A Case Study

I was recently given information from a close associate of mine about a miscarriage of justice that has taken place in California.  The defendant in the case, Douglas Stankewitz, was convicted of murder almost 30 years ago by a jury not of his peers, but of a group of people that have historically found people from Douglas' family to be the enemies of the United States.

Mr. Stankewitz is a Native American who was tried in Fresno California.  His defense team didn't bother to take that into account when getting ready for the trial.  This area has a long history of racial prejudice against the Natives.  Once the trial got underway, his defense team didn't challenge outright lies coming from the prosecution.  They didn't challenge the only witness against him who had received a payoff from the prosecution in exchange for his testimony.  They didn't challenge anything.  The defense team simply let their client get convicted.

This case is a miscarriage of justice that continues to go on.  Even with Douglas' lawyer admitting under oath that he failed to provide adequate defense because he had other business interests he was concerned with, he has yet to get a new trial.  Even with a federal appeals court order directing the Fresno Superior Court to retry this case, issued in 2003, Douglas is still locked away.

I would surely hate to be thrown away like that.  The fact of the matter is, none of us would like it.  The question is, why do we tolerate it when it happens to other people?  An injustice against one of us is an injustice against all of us.  If we allow it to happen to others, we are gambling that it could never happen to us, and your life could end up on the line one day as a result.

In the case of Mr. Stankewitz, it appears that the justice system is more concerned about covering up for its own failures than in correcting an injustice that has gone on for far too long.  Its time to reexamine his case and then let him go.  We, the People of the State of California have deprived him of his freedom because we tolerated racism, judicial misconduct and violations of a citizens civil rights.  We took his life away from him in the process, which is something that he can never recover and that we can never replace.

When will there be some justice in this case?

Comments

[Carol J]

I know Douglas personally and I totally support him and am I angered by his being locked in a cage for over 30 years now. THAT is cruel and inhumane punishment!