Activists Demand Freedom For Thomas Raynard James

Miami FL

09 September, 2021

8:03 AM

Description

A Miami Times Staff Report Sep 7, 2021 Thomas Raynard James has been serving a life sentence for murder in a Florida prison since 1990. Now a coalition of groups and individuals are calling for his release and have announced a news conference for Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 11 a.m. It will be held at the Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall Social and Economic Institute in Miami. Following an investigative report in GQ magazine last month, the group says a massive injustice was revealed, showing that James is serving a prison sentence for a crime he didn't commit. Advocates say it's a tragic case of two people having the same name. Thomas Raynard James, who was initially facing charges for dealing drugs in Brownsville, Fla., was hopeful the error would be discovered when the murder case wound its way through the system and he could move on with his life. That never happened. Thomas was tried and convicted for a murder and armed robbery in Coconut Grove without any physical evidence – no DNA, fingerprints or a confession – and by a flawed identification by an eyewitness. His conviction ignored that investigating detectives received information from multiple sources that the offender was "Tommy" James, a well-known local man. It was only after Thomas Raynard James was incarcerated that he learned Thomas "Tommy" James, another incarcerated person, fit all the evidence perfectly – down to confessions to fellow inmates and the reporter who wrote the GQ story. Thomas "Tommy" James (Florida Department of Corrections) The article's author, Tristram Korten, turned over all the information he discovered to the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office Justice Project in March 2021 for review. Six months have passed with no resolution in sight. "It is unacceptable that a man who served 30 years for a crime he did not commit is continuing to languish in prison," said civil rights attorney and activist Melba Pearson. "The evidence is clear. This is not justice for the family who lost a loved one or to Thomas Raynard James, who has lost nearly half his life to an unjust incarceration." The coalition working toward the release of Thomas Raynard James includes Pearson, ACLU of Florida, Circle of Brotherhood, Florida Rising and the NAACP. Details of the case can be found at GQ.com. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.