UPDATE : Getting close need more signatures!!!!
I recently come across an email and have questioned fairness of the situation. If you believe in helping sign the petition. I have researched it to a point and realized we need to get it out there.
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Trending petition
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On November 15, 1984, 5-year-old Jerrod Hessling witnessed the beating, rape, and stabbing death of his babysitter. When asked to describe the killer, he said, without hesitation, that it was a white male. Another child present during the murder saw a white man’s tattooed arm reach inside the house to open a sliding glass door.
Yet somehow, the lawyers in the case determined that Kenneth Clair, a dark-skinned African American homeless man who had been squatting next door, was the killer. When Jerrod saw him on the witness stand and insisted they had the wrong man, the prosecution chalked it up to youth and trauma, and pursued the death penalty for Kenneth Clair. To this day, 31 years later, Mr. Clair sits on San Quentin’s death row, awaiting his execution date.
But that’s not the biggest bombshell in this case -- in 2008, forensic testing revealed that DNA found on the murder victim did not match Clair’s. DNA taken from a glove found at the scene also did not match. It matches another individual, but the Orange County District Attorney insists that “confidentiality is required” concerning this evidence, and for 7 years now, the identity of the person whose DNA does match the swab has remained a secret.
In the interest of justice, we must call on the Orange County DA and California state lawmakers to demand that the DNA evidence be turned over to Kenneth Clair’s defense.
Since his conviction, Clair has struggled with ineffective counsel. He wanted his lawyers to work at investigating the crime, rather than simply trying to free him from death row, but they never did. His plea for substitute counsel even made it to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012, and he did eventually receive a switch of counsel. Finally, he is being represented by people who are dedicated to his exoneration.
But their hands are tied without this crucial DNA evidence, and more of Clair’s precious life is wasting away in prison as they fight to obtain it.
Please sign my petition if you feel that the disclosure of the identity of a possible “person of interest” is something that the prosecution should not be allowed to withhold.
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This is original findings of said investigator
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/california-death-row-inmate-kenneth-clair-an-african-american-convicted-of-a-murder-which-eye-witness-claims-was-done-by-a-white-man-back-in-1984-may-have-new-evidence-to-acquit-54443682.html
SANTA ANA, Calif., July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- California Death Row inmate
Kenneth Clair has new hope of proving he is innocent of a murder that he was
convicted of back in 1984. Clair was convicted of murdering Linda Rodgers in
Santa Ana, CA. A child witness told police back in 1984 that a white man
killed his baby sitter. Clair is an African American.
C. J. Ford Jr., a licensed private investigator who is working for Mr.
Clair, has discovered unidentified fingerprints that were not properly tested
at the crime scene. However, local law officials are reluctant to test these
prints. Ford claims that these prints could possibly reveal the actual person
that committed the crime. There has never been any physical evidence to link
Kenneth Clair to the crime scene. Mr. Clair was convicted by a combination of
a story told by a girlfriend, who has recently recanted her story, and
ineffective assistance of counsel.
Kenneth Clair privately hired C. J. Ford Jr. of C. J. Ford Private
Investigations, an independent criminal specialist based in California, to
investigate his case. Mr. Clair claims that over the last 15 years no one has
ever fully investigated his case. Clair believes that his defense team is
just trying to prolong his case so that he will die a natural death in prison
instead of being executed, and never had the intention of investigating into
his case, or trying to get him acquitted of the crime.
Mr. Ford discovered that there were unidentified fingerprints that were
not properly tested at the crime scene, and states that authorities know about
them. Ford also found and viewed evidence that disappeared in police custody.
He feels that DNA testing that did not exist in 1984 could acquit Mr. Clair.
Mr. Ford also interviewed a key witness who testified against Mr. Clair, his
ex-girlfriend, who now has recanted her story.
Ford comments, "There is no one who can place Mr. Clair at the scene of
the crime, because he wasn't there and there has never been any physical
evidence to link Mr. Clair to this crime. The child witness told three police
officers that it was a 'White Man' who committed the crime. It is outrageous
that Kenneth Clair, an African American, has been in prison for over 20 years
for a crime that he did not commit. Authorities empowered to uphold his
constitutional rights are ignoring Mr. Clair's opportunity to be acquitted."
To learn more visit http://www.cjfordpi.com (Kenneth Clair Story).
Contact Information:
C. J. Ford Jr./ C. J. Ford Private Investigations
Chief of Investigations
Phone: 714-203-8370
Email: cjfordpi@adelphia.net
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