Tallahassee, FL—On the evening of January 16, 2018, as Civil Rights Activist, Angela Davis received a standing ovation inside of the Ruby Diamond Auditorium located on the campus of Florida State University near downtown Tallahassee, a young Black male by the name of Henry Segura, was just blocks away inside of the Leon County Jail—where he has been for nearly a decade—as a group of white court officials within Florida’s Second Judicial Circuit strive exceedingly to have Mr. Segura sent to Florida’s Death Row in spite of severely lacking evidence which eventually led to a mistrial. However, despite of the mistrial, Mr. Segura was sent back to the Leon County Jail without a bond—which further underscores the EVIL that is embedded inside of some of the court officials who will rather see INNOCENT BLACK BOYS & BLACK MEN sent into Florida’s Prison System for LIFE or to DEATH ROW—before seeing BLACK BOYS & BLACK MEN getting educated or working on honest jobs.
For more than a decade, The Florida Bar Association has been coddling Jack Campbell, who was working as an assistant state attorney directly under State Attorney Willie Meggs, before being elected to replace Meggs. As an assistant state attorney, and now as state attorney, Jack Campbell has been working against Mr. Segura. Jack Campbell, whose dad was Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell, was being spoon fed criminal cases to prosecute—cases that were directly under the investigative jurisdiction of his dad—while court officials played their roles to ensure Jack Campbell’s successful convictions; while The Florida Bar continues to decline to properly address complaints that have been filed against Jack Campbell for his illegal acts.
In 2011, Jack Campbell filed a Summary of Offense and Probable Cause Affidavit for Two Counts of First Degree Murder against DeShon Thomas. The charging affidavit was signed by Leon County Judge Nina Ashenafi-Richardson. Judge Richardson, whom struggled to get judgeship due to controversy regarding her expunged record, is a Black woman, whom may have trusted every document that was placed in front her. Judge Richardson may have not known that the Summary of Offense and Probable Cause Affidavit for Two Counts of First Degree Murder had been drafted and signed by a wealthy close family friend of Jack Campbell and his dad. The Campbell’s family friend, Don Odham a.k.a Leon County Sheriff’s Detective Donald Odham, a white man, was placed as lead detective on the double murder case that charged 17-year-old, DeShon Thomas, with the murders of 20-year-old, Laqecia Herring (who was pregnant) and her 17-year-old brother, Sterling Conner Jr. At the time of the murders, DeShon was in his 3rd semester as a freshman at Tallahassee Community College and an employee at Taco Bell.
In 2013, when DeShon went on trial, was when DeShon and his family learned that Don Odham was never an employee with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office—in spite of having notarized documents that had been filed with the Leon County Clerk of Courts describing him as an employee with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office. It remains unclear if “Detective” Don Odham testified before a grand jury in order for Georgia Cappleman to have obtain an indictment against DeShon. But it is very clear that without “Detective” Don Odham there would have never been the arrest of DeShon Thomas. Instead of former Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell and former State Attorney Willie Meggs instructung their employees to solve cases by following facts and evidence, they apparently instructed them to solve cases by manipulatung and intimidating people directly or indirectly known by their suspect or suspects.
Five Tallahassee defense attorneys on five separate occasions failed to report then Sheriff Larry Campbell and his son, Assistant State Attorney Jack Campbell’s allowing Don Odham to impersonate a law enforcement officer to Circuit Judge James C. Hankinson; and later Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford to whom both presided over DeShon’s case. Despite having no evidence against DeShon, Jack Campbell, as well as Willie Meggs, along with the District Two Medical Examiner’s Office, and a group of all white lead court officials, proceeded to ensure Jack Campbell a conviction. DeShon was sentenced to Two Life Sentences plus 30 years. (The 30 years came about with Jack Campbell plotting with a convicted bank robber to have his own key witness in DeShon’s case murdered–another intimidation tactic that was then placed on DeShon.)
DeShon Thomas and Henry Segura are just two cases in Tallahassee where gross misconduct by white court officials have been disgustingly ignored by local state officials. There are far too many systems in Tallahassee that function under a “Cult-like” mentality or “Ku Klux Klan”—particularly Leon County/ Tallahassee’s judicial system.
Tallahassee’s current Mayor Andrew Gillum, a Black man, who is also seeking to be Florida’s next governor, is an alumni of Florida A & M University and a former member of City of Tallahassee Board of Commissioners. Yet, it was during Mr. Gillum’s time as a commissioner when Black students attending colleges and universities in Tallahassee voiced their fears of local law enforcement officials.
In 2014, less than a year after DeShon’s conviction, the non-profit Massachusetts based organization, RepresentUs, helped sail the City of Tallahassee into becoming the nation’s first city to pass the American Anti-Corruption Act with votes of over 60% of Tallahassee citizens.
With an overwhelmingly amount of Tallahassee citizens fail to trust their own local government officials, coupled with Tallahassee’s high crime rate, it would not be in the best interest of any Black child seeking post-secondary education to enter into such a HIGHLY TOXIC ENVIRONMENT until State Attorney Jack Campbell and other officials are held accountable for their illegal acts against Black boys and men.
#FSU #FAMU #TCC
http://www.thefamuanonline.com/news/view.php/1031687/Only-a-revolution-will-forge-the-way-to-
Mothers Against Unethical Laws (MAUL) 