge tragedy.
The reason why Clemons’ supporters are outraged about the decision is
that Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce has chosen to ignore the five year
investigation by an independent judge who pondered over all of the
testimonies, documents and evidence in the case—including DNA evidence
that Joyce’s office claims is new evidence. Judge Michael Manners
submitted his findings to the Missouri Supreme Court. After thorough
review of the Judge’s conclusion, the Court overturned Reggie’s
conviction opening up the door for his long-fought freedom. Joyce’s
action to disregard the meticulous work of the judge and the ruling of
the state’s highest court is troubling for some and suspicious for
others.
First, there’s the question of the misuse of taxpayers’ dollars to take
on an expensive trial when there’s already been due diligence done on
the case. We can can’t ignore the indisputable history of racial bias
and incompetence of the Circuit Attorney’s office. And then there’s the
fact that St. Louis is in the middle of an important election for the
next city prosecutor.
The prosecutor’s office can’t seem to find the inclination to pursue
some criminal cases. When police stole World Series tickets from
scalpers in 2006 and used the tickets for family and friends, Joyce
said she could find no criminal wrongdoing. Huh? The ACLU helped the
Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression to fight for public
access to documents. After years of legal blocking by the police
department, there was a People’s Victory to see the full scope of the
corruption but by then the statute of limitations had run out. This
meant that the cops who stole or who used the baseball tickets would
not be held criminally accountable. How convenient.
Recently,
the “Testimonies of Love, Loss and Legacy” event convened a local
gathering of African American fathers who had lost their children to
violence. Powerful stories of triumph over grief were delivered by dads
from around the country. I recall that a few spoke of trying to get
answers from the CA’s office. The family of Mansur Ball-Bey said they
have been desperately seeking answers in the police shooting of their
loved one with little success.
St.
Louis city cop, Jason Flanery was forced to resign when he left the
scene of a car crash full of cocaine and alcohol in his system. Flanery
is responsible for the death of VonDerrit Meyers in 2014. Flanery was
also on the scene at the police shooting of Ball-Bey; his involvement
in that case is still to be determined. Joyce is reported to have said
that Flanery’s drug-crazed crash of a police car had nothing to do with
the Meyer’s case. Was Flanery tested for drugs after wildly firing 17
shots at a teenager in a residential area? If not, to say that there’s
no drug connection between the two incidents is unfounded and
irresponsible.
While
there have been several cases of wrongful conviction that have come to
light over the years, I believe there are hundreds of people who
languished in prison for years or who are still incarcerated due to prosecutorial misconduct.
The case of Fredrico Lowe-Bey is
one of those cases. Centurion Ministries has been working on the case
for years with full resistance from the CA’s office to disregard the
compelling evidence. Lowe-Bey was wrongfully convicted of rape in 1988;
he has already served more time than some who have committed an actual
murder. The unbelievable fact in the Lowe-Bey case is that an
independent DNA analysis done a few years ago has proven that he is
innocent. Yet the charade of injustice continues.
Groups
like Centurion Ministries and The Innocence Project are in existence
only because of the incredible injustices perpetrated by the very
offices that are supposed to pursue truth and justice. Because of the
number of wrongful convictions in this country, you are a lucky soul if
your case gets chosen by one of these groups.
By now, you may have started to draw some preliminary thoughts about
the functioning of the prosecutor’s office. And if you concluded that
police seem to get favored over civilians, you’re headed in the right
direction. It is up to citizens to reverse that tendency and demand the
prosecutor’s office fight for all citizens.
In St. Louis the Circuit Attorney’s office cannot be trusted to carry
out its duties in a fair and impartial manner. What about the
prosecutor in your city?
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