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NEWS & LETTERS,
August-September 2002
Reverse unjust conviction of Richard Flood!
Chicago--Richard Flood is a former political prisoner
who served time in the Tamms Supermax prison, to which he had been sent in
reprisal for his legal and organizing work on behalf of other prisoners. Upon
his release in March 2000 he secured employment in Chicago in construction (as a
member of Ironworkers Local #1) and continued his political work. He told us in a recent interview, “When I was in
prison I decided to further the work of Fred Hampton and George Jackson by
raising the political consciousness of gang members. If we could get them to
focus on social change, I decided, it would be a real plus for our movement. The
system doesn’t want gang members to become political. That’s where all the
trouble began. I ended up in Tamms because of my political work.” After his release, he worked with the highly regarded
Mr. Malo Youth Center in Chicago. “I went to this organization to do volunteer
work. I was doing paralegal pro bono work, on landlord tenant disputes, at the
time. The Mr. Malo organization is on the Southeast side of Chicago, a very
depressed area. I saw it as an opportunity to continue my work with gang
members, to try to instill in them a need for social change.” Only a year after being released from prison, however,
Richard again found himself in jail on trumped-up charges. On March 24, 2001
Richard and his wife Rebecca stopped at a gas station in Joliet, Ill. He
returned from inside the station to find his wife being attacked by three armed
persons. Richard, himself unarmed, disarmed one of the attackers; during the
course of the struggle, two of the attackers were injured. His wife was
seriously hurt, but she was denied medical treatment by the authorities, who
also not only refused to arrest the three attackers, but arrested Richard
instead on charges of attempted murder. The verdict (in October 2001) was as bizarre as the
pretext for arresting him. Richard’s use of force was found to be justified
against one of the attackers but not justified against another attacker! During
the trial, the three attackers admitted they were high on crack cocaine at the
time. It is undisputed that Richard was unarmed, was not high on drugs, and did
not initiate the incident. Richard’s legal counsel did not mount an effective
defense. When Richard moved for a retrial, they were unwilling to develop
arguments regarding prejudicial conduct on the judge’s part. The issue of the
judge’s conduct was placed before another judge, who denied Richard the
opportunity to develop his argument and simply returned the retrial motion to
Judge Rozak, who summarily rejected it. Richard has been subjected to an extraordinary level of harassment in jail. He has been given bogus write-ups for alleged disciplinary infractions and has been hampered in his efforts to file a complaint. The apparent intent is to develop a record of alleged misconduct in order to justify giving him a harsh sentence. On July 12, he was transferred from Joliet to the Kankakee county jail, where he is now being held in isolation. His sentencing is scheduled for August 26. Richard urgently needs effective legal representation
for his appeal. Michael Deutsch of the People’s Law Office in Chicago, who has
worked with the Center for Constitutional Rights, is willing to take the case.
Richard must now raise the necessary funds. Please give whatever you can to his
defense. Checks can be made out to the People’s Law Office Clients’ Fund and
sent to Victor Wallis, 411A Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02144. |
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