Former Texas Congressman, Attorney Craig Washington was the first lawyer retained by Jamil’s mother to represent him in court. This lawyer accepted tens of thousands of dollars from Jamil’s mother and family to represent him but never showed up one day in court. He was so out of touch with the case that he wrote to Jamil in jail advising he had information that would help clear Jamil, but the case had already been tried, convicted and sentenced. Claims have been filed against Craig Washington through the Texas Bar association for this and other cases, and his license has finally been suspended. 
 

Click here to read related article in it’s entirety on the Houston Press Blog on Attorny Craig Washington. 

 

Below is a link to the investigative report the US Justice Department did on the New Orleans Police Department noting systematic violation of civil, federal, statutory and constitutional rights that are approved and ratified up the chain of command, with a blatant bias on every level and in every category against African Americans in particular and people of color in general, and countless other New Orleans [African American] citizens, visitors and those who just pass through, in the past and in the future. This system of injustice will never change as long as our only reaction/response to it is to ignore it, talk about (positively or negatively) and call it ‘a shame’. It is our lack of active reaction/response that works indirectly to foster an environment that perpetuates this type of unjust behavior.

justice.gov/crt/about/spl/nopd_report.pdf

The link below is to an amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court of the United States challenging the non-unanimous jury vote as being unconstitutional based, in part, on the mere fact that if one or two jurors vote not guilty then reasonable doubt still exists. It cites how this non-unanimous jury vote was enacted during a period when law makers were openly passing laws with the intention of preserving so-called white supremacy. The result of the non-unanimous vote indirectly works to supress the voting power of minority jurorers and systematically results in wrongful convictions of mostly minorities. Jamil was convicted by a non-unanimous 10-2 vote. Ironically one of the 10 jurors who submitted a guilty vote against Jamil later said she felt pressured and hurried during deliberation and did not believe a just verdict was reached.

cdn.volokh.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/amicuslacdl.pdf

Also click here to review the Factual Basis document relating to the Federal case against Michael Hunt who was involved in the masacre of some unarmed civilians at the Danziger Bridge on September 4, 2006.  The document describes in detail how the police basically came up to the bridge in a Budget rental truck, jumped out and started blindly shooting at those unarmed civilians, African American men, women and children. He then conspired with other police officers to cover up this masacre by falsely claiming someone was armed and fired at them, knowing full well that the people were unarmed and posed no threat.

 

This is the very system that wrongfully charged, conspired against and wrongfully convicted Jamil Joyner. Countless other New Orleans African American citizens, visitors and those who just passed through -in the past and in the future- are and will be negatively impacted by this rogue police force and judicial system. It will never change as long as our only reaction/response to it is to talk about it (positively or negatively) and just call it ‘a shame’. It is our lack of active reaction/response that indirectly works to perpetuate this type of judicial disrespect and misconduct against us.

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