BACKGROUND AND REASONS FOR INNOCENCE DENIED

     There are approximately 2,000,000 people incarcerated in the U.S.  While this number is staggering by itself, the number of individuals serving time who are actually innocent of the crime they are convicted of should have the public outraged.  There should be massive protests on an innocent individual's behalf. There should be massive media coverage concerning the illegal confinement of the innocent. Judges and prosecutors who knowingly convict innocent individuals should be forced to resign or step down from their public trust positions, if not prosecuted themselves. Defense lawyers should be begging for the opportunity to exonerate these individuals to protect the integrity of their legal system.

     Sadly, in reality this never happens. Once an innocent individual is proclaimed a convicted criminal his/her voice becomes silenced. The public, and in some cases their family and friends, turn away from him/her. He/She has become worse than a leper and must be isolated and locked away from those who are normal. The media refuses to hear the truth from a convict's mouth, for they'd rather continue the sensational story that sold their papers or increased their viewership. Even when judges and prosecutors are shown to have deceived, manipulated, and committed gross misconduct in obtaining a false conviction, they are left unpunished. Most defense lawyers simply want paid. And the appeal courts don't want to admit that mistakes were made that allowed many innocent individuals to be convicted.  For years, television and society's sense of fair play has fostered the belief that guilty people win their freedom on legal technicalities.  In a case where the accused has unlimited financial resources or some political affiliation this does happen once in a great while. But, what happens when the other 99% of incarcerated individuals enter a court of law?

      The courts and lawmakers have placed so many rules, procedures, and technical advantages to aid prosecutors that the average person has no chance to show the truth. If objections aren't raised timely, they're waived. If issues aren't presented immediately they become procedurally barred. If motions and appeals aren't filed timely, the right to do so is denied. If responses aren't filed timely they won't be considered.

     These rules and procedures seem like a necessity to most people. But, take into consideration that these rules and procedures apply to the accused and convicted individuals, and in most cases not to prosecutors.  Prosecutors are usually granted leeway and the courts usually do their jobs for them by finding their own technical reasons not to admit new evidence or by denying relief. The truth has become that hundreds of innocent people are kept incarcerated on technicalities for every one guilty person being set free.

     What happened to the truth being revealed to determine innocence or guilt? I always believed that justice dealt with the search for truth. When did we become a country that says it is alright to keep an innocent individual locked away simply because he missed a deadline, or his counsel failed to reveal his innocence, or the evidence did not become available until after conviction, or simply because the person was not able to navigate the technical minefield that's been placed before him? When did we decide to allow courts to ignore issues because they don't want to address the truth it may reveal? And, where does it say in the Constitution that our rights can be violated to put innocent people in jail as long as they don't know how to show the violation?  Let me hear your views on this and have them placed on the section called "Constitutional Rights?"  A constitutional violation is a constitutional violation. Period.  There should be no way that a constitutional violation be ignored by a court. When a claim of innocence is alleged, no court should fail to address the claim. As long as we have a judicial system that finds loopholes to not address claims, there can be no justice. As long as our judicial system is allowed to ignore claims, there can be no form of justice. Instead, it becomes the "just-us" club for the wealthy, politicians, lawyers, and judges.

     Because my claim of innocence and constitutional rights violations has been before 8 different courts, with no addressing of the merits, I created Innocence Denied. There is no watchdog of the judicial system, although there definitely should be. Innocence Denied (in the "Factual Background" section) will tell the world about my, and others similarly situated, attempts to prove innocence. The world will know that the courts refuse to do their job and uphold the Constitution.

     When courts allow innocent individuals to waste away in prison because they don't want to address claims or admit mistakes were made, our judicial system has a serious problem. It is hoped that some day Innocence Denied may spark a movement designed to hold courts and the prosecution accountable when innocent individuals are denied legal redress. It is hoped that Innocence Denied can gain enough public support and exposure that some innocent individuals may gain their freedom. This depends largely on you, the innocent individual's family, loved ones, and friends. Tell people about this site. Tell people about the cases on this site. And, tell people that something needs to be done to free the numerous innocent and wrongfully incarcerated by a judicial system that fails to grant justice. Most important, find a way to actively get involved in your loved one's case.

     When I decided to start begging for help from innocence projects, law schools, lawyers, and inmate advocates, it was difficult locating addresses. A search of the web revealed some information on scattered sites. Writing to innocence projects and law schools provided a little more information. Writing attorneys gave me more. The problem is that many such legal advocates specialize in specific areas. Many advocates only work in a specific geographical location. Many advocates are over-burdened in their case loads and can not help at the time, irregardless of the meritable showing of innocence.  For these reasons there is a section of Innocence Denied provided specifically to tell people "Where Is Help?" While this section is in no way comprehensive at this point, it will provide many important starting points. It will also save money and time since there is a brief description with every address to indicate what they offer and to whom they offer it. For those who can obtain financing to retain a paid attorney, the subsection of "Where Is Help?" will give names and specialities of attorneys who have been recommended by former clients.

• There are entirely too many attorneys who are ineffective, incompetent, and don't care about defending a client's rights or investigating innocence. Even the worst attorney talks a good salespitch (that's what they get paid for!).  In order for an attorney to be listed as recommended on this site, at least three former clients must recommend them and give a brief description why they are recommended. Always remember that some attorneys are good at some areas but not others, i.e., if an attorney is recommended for handling a drug possession case, he may still have no idea how to present a defense for murder. It still always comes down to "buyer beware". If it does not sound or feel right, cut your losses and switch. I know from experience that it is not best to keep an attorney solely because you already paid them. This can get you, or your loved one, convicted falsely and regretting your decision, quite possibly for the rest of your life!

     The "Where Is Help?" section will be updated on a monthly basis, when needed. As new information and contacts become available they will be listed. This should make searching for help much simpler as all the needed materials are contained on one site. It is hoped that this section will grow to be comprehensive and a useful aid to all innocent individuals and their families and friends. If you know of contacts (Free or Retained) not listed here please send them to us with a brief description of their purpose or why they are being given as a recommendation.

     The final section is "Salvation Through The Arts". It may seem out of place on a site like this one, but for those innocent and wrongfully imprisoned individuals who have been "down" for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or more years, they must find some spark of hope to keep going and maintain sanity. For many, education, music, art, poetry, and learning new skills are the only thing that allows them to keep going in their efforts to gain their rightful freedom. This section of the site is designed to show the numerous benefits of the arts in all aspects of life and personal growth. For now, there is more focus on music because that is what has kept me sane for over 16 years and that is my area of expertise. I do plan on expanding this section to contain literature and artwork by those wrongfully convicted (the artwork already contained on the Innocence Denied site is done by convicts).

     While this does not necessarily deal with the legal aspects of innocence it can show the pain and emotions of those who are wrongfully convicted and should be seen. All pictures and writings of appropriate subjects will be considered for this section. Please don't submit original art or literature materials unless you don't want them returned. Use copies.  In closing, Innocence Denied was conceived to primarily help to garner aid and exposure to further my pursuit of proving innocence and gaining freedom. However, I've never been able to do anything halfway, so I figure that if I am doing the work, others may as well benefit from it as well. There is always strength in unity and numbers. I pray that those of you who have a family member, loved one, or friend unjustly incarcerated find information, advice, and needed exposure to help them in their fight for freedom and ask for your prayers for all those who sit behind prison bars wrongfully.

     Thank you for your interest in Innocence Denied. I ask you to offer your opinions, suggestions, and offer aid if you can concerning this site to make it better. (See next page for e-mail and regular address)
 

Never give up!

Darrell J. van Mastrigt
Founder of Innocence Denied

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