Social Justice
Celebrities shed new light to Cyntoia Brown’s case
Cyntoia Brown was convicted in 2006 for the murder of 43-year-old real estate agent John Allen, who picked her up for sex.
Cyntoia Brown was convicted in 2006 for the murder of 43-year-old John Allen, who picked her up for sex.
Her story
The then 16-year-old says she was forced into sex work by her boyfriend, a pimp who went by the name “Kut Throat” who serially raped and physically abused her.
The john who hired Brown that fateful night was a Nashville real estate agent. He took her home, showed her his massive gun collection, and headed to the bedroom.
“He grabbed me in-between my legs — he just grabbed it real hard,” Brown told the court.
Brown said she panicked when Allen turned around, leaning as if he was getting something from under the bed. Thinking she was about to die, Brown took out the .40-caliber handgun Kutthroat had given her and shot Allen in the head.
Cyntoia Brown’s case
The then teenager would be tried as an adult. And since she robbed Allen of his wallet and guns from the house, prosecutors said the attack was premeditated.
Cyntoia has always maintained that she acted in self-defense but her admission did not hold in the court of her peers. Ultimately, she was convicted of murder and aggravated robbery being sentenced to life in prison. She is currently serving her time at Tennessee’s Prison for Women with a chance for parole at 67.
Why is the Cytonia Brown case being resurfaced?
For a decade, Brown’s lawyer Charles Boone has been pugnacious, adamantly vocal that his client was a victim of sex trafficking. He appealed the case on the grounds of ineffective initial counsel and the Eight Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment.
Cyntoia Brown’s case documentary
Brown’s case would first get attention in a compelling 2011 PBS documentary directed by filmmaker Dan Birman.
Years of trauma
The documentary would shed light on years of abuse and trauma Brown endured, first starting as a baby when her mother testified in court she consumed alcohol while pregnant with Cyntoia. Cyntoia would later show telltale signs of fetal alcohol syndrome, which slows brain development.
Cynotia not only faced trauma but dealt with a history of mental illness as her birth mother tried to commit suicide, and her grandmother and grandfather both died as a result of suicide. If that isn’t enough, Brown’s mother and grandmother were both victims of rape.
Adoption
Brown would eventually be adopted by a family in Clarksville, Tenn., as a result of the woes her mother faced with drug addiction and other issues.
Cyntoia dropped out of elementary school and ran away to Nashville. By the age of 16, Cyntoia Brown was living in a motel with a pimp named “Kut Throat”, who raped and abused her, while forcing her to become a prostitute.
“This is a young girl who’s at the tail end of three generations of violence against women,” Birman told Fox 17 News. “She had no chance.”
Cyntoia Brown’s case law
The documentary was so powerful that it changed Tennessee’s laws for children like Brown in 2011.
Now, anyone 18 or younger can’t be charged with prostitution. But despite its impact, Brown still sits in jail after a traumatic childhood that led to the fatal incident.
Cytonia Brown’s case today
Brown’s advocates told the Times that she has been a model inmate, earning a G.E.D. and an associate degree over her thirteen years behind bars. Brown, now 28, is also reportedly aiming for a Bachelor of Arts by next year.
On social media, new attention has shed light on Cyntoia Brown’s case with celebrities such as Kim Karadashian, Rihanna, and T.I. rallying to get Brown out of jail, calling what happened “a grave injustice”.
#FreeCyntoiaBrown
In a twitter post, Kim Kardashian stated she going to see if her lawyers can do anything to help with the case.
The system has failed. It’s heart breaking to see a young girl sex trafficked then when she has the courage to fight back is jailed for life! We have to do better & do what’s right. I’ve called my attorneys yesterday to see what can be done to fix this. #FreeCyntoiaBrown pic.twitter.com/73y26mLp7u
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) November 21, 2017
The hashtag #FreeCyntoiaBrown has also been picking up momentum on Twitter.
New hope
Charles Boone, the lawyer in Nashville who took Brown’s case pro-bono, told the New York Times, they were appreciative of number of celebrities who joined their plight and Cyntoia was thrilled by the fact people really cared.
While Cyntoia’s case happened a decade ago, it sheds light on the treatment of juveniles in the criminal justice system.
Charles Boone, is hopeful a new appeal will go through, having the court, legislature, or ultimately the governor considering her case and shorten her sentence.
Crime & Justice
Paramedic involved in Elijah McClain’s death sentenced to probation, work release and community service
Jeremy Cooper, a former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a fatal dose of ketamine, has been sentenced to probation and community service.
Jeremy Cooper, a former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a fatal dose of ketamine, has been sentenced to probation and community service.
Paramedic Jeremy Cooper sentenced
He had faced up to three years in prison but was sentenced to four years probation, 14 months of work release and 100 hours of community service.
Cooper and another paramedic, Peter Cichuniec, were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in December in the death of McClain, 23, who was subdued by police and injected with ketamine on August 24, 2019.
Both paramedics had pleaded not guilty to the felony charges. Cichuniec was sentenced in March to five years in prison, the minimum.
Police stop turns fatal
McClain was walking home in August 2019 when the 23-year-old Black man was confronted by police officers who forcibly restrained him. When Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec arrived, they injected him with ketamine.
He went into cardiac arrest in an ambulance a few minutes later and died three days after that.
The McClain family sued the city of Aurora for Elijah’s wrongful death and received a $15 million settlement.
Social Justice
Former high school athletic director arrested and charged with using AI to frame principal
A former athletic director of a high school was arrested by Baltimore County Police after allegedly using new technology to impersonate a principal.
A former athletic director of a high school was arrested by police in Maryland after allegedly using new technology to impersonate a principal.
Maryland principal incident
In January of this year, we reported that an audio was circulating on social media accusing Pikesville High School principal Eric Eisworth of making racist and antisemitic comments.
After an investigation, authorities concluded the audio was artificial intelligence.
Suspect arrested
Dazhon Darien, 31, was charged with disrupting school activities, after investigators determined Darien faked Eiswert’s voice and circulated the audio on social media in January, according to the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office. Darien’s nickname, DJ, was among the names mentioned in the audio clips he allegedly faked.
Maryland principal accused audio
In the audio, Eisworth allegedly claimed Black students were unable to “test their way out of a paper bag” and made “disparaging comments” about Jewish individuals and two teachers, the charging document said
“The audio clip … had profound repercussions,” police wrote in charging documents. “It not only led to Eiswert’s temporary removal from the school but also triggered a wave of hate-filled messages on social media and numerous calls to the school. The recording also caused significant disruptions for the PHS staff and students.”
Retaliation
Police say Darien made the recording in retaliation after Eisworth initiated an investigation into improper payments he made to a school athletics coach who was also his roommate. Darien is also charged with theft and retaliating against a witness.
Darien was released on $5,000 bond and waived an attorney at an initial court appearance, according to court records.
Crime & Justice
Exonerated man on a mission to rebuild his life
C.J. Rice, a man who served more than 12 years behind bars for an attempted murder he was falsely convicted of, was officially exonerated on March 18, 2024. He is now on a mission to rebuild his life.
Charles “CJ” Rice was just 17 years old when he was convicted of a crime he did not commit.
CJ Rice Exonerated
Now 30 year old Rice is using the injustice of the last 13 years to galvanize the life he almost spent behind bars after being exonerated and declared legally innocent of the crime he was convicted of in 2013 on March 18, 2024.
According to the GoFundMe, CJ wants to “embrace this opportunity” and become a paralegal.
With the help of Dream.org, the GoFundMe aims to help CJ start a new life with everything from a place to stay to clothes to wear as he builds a new future.
The CJ Rice case
CJ Rice, formally known Charles J. Rice, was convicted in a September 2011 shooting for attempted murder and sentenced to 30-60 years behind bars in 2013.
According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, the South Philadelphia shooting left a woman identified as Latrice Johnson, a 6-year-old girl and two others injured.
Johnson called 911 after the shooting and described the suspects as two men running away in hoodies and black sweatpants but couldn’t fully identify them.
Through an initial investigation with victims in the hospital, Rice’s co-defendant, Tyler Linder, was identified as one of the shooters. Detectives interviewed Johnson while she was in the hospital and she identified 17-year-old Rice as one of the shooters running away although she hadn’t seen the teen in a few years. Rice had been friends with Johnson’s son when he was younger, according to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.
In her description, Johnson said Rice was wearing a hoodie and claimed that she was able to see his full face and long braids poking out the side of the hood. However, Rice’s arrest photo depicted him with shorter cornrows flushed against his head. Despite this, a case against Rice and Linder was built.
According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, among the evidence was a theory that the shooting was retaliatory, which wasn’t proven. That’s because Rice was shot and injured a few days prior. It’s alleged the suspects ran from the scene, and Rice’s counsel never used his medical records as evidence to help Rice’s case.
Rice’s case received national attention after CNN anchor Jake Tapper began reporting on it. His father, Dr. Theodore Tapper, is Rice’s former doctor and treated his injuries.
Although it was alleged that the shooters ran from the 2011 crime scene, this is something that Dr. Tapper believed Rice just physically couldn’t do at the time.
Officials believed the 2011 shooting involved gang affiliations, leading the DA’s Gun Violence Task Force to begin their investigation to see whether or not Rice could be re-tried for the shooting or to dismiss the charges in full.
This suggestion of motive and the sole faulty eyewitness identification of CJ led to his conviction on four counts for attempted murder.
A free man
Rice’s defense counsel filed a habeas petition to get CJ out of prison and have his conviction overturned.
On March 18, 2024, the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas granted the Commonwealth’s motion to dismiss all charges against Rice, officially making CJ a free man.
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