Clarence Moses-EL was falsely imprisoned for 28 years. After he was released, the former Denver D.A., Mitch Morrissey, decided to retry him. This jury found him not guilty, and he’s now free after losing the best part of his life. Susan Greene has a complete — and hair-raising — description of the case in her Colorado Independent article. I urge everyone to sign the petition on Change.Org urging the current D.A. Beth McCann and the Colorado Attorney General, Cynthia Coffman, to approve compensation for his lost years, and not force a third trial. Tomorrow is the deadline, so please sign today!
Below is Disability Law United’s letter to Ms. Coffman and Ms. McCann:
January 25, 2018
Cynthia H. Coffman
Colorado Attorney General
Ralph L. Carr Judicial Building
1300 Broadway, 10th Floor
Denver, CO 80203
Cynthia.Coffman@coag.gov
Beth McCann
Denver District Attorney
201 W. Colfax Ave.
Denver, CO 80202
Beth.McCann@denverda.org
RE: Compensation Due Clarence Moses-EL
Dear General Coffman and District Attorney McCann:
I am writing to urge that you not oppose compensation for Clarence Moses-EL.
Disability Law United is a Denver-based nonprofit devoted to protecting civil rights in all walks of life. My Co-Executive Director, Tim Fox, and I are both Colorado lawyers and Denver residents — and we are both devoted to the integrity of the justice system in the state and the city we love.
We are deeply concerned about the treatment of Mr. Moses-EL’s case over the past 30 years. It is hard to read about this flawed process — the destruction of dispositive evidence, a conviction based on a dream, and a retrial (opposed by Ms. McCann during her campaign) based on the sudden recollections, decades after the event, of an admittedly impaired witness — without profound sadness for Mr. Moses-EL, for our system of justice, and for the actions that are being taken in our name, as Denverites and Colorado lawyers.
Mr. Moses-EL was imprisoned unjustly for 28 years. While we cannot give him back those years, we must help him build the life that was taken from him.
You are both experienced and esteemed lawyers, charged with doing justice for our state and our city, respectively. You have the ability to facilitate Mr. Moses-EL’s return to society and support his children’s education. And you have the ability to save Mr. Moses-EL from the almost unimaginable trauma of a third trial — one in which he would be forced to prove his innocence without the dispositive evidence destroyed by the police.
We respectfully request, in the name of justice and mercy, that you not oppose Mr. Moses-EL’s request for compensation.
Sincerely,
CIVIL RIGHTS EDUCATION
AND ENFORCEMENT CENTER
/s/ Amy F. Robertson