Crime & Justice
John Legend pens open letter to President Obama to pardon non-violent drug offenders
John Legend has used his platform to advocate for equal justice.The singer continues to use his voice by recently penning an open letter to President Obama.
John Legend has long used his platform to advocate for equal justice and being very vocal on social issues.
The singer continues to use his voice by recently penning an open letter to President Barack Obama in the newest issue of Rolling Stone.
John Legend pens letter to President Obama
His position in the letter stems from his desire to see Obama provide clemency to non-violent drug offenders so that they can have a fresh start in life.
Legend’s take on the issue resonates deeply with him, considering his mother suffered from drug addiction and was later incarcerated during his teenage years.
“Before you leave office, I would like to add my voice to the more than 2 million Americans who have asked you to use your clemency and pardon powers to bring justice to the thousands of families of non-violent drug offenders who have waited far too long for Congress to act,” wrote Legend.
Sentence commutations
John Legend also pointed out President Obama’s “unprecedented” approach to commuting the sentences of over a thousand individuals is a triumph no president has ever achieved. Though a laudable act, Legend believes more work needs to be done before Obama steps foot out of the White House in January 2017.
“In 2014, you set out to reinvigorate our country’s approach to clemency,” he continued.
“Your actions to commute the sentences of 944 individuals, including 324 life sentences, is unprecedented in the modern era. Nonetheless, more action is needed to dismantle the unjust policies of the past 40 years.”
“I am asking you to bring justice to thousands of families by granting as many clemencies as possible before you leave office.”, says Legend
According to the White House, Obama has commuted more sentences than 11 presidents combined in U.S. history.
Read John Legend’s full letter here.
Crime & Justice
Exonerated man on a mission to rebuild his life
C.J. Rice, a man who served more than 12 years behind bars for an attempted murder he was falsely convicted of, was officially exonerated on March 18, 2024. He is now on a mission to rebuild his life.
Charles “CJ” Rice was just 17 years old when he was convicted of a crime he did not commit.
CJ Rice Exonerated
Now 30 year old Rice is using the injustice of the last 13 years to galvanize the life he almost spent behind bars after being exonerated and declared legally innocent of the crime he was convicted of in 2013 on March 18, 2024.
According to the GoFundMe, CJ wants to “embrace this opportunity” and become a paralegal.
With the help of Dream.org, the GoFundMe aims to help CJ start a new life with everything from a place to stay to clothes to wear as he builds a new future.
The CJ Rice case
CJ Rice, formally known Charles J. Rice, was convicted in a September 2011 shooting for attempted murder and sentenced to 30-60 years behind bars in 2013.
According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, the South Philadelphia shooting left a woman identified as Latrice Johnson, a 6-year-old girl and two others injured.
Johnson called 911 after the shooting and described the suspects as two men running away in hoodies and black sweatpants but couldn’t fully identify them.
Through an initial investigation with victims in the hospital, Rice’s co-defendant, Tyler Linder, was identified as one of the shooters. Detectives interviewed Johnson while she was in the hospital and she identified 17-year-old Rice as one of the shooters running away although she hadn’t seen the teen in a few years. Rice had been friends with Johnson’s son when he was younger, according to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.
In her description, Johnson said Rice was wearing a hoodie and claimed that she was able to see his full face and long braids poking out the side of the hood. However, Rice’s arrest photo depicted him with shorter cornrows flushed against his head. Despite this, a case against Rice and Linder was built.
According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, among the evidence was a theory that the shooting was retaliatory, which wasn’t proven. That’s because Rice was shot and injured a few days prior. It’s alleged the suspects ran from the scene, and Rice’s counsel never used his medical records as evidence to help Rice’s case.
Rice’s case received national attention after CNN anchor Jake Tapper began reporting on it. His father, Dr. Theodore Tapper, is Rice’s former doctor and treated his injuries.
Although it was alleged that the shooters ran from the 2011 crime scene, this is something that Dr. Tapper believed Rice just physically couldn’t do at the time.
Officials believed the 2011 shooting involved gang affiliations, leading the DA’s Gun Violence Task Force to begin their investigation to see whether or not Rice could be re-tried for the shooting or to dismiss the charges in full.
This suggestion of motive and the sole faulty eyewitness identification of CJ led to his conviction on four counts for attempted murder.
A free man
Rice’s defense counsel filed a habeas petition to get CJ out of prison and have his conviction overturned.
On March 18, 2024, the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas granted the Commonwealth’s motion to dismiss all charges against Rice, officially making CJ a free man.
Crime & Justice
Driver intentionally mowed down couple, killing wife, after calling 911 with ‘threats to shoot a school’
Shaunda Bizzell was killed by a man who drove his car into her and her husband minutes after he called 911 and made threats to bomb a building, police say.
Derek and Shaunda Bizzell were taking an evening stroll in their Chesterfield, Virginia neighborhood Monday night when a crazed man plowed into them.
The unimaginable for Derek and Shaunda Bizzell
“We walked around the curb. We could see a car coming up the middle of the street like cars always do, and then he got closer to us,” Derek Bizzell told WWBT. “I could see him veer. I screamed her name, and all I heard was the thump.”
The husband wound up under the car, while his wife landed on top. When he grabbed his phone to call 911, he was too shocked to be able to speak, but good samaritans who rushed over to help called in the deadly emergency.
Before hitting the couple, police say the man called 911 with “threats to shoot a school, bomb a building and assault police officers.”
Suspect
The driver, identified as Daniel Anderson, 22, purportedly has a history of mental health issues, according to his father. He “intentionally steered” his 2012 Hyundai toward the innocent couple, police said.
Shaunda Bizzell, 42, a married mom of two adult children, was taken to a nearby hospital but died from her injuries. Her husband was also hurt in the collision but has since been released from the hospital.
“I’m a little banged up, but if I could trade places with my wife, I would,” the heartbroken man said.
It was Shaunda’s first time she’d joined her husband Derek on his regular evening stroll around their neighborhood in Chesterfield, according to WWBT.
Derek on losing his wife Shaunda Bizzell
Bizzell said he has not been sleeping or eating, and feeling “just numbness” since losing his beloved wife.
He added that while he has not forgiven the driver, “I do pray for his family because I’m pretty sure they are hurting the same way we are hurting right now,” he said.
Anderson has been charged with murder, malicious wounding, making threats of death or bodily injury and making threats to bomb or damage buildings.
He is being held without bond.
Crime & Justice
Jam Master Jay’s godson and childhood friend found guilty of murder in 2002 killing of Run-DMC pioneering DJ
Ronald Washington, Jay’s childhood friend, and Karl Jordan Jr., Jay’s godson, were convicted of murder in what prosecutors say was motivated by greed.
Two men were found guilty of murder Tuesday in the 2002 killing of Jam Master Jay, the pioneering DJ of the groundbreaking hip hop trio Run-DMC.
2 found guilty of Jam Master Jay’s murder
Ronald Washington, Jay’s childhood friend, and Karl Jordan Jr., Jay’s godson, were convicted of murder in what prosecutors say was motivated by greed and a drug deal gone awry.
Pioneer murdered in 2002
Jam Master Jay, born Jason Mizell, was shot and killed at a recording studio in Jamaica, Queens, on October 30, 2002.
For years, no one was arrested for the slaying, leaving one of the most shocking shootings in music history unsolved.
In August 2020, authorities would finally get a break in the case, unsealing a criminal indictment alleging Washington and Jordan conspired to kill Jam Master Jay in retaliation for a drug dispute.
A third defendant, Jay Bryant, was charged in May 2023 with murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking and firearm-related murder. He has pleaded not guilty and is set to go on trial separately in January 2026.
Witness testimony in Jam Master Jay murder trial
The verdict followed a four-week trial in which jurors heard from several witnesses who recounted the moment the pair killed the legendary DJ inside his 24/7 Studio in Hollis.
A witness, who was at the recording studio that night, testified Washington and Jordan came in armed, and he alleged Jordan shot Jay in the head.
Uriel Rincon was playing the “Madden” football video game with Mizell at the studio when the two were ambushed. He suffered a gunshot wound to his left leg from Jordan, also known as “Little D”.
Rincon, said he had kept the attackers’ identities secret because he was “confused and scared,” reports ABC.
Defense attorneys for the men convicted of murder say Jay Bryant is the real killer
A hat found next to Jam Master Jay’s body contained only Bryant’s DNA, and Bryant was the only defendant seen on a security camera, according to the attorneys.
Washington and Jordan each face between 20 years-to-life behind bars at their sentencing.
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