COMMENTARY: "Louisiana court vacates death sentence for grieving dad Rodricus Crawford," by Shaun King, published by The New York Daily News on November 18, 2016. Wikipedia informs us that "Jeffery Shaun King (born September 17, 1979) is an American writer and
civil rights activist. He is noted for his use of
social media to promote religious, charitable, and social causes, including the
Black Lives Matter movement. He is the senior justice writer for the
New York Daily News."
SUB-HEADING: "Rodricus Crawford was granted a new trial by Louisiana Supreme Court on Nov. 16, 2016."
SUB-HEADING: " Not a single soul in his family believed Rodricus Crawford killed his son."
GIST:" On February 16, 2012, something truly terrible happened that could only
be described as any parent’s worst nightmare. Rodricus Crawford, a
young father in Caddo Parish, Louisiana woke up and noticed that his
son, Roderius, who had just turned one a week earlier, was lifeless.
Rodricus, who was sleeping on the pullout couch, immediately yelled out
for help. An uncle called 911. Various family members took turns
performing CPR and it seemed like nothing they were doing was making one
bit of difference. When the EMTs showed up, they refused to allow Rodricus to get in the
ambulance with the baby and were slow to leave. It had already taken far
too long for them to get there. They were so disrespectful to the
family that it caused a stir there in the community. Within minutes,
police arrived. Thinking they might take Rodricus to the hospital, they
instead arrested him and took him to the jail. His only son had died and
instead of comforting him as the grieving father that he was, he was
interrogated and harassed. Not a single soul in his family believed Rodricus Crawford killed his
son. When police called in the boy’s mother, who lived a few doors down,
for questioning, she didn’t believe it either. Rodricus loved the boy
with his whole heart — everybody in the community knew that. No motive
existed. Over the next year, what unfolded in Louisiana, under the leadership of
its then-Acting District Attorney Dale Cox, was like a bad movie. With
no motive and no witnesses, Rodricus Crawford was charged and convicted
of murdering his son. Black jurors were routinely struck from the jury
pool. Even though an expert testified that the young boy likely died of
complications to undiagnosed sepsis and pneumonia, which the family
thought was just a small cold, Cox was convinced that Rodricus had
deliberately smothered him to death. A cut on the boy’s lip, which multiple family members testified was
caused by a recent fall in the bathroom, was used as the justification
of the smothering claim. Anybody who has ever had children knows far too
well how often kids fall and hurt themselves, but it was completely
ignored. Evidence be damned. It didn’t matter. Dale Cox doggedly pursued the
death penalty every chance he got and juries regularly bought it lock,
stock and barrel. Before Dale Cox resigned in disgrace after this
conviction, he was being widely blasted for his many heinous decisions and practices. He openly told the jury in the Crawford case that Jesus wanted them to sentence the young man to death. Really. Well, after serving three long, hard years on death row, the Louisiana
Supreme Court just decided late Wednesday to vacate the entire sentence.
In their 36-page opinion, multiple justices said they would’ve never convicted Crawford of any crime at all.
Another justice stated that the way black jurors were targeted and
removed was illegal. The parish has yet to decide if they will try the
case again, but we can only hope that they don’t. Strangely, Crawford is still in prison, still on death row, and will
likely be there at least until Tuesday when he has a hearing. His family
and legal advisors communicated with me that he will even be forced to
pay a $5,000 bond — which they communicated to me that they don’t have. I first learned of this case in July of 2015 from a masterful longform article
in The New Yorker written by Rachel Aviv. Over the past year, I’ve
gotten to know many of the attorneys and activists who’ve been fighting
for Rodricus. Without fail, each of us believed this case to be the
absolute worst death row sentence in the country right now. That this
young man could’ve actually been executed makes me sick. I’m fully convinced that had Rodricus Crawford been white, and his
infant son died in his sleep, he would’ve received sympathy and
counseling. He would’ve received flowers and compassion. That his very
lowest moment on this earth was turned into a punishment he did not
deserve is further evidence of just how outrageously bent toward the
criminalization of blackness our justice system truly is." The entire commentary can be found at:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-la-court-vacates-death-sentence-rodricus-crawford-article-1.2878995 PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Please
send any comments or information on other cases and issues of
interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
