Injustice Anywhere: Recent Episodes
Injustice Anywhere
In 2002, Jeff Havard was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death in Mississippi for the sexual assault and murder of his girlfriend’s six-month-old daughter, Chloe Britt. The truth about this case is clear. Chloe slipped from Jeff's arms while lifting her from the tub after a bath, causing her head to hit a nearby toilet. New expert evidence supports Jeff's claims. Chloe’s death was a tragic accident, not a murder. Jeff Havard is innocent.
In May of 2016, the Mississippi Supreme Court ordered an evidentiary hearing for Jeff’s case based on defense claims of new evidence due to changes in the science behind Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS).
Unfortunately, the court limited the scope of the hearing to SBS, which barred the defense from addressing the now fully debunked charge of sexual assault. The evidentiary hearing took place in August of 2017, in the courtroom of Adams County Circuit Judge, Forrest Johnson. Johnson is the same judge who presided over Jeff’s trial in 2002.
Jeff’s evidentiary hearing took three days. The judge listened to testimony from four experts who testified for the defense and heard testimony from a pediatrician who testified for the prosecution. The hearing, which was limited to a single topic, and provided no immediate decision, took one day longer than the entire trial that landed Jeff on death row in 2002.
Judge Johnson waited over sixteen months to rule on the evidentiary hearing. Johnson’s report sided with the state. The report, which was less than five pages in length, made it clear that Johnson had put his own best interests ahead of his duties as a judge. Johnson lazily copied most of his skimpy ruling directly from previously written decisions. In doing so, he completely ignored compelling expert evidence presented to the court. Instead of taking new evidence into account, Johnson recycled provably false allegations that have been parroted by the state for years.
In a weak attempt to show impartiality, Johnson ordered that Jeff be resentenced in front of a jury, rather than reinstating Jeff’s previous sentence of death. Why would Johnson do that if he truly felt Jeff was guilty of raping and murdering an infant? Johnson’s ruling suggests that he was moved by the powerful evidence proving Jeff’s innocence, but he lacked the courage to do what was right. Johnson’s decision was self-serving because it was favorable to the state. The jury at the resentencing hearing only had two options to choose from; the death penalty or life in prison without parole. The state wanted this case to go away in a hurry. Locking up Jeff for life and forgetting about him worked just fine for the state of Mississippi.
On December 18, 2018, Jeff was resentenced to life without parole. Jeff is now off of death row, but his fight is far from over. In September of 2019, Jeff’s defense team took their case back to the Mississippi Supreme Court arguing that the Adam’s County Circuit Court errored by not granting Jeff a new trial based on newly discovered evidence that would dramatically alter the outcome if the case was tried again before a jury.
The arguments presented by Jeff’s defense team are powerful. They completely dismantle the arguments and delay tactics put forth by the state. In this podcast, we hear from Jeff’s dear friend and advocate Lori Howard about Jeff's latest court filing. We also discuss Jeff’s current living conditions, and we provide information on how Jeff’s supporters can help him as he waits for the Mississippi Supreme Court to rule on his case.
Learn more about Jeff’s case at www.FreeJeffreyHavard.org.
Keep up to date with current events on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreeJeffreyHavard/.
Support Jeff by donating to Jeff’s canteen and phone account through Paypal using this email address: Myloridarlin66@gmail.com.
You can also support Jeff by participating in Jeff’s letter-writing campaign to the Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch: https://www.facebook.com/events/2527072554290043/
In this podcast I will be discussing the Jeff Havard case with advocate Lori Howard.
In 2002, Jeff Havard was convicted and sentenced to death in the state of Mississippi for the sexual assault and murder of his girlfriend’s 6-month-old daughter, Chloe Britt. Jeff has stated from the beginning that the infant slipped from is arms while lifting her from the tub after giving her a bath, causing her head to hit a nearby toilet.
There is no evidence whatsoever to support a sexual assault charge. In fact, multiple experts now support Jeff’s claim that Chloe’s death was a tragic accident.
In May of 2016, the Mississippi Supreme Court ordered an evidentiary hearing for Jeff’s case based on defense claims of new evidence due to changes in the science behind Shaken Baby Syndrome. After nearly 15 years of incarceration on death row, Jeff finally had the opportunity to return to the courtroom of Adams County Circuit Court Judge Forrest Johnson, with renewed hope that the truth would finally be heard.
Judge Johnson presided over Jeff’s trial in 2002. The trial was speedy to say the least. Within a matter of two days, the court selected a jury, tried the case, received the jury’s verdict, and sentenced Jeff to death. It took all of two days to send Jeff Havard to death row.
Tune in to this podcast to hear the details of Judge Johnson’s ruling that recently took Jeff Havard off death row, while leaving many unanswered questions about Jeff’s future.
To learn more about this case, please visit www.FreeJeffreyHavard.org
This article provides more information about Jeff’s evidentiary hearing: http://wrongfulconvictionnews.com/judge-decide-mississippi-put-jeffrey-havard-death-crime-never-happened/
Jeff Havard needs our help. His fight is far from over. If you would like to donate to Jeff’s cause, please visit Freeing Jeff on Facebook for more details: https://www.facebook.com/lorihoward36
In this podcast, I have a discussion with Rodney Lincoln, and his daughter, Kay Lincoln. Rodney Lincoln spent 36 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. After years of advocacy from people all around the world, and the legal support from the Midwest Innocence Project, Rodney's sentence was commuted by Missouri Governor, Eric Grietens, on June 1, 2018.
Rodney Lincoln was convicted and given two life sentences for the murder of JoAnn Tate and the assault of Tate’s two young daughters, in April of 1982, in St. Louis, Missouri. Evidence clearly shows that Rodney was wrongfully convicted based on a hair found at the crime scene that was wrongly attributed to him and a questionable line-up conducted by police. Eyewitness, Melissa DeBoer, who was just 7 years old at the time, recanted her ID testimony that ultimately put Rodney in prison. In recent years, Melissa worked as a strong advocate for Rodney’s release. If you would like to learn all of the details of Rodney’s case please visit www.freerodneylincoln.com. You can also visit www.injusticeanywhere.org for details on the case.
In this podcast, we will not be rehashing the details of Rodney’s case. Instead, we will be celebrating his freedom. Tune in to find out what Rodney has been up to since his release, as well as his exciting plans for the future.
Injustice Anywhere is on a mission to help Rodney reach his gofundme goal. If you are able, please consider making a donation. https://www.gofundme.com/rodneylincolnfinallyfree
In this episode we discuss the Barry Beach Case in Montana with guests Dan Gengler and Joyce Ranum.
Barry Beach was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1984 for the 1979 murder of Kimberly Nees in Poplar, Montana.
Beach’s conviction was secured by a confession he gave to police. Beach maintains that the confession was coerced. The detectives who conducted the interrogation have been linked to multiple confessions that turned out to be false, and the lead detective has a history of misconduct that seriously jeopardizes his credibility.
Beach was granted a new trial in 2011 and was released from prison. In May of 2013, the Montana Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s ruling granting a new trial. The ruling reinstated Beach's murder conviction, sending him back to prison to serve his life sentence.
Barry Beach continues to maintain his innocence and he has supporters all around the world fighting for his freedom.
In this episode we discuss the Fairbanks Four case in Alaska with our guest Brian O’Donoghue. Brian is a University of Alaska Fairbanks Journalism Professor.
John Hartman, a 15-year-old high school student, was murdered in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1997. Two young men, George Frese and Eugene Vent, allegedly confessed to the crime. They also implicated two other young men, Marvin Roberts and Kevin Pease. All four were convicted of Hartman’s murder.
The accused became known as the “Fairbanks Four.” In the years following their convictions, Frese and Vent recanted their statements and claimed their confessions were false.
The Alaska Innocence Project has presented new evidence in the form of an affidavit from a man named William Holmes, in which Holmes stating that he and another group of teens committed the crime.
Did controversial confessions, racism, and police misconduct send four innocent men to prison? We explore the facts of the case and let you draw your own conclusions.
In this episode we the Jimmy Dennis case in Pennsylvania. Our scheduled guests are Tonya Sneed and Darren Motise.
Jimmy Dennis was convicted and sentenced to death in 1992 for the fatal shooting of 17-year-old high school student Chedell Ray Williams in North Philadelphia, in 1991.
The shooting took place at a bus stop over an apparent theft of a pair of earrings. Jimmy’s conviction was secured by questionable eyewitness testimony. Three eyewitnesses claiming to see Jimmy, described a perpetrator that was 5’10” or taller, weighing between 170 and 190 pounds. Jimmy is 5’4″ and weighed 130 pounds at the time of the murder.
There is no physical evidence linking Jimmy Dennis to the crime. Jimmy has steadfastly maintained his innocence, and he has supporters around the world fighting for his freedom.
A federal judge overturned Jimmy’s conviction in 2013. The 2013 ruling was overturned by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in February of this year. The February decision was then vacated in May, with a new hearing currently pending on the case.