He was falsely accused. The story of Willie Stokes, an Afro-descendant man, has been around the world after it was learned that he spent almost 40 years unjustly imprisoned for murder in a United States prison.
How was the truth discovered? According to the New York Post, Franklin Lee, the witness in the case, falsely accused Willie stokes, now 61, for murdering a woman during a dice game in May 1984.
Incredibly, this false testimony was planned by two detectives, now dead, with the intention of closing the murder case. The witness, identified as Franklin Lee, was imprisoned for rape and murder not related to the process.
In exchange for lying in his statement, they offered him sex and drugs during his time in jail. In addition, they promised to help him get his sentence reduced only if he helped them close the case.
Franklin Lee agreed to speak out against him and the man received life in prison and spent 37 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. However, his case would take a 360 ° turn, as the truth was discovered.
Repented of accusation
After testifying against him, Lee retracted; however, Stokes had already been sentenced and was taken to jail on an unjust accusation. He revealed that it was rectified by his mother.
“Once I spoke with my mother, she told me, ‘I didn’t raise you like this, to lie about a man because you got into trouble,’” Lee said in her testimony. “She said, ‘I don’t care if they give you 1,000 years. Come in and tell the truth. And that’s what I did, “he added.
“I got weak and accepted the offer,” Lee justified himself before a federal judge in USA in November of last year, the same date he was released from prison after serving 35 years on charges of rape, murder and perjury.
After learning the false testimony, Stokes asked his lawyer to appeal the life sentence for murder.
“Homicide prosecutors who used Franklin Lee’s testimony to convict Willie Stokes then prosecuted him for lying about my defendant’s case and never told him anything,” said Michael Diamondstein, Stokes’ attorney.
Released almost 40 years later
After 37 years in jail, Stokes was released by a magistrate in U.S, who indicated that the initial sentence qualified it as an “atrocious violation of constitutional rights”.
It should be noted that the man left a state prison in Philadelphia this week and was received by his family relatives.
“Today is a tremendous day. We are all very grateful, “said his lawyer, Diamondstein. “However, it is also a sad day, because it reminds us of how illegal, unfair and unfair law enforcement was in Philadelphia for so long,” he concluded.
Source-elpopular.pe