For the past 20 years an Innocent prisoner, Leon Benson has been erroneously serving a 60 yr sentence for a shooting murder he absolutely did not commit.    

 His wrongful conviction & imprisonment has not only adversely affected his life, but the lives of his family & the whole of society ( because a killer is still on the loose).

   Benson has maintained his innocence since his arrest Aug. 14, 1998. While in captivity he continues to back up his vocal proclamations in print, on social media, & in legal actions.

  Unfortunately, the Indiana Courts have not been remotely sympathetic toward his innocence case, rather instead, the courts have been cruel & apathetic. Benson’s Post Conviction Relief (PCR) appeal in Marion County Court was denied by Judge Amy Barbara in March 2016; when he appealed the PCR decision to the Indiana Court of Appeals it was denied in Sept. 2017; & finally the Indiana Supreme Court denied him relief February 2018.

 The main issues were Ineffective Assistance of trial counsel for failing to object to hearsay out of court statements, suggestive identification procedure, & prosecution misconduct; failure to use available information about factors that lead to eyewitness misidentification; failure to call an eyewitness who identified another suspect as the killer.

  In addition, he presented Newly Discovered Evidence of vision & distance scientific analysis that discovered humans w/  20/20 vision can not recognize any face from 50 yds away in broad day light. And under poor lighting conditions the lost of visual information triples.

  Despite of all the compelling evidence of trial errors & innocence the Indiana Courts all made adverse rulings to constitutional law. The conclusions these Judges came up w/ were as illogical to the facts & application of law as this math equation (4+3=67).

 This case is not a hard one to prove or understand. However, all the politics of racism, economic status, & official incompetence ( cf. Implicit basis) are very complex. Because any person w/ common sense can look at the main factors of this case to know Benson is innocent:

•The state’s alleged sole eyewitness of shooting described the suspect as: a dark complexioned black male, 5’8, skinny built, wearing black t-shirt, & baggy black jogging pants w/ three white stripes down the legs ( cf. Adidas pants) , possibly no facial hair.

•Six days after the crime the state’s alleged eyewitness picked Benson from a photo array, despite his physical appearance contradicting her initial description. The procedure was conducted by the lead detective alone w/ witness.

•The state’s alleged eyewitness viewed the crime from 49 yards away at night. She wore eye glasses & had less than 20/20 vision.

•While at trial the state’s eyewitness testified that Benson was light complexioned Black man unlike her description of the shooter being a dark complexioned Black man.

•Two witnesses testified that they were present w/ Benson in an apartment building during the crime.

•Three witnesses testified that Benson was wearing clothing the day of crime contrary to what the shooter was described wearing.

•The first trial ended on May 24, 1999 w/ a hung jury ( 6 guilty, I undecided, & 5 guilty). The second trial ended w/ guilty verdict less than two months later, July 8, 1999.

•During PCR investigation it was discovered that crime stopper report existed that claimed that the shooter used his girlfriend’s gun that was reported stolen. Well, actual police reports showed this same girlfriend reported a 380. handgun stole 8/11/98( the same gun type used & the crime).

•Another eyewitness testified at Benson’s PCR hearing in 2015 that another person committed the crime. This eyewitness claimed to know the shooter, seen him earlier w/ a 380. handgun, & wearing the same clothing described by state’s eyewitness. He identified the same suspect to police days after the crime, but was not called to testify during trial.

•Dr. Geoffrey Loftus testified at Benson’s PCR hearing 2014 that he discovered that a human w/ 20/20 vision can not recognize a face from 50 yds away in broad daylight. And under poor lighting conditions lost of visual into triples. Dr. Loftus testimony demonstrated that the state’s alleged eyewitness could identify anyone as a scientific fact.

•Dr. Loftus also testified to many factors that lead to eyewitness identification that existed in Benson’s case: (1) cross-race identification; (2) implicit suggestiveness by administer of photo array procedure when know who is the suspect; (3) Non- double blind identification procedures; & (4) simultaneous photo array procedures. All these factors could have been used by trial counsel.

This type of injustice should not be tolerated in the State of Indiana or else where in the world. The material facts of the evidence are clear, yet the Indiana judicial system allows an innocent man Leon Benson to remain falsely in prison.

     Now we petition Indiana governor, Eric J. Holcomb for justice. We have faith in Governor Holcomb’s integrity & moral intellect. In 2017 he made the pardon of innocence in Indiana history in the Keith Cooper case. Holcomb, who took the place of Mike Pence, made an unpredictable move as a republican governor.

      In Leon’s case , Governor Holcomb has the executive power to him clemency for exoneration. 

    If you support truth, justice, freedom, & unity. Then sign this petition. In doing so, you will show Governor Holcomb that he must back the voices of the people, but more importantly, the facts of Leon’s innocence.

                Sincerely,

                    Valerie Buford