BACKGROUND: (Ronnie) Long was 20 years old in 1976 when he was arrested in Concord for the rape of Sarah Bost, a 54-year-old widow. "They got the wrong man," said Jamie Lau, a supervising attorney with the Duke Law School Wrongful Convictions Clinic. "Ronnie Long is absolutely innocent of this crime.” Lau said Long, who had been a talented high school athlete, was facing a minor trespassing charge when cops asked the victim to come to court that day. "They dressed her in a disguise, brought her to the courtroom. She sat there for an hour and a half in the presence of Mr. Long without identifying him," Lau said. "When Long's name was called, she identified him as the person who assaulted her ... and she later testified that she selected him because he looked most similar to her attacker of all the people who were present in the courtroom that day.” But the victim had originally described her attacker as a "light-colored" Black man, which Long is not. And while a shoe print found outside the victim's home had a similar tread, it could not be matched to shoes owned by Long. There was also clothing — including a black leather coat — found in Long's car that looked like what the rapist wore. "It was a ubiquitous piece of clothing for Black males at the time, in part because the movie 'Shaft' had come out a few years prior," Lau said. At trial, Long didn't take the stand, but several alibi witnesses testified to seeing him at the time of the rape. "Every moment of his day had been accounted for," Lau said. The all-White jury convicted Long of rape and burglary. He was given two life sentences.
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Ronnie Long has been in prison 44 years. His rape conviction by an all-white jury led to massive protests outside the Cabarrus County Courthouse. People believed then that he was innocent and, decades later, the Duke Wrongful Convictions Clinic said they were right. Part of the appeal includes the fact that none of the fingerprints nor hair samples at the scene matched Long. “I think people are finally starting to believe that we’re not just saying that. No, these are actually facts that happened and have been proven,” AshLeigh said. She added that it’s partly due to other cases involving police that have gotten national attention. AshLeigh is grateful for the letters to the governor and a Change.org petition with nearly 35,000 signatures. She would like to see even more people get on board."
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STORY: As appeals court reviews evidence, many are hopeful Gov. Cooper will commute Ronnie Long's rape sentence, CBS 17 (Reporter Russ Brown) reports.
GIST: "People are hoping Gov. Roy Cooper will commute Ronnie Long’s sentence as the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ponders over a mountain of evidence that shows police withheld that evidence and manipulated the investigation.
Faith leaders from across the state have written the governor asking for that to happen. More than a dozen legislators have done the same thing.
“Really excited and happy it’s really encouraging to have to finally have all the support for Ronnie,” said Long’s wife, AshLeigh.
Ronnie Long has been in prison 44 years. His rape conviction by an all-white jury led to massive protests outside the Cabarrus County Courthouse. People believed then that he was innocent and, decades later, the Duke Wrongful Convictions Clinic said they were right.
Part of the appeal includes the fact that none of the fingerprints nor hair samples at the scene matched Long.
“I think people are finally starting to believe that we’re not just saying that. No, these are actually facts that happened and have been proven,” AshLeigh said. She added that it’s partly due to other cases involving police that have gotten national attention.
AshLeigh is grateful for the letters to the governor and a Change.org petition with nearly 35,000 signatures. She would like to see even more people get on board.
“You know, I would like to see a lot higher numbers a lot quicker because I feel like he needs that amount of public outrage and pressure to really get him out,” she said.
As her husband awaits his potential release, AshLeigh said the support is helping him get to that day.
“I guess he’s overwhelmed with the amount of support he’s getting, in a good way. He’s just kind of like, ‘Wow.""
The entire story can be read at:https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-originals/as-appeals-court-reviews-evidence-many-are-hopeful-gov-cooper-will-commute-ronnie-longs-rape-sentence/
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Readers are encouraged to sign a petition at the link below: The change.org explanatory note reads:
"Ronnie Long has been wrongfully imprisoned since May 10, 1976. Ronnie was convicted by an all white jury, with no evidence linking him to the crimes other than the contaminated, cross-racial eye witness identification. We now know how unreliable eye witness identification is, especially cross-racial identification. Ronnie was at home, with his mother, on the telephone when the alleged crime took place. Unfortunately, phone records were not available in 1976. Detectives withheld exculpatory evidence from Ronnie's defense attorneys in 1976. To this day, the State of North Carolina is still withholding exculpatory evidence! In 2005, the Master Case File was discovered by attorneys with the UNC Innocence Project. This file contained the test results of the evidence that had been withheld in 1976. ALL test results came back NEGATIVE for Ronnie! Despite this newly discovered evidence and proof that the State broke the law, the NC Supreme Court rendered a 3-3 TIE decision with the 7th judge declining to vote in 2008. The 7th judge was allowed to retire without voting and the judge who replaced the retired judge did not feel comfortable making a vote because they did not hear the arguments. In 2015, the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission (NCIIC) found more exculpatory evidence meaning that the State of North Carolina yet again broke the law by not turning over everything pertaining to this case as was ordered by a judge back in 2005! Over 60 fingerprints were taken from the crime scene and they do NOT match Ronnie! A list of 6 other suspects was also discovered. The NCIIC closed Ronnie's case despite finding more exculpatory evidence and is currently refusing to release the files to Ronnie's attorneys. The NCIIC is supposed to be a neutral organization and has never had an issue with sharing files once a case is closed until Ronnie's case.
Ronnie's case is currently in the 4th circuit Federal Court of Appeals. Ronnie had an en banc hearing on May 7, 2020. We are currently awaiting a decision from that hearing. For everything Free Ronnie Long, please visit: www.freeronnielongnow.org
Sign the petition at:
https://www.change.org/p/demand-nc-governor-to-commute-ronnie-long-s-sentence-immediately
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;
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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