|
Profile
Zolo Agona Azania
Greetings,
I hope and pray that my bio-sketch and letter find you in good health
and in spirits as good as humanly possible. God willing.
I’m
still here, in the belly of the beast, standing strong and fighting
forward tooth and nail for total liberation, economic self-reliance and
for human rights in all human sights. I was in court on
October 15, 2004
for another pretrial hearing. Things went fairly well. The special judge
from
Boone
County
granted most of out discovery motions. I’ve got some good lawyers in
my corner now: Michael E. Deutsch, Erica Thompson and John L. Stainthorp
of the People’s Law Office in
Chicago
,
Illinois
and Jessie A. Cook of
Terre Haute
,
Indiana
.
The
police and the local politicians in
Fort Wayne
,
Indiana
are highly upset that those outsiders who are representing me have come
in town to disrupt the usual status quo. It was declared in open court
by James Posey, one of the state’s attorneys against me during the
hearing, that he represented the judges of
Allen
County
! The biased judges are taking it personal that we exposed the fatally
flawed, discriminatory jury selection practices. They are hostile to my
cause and resented my lawyers pursuing and exposing the
Allen
County
’s unfair jury system.
The
county jail guards gave all of my legal papers to me, including my
telephone numbers and addressed, this time. They were trying to isolate
me to keep me from effectively working on my defense and from receiving
community support. But they retaliated against me for filing complaints
on them by placing me in the lockdown cell block. It’s crazy to me.
Their racial, ethnic prejudice and hatred clouds their barbaric judgment.
I
was transported back to this prison on
the 25th of October 2004
. The past years have been very busy and even hectic for me, like all
the others; I shall never embark on a defeatist course. This is a fight
to the finish.
I would like to receive your much needed moral and financial
support. I am 50 years old. My date of birth is
12-12-1954
. I am a new African man. I’ve been fighting death penalty for well
over 23 years. I am seeking to advance the human rights of humanity in
all sights.
Update,
I was in court
January 25, 2005 for another pre-trial hearing. The judge took my three
different motions to dismiss the death sentence count under advisement
before he make a ruling on them. The prosecutor conceded that the death
penalty sentencing statute that existed in 1981 when I was arrested (the
same law that I was convicted under in 1992) was declared
unconstitutional! Isn’t that wonderful?! Now why am I still in prison?
Why haven’t I been released?
No, the trial court judge hadn’t made a ruling on my case yet. He did
not declare the death penalty unconstitutional. The United States
Supreme Court has made several important decisions affecting death
penalty cases (including the recent decision concerning juveniles). Why? Because the many of the state courts and prosecuting attorneys
were sentencing people with and without a jury was wrong, illegal and
unconstitutional. The death sentencing statute that existed in 1981 was
repealed by the Indiana Legislature. They are the ones who changed the
law that I was convicted under in 1982.
During the last court hearing in
Fort Wayne
, Allen County, Indiana, the prosecutors argued that I should be
sentenced under the 2002 death penalty statutes. But how could that be
so since the Indian State Legislature wrote in the actual statute
exactly whom the new laws applied to, and when it come into affect? All
of the penalties under the new law were increased. These sentences were
non-existent at the time of offense, which makes a crime greater than
when it was committed or imposes additional punishment therefore.
Very truly yours,
Zolo Agona
Azania
# 4969
Update
On May 1st, 2005, the
trial Judge granted my motion to dismiss the State’s notice of intent
to seek the death penalty, and to ban the prosecution from seeking the
death penalty based upon constitutional delay causing irreparable
prejudice and constituting cruel and unusual punishment. The state could
still appeal the trial judge’s decision.
On
May 17, 2005, I was transported by police to the Allen County Jail,
Fort Wayne
,
Indiana
, to be held for another pre-trial hearing that was scheduled for May
20, 2005, which I did not attend because all proceedings were stayed.
The judge’s recent good ruling throws all the other hearing schedules
and jury trial dates out the window.
The prosecutor requested an interlocutory appeal, which is an
intermediate request for review by a higher court. The trial court judge
certified his order – meaning that he’s standing on it. Then the
State had to file a motion for permission to appeal in the Supreme Court
of Indiana.
I was placed in the hole all the while I was at the county jail. They
were trying to isolate me from other prisoners and public support. The
sheriff’s Office retaliated against me because of the complaints I
files about the adverse living conditions in the Allen County Jail.
Moreover, they did not like the extensive media coverage of the
court’s order dismissing the death penalty count. The Indiana
Department of Corruption prisoncrats resented it, also. They’re mad
because I won a major battle in court, and they don’t want me to be
free.
Very truly yours,
Zolo
Agona
Azania
#4969
Address:
Zolo Agona Azania #
4969
Indiana State Reformatory
P.O. Box 30
Pendleton, IN. 46064-0030
USA
Postcards
to support Zolo Agona Azania's struggle for freedom
Back
to Home
|