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This
is the day this site was built. Our hopes and prayers are that good news will
follow.
Truth in Justice, a non profit organization devoted to those wrongfully convicted, added a link to this page on their home page. They are also putting our story in their upcoming news letter. A link to this site can be found in the Recourses and Links section of this site. Please check it out. Many thanks to Truth in Justice for their efforts thus far.
October 27, 1999 Dewayne has found proof that his evidence has been tampered with. Despite many attempts to get his case retried, he is being blocked at every turn. He desperately needs representation to help get his case back into court for a fair trial. Is there anyone out there who does pro-bono work that can help? We can't give up. December 1, 1999 We
have found that Dewayne was convicted outside of the court's jurisdiction. His
indictment was incomplete, missing three elements required to try him for first
degree murder. Again, he has proof that he did not commit the crime to begin with;
this just further demonstrates how badly his case was handled. He has so much
evidence of his innocence and of the authorities wrong doing/mishandling this
case, that if he could just find someone to represent him this could all be over
with soon. October 31 , 2000 Website
restructured in hopes of gaining more interest in the case. Appeals have been
tied up in the courts for some time now and we are waiting for a response. Dewayne
is attempting to represent himself and still hopes to find legal assistance. June 15, 2001 Appeals are still tied up
in court. This is the longest any of the appeals have stayed in the system without
being turned down so we are hopeful. Yet, none of the appeals have resulted
in hearings; they have merely been ignored and sent back. New legislation is being introduced to protect the innocent (Innocence Protection Act) more information on this can be found here. We are hopeful that this can help all those wrongfully convicted. October 15, 2001 After almost a year in the Tennessee court system, Dewayne's appeal has once again been denied. This was his last chance at the state level. At this point we lack the resources to carry the process any further. We have found that it seems impossible to make any progress without legal assistance. Without legal assistance, his only hope of being free is parole. He may get a parole hearing sometime in 2003 and freedom may not be possible then since Dewayne will not admit to a crime that he did not commit. YOUR TIME AND YOUR PRAYERS ARE VERY APPRECIATED. February 4, 2004 UPDATE!!! PAROLED!! FINALLY, after 21 years of serving time for a crime he did not commit, Dewayne is coming home! Dewayne appeared before the Tennessee parole board on February 4th, 2004. He told the board that he could not admit to a crime that the did not commit. He stated that he was very sad for the victim's family and their loss. He also stated that he regretted his association with the two men that actually took part in the murder. We were all concerned that the parole board would deney him since he could not admit to a murder in which he had no part. But . . . The Chair of the board stated that he had reviewed his file for some time before the hearing and that he believed that Dewayne was "telling the honest to God's truth." Dewayne has been transferred into the pre-releace program in which he will remain until May 18th of 2004. He will be released to his wife and will be confined to the county until about July the 4th 2004 (our Mom's birthday) at which time we will have a blowout family reunion! He has a great job waiting for him and if you read this after July 4 of 2004, we will all be back together and making up for lots of lost time as a whole family again. He never got the chance to officialy clear his name; the justice system shot down every attempt; but he is coming home and that's what really matters to us at this point. Thanks so much to each and every one of you for all of your visits, cards, letters, email and most of all for your prayers. --Dewayne's Family |
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