Carlos Starks Spent 11 Months in IN Jail Due to Mistaken Identity After Witnesses Picked Him Out of Photo Lineup as a Killer

Carlos Starks, a black man with dreadlocks bearing faint resemblance to killer, locked up in an Indiana jail due to mistaken identity after witnesses pick him out of photo lineup, though some expressed doubts.

Carlos Starks, a black man with dreadlocks,  spent 11 months in an Indiana jail for a crime he didn't commit, but was identified in a faulty photo lineup, that relies on eyewitnesses. How does this happen in the most powerful country in the world? Here's how the whole thing went down, according to the IndyStar:

At 9 p.m. July 20, 2010, Craft, 26, was carrying bags of groceries home in the Whitfield Apartments at 45th Street and Arlington Avenue when he was shot four times. At least five people in the complex got a look at a man walking away from the scene and gave arriving police officers a description.

Twenty minutes later, police stopped Starks at a bus stop in the 6100 block of East 46th Street, two blocks away. Black, in his 20s, with shoulder-length dreadlocks, Starks bore a vague resemblance to the man described by the witnesses, with at least one crucial difference: Starks was wearing a black shirt, not the red one witnesses described.

Starks said he was on his way to work. The officer let him go to answer another call but entered Starks' name into the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department database. Early the next morning, Detective Leisa Moore put Starks' picture into a photo lineup alongside five other men with dreadlocks.

In the mugshot, which was from an old misdemeanor arrest, Starks was wearing a red shirt. Five witnesses viewed the photographs, and three picked Starks. The suspect chosen by the other two witnesses was the only other man in the lineup with a red shirt.

How do you lock someone up for 11 months, even though the eyewitness expressed some doubts in fingering Starks? There's a serious problem with eyewitnesses picking someone out of a lineup. The word is that the police officers in this case didn't follow strict protocol and used a photo array rather than a sequential lineup. Be that as it may, what ever protocols were or weren't followed, faulty eyewitness testimony could have clearly occurred in the case of Troy Davis, who was executed last month for the murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail.

Who is going to give Carlos Starks back the 11 months he lost behind bars for something he didn't do? Any black man with the slightest resemblance to another man who committed a crime can be hauled in by police and locked up for months, if not years, due to being fingered by an eyewitness who wasn't too sure on who he or she saw commit that crime. That's pretty scary.

Read the entire article: http://www.indystar.com/article/20111009/LOCAL/110090369/Man-spent-11-months-jail-because-faulty-identification?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|IndyStar.com

GA Board of Pardons & Paroles to Hear Plea for Clemency for Convicted Murderer Marcus Ray Johnson Ahead of October 5 Execution

Next execution date in Georgia set for October 5 but Board of Pardons & Paroles to hear clemency plea for convicted murderer Marcus Ray Johnson, who claims lawyers failed to bring up his childhood struggles during trial in stabbing death of Angela Sizemore.

Let us see how the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles will handle the plea for clemency from attorneys and advocates for condemned murder Marcus Ray Johnson, who is white, when they meet on October 3rd, two days before he is scheduled to die by lethal injection for the 1994 murder of Angela Sizemore.

Johnson is scheduled to die on Oct. 5 for raping and murdering Angela Sizemore by stabbing her 41 times a short time after they met at an Albany nightclub in 1994. Superior Court Judge Willie Lockette signed Johnson's death warrant just hours after Troy Anthony Davis was executed last week amid worldwide protests of his lethal injection for murdering a Savannah police officer in 1989.

According to trial testimony, Johnson and Sizemore met at a bar called Fundamentals shortly after midnight the morning of March 24, 1994. She had been to a memorial service earlier and was drinking so heavily the bartenders refused to serve her after a while. Johnson was angry and frustrated because another woman had rejected him earlier. Source

It is clear that Marcus Ray Johnson stabbed this woman to death and we don't care one iota about his childhood struggles of his father's abandonment of him when he was 15. Um, he isn't the first child to be abandoned by a parent, so that's not a good enough reason for clemency. We will be watching this case closely to see if the board will grant him clemency. If they do, their actions are racially motivated because there was reasonable doubt in the case of Troy Davis and it is clear this man killed this woman.

Albert Murray, Robert E. Keller, L. Gale Buckner, James E. Donald & Terry Barnard Denied Troy Davis a Clemency Despite Doubts

(l-r) Vice Chairman Albert Murray, Member Robert E. Keller,  Member L. Gale Buckner,
Chairman James E. Donald and Member Terry Barnard

The five people who make up the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles -- Vice Chairman Albert Murray, Member Robert E. Keller, Member L. Gale Buckner, Chairman James E. Donald and Member Terry Barnard -- are playing judge and jury with the life of Troy Davis, who could be innocent of the murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. Let's break down who appointed the five members:

L. Gale Buckner:

L. Gale Buckner was appointed to the Board on January 1, 2005 by Governor Sonny Perdue. She started her career as a communications officer at the Chatsworth Police Department, rising to the level of Sergeant and was honored as Officer of the Year.

Robert E. Keller:

Robert E. Keller from Clayton County was appointed to the Board by Governor Sonny Perdue on January 3, 2007. Mr. Keller served as executive counsel of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia. He is the former chairman of that organization. Before joining the Prosecuting Attorneys Council, he served as both assistant district attorney and district attorney of Clayton County.

Chairman James E. Donald (who is black):

Chairman James E. Donald began his term as Chairman of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles July 1, 2010. Chairman Donald was elected to the position by the Board Members in June. He seems to have been appointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Vice Chair Albert Murray (who is also black):

Albert Murray was appointed to the Board on May 15, 2010, by Governor Sonny Perdue. He was elected by the Board to the position of Vice Chairman in June and began serving in that role on July 1, 2010.

Albert Murray:

Appointed to the board by Gov. Sonny Perdue as well. Former State Representative Terry E. Barnard served nearly 16 years in the Georgia House of Representatives prior to being appointed to the State Board of Pardons and Parole. During his 8-term tenure, the Coastal Georgia Lawmaker.

The common thread in all their biographies is that they are Christians who hold the word of God true and close at heart. Then how can you let this man die with so much doubt swirling in the atmosphere?

Atlanta Pastor Marvin Morgan Arrested After Chaining Himself to Flagpole Outside GA Pardons & Parole Office to Protest Troy Davis' Impending Execution

As the state of Georgia prepares to execute a possibly innocent man, Troy Davis, Rev. Marvin Morgan showed up outside the board of Pardons and Paroles in downtown Atlanta and chained himself to the flagpole. Morgan, a pastor at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, said, he had begun a hunger strike to protest the execution.

"If the state of Georgia can intentionally kill a person in a case surrounded with this much doubt, then we're all subject to the same fate," he said. The long, looped chains, secured with a Master lock, were, he said, "saying that when one person's in bondage, we're all in bondage." Source: LA Times

Morgan was reportedly told by a Capitol police officer that he had chained himself to state property. He was subsequently arrested. I don't know with any amount of certainty that Troy Davis is guilty, but where there is reasonable doubt, one must err on the side of caution and reason. What if they are sending an innocent man to his death?

Clemency Denied for Troy Davis, Will be Executed Wednesday for Death of Savannah Police Officer Mark MacPhail

Clemency denied for Troy Davis. He will be executed by lethal injection Wednesday at 7 p.m. for the 1989 murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail.

Neal Boortz Continues His Attack on Troy Davis Via Twitter, Saying "I Have a Drink Ready to Toast This Cop Killer"

Neal Boortz continues his attack on Troy Davis via Twitter. While I don't condone the untimely death of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail, but there is a chance Troy Davis didn't shoot him and should not die by lethal injection on Wednesday. There is a chance that he is an innocent man. Neal Boortz is being UGLY and divisive in his language. Here's his latest tweet:

Neal Boortz Tweets "Execute Troy Davis by Firing Squad, Put it on Pay-Per-View"

Neal Boortz tweets: Execute Mumia and Davis together. Same way their victims died. Firing squad. Put it on pay-per-view. Proceeds to pay down national debt." What if Troy Davis is innocent of the murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail?

Crowds Rally in Atlanta in Support of Death Row Inmate Troy Davis, Convicted for the 1989 Murder of Savannah Police Mark MacPhail

Crowds rally in Atlanta & all over the world to show support for death row inmate Troy Davis, who scheduled to die September 21st, for the 1989 murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail, though seven of nine witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimonies.

As crowds marched through the streets of Atlanta and all over the world to show their support for death row inmate Troy Davis, who they say was wrongly convicted for the murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989, his mother, Anneliese MacPhail remains "confident" that he is guilty of the crime against her son, though seven of the nine witnesses have recanted or contradicted their statements to police and investigators. She remains defiant that the right man was convicted, though there was no evidence tying Davis to the crime. She told CNN, "I will never have closure," said Anneliese MacPhail. "But I may have some peace when he is executed." Um, what if you are calling for the death of an innocent man? Will she really have closure then? Over 663,000 names have been collected and handed over to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles seeking clemency for Troy Davis.