Glenn Samuel Sunkett Jr. is an innocent man wrongfully convicted of a crime in a California court because a Caucasian witness appeared at Sunkett's trial and identified him as a perpetrator of this crime "by quote," his "Standard Negroid Features."

                CASE BACKGROUND

Victims of a home invasion robbery provided law enforcement with a detailed account of what occurred during this crime in the city of Fort Bragg California. The victims identified their perpetrator as a "very, very dark-skinned black man" with a "bald head," "clean-shaven face," with "a beefy build who looked like Barry Bonds." Each victim claimed to have experienced various psychological factors widely known throughout the science community to alter a victim's memory and perception of a crime. These factors include stress, fear, gun-focus, and poor lighting conditions. Investigating law enforcement detectives then compounded the issue and significantly decreased the likelihood of illiciting a reliable eyewitness identification from these victims by conducting at least two "unlawful" identification procedures prohibited by Federal Law and are widely known throughout the science community to actually taint the identification process itself and cause erroneous and wrongfully identifications. The fallibility is heightened even more so when the suspect/defendant is African American, and the victim(s) or witnesses are Caucasian.

The 'non-blind' identification procedure, and the showing of a suspect's photo "singly" in this case was determined by the trial court itself as being a "highly suggestive" identification procedure. In one particular instance, a victim who at first could not identify Mr. Sunkett, kept hold of Mr. Sunkett's photographs that were given to her by law enforcement "for 3 months", before she suddenly came to court and was able to miraculously identify Sunkett there in the courtroom. Yet, even with this information, the trial court denied Mr. Sunkett's constitutional right, protected by the 6th amendment of the constitution, to present a Cross-Race Identification expert witness in his defense. This identification expert was the 'only' qualified defense witness that could have provided Sunkett with a viable defense against this illegally influenced identification, which was the central issue of this case (eyewitness identification). This expert, who Sunkett had retained, was present, and ready to testify at the court house, would have demonstrated and educated the jury on a multitude of scientific cases and studies that have long proven that the psychological factors, explained above, when combined with tainted and suggestive law enforcement identification procedures, almost ALWAYS results in the mis-identification of an African-American defendant, especially when the victims/witnesses are of another race. 

As a result, Mr. Sunkett's due process rights and his right to a fair trial (supposedly afforded to every person in this country) was totally ignored and violated by the trial court. Proving this fact even more, the court actually "blamed his court appointed attorney" for being 'late' in presenting this expert to the court as a witness in his defense, and used this error as its reason for barring such critical evidence from being heard and evaluated by the jury. Sounds like this should have then been an easy case of Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, right? Well, is poor representation even a factor courts consider when it comes to people of color in criminal proceedings? Obviously not. Because that same court-appointed attorney "admitted" on the record to multiple Ineffective Assistance of Counsel allegations made by Sunkett  and  the court (including failing to investigate a defense against the eyewitness identification evidence, and promptly retaining the expert witness). To add, the court itself determined that the identification processes conducted by law enforcement, which ultimately produced these witnesses identifications were "highly suggestive". It should be noted that Mr. Sunkett was the 'only' person of color in the entire courtroom, and quite possibly the entire courthouse. The court itself consisted of 100% Caucasians. The Judge, Prosecutor, the Public Defender, the Court Clerks, All Witnesses, all Spectators, and most significantly the entire Jury Pool were ALL white.That alone is a  Wheeler  violation. This jury found Mr. Sunkett guilty on all counts based on the witness's erroneous and questionably racist identification testimony, and sentenced him to 63 years in state prison. Making matters worst, Sunkett was given an illegal sentence! Sunkett was sentenced to multiple punishments for one coarse of conduct (robbery) which is prohibited by California Law; Penal Code section 654. On top of that, 40 of those 63 years given to Sunkett was for Penal Code section 207(a) "kidnapping", because the victims claimed to have been moved at some point during the robbery from their living room, to an adjoining storage room, a distance of about 25 ft, ALL INSIDE their own home! 207(a) kidnapping "requires" a person(s) must be moved a "significant" distance, "outside" of the State, County, or Country. (Please feel free to conduct your own investigation into these laws).

Can't imagine this story getting any more ridiculous and unjust? Well guess again. There is so much more to this story that can't be told all inside this petition alone. Mr. Sunkett's website (below) has all court records and newspaper articles that fully document this case.

So please, help us raise the money needed to pay Mr. Sunkett's legal fees for his attorney Aaron Spolin at Spolin Law 11500 West Olympic Blvd., Ste 400, Los Angeles, CA 90064 (310)424-5816. Your donation is greatly needed and appreciated.

Also, help us get his petition for freedom in front of Governor Gavin Newsome, The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Attorney General Xavier Becerra, and Sunkett's current District Attorney David Eyster, by going to change.org. Search for justice for Glenn Sunkett and sign the petition. This will demand a new, and fair trial for Sunkett, and allow him to prove his innocence. Mr. Sunkett greatly appreciates your compassion and desire to make change, and right the wrongs inflicted upon good people who deserve a fair shake in this country.

For more information visit: freedaddyrich.com  #freedaddyrich

Thank you.