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Hello to all of you who are taking the time to read our words . Our names are Stephanie and Julie and we start this campaign to help our friend John who was wrongfully convicted 20 years ago for a crime he did not commit . Here is his story ...
Hello my name is John Dewberry and i come toward you today to talk about something very important .
I am locked now for more than 20 years , including 10 years in death row , and that , for a crime i did not commit ! I was arrested and incarcerated at the age of 17 years old , and in April 2015 i would have spent more than half of my life in this awake nightmare which is imposed to me for so many years .
Close your eyes for a few minutes and imagine yourself in my situation , or your son , your nephew ,your brother , a close relation , in the hell where i live ... Would you help this person ? Would you sit around doing nothing , powerless ? Or would you try all you can to bring back justice ? I can assure you one thing , you are not powerless , together we can make the difference ! For my life , for my Freedom !
I am telling you all these things today because i desperately need help , now more than ever !
Don't let me here trapped in this hell for the rest of my life , only because i don't have money to pay my lawyer's fees to fight this injustice and give back my freedom .
I pray my voice is heard as there has never been a more serious and important time than right now !
Stand with me !
In solidarity ,
John Dewberry
The murder
On Christmas day 1994 , 57 years old Elmer Rode was found dead in his house in Beaumont Texas . He had been shot multiple times . Elmer Rode was a well known person in Jefferson County . He was the dean of admissions and registrar at Lamar University in Beaumont , as well as a very active in many organizations such as The Young Men's Business League . He was furthermore known as a pedophile . His murder was brutal . He was found lying on the floor in the living room . Rode's hands were tied behind his back with a telephone cord and his feet were tied together with a belt . A pillow with bullet holes was lying across his head . The pathologist also found evidence indicating Rode was beaten up and strangled at some point .
The arrest
On January 3rd 1995 , John got arrested at his great grandmother's house . it was brutal and traumatizing .John was outside in the backyard to feed his dog . As he walked to his dog he looked up and saw a bunch of police officers pointing their gun on him . They were all running through a field on the side of the house screaming different commands and John just froze where he was . They all (about 10) came up to the 6 foot high fence surrounding the house and told him to come up to the fence , which he did with his hands raised . They told him to put his hands on the fence . They handcuffed him and literally dragged him over the fence . They all walked along the house to the driveway when his great grandmother and grandmother opened the front door . His dog ran outside too and tried to run to John . A police officer shot the dog in front of everyone's eyes . His great grandmother collapsed .
I remember bits and pieces of being at the police station .I remember i was continuously asking to speak to my father cause i was confused and didn't know what to do .I remember being in a small room for i don't know how long .I remember i was crying and leaning forward putting my head on my knees a lot , seeing different people's faces , seeing double of everything .They said all i was saying over and over is " i want to call my dad " . I was only a 17 years old kid at the time . I remember that Detective Steve Thrower telling me that as soon as we finished in there i could see me dad , "so sign right here and i'll send you your dad " . I don't remember signing nothing but i do remember my dad and step-mom and my step-mom coming in and was crying and hugging me , asking me if i realized what i had signed . And that was the last i remember until i woke up the next day in the county jail . I didn't find it till later who this Detective Steve Thrower was .He said he came in the room with me by himself and he closed the door and i just started talking and he just wrote evrything down . I was cool , calm , collective the whole time .Which is a lie !
John Dewberry
John was under the influence of Marijuana and alcohol as well as medication at the time of the arrest and hearing . A doctor later stated that this mixture caused a state of " non compos mentis " . Another police officer stated that he saw John sitting in the room with Detective Thrower . He stated that John did not talk but was curled up on himself and was doing back and worth movements on his chair .
Steve Thrower who made John signed the fabricated confession was the father of John's ex-girlfriend . He knew who John was and did not like him due to the break-uo / heartbreak of his daughter with John . He saw his chance for " revenge " and took it . It furthermore came out that Mr Thrower took confessions of several other men in other cases also . Four men got released after they could prove that the confessions were fabricated .
Facts and trial
As the victim was well known in the area , the case was in the media constantly . There was a public outcry and they demanded a fast arrest and severe punishment . It came out at the trial that were many things that were uncovered by the police , that could have cleared John , that were not following up on .
- Officer Lamb dusted for finger prints and got several sets from Mr Rode's house (where the crime took place) and off his truck . He testified at trial he tried to match them to several people including John and none of them matched John's prints at all , or others that he tried . So he quit trying .
- The I.D technician for Beaumont Police Department confiscated 150 video tapes . The video tapes showed the victim Mr rode in sexual activities with young men/boys . All tapes have been given back to the victim's sister and she destroyed them before the trial even started .
- End of December 1994 , the state key witness Mitchell King got arrested in Louisiana . It came out that his charges (felonies) were dropped and he got out the day John was arrested on the 3rd of January . The state hid it from the defense until the defense discovered that the D.A (District Attorney) had made several calls and sent them a fax to the his parole officer and the parole board and got his " blue warrant dropped" . The D.A denied making any deals with anyone . The detective who was supposed to be the one who gave the state key witness his alibi and was supposed to be the one who went to the police station in Beaumont , after been bonded out in Louisiana and also told the detective what the state witnes has told him that "he was involved in a murderer ". He could not be located at all for some reason now . The state would not call him in and the defense could not find him anywhere . He was directly implemented in the state key witness testimony but was not called in and could not be located for some reason ! So the defense asked for a "motion of continuance" to locate him and get his vital testimony to show the state his fabricating evidence by making their witness lie , but the judge denied it .
- The alleged murder weapon and some stolen property were given to the police by a man after police arrested him . He was later released and testified for the state saying he brought the stuff from John's brother Christopher. He first gave police a VCR and then later the next day or so he gave them a pistol and another VCR . The pistol was later identified as one of the murder weapons . This man had it in his possession and had no proof John's brother Christopher gave it to him at all .
- There was evidence missing out of the police property room ! There was a desk calendar for 90' , 92', 93' , 94' and the last month Mr Rode was alive of December was torn out , missing ! Also a pocket calendar was produced and the last month Mr rode was alive of December 1994 was torn out of this one too ! these items were confiscated from his office at Lamar University and his home .
- Also found was was a written hand note left stating : "Nothing illegal or wrong happened while at Elmer Rode's house" and it was not signed . The sergeant of the Beaumont police testified i found it but no tests were run on it to find out whose hand writing it was .
- Hair was found and taken from the right pocket region of the shorts Mr Rode was wearing , as stated in the autopsy report . It did not match John's nor Christopher 's hair . The detective stated that the hair was not tested on anyone else.
- John and Christopher were tested for their finger prints for this crime and they did not match .
- Five of the jurors knew the victim ! Two of them are husband and wife ! The jury foreman was a member of the same organizations in that the victim was . that is immediately conflict of interest !
John got sentenced to death .
Christopher got sentenced to life in prison in separate trial .
On March 1st , 2005 , the United States Supreme Court rules 5-4 that executed juveniles is unconstitutional . Being John was 17 years old , a child , at the time he was arrested and railroaded to Death Row , his death sentence was commuted to life. On June 22 , 2005 he was moved off from Death Row to general population .
Legal representation
Due to donations we were thankfully able to hire a new lawyer for John . We hired Udashen Law Office in Dallas for the appeal and to reach a new and hopefully fair new trial for John . His appeal is pending since several years already .
As soon as the new trial will be granted , John will be without legal representation .
Help is desperately needed for John's defense , fundraising is his only hope so it has became a mission !
Please take a stand with us for justice ! John's life and freedom depends on it !
Thank you for taking the time to read John's story and we hope you will be part of this cause !
In solidarity ,
Stephanie and Julie
Here are below the links to John's Facebook , website in which you will find more details of this case . Also a documentary above that was made about John's story .
https://www.facebook.com/johncpdewberry?fref=ts
http://johncpdewberry.net/
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