URGENT PETITION
A petition, set up on
'Color of Change' by supporter Marlene Belliveau on behalf of Rodricus
Crawford's family, implores Caddo Parish District Attorney James
Stewart, "to look at the concrete evidence and facts before you. Mr
Crawford did not kill his son. You have sworn to justice...it is your
duty to exonerate this young man." The petition can be found at the following link. (In
view of the rapidly approaching appeal - set for Wednesday September 7 -
supporters should get their message to Mr. Stewart as soon as possible.
HL);
PUBLISHER'S
NOTE: (A): Rodricus Crawford's appeal is set for Wednesday, September 7,
2016. It is imperative that public attention be brought to this appeal
as there is a ominous danger that Louisiana will be executing an
innocent father whose 1-year-old son died of pneumonia - unless the Louisiana Supreme Court intervenes.
(Contrary to the the testimony of the pathologist testifying for the
prosecution who dismissed the medical factors as the cause of death without a scientific basis for
doing so, also gave his equally unscientific opinion that Rodricus Crawford had smothered Roderius to death - as is demonstrated by forensic evidence (affidavits) filed by his lawyers which will be published later in this series.) As will be seen over the course of the series, it didn't help that Crawford was
prosecuted by the notorious Dale Cox in Caddo Parish, which, as the
Fair Punishment Project reports, has a disproportionate number of
death sentences. I implore whoever reads these posts to share them as
widely as possible, to make sure that Louisiana's Supreme
Court understands the urgency of stopping this execution in its tracks and put an end to the prosecution. In this eleventh post in the series on, journalist Yolanda Young focuses on 'the case for the prosecution."
STORY: 'Innocent on death row.'...'The prosecution's case against Rodicrus Crawford," by journalist Yolanda Young, published by Rolling Out, on September 1, 2016.a...(Yolanda Young's
columns have appeared in The Washington Post, USA TODAY,
and Slate. She frequently appears on CNN, NPR, and Huffington Post
Live.)
INTRODUCTION: "On Sept. 7, 2016, the Louisiana Supreme Court will hear the
capital appeal of 25-year-old Rodricus Crawford. I spent three months
investigating his case, interviewing 10 people, including the district
attorney and Crawford’s appellate attorney, as well as reading all of
the appellate briefs and expert affidavits. I concluded Crawford was
railroaded. At every turn he was presumed guilty and ultimately
convicted of the death of his 1-year-old son who medical experts say
died of pneumonia. This is one in a series of articles examining how
easy it is for a Black man to end up on death row."
GIST: "Below is the case of the prosecution in
State of Louisiana v.
Rodricus Crawford.
The case was originally tried by Caddo Parish, Louisiana’s interim
district attorney, Dale Cox, who came under fire for making statements
like these he gave to
The New Yorker: “Over time, I have come to the position that revenge is
important for society as a whole. We have certain rules that you are
expected to abide by, and when you don’t abide by them you have
forfeited your right to live among us. “The “epidemic of child-killings” is the result of the “destruction
of the nuclear family and a tremendously high illegitimate birth rate.”".........Below is a summary of the brief signed and
filed by Stewart and an assistant district attorney, Tommy Johnson, in
opposition to Crawford’s appeal. (
Read the brief here.) This piece will be followed by one that focuses on Crawford’s brief."
The prosecution's case: One-year-old Roderius Lott (R.L.) was pronounced dead on Feb. 16,
2016. Prior to his death, R.L. had been in his father’s custody since
February 12, 2016, his first time in his father’s home. R.L. had a runny
nose, but he was not sick. He was playing and eating a lot. No one
thought he needed medical attention. As he had since he was 15, Crawford smoked marijuana daily during
R.L.’s stay, including two blunts the last day of the baby’s life. Sometime after 11 p.m. on the night in question, Rodricus Crawford
inflicted head and buttock injuries to his 1-year-old son Roderius
Lott’s (R.L.) then smothered the baby between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. Around 6
a.m., Crawford’s mother, uncle and two siblings were awakened by the
sound of Crawford screaming that something was wrong with the baby.
Crawford’s mother and sister tried pumping the baby’s chest, but the
baby appeared to be dead. Crawford’s uncle called 911. Crawford’s mother
fainted. Crawford ran out to meet the ambulance with the baby in his
arms. Both paramedics testified Crawford told them the baby had fallen off
the bed. This didn’t sound right to them and after noticing bruises,
they alerted the police. Around this time, R.L.’s mother, LaKendra Lott,
who lives near Crawford, came down the street to see what was going on.
She and Crawford were immediately taken to the police station for
questioning. At the hospital, the coroner pronounced the baby dead. Following a
1-hour autopsy, the state’s brief says the coroner “issued a provisional
anatomical diagnosis [that classified the death as a homicide by manual
smothering]. He went on to say it could be changed, and in fact, was
changed with the addition of bronchopneumonia.” The prosecution noted in the brief, “motive is not an essential
element of murder.” In rebuttal to the characterization of Crawford as a
“loving and caring father,” the prosecutor, Cox, commented at trial
that Crawford “was living with his mother since majority, he seldom
worked, lived off his mother and girlfriend, and sat home doing
nothing.” Furthermore, the brief stated, “The suggestion that no one saw him
abuse R.L. is of no merit as abusers often commit these atrocities
outside the presence of witnesses.” (Witnesses at trial included R.L.’s
mother, his maternal grandfather, both his grandmothers, the mother of
Crawford’s daughter, and Crawford’s four relatives who were also in the
home the night R.L. died.) R.L.’s mother, Lott, had a history of mental illness that included
bizarre behavior and fighting. Also introduced was Crawford’s criminal
record. His offenses follow: unadjudicated possession and use of
marijuana as an adult and juvenile; unadjudicated failure to provide
child support in violation of a court order; and unadjudicated neglect
of his child. (Up next is the case for the defendant.)"
The entire story can be found at:
http://rollingout.com/2016/09/01/innocent-death-row-prosecutions-case-rodricus-crawford/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I am monitoring this case. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.
The
Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty
incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the
harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into
pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology
system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent
stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
