Thanks to Dr. Michael West's testimony, Kennedy Brewer, who is Black, spent seven years on death row for the murder of his three-year-old child before advanced DNA testing excluded him from the crime.
In Mississippi alone, Dr. Michael West's expert "evidence" has led to wrongful charges, convictions & death row sentences for at least 7 people for a combined 75+ years in prison, including Eddie Lee Howard & Kennedy Brewer, @Innocence says. 4/ mississippifreepress.org/9488/eddie-lee…
But even decades after Dr. Michael West was widely discredited, Eddie Lee Howard remained on death row.
In his first trial, DA Colom says now that prosecutors did not enter pictures or even diagrams of the bite marks that they relied on to convict Eddie Lee Howard.
"Since Howard’s incarceration in 1992, Parchman has violated the Safe Water Drinking Act over a hundred times for excess amounts of dangerous bacteria such as coliform and for routinely having radiologicals in the water such as Uranium and Radium-226." 10/ mississippifreepress.org/9488/eddie-lee…
Parchman began as a 90% Black prison farm that replicated Old South slave cotton plantations. It's often called "the worst prison in the United States."
Rep. Karriem: “When I led a delegation to (Parchman) early last year, the suffocating stench of feces hung in the air. Blood was still visible on the floor from the recent rash of violence. Water was ankle-deep with live wires floating like electric eels." mississippifreepress.org/8163/legislato…
Give @11_mcgee a follow & read his excellent report on Eddie Lee Howard's story. He's celebrating freedom in the photo, but remember: he lost 26 years.
If you support people-centered reporting that holds the powerful to account in Mississippi, please follow @MSFreePress and consider giving a one-time or recurring donation to mfp.ms/donate.
Note: In September 2016, President Barack Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology concluded that forensic bite-mark evidence is “not scientifically valid.” mississippifreepress.org/9488/eddie-lee…
Multiple innocent Black men went to prison because of Dr. Michael West's testimony.
In The Innocence Files, Dr. Michael West praised the Forrest Cty Confederate monument (which Hattiesburg residents want removed) & compared himself to it:
"They wanted to erase me from history."
Tune in for an episode of MFP Live on Thursday featuring DA Scott Colom, who dropped the charges against Eddie Lee Howard, along with @MSFreePress editor @DonnerKay and @11_mcgee, who reported this story.
NEW: As Mississippi passed a bill ending the state income tax today. Rep. Trey Lamar compared it to ending slavery.
“President Lincoln said the right to have a reward for your work was the birthright of every American. That was the main issue of the war.” mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…
The "Mississippi Tax Freedom Act of 2021" would phase out the income tax over a 10-year period starting in 2022.
The right wing has a very deliberate strategy behind its endless cries of victimhood, suppression & liberal bias: to bully powerful institutions into granting it special privileges & establishing double standards for their benefit.
One of the most successful targets of this long-time campaign to "work the refs" was James Comey.
@Comey began the Clinton email investigation for fear the FBI would look political if he didn't.
He publicly criticized Clinton even as he exonerated her due to the same fear. 2/
Comey didn't go public about the investigation into evidence that the Trump campaign was coordinating with Russia for fear of right-wing accusations of bias if he did.
Comey went public about finding "new" Clinton emails 10 days before the election for the same fear. 3/
NEW: Moss Point Mayor Mario King & his wife Natasha told contributors for the 2019 "Mayor's Gala" that proceeds would support a mental health program for K-12 students.
The Kings plan to plead guilty to at least one charge each on Feb. 24. But Mayor King has signaled no plans to resign despite facing 14 federal charges and up to 20 years. His term ends in June.
The Kings told gala attendees that their contributions would “support the efforts of mental health in the City of Moss Point with a focus on the Moss Point School District, converting spaces into a therapeutic and innovative learning environment." 3/ mississippifreepress.org/9439/moss-poin…
Well, call me Miss Cleo and lay down a Benjamin. (h/t: @CCarter520)
A statement from the senator:
"With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, so flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon."
His return flight was originally for Saturday; it changed this morning.
NEW: U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker voted for more than $3.6 trillion in stimulus spending under Trump last year.
But he says he'll vote 'No' on Biden's stimulus because it “would add to the mountain of debt that our children and grandchildren will have to pay.” mississippifreepress.org/9294/sen-wicke…
In 2009, Sen. Roger Wicker cited concerns about the debt as he voted against Obama's stimulus $830billion stimulus, calling it "the most expensive piece of legislation in the history of our republic.”
Since he joined the U.S. Senate, @SenatorWicker has twice voted against stimulus bills when under Democratic presidents, calling them "Spending Bills," and twice voted for stimulus bills under a Republican president—Trump—calling them "relief packages." mississippifreepress.org/9294/sen-wicke…