“True facts of Kevin Stanford’s case; never heard by a judge or jury.”
The all white jurors who sentenced Kevin Stanford to death in 1982 never
heard what the constitution and the laws of both Kentucky and the United
States require that they hear for a fair trial-those factors in Kevin Stanford’s
background, record, character, and actual circumstances of the offense, that
militate against imposing the death sentence or an indefinite sentence of
life imprisonment. The multiple failures in Kevin Stanford’s case fall
on the shoulders of both trial counsel, Franklin P. Jewell and James Shake,
and his original post-conviction counsel, J. Vincent Aprile. None of
these lawyers ever conducted an investigation into the facts of the case,
into his childhood and family background (which was rife with abuse and neglect),
or into the facts of Kevin’s innocence of being the “trigger-man.”
Had his trial attorney’s and post-conviction attorney conducted a minimal
of investigation into the readily available evidence that Kevin Stanford:
1. Was not identified in several police line up’s as one
of the murder suspects seen walking away from the victim’s car right after
the shots were fired. In fact two eyewitnesses, Amanda Dorsey and Kerise
Ison both independently identified Kevin’s co defendant David Buchanan’s
uncle (Calvin Buchanan). Calvin was a 34 year old with an extensive
history of armed robberies and drug convictions and also a 1963 gang rape
in which he was identified by the victim as the instigator of the assault
and the threats on her life. He was given a life sentence for this
crime, but served only a few years.
2. 16 year old co defendant David Buchanan and his uncle,
Calvin had both conspired during the course of a “cryptic” phone conversation
while Calvin was in police custody to put the blame on Kevin. Calvin
Buchanan was arrested after a “coerced” statement by Kevin Stanford following
4-5 hours of interrogation, beatings, racist slurs and taunting, and torture
by a team of all-white police officers who secretively took Kevin into custody,
threatening to molest him and dump his body over the Kennedy bridge.
The police had earlier been warned by Frank Jewell that if they wished to
speak with Kevin Stanford further about this crime, they were to notify either
Mr. Jewell or Kevin’s mother before questioning him. Kevin Stanford
was forced to give a confession of his participation in this crime and admitted
that Calvin Buchanan had done the killing and had directed the juveniles
during this crime. Calvin Buchanan was also identified by these
two eye witnesses who drove by right after the shots were fired and they
stated that Calvin was one of the two men they saw walking away from the
car and was putting either a gun or something else into his pocket.
When Calvin Buchanan was arrested, a search was made and items found included
four bags of marijuana, a 22 caliber rifle, a 16 gauge sawed off shotgun.
And a S&W 38 caliber pistol. Calvin Buchanan was not prosecuted
or even charged with possession of these confiscated items. Nor did
he face any negative parole consequences (violations), even though he had
been released from prison on parole only 3 weeks previously. This 38
caliber pistol seized from Calvin Buchanan’s residence was never tested to
see if it could have been the gun used in the murder of the victim, Ms Baerbel
Poore. The police simply accepted the later cooked up story by David
and the third juvenile involved in this crime, Troy Johnson that the gun
used in the murder belonged to Troy Johnson, even though the tests were inconclusive
to say it actually was the gun used in the killing. The weapons seized
from Calvin Buchanan are no longer available for testing. Calvin Buchanan
was never charged for his role in this crime.
Eyewitnesses provided police with artists sketches prior to the police line
up. Both eyewitnesses sketches were consistent with Calvin Buchanan.
Neither physical description matched Kevin Stanford even remotely.
In fact, one composite is strikingly similar to the line up and police department
photo’s of Calvin Buchanan taken on the day he was arrested, January
14, 1981.
Kerise Ison (eyewitness) described two suspects as walking away from the
car, one being a “black male in his early 20’s, 6 foot tall, slender build,
clean shaven, brown skin, medium afro, wearing a short black leather jacket,
jeans, gloves and smoking a cigarette. The other man was described
as “a black male, late 20’s, 5’9” or 5’10”, heavier than the first subject,
brown skin, brown toboggan, long trench coat to the knees, light beige color
jeans. This person was stuffing something into his pocket.
Amona Dorsey (eyewitness) described the two suspects as “a black male in
his early 20’s, about 5’8” with a heavy build, wearing a short dark jacket,
a brown with white stripe tobaggan and blue jeans. This man kept his
hands in his pockets.” She described the other man as “a black male
with a messed up afro, in his early or late twenties, about 6 feet tall with
a slender build. This man had on a long knee length beige coat.”
Kevin Stanford in January of 1981 was a 17 year old black teenager (who looked
much younger than 17), was 5’4”, weighed 120 pounds. He had very short
hair. Kevin Stanford was significantly shorter and weighed much less
than either of the suspects described by Ms. Dorsey or Ms Ison. Both
women separately picked Calvin Buchanan out of line up as one of the two
men they had seen on Shanks Lane. (Transcript Vol..IV, pp2731-32).
At the time of this crime Calvin Buchanan was identified in 3 other armed
robberies within a 3 block radius of this crime. The prosecutor, Ernest
Jasmin, made a deal with Calvin Buchanan, a persistent felony offender for
a 10 year sentence for these 3 armed robberies, in return for testifying
against Kevin Stanford at trial. This deal is highly puzzling since
the prosecution’s theory that Calvin Buchanan was not a participant in this
crime would give him nothing to testify about other than heresay!
At trial a jail guard, Michael Nalley testified that Kevin had bragged about
the murder and assault of Ms Poore while at the juvenile detention center.
Nalley had been placed at the juvenile center for a few days while Kevin
was there. Shortly after Nalley gave this statement to the prosecution
he received a transfer he had been waiting for, a highly coveted position
at the Lexington Federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky. His testimony
that Kevin was bragging is highly inconsistent with the testimony of those
involved in Kevin’s care while at the juvenile detention center. In
fact, Kevin had attempted suicide more than once while at the juvenile detention
center and had tried to get in touch with Frank Jewell to tell him that he
was being mistreated by some of the white guards at the center. Nalley
testified that Kevin had stated that he had to shoot the victim because she
lived next door to him and that she knew him. In fact she did not live
next door to him, had only worked at the station for a couple of months,
during which Kevin had just gotten out of camp and was living either on the
streets or at times with his girlfriend who was 8 months pregnant with Kevin’s
daughter. By the time of Nalley’s testimony he was already working
at the Lexington Federal Prison in Lexington, Kentucky, having received the
transfer he had been seeking.
Another guard at the detention center, Richard Reetzky testified that Kevin
had bragged also, but he was a “surprise witness.” So either Mr. Reetzsky
waited a year and a half until Kevin’s trial to come forward, or the other
alternative is that the prosecution kept this information from the defense.
Reetzky was later fired for abuse of the children in his care. He claimed
that Kevin had come up behind him with a pencil or a pen and threatened to
shoot him as though Kevin had a gun. The residents were not allowed
pencils without checking them out and using them in a specific place, also
when a person considers Kevin’s actual demeanor, depression, and the fact
that he had been beaten and threatened with death by several white officers
and guards, it would be suicide to threaten any of these men. Especially
given Kevin’s size and lack of outside support.
Enclosed are several affidavits which totally contradict everything about
the testimony of these two men. Louise Pennix for example was one of
the persons employed at the detention center. She was very close to
Kevin; she would frequently sit by his bed at night while he cried and try
to console him. She stated that Kevin was very timid and emotional
when he first came; that he attempted suicide and that she could not understand
two completely different people such as David Buchanan and Kevin Stanford
being friends. She states that Buchanan was much more aggressive, someone
who did not seem to care about anyone else. She stated that David Buchanan
was always a problem, doing something wild. She also states that she
does not even remember Reetzky or Nalley and that she worked there for 16
and a half years starting in 1977, and that the workers there were a very
close knit family, and many of them really cared about the juveniles in their
care, and many of them felt great sympathy for Kevin and could tell how lost
and hopeless he felt. Ms Pennix, as all of the rest of the workers
was never contacted by anyone from the prosecution, and no one from the defense
until 2001. She would have gladly testified if asked. Ms Pennix
is currently the Family Resource Center director at Whitney Young Elementary
School in Louisville, Kentucky.
When Kevin heard about these allegations of bragging he called Frank Jewell
and begged him to interview the juveniles at the center and also the guards.
Kevin assured Jewell that he had not made any of these statements, and had
never discussed his case with anyone; something Jewell had told him not to
do. Mr. Jewell said it would not do any good and he failed to interview
any of these people. The prosecution also did not interview any of
the residents or guards or those in charge, such as Betty Shipp, etc. to
see what Kevin’s demeanor was and if he had been bragging or acting up.
Yet this same prosecutor, Ernie Jasmin drove home to the jury both in opening
statements and closing statements that “all of these kids heard Kevin brag!”
He had to know that that was a lie! It has taken over 20 years to finally
get one of Kevin’s lawyers to interview these people, and copies of some
of these interviews are included. (See attached). Also
as you will see by some of the attached affidavits, children were not left
alone with guards, so any such statements would have had to have been in
front of other children and no doubt in front of other guards.
State Juvenile Code of Kentucky mandates that children taken into custody
are to be taken immediately to the Jefferson County Youth Center. Police
are required to notify the child’s parents or guardian. In Kevin Stanford’s
case, police knew an attorney was to be notified or Kevin’s mother; they
did neither. From 7:30pm on the night of January 13, 1981 until about
midnight police held Kevin in custody, picking him up under the cover of
night, being told that he could call his mother or Frank Jewell when they
got to the station. But of course when they got to the station he was
never allowed to call anyone.
Upon arriving at the station, Kevin was handcuffed to the leg of a large
office desk with Detective Jerry Hall’s service revolver pointed at Kevin
and told “You’re going to tell us who raped and killed that girl or you will
never leave here alive, no one knows that you are here. You will s—k
every white d-ck in here before I dump your nigger ass over the Kennedy bridge.”
At which point Detective jerry hall beat 17 year old Kevin Stanford in the
chest with a phone book, groped and squeezed Kevin’s testicles and threatening
to blow them off with his revolver. Other detectives sitting at their
desk encouraged Hall to “beat the shit out of the little nigger, lets f—k
him.”
Detective Walter Tangle played the “good cop” by entering the office pretending
to be appalled, he would tell the other detectives to back off. Detective
Tangle closed the door isolating Kevin from the cheers, racial epithets and
threats of molestation and death. Detective Tangle, playing the good
cop, discussed the crime with Kevin while recording the coversation.
Tangle, being unsatisfied with Kevin’s answers would leave the room, and
the beatings would begin over and over, and the tape would be continually
stopped and started again when Kevin would say what they told him to say.
Between 9:30pm and 10:30 pm Kevin was strangled unconscious and slapped into
consciousness, unchained frm the desk, Hall then placed a revolver in Kevin’s
mouth, telling him to “suck it, show me how you made her suck your d—k.”
After this Kevin was paraded through an office of all white plain clothes
detectives who Detective hall told to “line up, he’s going to suck every
d—k in here before I dump his black ass over the Kennedy bridge…let’s get
him ready to be somebody’s bitch when he gets to prison.”
An unfamiliar face walked into the area, Lt. Col. Fred Rommely, who stopped
the parading of Kevin and further abuse. About this time Kevin gave
a statement, agreed to show police where the Buchanan’s lived, and was beaten
again by hall for vomiting on hall when the gun was placed in Kevin’s mouth.
Kevin was intoxicated from heavy drinking and mixing with drugs (acid, LSD)
that night.
Kevin’s jury never heard about the beatings by the police, they never heard
any testimony which could have easily disputed the claims of bragging, they
never heard about the eyewitnesses that identified Calvin. Had Calvin
testified (he backed out at the last minute) the jury would have been allowed
to hear Calvin’s complete criminal history. But if Calvin had testified
the jury would never had heard this; because Kevin’s trial attorney’s did
not know Calvin’s history themselves, because they never investigated any
of this.
Kevin Stanford is no longer under a death sentence, however he will never
have a chance to present this evidence to a judge or jury. Kevin has
a sentence of life without the possibility of parole ever! Governor
Patton promised the victim’s sister, Mona Mills in June of 2003 to give Kevin
either death or life without the possibility of parole ever. The victim’s
family was allowed to speak with the Governor, yet Kevin’s family was not
allowed to speak with the Governor in order to present for the first time
the true facts of his case. While I do not think that anyone would disagree
with giving victim’s and their families a voice, the tragedy often is that
the victim’s family may not know the true facts of the case, especially in
a case such as Kevin’s. The distortions and outright lies told in this
case by the prosecution have not only hurt Kevin and those who love him,
but they have severely harmed the victim’s family by denying them the true
facts of their loved ones death. Kevin’s sentence is out of proportion
to other sentences in Kentucky of both juveniles and other young offenders.
No juvenile in Kentucky has a life without parole sentence for murder and
rape. Attached are several examples of persons in Kentucky convicted
for crimes which make them eligible for the death penalty; yet they not only
did not receive the death penalty, they also did not receive life without
any chance of parole.
Kevin has spent the over 23 years he has been incarcerated bettering himself,
getting in touch with the horrible abuses of his childhood, taking advantage
of every opportunity for education including 2 college degrees and only a
few credits short of a third college degree. He has taught himself
music and plays the guitar for the chapel and in his spare time. He
has tried within his limitations to be the best father to his daughter that
he can be. His daughter has lived her whole life without her father;
her mother continues to have a drinking and drug problem. Kevin stayed
in touch with his daughter, encouraged her to get an education, to stay busy
and put her trust in God. Kevin has also made his peace with his mother
and completely forgives her without any reservations. Kevin has consistently
been portrayed as “sweet little Kevin” by those who knew him best as a child;
someone who desperately wanted to belong, who would follow around Joanne
Smith’s husband (Joanne Smith was one of Kevin’s grade school teachers.)
His participation in this crime can easily be explained by his abuse as a
child, his wanting to belong (sadly with the wrong people) but yet going
along with all that he knew as a child, drugs, crime, alcoholism, etc.
Kevin is a mature 40 year old man today in touch with the past and wants
nothing more than to be a contributing member to society and to have the
chance for a life, something he has never had. To leave Kevin in prison
for the rest of his life not only hurts him but deeply hurts those that love
him, his wife, his daughter, granddaughter, mother, stepfather, stepsisters,
stepbrothers and all of the friends that have come to love Kevin for who
he is today. Please help us to right this wrong and change this terrible
living death sentence.
Contact information:
Eileen Cano-Stanford
10 Holly Lane
Kuttawa, Ky 42055
270-388-2528
e mail: eileencano@juno.com
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"The Eyes Of The World Are Watching Now" This page was
last updated February 19, 2004
Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty This page is maintained
and updated by Dave Parkinson and Tracy Lamourie in Toronto, Canada
