Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied: How Another Black Man Name James Evans Was Framed In An Illinois Murder Case (Part I)

Like so many cases that I have been made aware of over the years, his case was unsolicited, and brought to my attention by one of his friends. I don’t know him, nor do I know anyone in the town of Alton Illinois. It was a very close friend of Mr. James Evans who sought my assistance in bringing light to his case. Now having served nearly twenty years in an Illinois state prison for a 1995 murder that he denies having committed, I was asked to help give him a voice. In fact, I’ve even received a copy of a letter from Mr. Evans that highlights the most critical aspects of his appeal regarding his murder conviction. The letter appears to be a general letter that he may have composed to issue to anyone who would give him an ear pertaining to his plight. Then there are the volume of documents his supporters forwarded me to help make his case.

After reviewing the initial documents I received I became somewhat hesitant after learning that Evan’s case appeared to be predicated on a drug case at the height of America’s purported war on drugs. The drug element of his case and the fact that he had already been convicted, presented a tremendous upheaval for his appeal, and I wondered to myself how I could best help him. Admittedly though, I was cautious because of past cases where I have assisted those criminally charged, only to have them bail out by coping a plea deal after years of work by me and others who fought to highlight highly exculpatory details regarding their case. I soon learned after digging into the documents that were sent to me,that his case wasn’t just an average case where a convict was simply trying to get out of prison. It’s often said jokingly that every man in a state correctional facility is innocent. Mr. Evan’s case is no joking matter and he actually has the evidence to prove his innocence.

The documents I received were transcripts from his grand jury indictment, witness affidavits composed after his conviction, news articles, and other legal documents that not only depict exculpatory evidence that exonerates Mr. Evans, but also points to a potential pattern of corruption, conspiracy to convict an innocent man, and other actions by law enforcement and state prosecutors that could result in criminal charges for many of these officials who were involved in his criminal case. Now that’s a brash statement declaring corruption and criminal activity by those charged with upholding the law in the state of Illinois, a charge that we’ve heard countless times before by convicted criminals, but Mr. Evans actually has documents related to his case that are very compelling and may help to prove his case, and free him from prison in a wrongful conviction.

I really don’t know if Mr. Evans (also known on the streets as “Raven”) was in fact a drug dealer. Those were the claims of many witnesses who testified against him during his trial, and considering the time in our country when this murder took place, the very mentioning of drug soliciting may have been sufficient to secure a conviction, as drug dealing and violent murder were a national epidemic in this country at that time. However, it should be noted that many of these same witnesses who testified against Mr. Evans were also embroiled within the Illinois criminal justice system pending criminal charges of their own, and either had their charges dropped, reduced, given lenient plea deals for their crimes, and in some instances were even paid money by police and the prosecutor’s office after having testified against Mr. Evans during his murder trial (fact).

The murder victim (Mr. Nekemar Pearson) who was also accused of a previous murder himself (a man name William Nicholes), allegedly went missing on June 23, 1995. Pearson was on court order to be at home by 6 p.m., and was reported missing by his mother on June 24th after he failed to come home at the court ordered prescribed time. There had been a barbecue in the community in Alton where Evans and Pearson both lived. Witnesses accounts state that Evans was the last person to be seen with Pearson at or somewhere near the barbecue before he disappeared (it was rumored that Pearson may have been on the lame (hiding from relatives of Nicholes) after fleeing relatives of a man he was accused of murdering, while they pursued him on foot and in vehicles the day he went missing). A crucial factor to consider in the disappearance and subsequent murder of Nekemar Pearson, is the day he went missing was in fact the 1 year anniversary of the date he allegedly killed Will Nicholes. During the grand jury indictment of James Evans (who police claim killed Pearson with the help of  Brian Warr and Clifton Wheeler) testimony was given, that during the police investigation of Pearson’s murder, police officials were offering cash for information that would implicate Evans, Warr, and Wheeler in the killing. Affidavits show that some of the same cops practice similar tactics in the criminal cases of others, and perhaps their illegal tactics were the sole reason they were able to secure a conviction against James Evans;

Police officials claim that Evans was a drug dealer and he had impregnated Pearson’s girlfriend, and in retaliation they say Pearson kidnapped Evans, robbed him of cash, stole his chevy blazer, and throw him out of the vehicle. Pearson then allegedly took Evan’s truck and removed expensive speakers from the vehicle and sold them on the streets. After these events allegedly occurred, it was rumored that Pearson went throughout the community bragging about what he had done to Evans, and cops claim that Pearson was murdered by Evans with the help of another man name Brian Warr ( who was also murdered later on, and after admitted false testimony, Evans was convicted of soliciting Warr’s murder). From the grand jury indictment hearing and investigative tactics carried out by Alton police officials, the case against James Evans was on shaky ground from the very start.

Depending of which witness you believe, if any at all, you’ll find that most of the information provided in the indictment hearing was all based on hearsay and street talk, which was even pointed out during the hearing itself by one of the grand jurors (Click below link to view an excerpt from the Evans Indictment hearing, as witness Michael Hooks testifies about cops offering money for information to obtain and arrest for Evans, Warr, and another man).

Grand Jury Money Testimony

The prosecution’s theories regarding how and where Pearson was killed was never firmly established for the jury during the actual trial. The testimony of many of the state’s witnesses also changed from their grand jury testimony, to what they testified to during Evans’ actual murder trial. The state has contended that Evans duct taped Pearson and put him in his basement, until he placed Pearson inside the trunk of his car, drove to a wooded area in Godfrey Illinois, shot Pearson multiple times, and left him to die. These allegations are listed as facts in the state of Illinois Appellate Court for the 5th District, ruling in James Evans’ appeal of his conviction. In the decision, the court highlights that Tommie Rounds, Demond Spruill, and Larry Greer all testified that Evans had confessed these facts to them during the trial. (Spruill was an “agent of the state” some believe, because of the volume of court cases where he somehow ended up sharing a cell with inmates on trial for serious crimes, and they all just so happened to confess their guilt to him. The Appellate Court also chastised the judge in many cases for their repeated use of Spruill to obtain jailhouse confessions. Larry Greer was a drug addict and admitted liar, who police officials paid cash money for his false testimony, and threatened him with arrest if he didn’t cooperate). Many of the facts that the state and its witnesses claimed are outlined in the Appellate ruling of Evans’ appeal. Click the link to read an excerpt from the ruling.

Appellate Court Ruling

Even the state’s theory of how and where Pearson was gunned down appears to shift. Michael Hook’s testimony during the grand jury indictment contrast drastically from the actual trial transcript that’s described in Evans’ Appellate ruling. Hook’s grand jury testimony places the shooting of Pearson across the street from where the barbecue was taking place and behind Evans’ home. While Hook claimed to hear several gunshots as he pulled off, the fact remains that no one else reported hearing gun fire on the day of the barbecue. The details contained in Hook’s testimony and after weighing the content of the trial transcript, Hook might have been coerced into his testimony, but may have forgotten what he was suppose to say. His testimony was so off base from the state’s theory, that it makes you wonder why he was even called as a state’s witness during the indictment hearing. No one corroborates Hook’s story, and no forensic evidence was ever obtained that established as a matter of fact, that Pearson had been shot behind Evans’ home. Its just remarkable how Hook was a state witness who testified against Evans, and his testimony didn’t even match what the state prosecutors had actually alleged had occurred. (Click the link below to read how Hook’s testimony contrast to the state’s theory of what happened (outlined in Evans’ Appellate ruling), and how his testimony is different from the state’s claim that Evans beat Pearson, but rather allegedly witnessing Pearson being attacked by Brian Warr and others near Evans’ home).

Michael Hook’s Grand Jury Testimony

Hook’s testimony also aligned with other’s who say Evans admitted to them that he beat Pearson so severely that he broke his hand in the process. Although Evans’ lawyer was initially apprehensive regarding having x-rays conducted on Evans’ hands, at Mr. Evans’ insistence, the state was allowed to have Evans transported to a St Louis Missouri area hospital to obtain x-rays of Mr. Evans’ hands. The results were conclusive that Evans did in fact have a broken hand, but it had been checked and verified by police as having occurred in 1993. The doctor who conducted Evans’ court ordered examination, reported that Evans in fact did not have any new hand fractures other that the documented fracture from 1993. Such a discovery would usually weigh heavy on the testimony of those who say Evans confessed to them having killed Pearson and broke his hand in the process. (Click below links for excerpt from court transcript of state requesting examination of Evans’ hands and doctor’s x-ray report of Evans’ hand).

Excerpt From Transcript With State Requesting X-ray

Doctor’s X-ray Report

The state’s failed attempt to corroborate witness accounts that Evans had confessed and claimed he broke his hand after beating Pearson, was not the only highly exculpatory piece of evidence that would emerge in the James Evans’ murder conviction case. In 2001 a state appellate defender (Dan W. Evers) who was looking through the folder of Larry Greer after the documents had been sent to their office (who testified during Evans’ trial that James had confessed to killing Nekemar Pearson) and found a highly exculpatory document that the state had never turned over to Mr. Evans’ defense counsel as required by law. The document was a police report written by an Alton police Detective (J. Cooley) who knew the victim in Evans’ murder case (Nekemar Pearson) very well. According to the report, the officer observed Pearson and another youth walking down the street on July 3,  1995 (ten days after Pearson had allegedly went missing). The officer was certain that it was Pearson, because he was a liaison officer at the Alton high school  where Pearson attended, and the officer had several encounters with him. The officer was certain that it was Pearson because he stirred directly at him. Later that day the officer discovered that there was in fact a missing persons report outstanding for Pearson. The officer wrote an affidavit to document having saw Pearson alive and well. (Click links below to view Appellate defender’s notice to Evans regarding exculpatory evidence, the exculpatory document that was found after his conviction,and an affidavit from the law clerk of Evans’ defense team who testified never having received the discovery document from the state).

State Appellate Defender Notice To James Evans

Detective Cooley Exculpatory Document

Defense Team Law Clerk Affidavit

It should be no surprise to anyone that such an egregious act of prosecutorial misconduct could occur in a criminal case of this nature. The fact that the document even exist, speaks volumes of the certainty that Detective Cooley had of having seen Nekemar Pearson alive on July 3, 1995. It would have been an extremely pertinent element of Mr. Evans’ defense had the state turned the document over to his legal team. Essentially, Evans was convicted of murdering a man on June 23 or 24, 1995, when its highly probable that he was alive and well 10 days after the day in which James Evans’ conviction states he was killed. Its highly doubtful that all jurors seated in Evans’ murder trial would have ruled to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt. Even if the officer was mistaken when he said he saw Pearson alive, it still was evidence favorable to Evans’ defense and should have been turned over. The document now raises serious doubt regarding the credibility of witnesses who testified against Evans, coupled with other newly discovered evidence and affidavits by some of those who testified against him and who are now recanting their statements, after citing police coercion of testimony, and testifying under duress after being threatened with arrest. Please continue to follow this story as I shed light on the plight of James Evans who continues to fight for his freedom.

(Other documents emerge which point to police corruption and coercion of witnesses to obtain a conviction of Mr. James Evans, for a murder he didn’t commit).

TO BE CONTINUED…

The People’s Champion

I’m Crime Blogger David Adams

David Adams

David B. Adams grew up in the Highlandtown section of Baltimore's southeast district and is his parent's youngest child. He experienced pervasive poverty, which taught him humility and compassion for the plight of others. His exposure to violence and gritty urban life were some of his early lessons of life's many hardships. Adams credits the upheavals he endured during his conformity with helping to shape the foundation of his outlook and perspectives on society. With a steadfast commitment to giving voice to the voiceless, Adams is a journalist, crime writer, and blogger renowned for tireless investigative journalism and advocacy on behalf of vulnerable populations. As founder and administrator of The People's Champion, Adams sheds light on critical social issues, championing the rights of: - Homeless individuals - Victims of violent crime and their families - Wrongfully convicted individuals - Missing and exploited children; Additionally, he is a seasoned investigative reporter, Adams has earned recognition for relentless pursuit of truth and justice. With a strong national and global focus, on inspiring meaningful change and crucial conversations impacting all of humanity.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:

Like so many cases that I have been made aware of over the years, his case was unsolicited, and brought to my attention by one of his friends. I don’t know him, nor do I know anyone in the town of Alton Illinois. It was a very close friend of Mr. James Evans who sought my assistance in bringing light to his case. Now having served nearly twenty years in an Illinois state prison for a 1995 murder that he denies having committed, I was asked to help give him a voice. In fact, I’ve even received a copy of a letter from Mr. Evans that highlights the most critical aspects of his appeal regarding his murder conviction. The letter appears to be a general letter that he may have composed to issue to anyone who would give him an ear pertaining to his plight. Then there are the volume of documents his supporters forwarded me to help make his case.

After reviewing the initial documents I received I became somewhat hesitant after learning that Evan’s case appeared to be predicated on a drug case at the height of America’s purported war on drugs. The drug element of his case and the fact that he had already been convicted, presented a tremendous upheaval for his appeal, and I wondered to myself how I could best help him. Admittedly though, I was cautious because of past cases where I have assisted those criminally charged, only to have them bail out by coping a plea deal after years of work by me and others who fought to highlight highly exculpatory details regarding their case. I soon learned after digging into the documents that were sent to me,that his case wasn’t just an average case where a convict was simply trying to get out of prison. It’s often said jokingly that every man in a state correctional facility is innocent. Mr. Evan’s case is no joking matter and he actually has the evidence to prove his innocence.

The documents I received were transcripts from his grand jury indictment, witness affidavits composed after his conviction, news articles, and other legal documents that not only depict exculpatory evidence that exonerates Mr. Evans, but also points to a potential pattern of corruption, conspiracy to convict an innocent man, and other actions by law enforcement and state prosecutors that could result in criminal charges for many of these officials who were involved in his criminal case. Now that’s a brash statement declaring corruption and criminal activity by those charged with upholding the law in the state of Illinois, a charge that we’ve heard countless times before by convicted criminals, but Mr. Evans actually has documents related to his case that are very compelling and may help to prove his case, and free him from prison in a wrongful conviction.

I really don’t know if Mr. Evans (also known on the streets as “Raven”) was in fact a drug dealer. Those were the claims of many witnesses who testified against him during his trial, and considering the time in our country when this murder took place, the very mentioning of drug soliciting may have been sufficient to secure a conviction, as drug dealing and violent murder were a national epidemic in this country at that time. However, it should be noted that many of these same witnesses who testified against Mr. Evans were also embroiled within the Illinois criminal justice system pending criminal charges of their own, and either had their charges dropped, reduced, given lenient plea deals for their crimes, and in some instances were even paid money by police and the prosecutor’s office after having testified against Mr. Evans during his murder trial (fact).

The murder victim (Mr. Nekemar Pearson) who was also accused of a previous murder himself (a man name William Nicholes), allegedly went missing on June 23, 1995. Pearson was on court order to be at home by 6 p.m., and was reported missing by his mother on June 24th after he failed to come home at the court ordered prescribed time. There had been a barbecue in the community in Alton where Evans and Pearson both lived. Witnesses accounts state that Evans was the last person to be seen with Pearson at or somewhere near the barbecue before he disappeared (it was rumored that Pearson may have been on the lame (hiding from relatives of Nicholes) after fleeing relatives of a man he was accused of murdering, while they pursued him on foot and in vehicles the day he went missing). A crucial factor to consider in the disappearance and subsequent murder of Nekemar Pearson, is the day he went missing was in fact the 1 year anniversary of the date he allegedly killed Will Nicholes. During the grand jury indictment of James Evans (who police claim killed Pearson with the help of  Brian Warr and Clifton Wheeler) testimony was given, that during the police investigation of Pearson’s murder, police officials were offering cash for information that would implicate Evans, Warr, and Wheeler in the killing. Affidavits show that some of the same cops practice similar tactics in the criminal cases of others, and perhaps their illegal tactics were the sole reason they were able to secure a conviction against James Evans;

Police officials claim that Evans was a drug dealer and he had impregnated Pearson’s girlfriend, and in retaliation they say Pearson kidnapped Evans, robbed him of cash, stole his chevy blazer, and throw him out of the vehicle. Pearson then allegedly took Evan’s truck and removed expensive speakers from the vehicle and sold them on the streets. After these events allegedly occurred, it was rumored that Pearson went throughout the community bragging about what he had done to Evans, and cops claim that Pearson was murdered by Evans with the help of another man name Brian Warr ( who was also murdered later on, and after admitted false testimony, Evans was convicted of soliciting Warr’s murder). From the grand jury indictment hearing and investigative tactics carried out by Alton police officials, the case against James Evans was on shaky ground from the very start.

Depending of which witness you believe, if any at all, you’ll find that most of the information provided in the indictment hearing was all based on hearsay and street talk, which was even pointed out during the hearing itself by one of the grand jurors (Click below link to view an excerpt from the Evans Indictment hearing, as witness Michael Hooks testifies about cops offering money for information to obtain and arrest for Evans, Warr, and another man).

Grand Jury Money Testimony

The prosecution’s theories regarding how and where Pearson was killed was never firmly established for the jury during the actual trial. The testimony of many of the state’s witnesses also changed from their grand jury testimony, to what they testified to during Evans’ actual murder trial. The state has contended that Evans duct taped Pearson and put him in his basement, until he placed Pearson inside the trunk of his car, drove to a wooded area in Godfrey Illinois, shot Pearson multiple times, and left him to die. These allegations are listed as facts in the state of Illinois Appellate Court for the 5th District, ruling in James Evans’ appeal of his conviction. In the decision, the court highlights that Tommie Rounds, Demond Spruill, and Larry Greer all testified that Evans had confessed these facts to them during the trial. (Spruill was an “agent of the state” some believe, because of the volume of court cases where he somehow ended up sharing a cell with inmates on trial for serious crimes, and they all just so happened to confess their guilt to him. The Appellate Court also chastised the judge in many cases for their repeated use of Spruill to obtain jailhouse confessions. Larry Greer was a drug addict and admitted liar, who police officials paid cash money for his false testimony, and threatened him with arrest if he didn’t cooperate). Many of the facts that the state and its witnesses claimed are outlined in the Appellate ruling of Evans’ appeal. Click the link to read an excerpt from the ruling.

Appellate Court Ruling

Even the state’s theory of how and where Pearson was gunned down appears to shift. Michael Hook’s testimony during the grand jury indictment contrast drastically from the actual trial transcript that’s described in Evans’ Appellate ruling. Hook’s grand jury testimony places the shooting of Pearson across the street from where the barbecue was taking place and behind Evans’ home. While Hook claimed to hear several gunshots as he pulled off, the fact remains that no one else reported hearing gun fire on the day of the barbecue. The details contained in Hook’s testimony and after weighing the content of the trial transcript, Hook might have been coerced into his testimony, but may have forgotten what he was suppose to say. His testimony was so off base from the state’s theory, that it makes you wonder why he was even called as a state’s witness during the indictment hearing. No one corroborates Hook’s story, and no forensic evidence was ever obtained that established as a matter of fact, that Pearson had been shot behind Evans’ home. Its just remarkable how Hook was a state witness who testified against Evans, and his testimony didn’t even match what the state prosecutors had actually alleged had occurred. (Click the link below to read how Hook’s testimony contrast to the state’s theory of what happened (outlined in Evans’ Appellate ruling), and how his testimony is different from the state’s claim that Evans beat Pearson, but rather allegedly witnessing Pearson being attacked by Brian Warr and others near Evans’ home).

Michael Hook’s Grand Jury Testimony

Hook’s testimony also aligned with other’s who say Evans admitted to them that he beat Pearson so severely that he broke his hand in the process. Although Evans’ lawyer was initially apprehensive regarding having x-rays conducted on Evans’ hands, at Mr. Evans’ insistence, the state was allowed to have Evans transported to a St Louis Missouri area hospital to obtain x-rays of Mr. Evans’ hands. The results were conclusive that Evans did in fact have a broken hand, but it had been checked and verified by police as having occurred in 1993. The doctor who conducted Evans’ court ordered examination, reported that Evans in fact did not have any new hand fractures other that the documented fracture from 1993. Such a discovery would usually weigh heavy on the testimony of those who say Evans confessed to them having killed Pearson and broke his hand in the process. (Click below links for excerpt from court transcript of state requesting examination of Evans’ hands and doctor’s x-ray report of Evans’ hand).

Excerpt From Transcript With State Requesting X-ray

Doctor’s X-ray Report

The state’s failed attempt to corroborate witness accounts that Evans had confessed and claimed he broke his hand after beating Pearson, was not the only highly exculpatory piece of evidence that would emerge in the James Evans’ murder conviction case. In 2001 a state appellate defender (Dan W. Evers) who was looking through the folder of Larry Greer after the documents had been sent to their office (who testified during Evans’ trial that James had confessed to killing Nekemar Pearson) and found a highly exculpatory document that the state had never turned over to Mr. Evans’ defense counsel as required by law. The document was a police report written by an Alton police Detective (J. Cooley) who knew the victim in Evans’ murder case (Nekemar Pearson) very well. According to the report, the officer observed Pearson and another youth walking down the street on July 3,  1995 (ten days after Pearson had allegedly went missing). The officer was certain that it was Pearson, because he was a liaison officer at the Alton high school  where Pearson attended, and the officer had several encounters with him. The officer was certain that it was Pearson because he stirred directly at him. Later that day the officer discovered that there was in fact a missing persons report outstanding for Pearson. The officer wrote an affidavit to document having saw Pearson alive and well. (Click links below to view Appellate defender’s notice to Evans regarding exculpatory evidence, the exculpatory document that was found after his conviction,and an affidavit from the law clerk of Evans’ defense team who testified never having received the discovery document from the state).

State Appellate Defender Notice To James Evans

Detective Cooley Exculpatory Document

Defense Team Law Clerk Affidavit

It should be no surprise to anyone that such an egregious act of prosecutorial misconduct could occur in a criminal case of this nature. The fact that the document even exist, speaks volumes of the certainty that Detective Cooley had of having seen Nekemar Pearson alive on July 3, 1995. It would have been an extremely pertinent element of Mr. Evans’ defense had the state turned the document over to his legal team. Essentially, Evans was convicted of murdering a man on June 23 or 24, 1995, when its highly probable that he was alive and well 10 days after the day in which James Evans’ conviction states he was killed. Its highly doubtful that all jurors seated in Evans’ murder trial would have ruled to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt. Even if the officer was mistaken when he said he saw Pearson alive, it still was evidence favorable to Evans’ defense and should have been turned over. The document now raises serious doubt regarding the credibility of witnesses who testified against Evans, coupled with other newly discovered evidence and affidavits by some of those who testified against him and who are now recanting their statements, after citing police coercion of testimony, and testifying under duress after being threatened with arrest. Please continue to follow this story as I shed light on the plight of James Evans who continues to fight for his freedom.

(Other documents emerge which point to police corruption and coercion of witnesses to obtain a conviction of Mr. James Evans, for a murder he didn’t commit).

TO BE CONTINUED…

 

The People’s Champion

I’m Crime Blogger David Adams

David Adams

David B. Adams grew up in the Highlandtown section of Baltimore's southeast district and is his parent's youngest child. He experienced pervasive poverty, which taught him humility and compassion for the plight of others. His exposure to violence and gritty urban life were some of his early lessons of life's many hardships. Adams credits the upheavals he endured during his conformity with helping to shape the foundation of his outlook and perspectives on society. With a steadfast commitment to giving voice to the voiceless, Adams is a journalist, crime writer, and blogger renowned for tireless investigative journalism and advocacy on behalf of vulnerable populations. As founder and administrator of The People's Champion, Adams sheds light on critical social issues, championing the rights of: - Homeless individuals - Victims of violent crime and their families - Wrongfully convicted individuals - Missing and exploited children; Additionally, he is a seasoned investigative reporter, Adams has earned recognition for relentless pursuit of truth and justice. With a strong national and global focus, on inspiring meaningful change and crucial conversations impacting all of humanity.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:

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