Exonerated

Apr 3 2013

Signs with Atlanta Falcons

LONG BEACH, Calif. — A former Long Beach high school football star who spent more than five years behind bars for rape but was exonerated after his accuser recanted her story came closer to his dream of playing in the National Football League today when he was signed by the Atlanta Falcons.

Brian Banks, 27, gushed thanks on his Twitter page to the team’s management and players, saying, “Thank you for accepting me into the family.”

Sep 25 2012

Conviction overturned and he was released last night

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck today ordered an internal investigation into the conviction of a man who was exonerated after spending 19 years behind bars for a 1993 gang-related killing, with the key witness saying he lied under pressure from police.

John Edward Smith, now 38, was convicted of murder and attempted murder for the drive-by shooting and, in 1994, was sentenced to life in prison. His conviction was overturned Monday and he was released last night.

Sep 19 2012

Exonerated for rape

LONG BEACH, Calif.—A former Long Beach high school football star who spent more than five years behind bars for rape but had his conviction overturned when his accuser recanted her story will get his chance to play professional football, an attorney said Tuesday.

Jul 21 2011

Giovanni Ramirez exonerated

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Two men were arrested in connection with the opening-day beating of a San Francisco Giants fan outside Dodger Stadium, and the man originally arrested in connection with the attack has been exonerated, the Los Angeles Times reported tonight on its website.
The Los Angeles Police Department would not immediately confirm the report, saying only that the March 31 beating of Giants fan Bryan Stow remained under investigation.

Jun 27 2011

The two-night conversation airs this Thursday and Friday

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Tavis Smiley sits down with four wrongfully-convicted men who, despite their innocence, spent more than a combined 50 years in prison. The conversation airs nationwide on the award-winning PBS program Tavis Smiley this Thursday and Friday.

Recorded during Rainbow/PUSH Coalition’s 40th anniversary conference, Smiley is also joined by the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.