Legal victory for two of Jersey 4

A legal victory was recently won in the case of two of the Jersey Four, but resistance is still needed to free all of them.

The four young, African-American lesbians were convicted in June 2007 for so-called gang assault charges, in relation to an August 2006 event in New York’s West Village. They had defended themselves against a man who, in a bigoted, anti-lesbian frenzy, choked them, ripped hair from their scalps, spat at them and threatened to sexually assault them. The four have been unjustly imprisoned for the past two years.

On June 19, the conviction of 21-year-old Terrain Dandridge was vacated, with the indictment against her dismissed, meaning she cannot face a retrial on those charges and is free from her three-and-a-half-year prison sentence. A four-judge panel ruled that the evidence did not support a guilty verdict.

The conviction of 26-year-old Renata Hill was also vacated, but she faces the possibility of a new trial as the indictment against her was not dismissed. The panel ruled that the judge in the initial trial had given erroneous instructions to the jury, so the conviction could not be upheld. Alexis Agathocleous, Hill’s lawyer, told the New York Times that he hopes “that the district attorney’s office will also do the right thing and dismiss the remaining charge.” (June 19) Hill had originally been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Meanwhile, appeals for Patreese Johnson and Venice Brown are still underway. Johnson had been sentenced to 11 years in prison, which the New York Post gleefully reported was “the highest several defense lawyers had ever heard of for a nonfatal stabbing.” (June 15, 2007) Brown received five years.

Self-defense is a right!

Given sentences ranging from three-and-a-half to a staggering 11 years, the Jersey 4 are political prisoners when viewed against a backdrop of state repression, racism, anti-LGBT bigotry and the gentrification of the West Village, which has historically been a center for lesbian, gay, bi and trans youth, particularly youth of color.

The corporate media had bolstered the attack on the women throughout the trial, calling them a “lesbian wolf pack” (Daily News, April 19, 2007) and a “gang of angry lesbians” (Daily News, April 13, 2007). The media spectacle, along with the convictions, was an attempt to send the distorted message that self-defense is not a right for people of color, LGBT people or youth.

Three of their friends—Chenese Loyal, Lania Daniels and Khamysha Coates—were also given felony charges that, according to the Bay Area Solidarity Committee, “prevent them from getting jobs, registering for housing and other unjust discrimination.” (freenj4.wordpress.com, June 21)

Support for the Jersey 4 has spread across the country. On June 24, Dandridge, her mother Kimma Walker and Angela Davis will address an audience at the San Francisco Women’s Building “in order to unravel the experiences of violence that Queer people of color face and how to prepare ourselves and our communities in the face of police harassment, criminalization and mass incarceration.” (freenj4.wordpress.com, June 21) The event is co-sponsored by Critical Resistance, LAGAI - Queer Insurrection, Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism, San Francisco Women Against Rape, Radical Women and Gay Shame San Francisco.

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