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Wrongly Convicted
Jeffrey's Story
Jeffrey's Story
WILL YOU JOIN THE CRUSADE IN FIGHTING FOR THE INNOCENCE?
TRUST IN UNITY, AND WE CAN ACCOMPLISH IT!
Dear Potential Supporters,
At twenty four years old, I am presently serving a LIFE SENTENCE without the possibility of parole. With an utter sense of urgency I am reaching out to the free world seeking assistance from anyone willing to aid me in defending myself against a system that desires to choke the life out of me before I’ve even had an opportunity to live.
Trust me, I can only imagine the volume of letters you have read or even heard about that ring the familiar bell of innocence, however, I am fully prepared to prove to you that I am truly innocent of the crime I’ve been convicted of. I proclaim this message out to the whole world in desperation and I pray that after viewing this page you will be touched enough to at least want to give my situation a further look. While America seemingly has the best judicial system in the free world, it also has its own set of flaws. The contradiction between theory and practices are as blaring as motor-bikes and I ask that you ride with me for a moment as I tell my story.
I was arrested on October 8, 2004 at the age of 17 by Philadelphia detectives who knew I didn’t commit this crime, and subsequently prosecuted by a prosecution who also knew I was innocent of this crime. I know these are bold accusations, but I WAS WRONGFULLY ARRESTED, PROSECUTED, AND CONVICTED OF THIS CRIME. Rather than be the vanguards of justice, they used whatever shrewd tactics available to undermine the judicial process and convict an innocent man. I languished in prison until March 8, 2005 when after seven attempts to connect me to this crime and producing absolutely nothing, and failure to meet the ‘must be tried’ order of the court, the Honorable Judge Benjamin Learner, of Courtroom 306, located at the Criminal Justice Center at 1301 Filbert Street, Philadelphia PA, 19107, dismissed the charges without prejudice, and I was allowed to return home to my family. To my horror, on July 25, 2005, five months after my release, Philadelphia detectives came to my home and re-arrested me! Based solely on the testimony of an individual whom I emphatically did not know, I was held over for trial. Mind you, I had been in court seven different times and not once did this so-called witness come forward. At my preliminary hearing, this same so called witness kept saying on the stand, “I can’t recall, I can’t recall”. Nevertheless, his statement to police was given enough deference to make me stand trial and defend myself against his unfounded accusations.
During the entire trial there was not one shred of evidence presented to support a conviction. Contradictory statements were used, no weapon was ever discovered that linked me to the crime, there was no forensic evidence that linked me to the crime in any shape, form, or fashion, and even the testimony of officers and crime scene experts revealed how poorly this case was investigated. The State put on three alleged witnesses and not one of them testified as they were expected and the prosecution asked the court that they be deemed hostile witnesses. The first one to the stand asserted his fifth amendment right to self-incrimination out of fear that his testimony would be used against him. The second would not adopt his statement, and infact, recanted it, and asserted that although he signed the statement, it was the coercive tactics used by detectives during their interrogation that made him feel he had no choice but to sign whatever they put in front of him. The last alleged witness testified that he was under the influence of narcotics when he gave the statement to police and that he couldn’t recall anything. At the time of these statements, all three individuals were already in custody for violent offenses, and are willing to help me out in any way they can to this day. Absolutely no-one testified that they witnessed me shooting, or participating in this crime.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania failed to meet its burden of proof and the judge abused his discretion by allowing such a verdict to stand. I’m twenty four years old, a high school graduate with absolutely no prior criminal record and a night out on the city’s crime soaked streets has put a noose around my neck. I have an honest, loving, hardworking mother, three beautiful sisters, and my soul reincarnated in the person of my adorable son Jaylen Love Dawkins, who’s six years old. Together we’re doing all that we can to bring justice to the light, but we’re fighting against the wealth of the State and have all but exhausted our resources. I am in dire need of assistance... Any assistance.
So that it is clearly understood, I completely empathize with the family of the victim. See the murder rate in Philadelphia is sky high and whenever such is the case it puts pressure on the mayor who puts pressure directly on the Commissioner to cut cost, which leads to the Commissioner putting pressure on the sub-ordinates and this at all times will result in shabby police work. I love the city of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, however, I was set-up and convicted of a murder that I did not do. Such are the circumstances that have interrupted my life and that of my family and the family of the deceased. Me being in prison unjustly brings no justice to the deceased or his family. What I ask you is to please understand is that, because a person has had a trial and was convicted, that doesn’t mean he/she is always guilty. Anyone that believes such must be someone who can carelessly ignore the reality that some people have sat on Death Row for half their lives, only to be exonerated after DNA proves that all the testimony of so called eye-witnesses at trial were false. CNN and the USA Today newspaper, have ran countless feature stories on innocent men and women, black and white, being sentenced to life in prison and decades later being found to be innocent. Now please imagine the innocent who have died in prison simply because no-one heard their cry for help because they believed everyone in prison must be guilty. Please let's stop this.
At present I’m on appeal and waiting on a decision. I’m also receiving assistance from an association in Ontario, Canada, called Association In Defence of the Wrongly Convicted. Thank God!!! Still, I cry out to the world for any assistance you may deem me worthy of be it legal research, detective work, letter writing, phone calls or just writing me with moral support. I have every page of my trial transcripts and I’m willing to share them with all who are seriously interested in assisting me and my family in this struggle. However, I ask very humbly that only the serious please request a copy. It’s costly to have them copied and as I said earlier, we’ve practically exhausted our resources and can ill afford to pay copying cost just because. Please help, if you feel you can’t, but think you know of others who can, please give me their address or phone number.
With all that is in my heart I thank you for your time and consideration. May God bless you and all that you hold dear.
Sincerely
Jeffrey Dawkins
#GX0748
SCI At Dallas
1000 Follies Road
Dallas
PA 18612
US.A.
Dawkins Family Contact (215) 288-3822 or (267) 687-9213
During the entire trial there was not one shred of evidence presented to support a conviction. Contradictory statements were used, no weapon was ever discovered that linked me to the crime, there was no forensic evidence that linked me to the crime in any shape, form, or fashion, and even the testimony of officers and crime scene experts revealed how poorly this case was investigated. The State put on three alleged witnesses and not one of them testified as they were expected and the prosecution asked the court that they be deemed hostile witnesses. The first one to the stand asserted his fifth amendment right to self-incrimination out of fear that his testimony would be used against him. The second would not adopt his statement, and infact, recanted it, and asserted that although he signed the statement, it was the coercive tactics used by detectives during their interrogation that made him feel he had no choice but to sign whatever they put in front of him. The last alleged witness testified that he was under the influence of narcotics when he gave the statement to police and that he couldn’t recall anything. At the time of these statements, all three individuals were already in custody for violent offenses, and are willing to help me out in any way they can to this day. Absolutely no-one testified that they witnessed me shooting, or participating in this crime.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania failed to meet its burden of proof and the judge abused his discretion by allowing such a verdict to stand. I’m twenty four years old, a high school graduate with absolutely no prior criminal record and a night out on the city’s crime soaked streets has put a noose around my neck. I have an honest, loving, hardworking mother, three beautiful sisters, and my soul reincarnated in the person of my adorable son Jaylen Love Dawkins, who’s six years old. Together we’re doing all that we can to bring justice to the light, but we’re fighting against the wealth of the State and have all but exhausted our resources. I am in dire need of assistance... Any assistance.
So that it is clearly understood, I completely empathize with the family of the victim. See the murder rate in Philadelphia is sky high and whenever such is the case it puts pressure on the mayor who puts pressure directly on the Commissioner to cut cost, which leads to the Commissioner putting pressure on the sub-ordinates and this at all times will result in shabby police work. I love the city of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, however, I was set-up and convicted of a murder that I did not do. Such are the circumstances that have interrupted my life and that of my family and the family of the deceased. Me being in prison unjustly brings no justice to the deceased or his family. What I ask you is to please understand is that, because a person has had a trial and was convicted, that doesn’t mean he/she is always guilty. Anyone that believes such must be someone who can carelessly ignore the reality that some people have sat on Death Row for half their lives, only to be exonerated after DNA proves that all the testimony of so called eye-witnesses at trial were false. CNN and the USA Today newspaper, have ran countless feature stories on innocent men and women, black and white, being sentenced to life in prison and decades later being found to be innocent. Now please imagine the innocent who have died in prison simply because no-one heard their cry for help because they believed everyone in prison must be guilty. Please let's stop this.
At present I’m on appeal and waiting on a decision. I’m also receiving assistance from an association in Ontario, Canada, called Association In Defence of the Wrongly Convicted. Thank God!!! Still, I cry out to the world for any assistance you may deem me worthy of be it legal research, detective work, letter writing, phone calls or just writing me with moral support. I have every page of my trial transcripts and I’m willing to share them with all who are seriously interested in assisting me and my family in this struggle. However, I ask very humbly that only the serious please request a copy. It’s costly to have them copied and as I said earlier, we’ve practically exhausted our resources and can ill afford to pay copying cost just because. Please help, if you feel you can’t, but think you know of others who can, please give me their address or phone number.
With all that is in my heart I thank you for your time and consideration. May God bless you and all that you hold dear.
Sincerely
Jeffrey Dawkins
#GX0748
SCI At Dallas
1000 Follies Road
Dallas
PA 18612
US.A.
Dawkins Family Contact (215) 288-3822 or (267) 687-9213
