Law Tales #7: The Case of the Gold Teeth

Innocent people do exist on death row.

As I have written previously, I handled death penalty appeals while at a job a couple decades ago.

Before doing this, I was already jaded about police corruption and prosecutor misconduct, but this one took the cake.

Here was the case: black man robs a convenience store. Witnesses all testify that his pistol was “odd”. It didn't look like a normal pistol. After he got the money from the cashier, the gun went off, killing the cashier. The witnesses were unsure if the perp fired the gun intentionally. He got away in a gateway car driven by someone else.

The gun was found in the trunk of a car abandoned in a park. The car had a dead battery. The police tracked down the owner of the car, a young black woman. Let's call her Melissa.

She confessed to be the getaway driver. And she named the shooter as my client. Let's call him Richard. The police went and arrested Richard on this report and charged him with murder. Melissa got immunity in exchange.

Richard was a known gang member. He had gone to high school with Melissa. No one knew if they had ever dated in high school.

At the time of the murder, Richard was hanging with his gang, playing basketball. 50 people would say he was there, but those were 50 gang members.

Not long after Richard was charged, Melissa tells the police and prosecutor that, no Richard didn't do it, it was her boyfriend. Let's call him John. The police didn't want to hear it. The prosecutor didn't want to hear it. When she initially refused to testify to the grand jury, they threatened to charge her with perjury. She reluctantly testified that Richard was the shooter.

At the trial, knowing that she could be charged herself, she again tried to fix her story. She told the prosecutor that it really wasn't Richard. She barely knew Richard and only named him in a panic after being arrested. Lots of people could connect John to Melissa.

No matter what she said, they again threatened her, telling her she would get 20 to life unless she fingered Richard. She reluctantly went along again.

At the trial, the witnesses said the shooter kind of looked like Richard, but it wasn't a good identification. They also said the shooter had gold teeth. Richard smiled at the jury and showed he didn't have gold teeth.

No matter. Richard was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.

It was a true miscarriage of justice. His death sentence was not upheld. Richard might have been a drug dealing gang member but he didn't kill the cashier.

I really enjoyed talking with Richard. He told me he had been on drugs since 4th grade. Until he was on death row, he had never been clean. In prison his mind became clear and he started to learn.

Richard was a victim of his environment. Absent poverty where he grew up, he could have easily had a nice crime free life. As is, he rose to the head of his gang because of his talents. Not every accused murderer is innocent like this, but Richard was.

People used to ask me how I could defend murderers. This case shows why everyone needs a fair justice system and a good defense. I would tell people about this case to explain how I could do it.