Clarence Moses-El has been in prison for more than 27 years for a crime he did not commit.
On Monday, December 14th, 2015 Judge Kandace Gerdes , vacated the conviction against Clarence Moses el and ordered that there be a new trial. This decision is based off the confession by L.C. Jackson, one of three men originally named by the victim as being responsible for the rape and assault on her, which was introduced at a hearing as new evidence in the case. Clarence's name was not originally named (see the full story below).
Bail for Clarence Moses el has been set at $75,000. Help the family secure the funds to free an innocent man and help them travel to see him for the holidays, as they prepare for the next stage of this ordeal.
100% of proceeds go directly to the family for travel and lodging.
Read the story below:
Clarence Moses-El has been in prison since 1987, when he was sentenced to 48 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. He has maintained his innocence since the beginning. The three people originally identified as suspects by the victim were never arrested nor were they ever questioned.
One of those identified, L.C. Jackson, has since confessed to having committed the crime for which Clarence Moses-El was convicted. The letter that he wrote to Moses-El, asking that his attorney be sent to interview him, begins with, “I really don’t know what to say to you. But let’s start by bringing what was done in the dark into the light. I have a lot on my heart.”
Jackson, who is in prison for raping a woman and her 9-year=old daughter, details the incident and the brutal assault against the victim.
However, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey refuses to reopen the case.
Clarence Moses-El has experienced a number of setbacks in his quest to prove his innocence. Over the years of his imprisonment, he has won the support of the Innocence Project and attorney Barry Scheck. who won a court order to have DNA evidence tested. Although marked in a box labeled “DO NOT DESTROY,” the DNA evidence was thrown into a dumpster by the Denver Police Department.
Moses-El’s request for a new trial because of the destroyed evidence was denied by a judge based on a Supreme Court decision in Youngblood v. Arizona, which held that the destruction of evidence favorable to the defendant is not grounds for a new trial unless the defendant can prove that the state acted in bad faith. This is an almost impossible burden for any defendant to meet, as it requires the defense to prove the state of mind of the prosecutors or police who were involved in the evidence’s destruction.
The detective originally involved with the case, James Huff, who died a few years ago, stated about the conviction, “I always have had doubts about this. I could never prove it either way,” and “This is one of those cases where I really wish there was DNA.” Ironically, he was also the detective responsible for the destruction of the evidence.
Moses-El also received support from the late Colorado Sen. Ken Gordon, who pushed for a new investigation based on the destroyed evidence.
On January 23rd, a hearing on the new evidence, the confession by L.C. Jackson, will be heard and could lead to the legal process to free Clarence Moses-El.
Numerous articles have been written highlighting the injustice committed against Moses-El, who has spent almost half his life in a cell, but has remained resolute and defiant. Susan Greene and Miles Moffeit, separately or together wrote several articles for the Denver Post and the Colorado Independent.
See articles
http://www.9news.com/story/news/crime/2015/12/1...
at: http://www.denverpost.com/evidence/ci_6429277http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_8422851 and
http://www.forensicmag.com/news/2013/12/‘bringing-what-was-done-dark-light’#.UtRmo_RDuSo
An article by Larry Hales in Workers World newspaper cam be found at:http://www.workers.org/articles/2014/01/10/new-investigation-reparations-sought-clarence-moses-el/
The International Association for Property and Evidence included a video piece on Clarence Moses-El: http://www.iape.org/resourcesPages/video.html
It is time for Clarence Moses-El to be freed. He is an innocent man. Demand that District Attorney. Mitch Morrissey do the right thing and set him free.
Write to Clarence Moses El at:
Mr. Clarence Moses-El
Register Number 60183
Bent County Correctional Facility
11560 Road FF75
Las Animas, CO 81054-9573