AN INNOCENT MAN
ON DEATH ROW
FOR 42 YEARS
Recent Developments
Free Chief
Breaking News: Former Senior Editor of Fresno Bee Holds DA Accountable, "Defense lawyers failed; prosecutors withheld; judges looked away." Read Full Letter Here
Chief's Innocence Covered by The LA Times in Light of Gov. Newsom's Death Penalty Moratorium - LA Times
Prosecutor Misconduct? Tainted and Missing Evidence? Death Row Inmate Wants His Freedom - Fresno Bee
Chief's next hearing will take place in January 2020 in front of the 5th District Court. Click here for more information.
Legendary trial lawyer Tony Serra has agreed to represent Chief (Fresno Bee). Read more about Serra's involvement in Chief's case - Fresno Bee
Read about Chief's case in The Guardian.
Chief is currently awaiting a penalty phase retrial after the 9th Circuit overturned his death penalty sentence in 2012. Please click here to Learn More and stay tuned for further updates.
Chief has been let down by our legal system. Chief's lawyer in his trial also represented Troy Lee Jones, a California man convicted and sentenced to death row. In 1993, Mr. Jones was exonerated and released from death row because of his attorney's incompetent performance. Meanwhile, Chief, in prison after being represented by the same attorney, remains incarcerated.
Death Penalty Injustice
Recently, Alfred Woodcox was released after being held in solitary confinement for more than 40 years. Similarly to Mr. Woodcox, Chief has served almost 20 years of his sentence in solitary confinement.
In June 2015, Alfred Dewayne Brown was exonerated after serving more than 10 years on death row in Texas for a crime he did not commit, just another example of a man, like Chief, wrongfully imprisoned.
The recent reversal of Clarence Moses-El's 20 year conviction for murder demonstrates the tremendous power prosecutors have in our system. Similarly to Chief's case, prosecutors in Mr. Moses-El's case withheld and destroyed evidence, making it difficult for an innocent man to win release. Read more about Mr. Moses-El's case here.
