Cursed in life, cursed in death, even the shade of Cedric Willis is cursed as it wanders while his killers roam free.
Cedric Willis was gunned down on the streets of Jackson in June 2019. JPD charged Debreco Williams and Corey Brent for his murder. However, the two suspects have still not been indicted.
Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens said at a press conference this morning that his office still has not received the file from JPD. He said JPD was still investigating the case and he can't prosecute until the case is transferred to his office.
Willis was wrongly convicted of a crime and served 11 years in prison before the Innocence Project obtained his release in 2004.
Kingfish note: The Innocence Project tells the horrifying story of how Willis went to prison for a crime he did not commit:
Despite a lack of any physical evidence, that June, Cedric Willis, then just 19 years old, was arrested for two of the robberies. One included the rape of a woman and another included the murder of Carl White, Jr.
These crimes occurred within five days of each other. Ballistics testing showed that the same gun was used in both crimes and in three other robberies within two hours of the murder of Mr. White. The M.O. for each crime was almost identical, and the victims all gave similar descriptions of the perpetrator. The descriptions did not include tattoos, but did include a gold tooth.
Mr. Willis was 70 pounds heavier than the victims’ description of the perpetrator, had arms covered in tattoos and did not have a gold tooth. His photograph was shown to all of the victims based on a tip allegedly received by Jackson police. The victims from both of the crime scenes mistakenly identified him.
However, a year after his arrest, DNA testing performed on the rape kit taken from the rape victim excluded Mr. Willis and her husband.
The State then dropped the rape charges against Mr. Willis and proceeded to try him only for the murder/robbery of the White family. The State asked that the jury not be permitted to hear that DNA had excluded him in a similar crime which was committed by a person matching the description and using the same gun as Mr. White’s killer or that the same gun that killed Mr. White was used in three other robberies within two hours of his murder; robberies to which Mr. Willis could not be connected. The court agreed.
The jury, who heard only the compelling testimony of the murder victim’s family, convicted Mr. Willis and sentenced him to life in prison for the murder, plus 90 years.
IPNO began investigating the case in 2004 and, with volunteer co-counsel, Tom Fortner, won a new trial for Mr. Willis in 2005. With the assistance of volunteer co-counsel, Chris Klotz, the State was persuaded to join IPNO in asking the charges to be dismissed. After nearly 12 years in prison, Mr. Willis walked into the arms of his family and supporters on March 6, 2006.
The two prosecutors who tried Mr. Willis, Ed Peters and Bobby Delaughter, both lost their law licenses due to an unrelated federal criminal investigation. Mr. Delaughter, pled guilty to a federal obstruction of justice charge and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
20 comments:
clearly a case of “put someone behind bars”.
sad that people can be railroaded like that.
I was part of the legal team that finally convinced the new District Attorney to drop Cedric's murder charge. Its was despicable that the old prosecutors fought and, unfortunately, succeeded in keeping Cedric's jury from knowing of the DNA evidence that exonerated Cedric. Ced was a kind and gentle man who loved his family. It's a tragedy that he spent more than a decade in prison for a crime he did not commit because of a "win at all costs" prosecutor. I hope JPD will make every effort to move on closing the case on the people who killed Ced.
Interesting. Why was he 'gunned down'?
Assuming both DeLaughter and Peters are dead, I hope their coffins leak.
Bobby Delaughter has prosecuted more than one high profile case that was simply geared toward 'convicting somebody'. One even got him a movie role.
Ed Peters was a piece of work. A crooked broken piece.
"Bobby Delaughter"
We haven't heard that name in a few years.
Beckwith
He didn't do it, said the late Chancery Judge Chet Dillard. He wrote a book about it.
The fix is in at both the JPD and the DA's office.
I didn't see Meathead's movie. Did DeLaughter
End up with or without the mustache.
That grey Plymouth Dodge did NOT belong to Beckwith. The judge did not allow the testimony.
RIP Cedric Willis.
As for DeLaughter, he earned the nickname “Slaughter DeLaughter” due to a well-documented history of throwing convicted defendants away. He sentenced one of my associates to 80 years for possession of 28 grams of crack cocaine. I once attended another trial where DeLaughter presided over the case. At the beginning of the trial, he told the defendant that he’d planned to sentence him to 60 mandatory years, if found guilty of two sale of cocaine (40 grams of coke total after crime lab results) to an undercover MBN agent.
Although guilty (I still recall the day the defendant told me he might’ve served an undercover), the defendant was found not guilty.
That should read Plymouth Valiant.
Jacktown had #12 last night, with a projection of 162 in 2021. Not to worry as the Real Time Crime Center will kick in anytime soon.
I have nothing but contempt for DeLaughter. He got a whole lot less time than he deserved. He wanted to be a federal judge, and instead ended up as a federal prisoner. He used to say during sentencing that the court "has no mercy," but then asked for mercy at his own sentencing. What an ass!
Both DeLaughter and Scruggs had movies made about them, and both of them ended up in the federal prison system. Sounds like you don't want to be a Mississippi lawyer who has a movie made about them!
If you're reading this and think this is a miscarriage of justice, you should consider giving to the Innocence Project.
They focus on the exoneration (by DNA or other means) of innocent people -- many of them people of color.
"People of color" Isn't "white" a color?
Law enforcement officers and prosecutors who put innocent people in jail should be held accountable. What offense is worse than that? And yet, they have immunity and act all righteous.
@8:18 A. M.
If "exhonored by other means," then Grissom and Lowndes county DA Scot colom
should consider the case of Mary Sue Shields of Columbus who was virtually drawn and quartered by Forrest Allgood and Dr.Haynes in a first degree murder case in which Shield was involved in a drunken brawl at a local juke joint on the dance floor on New Years 2002(?).
Shields won the fight by breaking a barstool over Martin's head and calmly walking home.
Haynes testified that while Martin suffered from serious preconditions of respiratory and coronary heart disease,the barstool was the murder weapon.
Shields received life without parole.
@8:18 am
It never crossed my mind until now. Agreed, the Innocence Project is a worthy donation.
Reckon The Innocence Project would engage on behalf of Beckwith if he had not died in jail? Delaughter and a bunch of jackals were so thirsty for blood they would have convicted a blind nun of the crime.
White-guilt and black-thirst are powerful drugs.
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