Truth Hidden in Plain View
Nearly two weeks after a Louisiana appeals court tossed the criminal conviction in State v. Bell, Mychal Bell was finally released from jail. In the meantime, what were Judge J.P. Mauffray and LaSalle Parish District Attorney J. Reed Walters doing? Were they booby-trapping the courtroom? Bell will get a speedy trial.
As Utrice Leid would often say, the scam is hidden in plain view. Over the years, I have found that it is safer to withhold the truth from the Black community. When the truth is finally disclosed, the person who spoke the truth from the outset will be persecuted. This person gets it on the front-end and on the back-end.
The Central Park 6 is an example. Well-known Black preachers were in front of the Metropolitan Hospital in Manhattan kneeling and praying for Patricia Meili. Black politicians were referring to the Central Park 6 as animals and a wolf pack. This allowed Donald Trump to call for a barbecue.
Against this backdrop, I had the nerve to call this criminal prosecution a hoax. These boys were being falsely imprisoned and maliciously prosecuted. When the white media printed my assertion, the Black community became irate. We sick boss? When a white person is injured and the suspect is Black, seemingly everyone in the Black community becomes mindless.
None of these boys were guilty of raping Meili but they had to spend years behind bars. In 1989, only four Black lawyers stepped forward. They included myself, Colin Moore, Robert Burns and Joseph Mack. Ultimately, all of the above attorneys were disbarred except Mack who was suspended from the practice of law.
Bell was represented by a lawyer in adult court. The jury pool, from which the petit jury was chosen, was all-white. The lawyer was afraid to open his mouth in the courtroom. He called no witnesses. This was a travesty of justice. Bell was exposed to 22 years in prison even though there was not a scintilla of evidence to support the criminal charges.
I hope that someone in the United States will have the courage to appear on commercial radio in the tri-state area on Sunday and tell the truth. I feel for Bell. He will never know what hit him and he will enjoy as much support as Tawana Brawley, Amadou Diallo and Sean Bell.
I hope that this matter is exposed on Sunday and we do not have to wait to get the answer on Wednesday evening. The people who claim that they have our back should step up to the plate. It would be a tragedy if the perennial, same lone voice has to speak on this issue Wednesday. Where are the persons who are routinely given access to the microphone? Where are their voices on the Jena 6.
9/28/07
As Utrice Leid would often say, the scam is hidden in plain view. Over the years, I have found that it is safer to withhold the truth from the Black community. When the truth is finally disclosed, the person who spoke the truth from the outset will be persecuted. This person gets it on the front-end and on the back-end.
The Central Park 6 is an example. Well-known Black preachers were in front of the Metropolitan Hospital in Manhattan kneeling and praying for Patricia Meili. Black politicians were referring to the Central Park 6 as animals and a wolf pack. This allowed Donald Trump to call for a barbecue.
Against this backdrop, I had the nerve to call this criminal prosecution a hoax. These boys were being falsely imprisoned and maliciously prosecuted. When the white media printed my assertion, the Black community became irate. We sick boss? When a white person is injured and the suspect is Black, seemingly everyone in the Black community becomes mindless.
None of these boys were guilty of raping Meili but they had to spend years behind bars. In 1989, only four Black lawyers stepped forward. They included myself, Colin Moore, Robert Burns and Joseph Mack. Ultimately, all of the above attorneys were disbarred except Mack who was suspended from the practice of law.
Bell was represented by a lawyer in adult court. The jury pool, from which the petit jury was chosen, was all-white. The lawyer was afraid to open his mouth in the courtroom. He called no witnesses. This was a travesty of justice. Bell was exposed to 22 years in prison even though there was not a scintilla of evidence to support the criminal charges.
I hope that someone in the United States will have the courage to appear on commercial radio in the tri-state area on Sunday and tell the truth. I feel for Bell. He will never know what hit him and he will enjoy as much support as Tawana Brawley, Amadou Diallo and Sean Bell.
I hope that this matter is exposed on Sunday and we do not have to wait to get the answer on Wednesday evening. The people who claim that they have our back should step up to the plate. It would be a tragedy if the perennial, same lone voice has to speak on this issue Wednesday. Where are the persons who are routinely given access to the microphone? Where are their voices on the Jena 6.
9/28/07
posted by Attorney Alton Maddox at 12:08 PM
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