Prosecutor Seeks To Dismiss Criminal Case Against Groveland Four After 70 Years!
Over 70 years have passed since four young black men were accused of of raping a white girl, and now a prosecutor is seeking to drop the charges.
Prosecutor Bill Gladson filed a motion on Monday to dismiss the indictments against Ernest Thomas and Samuel Shepherd and to set aside the judgments and sentences of Charles Greenlee and Walter Irvin.
An apology was given to the men in 2017 and in 2019 they were pardoned, however, a pardon does not erase the allegations of a crime. The new prosecutor wants to set in stone that the Groveland Four were falsely accused and have always been innocent.
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“Even a casual review of the record reveals that these four men were deprived of the fundamental due process rights that are guaranteed to all Americans,” Gladson wrote in the motion. “Given these facts today, no fairminded prosecutor would even consider filing these charges and no reasonable jury would convict.
“The evidence strongly suggests that the sheriff, the judge, and the prosecutor all but ensured guilty verdicts in this case. These officials, disguised as keepers of the peace and masquerading as ministers of justice, disregarded their oaths, and set in motion a series of events that forever destroyed these men, their families, and a community,” Gladson added. “I have not witnessed a more complete breakdown of the criminal justice system, nor do I ever expect I will again.”
Sadly, if the motion is passed, the Groveland Four will not be here to witness it as they have all passed away, but their families still live on with this tragedy.