MICHAEL AUSTIN
Confession frees Baltimore prisoner
By Johnnie Stevens
Baltimore
Michael Austin, an African American man convicted in 1974
for the killing of Black Baltimore security guard Roy Kellam,
was freed from the Maryland House of Correction on Dec. 27.
Forgive and forget was the theme song of the capitalist media,
which weakly apologized for the Maryland criminal justice
system that railroaded Austin to prison 27 years ago.
Judge Carrroll Byrnes of the Baltimore City Circuit Court
said, "No reasonable juror aware of the facts known today would
have convicted Austin." While reversing the conviction,
Byrnes's order left the murder charge filed against Austin 27
years ago. The judge then set bail at $10,000.
According to the Baltimore Sun, State Attorney Patrica
Jessamy could challenge the reversal in the State Court of
Special Appeals. If such a challenge were successful, Austin
could once again be returned to prison.
On ABC's Good Morning America show, however, Jessamy said
she would not appeal Judge Byrnes's overturn of Austin's
conviction. As of Jan. 4, Austin is free.
Austin's attorney, Larry Nathans, said that Austin certainly
will not be put on trial again. The prosecution's only witness
is dead and there is no physical evidence linking Austin to the
crime.
The late witness, Jackie Robinson, had originally identified
the killer as 5 feet 8 inches tall and 140 pounds. Later he
identified Austin, who was 6 feet 2 inches tall and 225 pounds,
as the killer. After Robinson died in 1994, his brother, John
Robinson, told police his brother had admitted he helped
convict an innocent man.
Jim McCloskey, the president of Centurion Ministries, hired
Nathans in 1994 to represent Austin. The Centurion Ministries
is a New Jersey-based group that investigates cases of
prisoners who claim innocence.
Austin is now 53 years old. While in prison he lost his
mother and brother.
Austin said, "Everything out here is new to me. I would like
to work with youth. I saw so many babies coming in prison.
There has to be a program to keep them out of prison."
On Jan. 4, ABC's Good Morning America show hosted Austin and
Nathans. Another key supporter of Austin was there: Alveria
Kellam, the murder victim's wife.
Kellam said, "This affair will never have complete closure
for me because I lost someone, but I never believed Austin did
it."
Austin publicly thanked Kellam for all her support
throughout the years.
It appears that Kellam is the real hero in this case and the
second victim of racism. If her husband had been white, would
the DA, the cops and the media have handled this case
differently from the start?
The case recalls the recent decision in the case of Mumia
Abu-Jamal, the political prisoner who spent 20 years on
Pennsylvania's death row. Although his death sentence has been
overturned, Abu-Jamal still faces life in prison and the
possibility of another sentencing hearing that could reinstate
his death sentence.
Reprinted from the Jan. 17, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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