I went to a forum today organized by Karen Daniels, mother of Erick Daniels who was convicted in 2001 for a robbery that his mom says that he didn't commit. Daniels was 15 at the time.
Now I know some of ya'll are saying that a mother always thinks her child is innocent. Even if there was surveillance film of a dude with his face in the camera lip syncing old Michael Jackson jams with an arm full of stolen jewelry, many a mom would still be up in court all loud and unruly shoutin'
"NOT MY BABY!"
But that's what mothers should do. If they aren't out advocatin' for their kids who will? Some overworked, underpaid public defender who spends his court time daydreamin' about old Baywatch episodes?
What made today's forum so interesting was not just the teary-eyed testimony of the mom, but also that of reporters Demorris Lee and Mosi Secret as well as Attny. Carlos Mahoney.
Seems like some real funky "Law and Order" type stuff went down with the case.
I was sittin' in the back of the room but from what I could make out:
Demorris Lee got arrested for "harassing" the alleged victim by calling her for an interview, Ms. Daniels got threatened by the judge for makin' funny faces in court and somebody swiped Secret's camera man's pictures of the crime scene....
See, real funky stuff!
According to Atty. Mahoney the court seemed to feel that if Daniels didn't actually rob the lady, hey, he must of done something else illegal in his lifetime.
"Hey aren't those Durham guys all gangbangers, anyway."
For my two cents, I think that the case should be reopened. Should a young man be forced to spend most of his teen years and a good part of his young adult life in jail because somebody recognized his "eyebrows."
(Personally, I always thought that Groucho Marx was responsible for the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, but that's just me)
As I take a good look at the kid's eyebrows in a picture in the Independent newspaper...
You know, they look a lot like mine did at that age......
To read Mosi Secret's story go to:
