Tennessee: The case of Ralph Dewayne Brock



Summary:

Dewayne's 1982 conviction resulted from: testimony prosecutors knew to be perjured, suppression of crucial evidence, falsified evidence, and coached testimony. Ironically, the two actual murderers received shorter sentences upon confessing, while Dewayne -- who had nothing to do with the crime but had originally been accused because he had unwittingly purchased stolen items from the murderers (to supplement his salary, he often bought and traded at flea markets) - was sentenced to life because he refused to lie about having participated in the crime. The murderers (who testified that he had nothing to do with the crime) got out of prison years before the railroaded innocent -- who eventually served a full 21 years for his "crime". He was released in 2004 but there seems to have been no moves since to re-open his case and compensate him.

More details here. Excerpt:

His conviction comes as a result of Tennessee prosecutors using known perjured testimony; suppression of evidence of his innocence; falsification of evidence and a deal made with a witness in exchange for her testimony.

Two men eventually came forward and confessed to the murder. Both have made attempts to advise the trial court of Dewayne's innocence. By confessing these men were given shorter sentences and WERE RELEASED YEARS AGO. Dewayne is in possession of their affidavits which state that he was not at the scene of the crime and that he was not a participant in the victim's death.

BECAUSE HE WAS CONVICTED IN THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, UNDER TENNESSEE STATE LAW, DEWAYNE WAS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR PAROLE UNTIL (WITH GOOD BEHAVIOUR) 20+ YEARS OF HIS SENTENCE WAS SERVED!

The testimony and other evidence used to convict Dewayne was deemed as circumstantial by the prosecutors' themselves. In 1992, ten years after his arrest, he uncovered evidence retrieved from police files which revealed that two state witnesses had in fact committed perjury at trial, that state prosecutors committed perjury at his trial and that certain evidence had been falsified. Dewayne is in possession on all the documented evidence and prior inconsistent statements.

It should be noted that at no time during his trial, did anyone say that there were three men at the crime scene on the night of the murder. In fact, investigators only recovered two sets of fingerprints: those belonging to the two men that have confessed. Furthermore; Dewayne presented three alibi witnesses.



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