The Six Trials of Curtis Flowers

We’ve all heard the expression, “seventh time’s the charm,” right? Wait – you haven’t? Okay – neither have I, but apparently it’s a motto that a Mississippi District Attorney lives by.

On the morning of July 16, 1996 in Winona, Mississippi, Tardy Furniture employees Robert Golden and Carmen Rigby, as well as the owner, Bertha Tardy, were found in the middle of the store’s showroom, fatally shot execution style. Another employee, Derrick “Bo Bo” Stewart died approximately 6 days later from the same type of injury. The crime scene was discovered by a fellow employee who had been called in to work just a short time earlier.

While police did an adequate job at keeping the public from entering the scene, there were various uninvolved officials that came and went, including the mayor and animal control officer. Investigators collected bullets, bullet fragments, and .380 caliber shell casings. They also dusted for prints, interviewed potential witnesses, and questioned possible suspects. They even made sketches of a bloody footprint found at the scene and it was determined the print came from a size 10.5 Fila brand sneaker. It didn’t seem to match any of the police officer’s shoes but no one could be sure since so many people went through the scene. $287 had been taken out of the register, and the safe was unlocked but the contents, untouched.

Shortly after police arrived on the murder scene, other officers responded to a complaint of a theft from a vehicle nearby. The caller stated a .380 caliber pistol had been stolen from his unlocked vehicle. A witness claimed Curtis Flowers was seen near the vehicle so police interviewed him that afternoon. Curtis had also worked for Tardy Furniture for a short amount of time and had been fired approximately 2-weeks prior to the murder.

Flowers told investigators he had been babysitting his girlfriend’s children at the time of the murders and consented to a gunshot residue test. It was determined that he had one particle of gun powder on his right thumb. He wore the same size shoe as the footprint left at the scene, and police found $255 as well an empty Fila shoebox at the home of his girlfriend. After he was arrested, jailhouse informants told investigators that Flowers confessed to the murders but then, each recanted.

To be honest, I’m not sure if Curtis Flowers committed this crime. There is some pretty strong circumstantial evidence pointing toward his guilt but there is also plenty of compelling indicators that he didn’t do it. One problem, as discussed below, is that the district attorney violated Curtis’ constitutional rights and went above and beyond to win this case. That is injustice. It’s injustice to the victim’s families, to Curtis and his family, as well as the Winona community. If he can prove guilt, he should do so legally and within the rights of the defendant. 

First, even though there were at least two alternate suspects, the DA did not divulge that information to defense attorneys. As a matter of fact, one of those suspects was actually arrested and just happened to be wearing Fila sneakers when he was booked. This is called a Brady violation. The Brady doctrine requires that the prosecution turn over all exculpatory evidence to the defendant. Additionally, in 2001, a rusty .380 gun was located under a house 700 feet from Tardy Furniture. The weapon was turned over to police but it was never logged into evidence and officers denied ever seeing the gun. I highly doubt this was an oversight and could be considered police misconduct.

Therefore, technically, the murder weapon was never found so ballistics experts couldn’t conduct their analysis in a controlled environment. They believe the weapon stolen from the vehicle was the one used in the shootings but they can’t be 100% sure. Either way, it also can’t be proven that it was Curtis who stole the gun in the first place.

Further, some theorize that the crime had to have been carried out by more than one perpetrator since it was an execution type killing. Normally, victims will attempt to flee if there aren’t additional people to control them. There were similar crimes with execution style killings in Alabama in 1996 and one of those perpetrators wore Fila brand sneakers. One man convicted of the Alabama crimes stated that two of his accomplices were in Mississippi at the time of the Tardy Furniture murders.

Curtis Flowers has already been tried SIX times for this same crime. Six times. All by the same DA, Doug Evans. The first trial was solely for the murder of Bertha Tardy and the second, for only Derrick Stewart. Curtis Flowers was convicted at both trials and sentenced to death for both. It was later determined that the court improperly allowed evidence regarding crimes not on trial to be admitted. In other words, the DA mentioned the other three murders at each of his first and second trials, which is not allowed. Something to be noted: Trial one consisted of an all-white jury while trial two had 11 white jurors and one black juror.

Both of these convictions were overturned, and he was tried a third time - this time for all four murders together. Again, the jury consisted of a ratio of 11 white jurors to one black juror. Curtis was again found guilty and sentenced to death but this time, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned the conviction due to Prosecutor Evans striking potential jurors strictly because of race. Each attorney has the opportunity to “strike” jurors without giving a reason, however that reason cannot be due to race. In this case, each of the 15 jurors struck by the prosecution were black. In fact, Doug Evan’s has used his strikes 4.5 times more often on black citizens than on white.

Trial four ended in a mistrial due to hung jury. The make-up of jurors was more equal but out of the 11 strikes used by the prosecution, all 11 were black. The seven white jurors voted guilty while five black members voted for acquittal. The fifth trial was made up of a 9-3 ratio but the statistics for juror strikes are not available.  They voted 11 to one to convict. The lone holdout refused to change his vote resulting in another hung jury and the judge ordered his arrest for a perjury charge that was later dismissed.

The sixth, and most recent trial also ended in a conviction and a death sentence. The jury was again 11 white members and one seated black juror. During voir dire (the questioning of jurors by counsel or a judge), the district attorney asked black potential jurors an average of 29 questions while he asked white potential jurors an average of one each. In all, the district attorney struck five of the six black potential jurors for this sixth trial.

So, where is the justice in this? This case has been going on for 23 years. Each time, the victim’s families have to relive the loss of their loved ones. Curtis Flowers and his family have been riding a roller coaster of injustice as well. People who think Flowers is guilty are disgusted that he continues to appeal. Those who believe in his innocence are enraged that the state continues to try him. Honestly, I’m not sure which side I fall on, but I do know that the man is not receiving fair and impartial trials.

I hadn’t planned on writing about this case quite yet but on June 21, 2019, the US Supreme Court once again overturned Curtis Flowers’ conviction in a 7-2 decision that the state violated the Constitution. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion stating the prosecutor “displayed a pattern of racial bias,” using a total of 41 out of 42 total peremptory strikes throughout this process to block African American potential jurors, including five out of six in just the last trial. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the dissent.

All citizens have the right to a fair and impartial trial; to be judged by our peers. Fair and impartial means no cheating allowed. Our judicial system is an adversarial one. One side against the other. Many times, the prosecution will get tunnel vision and fight to prove the guilt of the defendant rather than trying to convict the right defendant. Curtis Flowers maintains his innocence. If the prosecution “knows” he’s guilty, then why can’t they prove it without breaking the rules and violating the defendant’s constitutional rights?

Now, it’s up to District Attorney Doug Evans to decide if he will try Curtis Flowers a seventh time. Seventh time’s the charm, right? But when should a district attorney step away? When does the fight become so personal that someone else comes in and says enough?

To learn more about this case, please check out these additional resources:

The latest US Supreme Court decision: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/17-9572_k536.pdf

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ms-supreme-court/1878694.html

About the found gun: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/08/02/curtis-flowers-innocent-pathologist-thinks-multiple-killers-behind-quadruple-murder/813262002/

Please listen to In The Dark Podcast, Season 2: https://www.apmreports.org/in-the-dark/season-two

Adnan Syed Part II

During the last post, I told you that Hae Min Lee was murdered and Adnan Syed was arrested for the crime. It seemed like an open and shut case since his acquaintance, Jay Wilds, claimed he helped Adnan bury her body. However, there are so many issues with this case:

Issue #1: Since January 13 was a pretty ordinary day, Adnan couldn’t remember every detail of his whereabouts; however, a classmate by the name of Asia McClain clearly remembers seeing Adnan in the library on that day, during the time the state claimed Hae was killed. Adnan asked his attorney to contact Asia but she never did. Asia just assumed she wasn’t needed and went on with her life, not realizing how important this was until she heard about it again during the Serial podcast 15 years later. His track coach also remembered Adnan being at practice that day since Adnan had been fasting for Ramadan and therefore, didn’t partake in the usual workout. 

Issue #2: Adnan’s attorney, Cristina Gutierrez, was supposed to be top-notched; however, she did not do an adequate job at investigating this crime. Not only did Gutierrez fail to contact Asia McClain, she also didn’t hire any of the experts for which the family paid her. She was disbarred (by consent) in 2001 due to financial improprieties. Her voluntary disbarment was agreed upon because of her failing health due to multiple sclerosis. She died in 2004. 

Issue #3: Jay’s story – correction Jay’s stories, plural. Each time Jay spoke with investigators, his story was different. He actually gives at least seven versions of what happened: four interviews with police, two at trial, and a news interview – all differing from each other. There are, however, two points that Jay is consistent about: Hae was in the trunk of her own car, and Adnan called him at approximately 3:40 to come pick him up. Adnan says this call never took place and he was on campus until after track practice ended. Jay also told police he helped bury Hae’s body, but he received no jail time because of his cooperation. In fact, one of the investigators called in a personal favor from an attorney friend of his to represent Jay pro-bono. (This is NOT common practice). I would also like to point out that Jay and Adnan are acquaintances, not good friends. It’s hardly believable that Adnan would have told Jay that he committed a murder.  

Issue #4: The physical evidence doesn’t match Jay’s story. The lividity evidence showed that Hae was lying face down, prone, rather than curled up in the trunk of a small car. It also showed that she was most likely deceased for 8 to 12 hours before she was buried, not only 4 to 6 as Jay stated. In addition, Adnan’s DNA was not on Hae’s body at all. 

Jay led police to Hae’s vehicle parked in a grassy lot at an apartment complex. Her vehicle was never processed at the scene and was instead towed to headquarters for evidence collection. It was released to the family soon after, in March. Defense investigators don’t believe her car was in the lot for an extended period of time. Instead, they believe it was moved there just prior to Jay’s interview. A woman living near that lot was interviewed for the HBO documentary and stated there is no way it would have been there that long without someone, including her, calling the police. Additionally, neither Hae’s nor Adnan’s trunks appeared to have evidence of carrying a deceased body.

Issue #5: The tunnel vision by investigators was actually misconduct since they appeared to coach Jay on his stories to make sure they matched up with the state’s theory. I realize this is a pretty bold accusation but unfortunately, it’s true. Jay’s stories still don’t match the evidence. During the Undisclosed podcast, Susan Simpson played audio from Jay’s taped interviews. During those recordings, she pointed out there are very long pauses between questions and answers. In addition, each time Jay erred in a telling of the story, one of the investigators tapped on the table to refresh his memory, as if maybe pointing out places on a map. The following are only a few excerpts of the interviews taken from Undisclosed Podcast Season 1, episode 3 to show the tapping indications by investigators. You have to listen to this complete episode! Coaching a “witness” is misconduct!

https://undisclosed-podcast.com/episodes/season-1/episode-3-jays-day.html

[33:22] Detective MacGillivary: Okay, um, what happens then?  

Jay Wilds: We leave there, um, I believe… Can you bear with me for a minute? I… [tap tap] …um, okay, we left there… Ah, I take him, I took him back to school, and, and I dropped him off. (Jay’s Second Interview, pg. 19.)

[35:48] Jay Wilds: … and so I get in the car and I follow him, and we end up at the 70 Park and Ride off of, uh… um, what is that? Uh… [tap tap] Sh… Cooks Lane. (Jay’s First Interview, pg. 8.) 

[41:34] Detective MacGillivary: And both cars are parked back in the parking spot?  

Jay Wilds: No, just his car. Her car had been moved to the… [sound of paper, tap] …uh, spot around the corner prior to us digging the hole. (Jay’s Second Interview, pg. 33.) 

Susan Simpson pointed out the investigators seemed to be getting annoyed at Jay since he can’t remember what he is supposed to say. She also reminded us that they supposedly have two vehicles so how are they having a conversation? It’s ALMOST laughable.

[42:56] Detective MacGillivary: What do you do then?  

Jay Wilds: Um… hmm, we drive to Westview… um, I told him take me home. And on the way going home we pass by Westview, and he says, “I better get rid of this stuff.”  

Detective MacGillivary: [sigh] You’ve got two cars.  

Jay Wilds: Oh, I’m sorry. I apologize. Um, I’m missing… (Jay’s Second Interview, pg. 35.) 

(Chaudry, Miller, & Simpson, "Undisclosed Podcast", 2015)

Issue #6: The cell phone pings used as evidence against Adnan were not reliable for incoming calls. At trial, a cell phone expert testified that calls that pinged off towers in the Leakin Park area would confirm the phone was in that vicinity. However, Susan Simpson stumbled across the fax cover sheet that explicitly states, “Outgoing calls only are reliable for location status. Any incoming calls will NOT be considered reliable information for location.” Adnan’s attorney never brought this up at trial and the expert that testified has since stated he would have testified differently had he known about this fax cover sheet.

Issue #7 Alternative suspects. I’ve already mentioned Mr. Sellers, who stumbled upon Hae’s body, although he was cleared as a suspect. Jay has also been cleared and I’m not suggesting he did the crime, only that he is lying about Adnan doing so. But what about Hae’s boyfriend, Don? I’m not accusing him of murder since I have no proof and these kinds of accusations ruin lives. I do feel as though the police didn’t follow up on him, as they should have because he had an alibi. Do you know what his alibi was? He was working at Lens Crafters and has a time sheet to prove it. The time sheet, however, was created after the date in question AND the managers of the two stores he worked at were his mother and his stepmother. Further, an employee was interviewed for the HBO documentary and stated there would have been no reason for Don to be called in the day in question since they were fully staffed that day.

Adnan’s trials: 

His first was declared a mistrial since jurors overheard the judge call Cristina Gutierrez a liar. Jurors polled afterward stated he most likely would have been acquitted. In 2000, the jury at his second trial found him guilty and he was sentenced to life plus 30 years. His 2002-2003 appeals are all denied.  

In 2010, Justin Brown was hired as his new attorney who filed for post-conviction relief on the grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel. After much back and forth, the petition for post-conviction relief was denied by Judge Martin Welch. 

Serial Podcast aired in 2014 and became a phenomenon that no one expected. Suddenly, Adnan is known by everyone. In 2015, he was granted an application for leave to appeal and his attorney opened a new post-conviction relief petition. Adnan was granted a new hearing. Of course, this opened new wounds for Hae Min Lee’s family but there was finally hope a real killer could be apprehended. Asia McClain’s alibi testimony as well as the unreliable cell phone ping information was heard. Almost five long months later, Adnan Syed’s conviction was overturned by Judge Welch, meaning he could get a new trial if the state didn’t drop the charges.

However, Adnan remained incarcerated and the State of Maryland appealed the ruling, which was not surprising to Adnan’s defense team. Another seven months later, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld Welch’s ruling and the state’s Court of Appeals agreed to hear the case. In November of 2018, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals heard arguments from both sides. I listened to these oral arguments and thought Adnan’s people delivered a much more compelling case than the prosecution; however, March 8, 2019 – literally two days before the HBO documentary about this case aired, the Court voted 4-3, denying him a new trial.  

Documentary spoiler alert: The state offered him a plea deal and Adnan did not accept. They offered him to serve four MORE years if he pleads guilty. He refused saying he couldn’t say he did something that he didn’t do. So the next step appears to be a petition to the US Supreme Court. Unfortunately, they only agree to hear approximately 2% of the 7000 to 8000 cases filed annually.

No matter what you believe about his guilt or innocence, Adnan did not receive a fair trial. If the state is so confident in his guilt, why not just try him again and prove it. Hae Min Lee and her family deserve more than allowing her real killer to remain free.

Please visit the following links to learn more about this case:

All things related to this case: https://www.adnansyedwiki.com/

Undisclosed Podcast: https://undisclosed-podcast.com/episodes/season-1/

The HBO documentary: https://www.hbo.com/the-case-against-adnan-syed

Serial Podcast: https://serialpodcast.org/season-one

Susan Simpson’s extensive blog posts about this case: https://viewfromll2.com/category/serial-blogging-about-a-podcast/

Colin Miller’s extensive blog posts about this case. This is a later post that has links to entries 1-20: 

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/evidenceprof/2014/12/ive-done-eighteen-posts-herehereherehereherehereherehereherehere-hereherehereherehereherehereherehere-an.html

Please consider donating to the Adnan Syed Trust to assist with legal fees.

https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/help_freeadnan#!/

Ordering merchandise using this link also benefits Adnan's legal fund:

https://www.zazzle.com/s/undisclosed?q=undisclosed&sgsc=undisclosed

Chaudry, R., Miller, C., & Simpson, S. (2015, May 12). Undisclosed Podcast

[Audio blog post]. Retrieved from https://undisclosed-podcast.com/

Adnan Syed Part I

As I prepare to post this, Adnan Syed has spent 7416 days incarcerated for a crime that I truly do not believe he committed. That’s also 7416 days without justice for the victim, Hae Min Lee. Adnan was arrested for the murder of Hae when he was 17-years old; he turned 38 in May of this year. He has spent more time in prison that he has outside those walls.  

The infuriating thing about Adnan, and so many just like him, is that the fight to get a new and fair trial is an uphill battle. It’s much easier to get a wrongful conviction than it is to win a new trial, much less freedom. There is so much to this case, and as much as I love to tell people about it, I just cannot relay all of the information. In fact, I had to break this case into two posts since I didn’t want to overwhelm you. It’s my hope that you’ll become interested enough after reading this that you will dig deeper and begin to champion for Adnan’s innocence and justice for Hae. So, please listen to the “Undisclosed Podcast” with Rabia Chaundry, Susan Simpson, and Colin Miller. When you’re done bingeing that, please watch the HBO series, “The Case Against Adnan.” I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with either, and instead will walk away asking, “What the…?”

Adnan Syed and Hae Min Lee dated for approximately nine months while they attended Woodlawn High in Baltimore, Maryland. Neither of their parents knew about their relationship and eventually Hae tired of the secrecy, breaking it off in December 1998. They remained friends, hung around the same people, and each moved on to other love interests. They spoke often and remained friends. 

January 13, 1999 began as any other day for Adnan. It was his friend Stephanie’s birthday and he offered her boyfriend, Jay, the use of his car so he could go to the mall and get her a gift. The gist of the Jay-Adnan friendship was that they were acquaintances that smoked pot together. Since Jay was dating Adnan’s good friend, Adnan tolerated him more than many others did. Jay accepted his vehicle offer and Adnan’s life changed forever.

Adnan had bumped into Hae early in the school day, and asked her for a ride to track practice. Hae said she would, however, later in the day she told him she had somewhere she had to be and couldn’t give him a ride. It was common knowledge that Hae always picked up her cousin at 3:15 but she made it seem as though she had other plans as well. Adnan went to the library to check his email and then went to track practice. Hae never made it to pick up her cousin or to her Lens Crafter shift that evening. 

School was cancelled on January 14^th and 15^th due to inclement weather. The evening of the 15^th was their friend Krista’s 18^th birthday party, and when Hae didn’t appear for that, her friends started to get concerned but guessed that she was wrapped up in her two-week old relationship with her new boyfriend, Don. The following Monday was MLK day. This meant that many of Hae’s friends didn’t realize she was missing or at least they didn’t think very much of it. That Tuesday was Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan so Adnan wasn’t in school that day either. Once the police began interviewing Hae’s friends over the phone, they soon realized this was serious and that their friend was really missing.  

On February 9, 1999, Hae’s deceased body was found in Leakin Park in Baltimore, Maryland by Alonzo Sellers. Sellers had stopped on the side of the road to go to the bathroom, crossed the road, and then went pretty far into the woods, finally happening upon her body. He was never truly considered a suspect although it was determined the burial spot wasn’t obvious so some speculate he knew about it ahead of time. It was also later discovered that Sellers’ house was within walking distance of Woodlawn High where Hae was last seen. He is not considered a suspect and I am not suggesting he should be. 

Here is where the case goes awry.  The police seem to immediately focus on Adnan. They ran his driving records and vehicle details before her body was found. They developed tunnel vision and never really looked elsewhere. Three days after Hae’s body was found, an anonymous call to the police pointed them to Adnan and they began collecting his cell phone records – for a phone that was in the vehicle he lent to his acquaintance, Jay. Adnan had gotten a new phone the day before Hae’s disappearance but since he couldn’t bring it to school, he left it in the glove compartment, giving Jay permission to use it.  

Those phone records led police to Jenn Pusateri since she was called most frequently that day. Jenn was a close friend of Jays and they spent a lot of time together. During her interview, she informed police that Jay told her Adnan killed Hae. In Jay’s police interview, he told investigators that Adnan called him at approximately 3:35 and asked him to come pick him up. He also stated that Adnan showed him Hae’s body in the trunk of her own car and that helped to bury her body in Leakin Park. Jay then led them to Hae’s car and Adnan was arrested on February 28, 1999 for her murder.

Tragically, when Adnan was arrested, his charging documents listed his birth year incorrectly, therefore listing him as 18-years old. He was denied bail since this would have been a capital case, if he were actually 18. He’s been behind bars ever since. 

Tune in to the next post to read some of the numerous issues with this case!

Why am I sharing stories of injustice?

By sharing the stories of injustice experienced by others, it's my hope that you'll become engaged enough in the case to start digging a little deeper. You will find instances of injustice occur more than you ever thought possible.

I will relay as much information as I can to get you interested, but please explore the sources I link to get a fuller story. I could go on for hours with these cases since I'm a justice addict. I want to be the person that gets you addicted as well. Fighting together is much easier than fighting alone.

I will be posting about the first case in a two part series beginning later this week.