In 1998, Glen became one of countless Black men in the South to suffer unjust conviction and incarceration.  Thanks to inadequate representation, local politics that were stacked against him, and an unfair trial whose outcome was determined less by the persuasiveness of the evidence than by the heinousness of the accusation, Glen has already served 25 years of a natural life sentence.  All who know Glen personally—and that includes immediate family members of the decedent—know that he is not guilty.   

Stories of wrongful incarceration often have a lot in common, but each is uniquely horrifying.  This is Glen’s.  

GLEN'S ARREST

Imagine your worst day on the job.  Now imagine Glen’s.  It was August 20, 1997.  After awaking at 5:30 am, he showered, dressed, doused himself with cologne and headed out for a quick breakfast at McDonalds—coffee with a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit.  Just four days earlier, he had graduated from San Jacinto Community College with a degree in nursing, and he was looking forward to celebrating with his Supreme Healthcare co-workers—especially his boss, who promised to reimburse his tuition and put him in charge of a recently-acquired Personal Care home.  Smiling with anticipation as he parked his little Nissan and entered the office, Glen had no idea what was in store for him. 

Before any festivities could begin, two men entered the office and asked to speak with the boss.  They then made their purpose known. “Glen Conley, I have a warrant for your arrest.  You’re wanted for capital murder back in Mississippi,” one said.  “Hands on the wall.”  As the other man clapped cuffs around his wrists, Glen turned to look the officer in the eye.  “Is this some kind of joke?” he asked. “No sir.  No joke,” the other responded, holding up the warrant for Glen to see.

After a short stint at the city jail, Glen was outfitted with handcuffs, shackles, and body chains, transferred to the Pike County jail, and later taken to the courthouse where he was arraigned and appointed a public defender; he entered a plea of “Not Guilty,” was denied bail—so could not earn money to hire his own attorney—and he spent the next year in jail, waiting for his day in court.  

THE TRAGIC ACCIDENT

No one questions whether a tragedy occurred on May 22, 1994 when three-year-old Whitney Berry drowned after falling out of a boat steered by her mother and Glen.  Grief-stricken, Glen, the mother, and the park ranger on duty, agreed it was a horrible accident.  So did the pathologist, Dr. Stephen Hayne, who conducted the autopsy.  But none of that prevented the state of Mississippi from twisting a tragic paddle-boat outing into a capital murder conviction.

THE TRIAL

By July 1998, four years after the accident occurred, several witnesses had changed their account of the events.  The pathologist began to waffle (he would later be discredited by The Innocence Project for ethics violations that led to wrongful convictions); Ranger Earl Wiggins--who initially responded to the accident--had died (and his incident report mysteriously disappeared); and prosecutors had hounded Teronda Berry, the mother, into abandoning her insistence that Glen tried desperately to save her daughter.  Glen’s court appointed lawyer did not meet with him to discuss strategy until the night before the trial began. Five days later, Glen was convicted of murdering a child who slid off a paddle boat, slipped out of an adult life jacket, and drowned accidentally. (See footnote for details.)[1]. He had been tried on a fatally defective indictment, convicted on false testimony, and sentenced, illegally, to life without parole. If the state had its way, Glen would never be a free man again.

Had Glen accepted a plea-bargain, he would have been freed long ago.  But because he was innocent, Glen chose to go to trial, trusting a criminal justice system that has failed him repeatedly—as it has so many others—and continues to do so to this day. Indeed, countless innocent people are behind bars, and in the past 30 years, more than  3,000 of them have been exonerated after serving nearly 27,000 years of undeserved incarceration.  With your support, we can add Glen to that group.

GLEN'S EXEMPLARY 25-YEAR PRISON RECORD 

As of 2022, Glen has been incarcerated for 25 years while maintaining one of the most exemplary institutional records in the entire Mississippi correctional system.  It includes a commendation from Warden  Scott Middlebrooks in 2019 for providing life-saving first aid to a correctional officer who collapsed in a cell block.  Glen has also earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Christian Ministry from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is currently working toward a Master’s in Theological Studies at Nations University. 

Glen  made state history when, on April 23, 2021, he became the first Mississippi inmate to present at an academic conference. He shared original research  on the beloved memoirist and civil rights activist, Anne Moody, and it was through this work that three of the sponsors of this fundraising campaign first met him.  Professor Sara Evans (who for decades taught Moody’s memoir to college students), Ms. Frances Jefferson (Moody’s sister), and Professor Leigh Ann Wheeler (Moody’s biographer) first learned of Glen’s work when he published a book of poetry about Moody in 2018 and have become better acquainted with him through his work as a teacher and scholar of Moody’s Coming of Age in Mississippi (1968).  Glen and David Lalejini met in elementary school when their moms started working together; they played in the Ponchatoula High School Band, and have been friends ever since.

PERSONAL AND FAMILY TRAUMA

Glen’s unjust conviction and incarceration have taken an unimaginable toll on him and his family.  In addition to losing his physical freedom, Glen has had to endure the psychological trauma of being labeled a murderer by society, prison staff, and even other inmates, and has had to be on guard against the ever-present threat of physical assault. He has suffered separation from his parents who are now in their 70's; his siblings, whom he has not seen in years; his three children, who were estranged from him at ages five, four, and six months and can hardly relate to him as their father; and his six grandchildren, only two of whom he has ever met.  He also lost a nursing career that he loved and worked diligently to establish.  Most of Glen’s youth has been spent wasting away inside prison walls.  The ambitious young nurse who was strong and healthy prior to his imprisonment in 1998, now depends on a daily regimen of four different medications to keep his hypertension in check.  This is the result of prison life—stress, poor nutrition, and limited opportunities to enjoy exercise, nature, and meaningful human interaction.

JOIN US--DONATE--HELP FREE GLEN!

We are committed to securing Glen’s freedom and helping him join the more than 3,000 wrongfully convicted people who have been exonerated since 1989.  But we need your help.

Revisiting 25 years of motions and appeals will require countless billable hours.  Attorney fees for a new trial will cost even more.  We need to raise $150,000 to employ a competent, effective attorney (we have already identified him!) who will work to get his conviction overturned and set Glen free.  We are very hopeful, especially given recent changes in Mississippi parole eligibility.

Glen was incarcerated at age 27; he is now 52.  Let's work together to secure the justice that Glen has been denied so that he can salvage what's left of his life.  Help him regain his freedom by donating to our campaign and sharing this post with your family and friends and on your social media platforms.   

Thank you for helping us right at least one wrong in this country's long history of criminal injustice.  We will post updates for you along the way.

Team #JusticeForGlen

Dr. Sara Evans

Ms. Frances Jefferson

Mr. David Lalejini

Dr. Leigh Ann Wheeler

[1]  KEY EVIDENCE:

THE CORONER

Pike-county coroner Percy Pittman filed his official report in May 1994, specifying that 3-year-old Whitney had been wearing an adult-sized life jacket.  Four years later, during Glen's trial, he testified that he did not remember where he learned that the life jacket was adult-sized, casting doubt on his own work and contemporaneous evidence in favor of the prosecution.

THE NOW-DISCREDITED CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER

Mississippi’s Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Stephen Hayne filed his autopsy report in May 1994, concluding that the child died from "accidental fresh-water drowning."  Four years later, he recanted, testifying at Glen’s trial that he could not have known whether the drowning was accidental or not, but that he had ruled it accidental so the body could be released in a timely manner.  So he, too, contradicted his own work and contemporaneous evidence in favor of the prosecution.  As noted above, this same pathologist was later cited by the Innocence Project for lacking board certification and for his habit of giving false testimony in order to help the state obtain convictions. 

A WITNESS

Johnny Lewis accompanied Glen and Teronda on the excursion and steered a companion paddle boat with several children aboard.  He gave an affidavit stating that he and Glen remained at Percy Quinn Park until around 12 midnight the evening of the accident, and that Glen returned very early the next morning.  The state lied, saying that Glen left the park soon after the accident occurred and never returned.  Falsehoods like this inflamed members of the jury. 

THE PARK RANGER'S MISSING REPORT

Ranger Earl Wiggins initially responded to the accident and spoke at length with Glen and Teronda at the scene.  It was he who recognized that all four of the life jackets on Glen's boat were adult-sized.  His incident report, which the state refused to produce, would have shown that the life jacket placed on the three-year-old child was adult-sized, and that Glen made himself available by staying late into the night and returning early the next morning.  How convenient that the state only pursued a case against Glen after Mr. Wiggins died in 1996.  His death and the mysterious disappearance of his incident report allowed the state to fabricate a story that Glen murdered a child to collect life insurance.  In reality, the state's malicious prosecution was just an effort to make sure that Mississippi would never be held liable for the death that occurred when its 18-year-old employee (park attendant, Evan Thomas) put an adult-sized life jacket on three-year-old Whitney.

THE LIFE JACKET EXPERT

The state’s own life jacket expert (Susan Balistreri) testified that it is not only possible, but likely, that a 3-year-old child wearing an adult-sized life jacket would slip out of it after falling into the water; that is precisely what happened to Whitney.

THE LIFE INSURANCE QUESTION

A prosecutor’s hand is strengthened when she or he can point to a motive.  The motive manufactured by the state of Mississippi was that Glen committed murder in order to collect on a State Farm life insurance policy. 

The facts: when Glen walked into the State Farm office in Hammond, Louisiana, he did intend to purchase a policy that would mature into a college fund for the child he believed to be his daughter, Whitney Berry.  (At trial, Teronda admitted that she had lied to Glen about the child’s paternity, and that in fact, another man—Brian Wilson—was Whitney’s father; Wilson was currently incarcerated for non-payment of court ordered child support for Whitney.)  Glen was on familiar terms with the insurance agent in charge of that State Farm Office; in fact, they attended the same church.  It was she who persuaded Glen to buy the type of policy he did, explaining that it would be better to purchase a life insurance policy, then convert it into a college fund once Whitney reached a certain age.  Glen trusted her advice—a decision that would later haunt him. 

 The agent persuaded Glen to purchase two more policies at the same time—one insuring him, the other insuring Teronda, and both naming his “daughter,” Whitney, as beneficiary.  But the insurance policy on Whitney was never issued.  Coverage was denied due to her history of seizures.  Glen was advised of this by mail prior to the accident.  As far as he knew, there was no existing policy on Whitney at the time of her death.  So the state’s theory regarding motive is without merit.

FAMILY MEMBERS OF THE STATE'S KEY WITNESS

Family members of Teronda Berry, the child's mother and the state's key witness, have always maintained--and do to this day--Glen's innocence.  They point out that for the four years prior to Glen's trial, Teronda told the whole family exactly what she swore to in numerous affidavits: Whitney's death was a tragic accident; Glen dove into the water and tried his best to save her.  But on the stand, she suddenly changed her story.  During a recent phone conversation with Dr. Wheeler, one immediate family member of Teronda's said that she was simply “not mentally strong enough to be able to handle” the enormous pressure put on her by the prosecution.  “It was a bunch of white guys pressing her,” he said.  “She was scared,” and she probably thought she would go to jail if she didn’t say what they wanted her to say.  As a result, “another Black man got railroaded,” he said.  “If he had money and his own lawyer, everything would have been different.”