The state of California may be on the verge of executing an innocent man -- and only Governor Jerry Brown can help the truth come to light.
There's overwhelming evidence that the San Bernardino Sheriff's Office tampered with/planted evidence, lied to a jury, and withheld crucial evidence from defense attorneys in order to pin a grisly 1983 murder on Kevin Cooper.(1)
We need the truth about what happened. That's why Cooper's attorneys aren't asking Brown to pardon Cooper to commute his sentence -- they just want a fair reevaluation of the evidence using modern technology, which they believe will prove their client’s innocence.(2)
Governor Brown owes it to us, before killing in our names, to ensure that the man the state hopes to execute is guilty of the crime of which he’s been accused -- especially with so much evidence of glaring misconduct from police and prosecutors.
Sign the petition demanding Governor Brown to order a review of Cooper’s case with new DNA testing.
No one should ever have to endure such a tragedy as the one that befell the Ryens and their child’s best friend Christopher Hughes that June. Whoever committed such a crime must be brought to justice. But justice is not served by executing the wrong person. And there are numerous reasons to believe that Kevin Cooper did not commit this crime.
First, it's unlikely that one man wielded three weapons to stab the victims 143 times in under a couple of minutes. That's probably why the sole survivor of the tragedy repeatedly told investigators that the attackers had been three or four white men. And when he first saw Cooper’s face on television, he said outright that Cooper was not the killer.(3) Eyewitnesses also report seeing three white men driving around the block in the victims’ stolen station wagon and entering a local bar covered in blood.(4)
Second, it’s likely that the police manipulated evidence to frame Cooper. For instance, one woman reported that her ex-boyfriend could be a suspect and gave the police his bloody coveralls, but the police threw them out and then lied under oath about it.(5) Their most compelling piece of evidence was a bloody t-shirt with Cooper’s blood. But when the blood was independently tested it had test tube preservative in it, indicating that it had been added to the shirt after the fact from a previously collected sample. Later tests on Cooper’s blood sample showed that the test tube had another person’s DNA in it -- as though someone topped the tube off.(6)
The evidence casts overwhelming doubt on Cooper as a suspect. That’s why Governor Brown must order an independent review of Cooper’s case with new DNA testing so we can finally get to the truth.
In another review of the case in 2009, Judge Fletcher wrote in a 100-page opinion, “There is no way to say this politely. The district court failed to provide Cooper a fair hearing and flouted our direction to perform the two tests.” Five other judges agreed.(7)
Twelve judges in total questioned the conviction. Twelve. Let that sink in. Believing that Cooper is unquestionably guilty in the face of strong evidence of police misconduct is to believe that police and prosecutors can never act immorally, illegally, or in their own self-interest -- and that’s just not true.
After convicting an innocent man, a Louisiana prosecutor warned others from making “revenge for victims the dominant motivation and winning at all costs the goal.”(8) The culture of law enforcement agencies can often reward winning over seeking the truth. As our highest elected state official, Governor Brown must set the truth as the goal.
Tell Governor Brown to order a review of Cooper’s case with new DNA testing.
Yours in the fight for a more just criminal justice system,
William, along with Annie, Brenna, Caitlin, Cheyenne, Eddie, Emma, Kelsey, Lindsay, Mahdi, Mary, Molly, Raquel, Scottie, Susannah, and Tim (the Courage team)
PS. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote a compelling column about Kevin Cooper’s case last weekend -- check it out and share his story with your friends and family on social media.
Footnotes:
1. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/17/opinion/sunday/kevin-cooper-death-row-innocent.html?src=me
2. Refer to Note 1
3. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/end-california-execution-moratorium-raises-controversial-death-penalty-case-n507866
4. https://medium.com/@FREEKEVINCOOPER/facts-that-death-row-stories-didn-t-include-about-the-kevin-cooper-case-34ca35de545b, http://articles.latimes.com/1985-01-19/news/mn-8097_1_kevin-cooper, & http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/01/opinion/la-oe-rivkin-deathpenalty-20101201
5. Refer to note 4
6. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/03/local/la-me-kevincooper3-2010jan03/3 & refer to Note 1 and 3
7. http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2009/05/11/05-99004o.pdf
8. http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/04/17/california-death-row-inmate-kevin-coopers-clemency-petition-stirs-emotions-30-years-after-familys-slaying/