CYNTOIA BROWN CASE
Cyntoia Brown deserves clemency
Written by Robert A. Stewart
A campaign to gain Cyntoia Brown clemancy has been going on for some time
and the shout of clemancy by various campaigns seems to be falling on deaf
ears! There are some circumstances surrounding her situation and the events
leading up to when she shot her alleged victim that need some revisiting. Here
is what I do know;
Cyntoia was 16 (she is now 30) when she was homeless and selling herself.
She found herself in the company of a 43-year old man who I understand she was
staying with. It appears that she was high on drugs when she shot this man
while he was asleep. (it was alleged)
As for her selling her services to men, I do not know what the law in
Tennessee says but in most countries the legal age for doing that is 18 so if
that is the case in the US also then shouldn't someone have had the book thrown
at them?
The questions that need to be answered are;
1. Who supplied Cyntoia with drugs and was he or she ever arrested?
2. What does the prosecution think of people who supply minor's with drugs
in order to control them?
3. What was the nature of the relationship between Cyntoia and her victim?
4. Did the prosecution ever take into account the alleged abuse that
Cyntoia suffered in the company of those men she was spending time with?
5. When someone is treated in a dispicable mannerand kept and controlled in
slave live conditions, is it lawful to respond with violence?
A question that should have been
asked of the prosecution is "Do you condone the physical abuse of
women"?
Since being in prison, Cyntoia has gained a degree and I understand has
been a model prisoner. It is time to set her free and 1000s of others agree
with me; 350,000 in fact because that is about how many people signed the
online petition. I was one of them and I know two others in my home town of
Greymouth in New Zealand. It is a long way from the prison in Tennessee where
Cyntoia is staying.
Just recently the Tennessee Supreme Court unanamously decided that
defendents convicted of first-degree murder on or after July 1 1995 and
sentenced to life imprisonment must serve a minuimum of at least 51 years.
The court case seems to be about whether a life sentence for a minor was
unconsitutional as the Supreme Court ruled a few years back but then it was
argued that it didn't apply in Miss Brown's case because she was eligible for
release after serving 51 years. Brown's lawyers argued that it didn't apply in
this case because she was sentenced to life and that she was also eligibler for
rel;ease after 51 years which wasn't guaranteed.
Her lawyer's also argued that she was suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome
and that she did not know the ramifications of her actions.
Many celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Rhianna have joined in the
campaign to free Cyntoia!
If you would like to write to Cyntoia, her address is;
MS Cyntoia Brown, #410593, ML CC-D South Lower 2, Mark H. Luttrell
Correctional Center, 6000 State Road, Memphis, Tennessee 38134, USA
Cyntoia is unable to respond to correspondence though.
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