June 5, 2012

Dear Friends & Benefactors: Another half year has flown by since Centurion Ministries’ last report to our friends and supporters. With three exonerations, it has been a dizzying and thrilling period of time! Since I last wrote you, Montana’s Barry Beach; Texas’ Richard Miles; and just last month, California’s Frank O’Connell have been vindicated after many years of false imprisonment. I began this work in 1980. Since then CM has freed a total of 49 innocent people who have collectively served 956 years of life or death sentences for the crimes of others.

Hope. Justice. Freedom. These precious elements, so dear to all of us, are what CM brings to those imprisoned innocent and their loved ones whom we serve throughout the nation. I hope you can see from the information included with this letter that no matter how long it takes, we never give up as we put your financial support to good and productive use in our work to save and redeem lives. At this time, we are in great need of your generosity. If you can help us, I ask you to do so as soon as you can.

Yours truly,

James C. McCloskey Executive Director

CENTURION MINISTRIES seeking freedom for the innocent in prison

Hope. Justice. Freedom.

Imagine the horror of being convicted and sentenced to life or death for a crime you had nothing to do with.

Barry Beach’s Freedom Barry will never forget Pearl Harbor Day…. On December 7, 2011 Barry was freed on his own recognizance after 29 years in prison for a 1979 murder that occurred on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Poplar, Montana that he did not commit. Barry’s release came on the heels of an August 2011 evidentiary hearing in which CM produced nine witnesses who testified to either witnessing the murder or receiving a chilling confession from members of a “gang of four girls” who savagely beat 18-year-old Kim Nees to death and dumped her body into a nearby river. Finding these witnesses to be extremely credible, Judge Wayne Phillips of Lewistown, Montana threw out Barry’s conviction and ruled that by “clear and convincing evidence a jury could find that Barry Beach is actually innocent of this crime.” In his opinion, Judge Phillips credited CM for acting with “exceptional diligence”. His decision caps a 12-year effort by CM and attorneys Peter Camiel of Seattle, and Terry Toavs of Wolfpoint, Montana. The struggle is not yet over because the Montana State Attorney General has stubbornly decided to appeal the Judge’s reversal of the conviction and even has an eye on possibly retrying Barry. Captions clockwise from top of page: December 7, 2011, Poplar, Montana— Barry with CM defense team and Jim McCloskey; Barry Beach, upon leaving prison after 29 years of wrongful imprisonment.

221 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ 08542

Frank O’Connell Freed April 21, 2012 was a magical day for Frank O’Connell. After 27 years in prison for the 1984 Pasadena, California shooting murder in which he had no involvement whatsoever, Frank was freed on bail (posted by CM) pending a possible retrial. His day of freedom arrived after 15 years of hard work by CM and attorneys Peter Camiel of Seattle and Verna Wefald of Pasadena. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Suzette Clover vacated Frank’s conviction based on new evidence of innocence uncovered by CM and presented to the Judge in a 2011 evidentiary hearing. The lone eyewitness against Frank told CM that he was repeatedly pressured by police to identify someone, and so he reluctantly chose Frank’s photo from an array offered to him. Decades later, this witness testified at the 2011 post conviction hearing that when he made his positive identification of Mr. O’Connell, he knew it was false. CM also discovered that police hid evidence that the victim’s ex-wife, with whom the victim, Jay French, was in the middle of a bitter custody battle, had failed in her previous attempt to murder him. In Judge Clover’s March 29, 2012 decision, she wrote that “knowledge of this prior attempt on Mr. French’s life…may well have altered the outcome of this case.” Finally CM discovered five other witnesses, all of whom provided affidavits that the ex-wife confessed to each of them independently that Frank O’Connell was innocent of the murder of Jay French and that she arranged for the murder of her ex-husband in order to keep custody of their son. Captions clockwise from top of page: Pasadena, California, April 21, 2012, Frank O’Connell, first moment of freedom with his attorney and son, Nick; Frank ­celebrating with his attorneys, Verna Wefald and Peter Camiel; Frank enjoying the simple things he missed during 27 years of wrongful imprisonment; with CM Director Kate Germond who worked for Frank’s release for over 14 years.

It was 15 minutes after Frank O’Connell took his first steps of freedom after 27 years in prison when he was handed a large jug of apple juice and an orange.

“You miss some of the most simple things,” he said.

Gerry Conlon Comes to Princeton from Ireland In 1993 Daniel Day-Lewis was nominated for Best Actor for his portrayal of Gerry Conlon in the biographical film In the Name of the Father. Emma Thompson played his attorney Gareth Peirce. It is a riveting film of justice gone terribly awry.

At the age of 21, Gerry Conlon, an Irishman from Belfast, was falsely convicted along with ten others for the 1974 bombing of two pubs in England. He and three of the accused became famously known as the Guilford Four. In 1989 he and his three co-defendants were exonerated in a stunning decision that changed British law. Eventually, all eleven were totally vindicated, including Gerry’s father posthumously since he had died in prison in 1980. Gerry was CM’s guest for two weeks in April during which time he spoke at CM fundraisers in Princeton and New York, as well as to a variety of schools and community groups. He also traveled to Los Angeles with CM’s Kate Germond to greet Frank O’Connell on his day of liberation!

Captions clockwise from top of page: Princeton, New Jersey, April 10, 2012—CM Trustees Lee Gladden, Board Chair Jay Regan, Bill Sword and Charlie Crow with Gerry Conlon (center) outside the Garden Theatre before the preview of In the Name of the Father; Conlon with exonoree Michael Austin, Jim McCloskey, Kate Germond, Suzie Kovner, Bruce Kovner, and exonoree John Restivo in New York City, April 16; Conlon with long-time CM advocate Judith McCartin Scheide at a late afternoon garden party hosted by Cheryl and Rob Mooney, April 14.

When asked what he missed most during 15 years of wrongful imprisonment, Gerry Conlon teared up and said

“Rain. I wanted rain. I hadn’t walked in the rain in 15 years.” With Nick O’Connell immediately following his father Frank’s release.

Richard Miles’ Vindication Richard Miles and CM were elated when Texas’ highest state court, the Court of Criminal Appeal, stated in its February 15, 2012 published opinion that “we agree that applicant has established that he is actually innocent. Habeas Corpus relief is granted.” The Court, in part, also cited the evidence developed by CM in helping the Court conclude that Mr. Miles is an innocent man. Through the joint effort of CM, attorney Cheryl Wattley and the Dallas DA’s office, Richard was freed by State District Judge Andy Chatham in October of 2009 after spending 15 years imprisoned for a 1994 Dallas murder he did not commit. The judge then recommended to the high court that it review the evidence of innocence and grant relief if, in its wisdom, it, too, found the evidence compelling. Richard was convicted almost solely on the testimony of a single eyewitness. That witness recanted his trial testimony stating that he told the prosecutor prior to trial that he was unable to identify anyone as the shooter, but the prosecutor insisted that he identify the defendant. Reluctantly and regretfully, he did so. Additionally, as a result of a Centurion Ministries’ staff-initiated FOIA request to the Dallas Police Department, we uncovered a police report that described a pre-trial phone call received by a Dallas Police Homicide Officer wherein a witness identified the real killer. This report was concealed by the Dallas Police Department. The trial of Richard Miles went forward undisturbed by the new information that they had the wrong man.

Centurion Ministries has worked to successfully vindicate 49 men and women serving life and death sentences in prison whose combined imprisonment totals 956 lost years of freedom. The bulk of CM’s work are on non-DNA cases requiring a “boots-on-the-ground” street investigation. Centurion takes the pressing cases others have rejected and bears all costs for working the caseloads of its clients, all of whom are indigent with no access to funds.

Now that Richard Miles is finally and officially declared an innocent man by Texas’s highest court, he is entitled to publicly funded compensation by the State of Texas. Among Centurion Ministries is a tax-exempt the benefits provided, he will receive a lump sum in organization under the Internal Revenue excess of one million dollars, plus a nice monthly Service Act Section 501 c (3) and stipend for the rest of his life. depends wholly on gifts and grants from private sources including individuals, private foundations, and places of faith. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent by law. Photos of Richard Miles by Billy Smith, Houston Chronicle. All other photos by Diane Bladecki. Graphic Design by Palmer Uhl.

Captions clockwise from top of page: Dallas, Texas, February 15, 2012–Richard Miles and his attorney Cheryl Wattley, upon hearing the news that his 17 1/2-year wrongful imprisonment was finally over; Cheryl Wattley, State District Judge Andy Chatham, Richard’s mother, Thelma Lloyd, and Jim McCloskey; with Joyce Ann Brown, whose 9-year conviction was overturned with CM’s advocacy in 1989,

For more information, www.centurionministries.org or call 609-921-0334.