I can't believe that another six months have zipped by! For you and all of Centurion Ministries' Friends and Benefactors, here are a few highlights of our work which have occurred during this time span:

Michael Austin Freed

After 27 years of false imprisonment, Michael Austin's conviction was reversed and Baltimore Circuit Court Judge John Carroll Byrnes freed him on December 28, 2001. Judge Byrnes remarked in his 94 page opinion that, "Michael Austin as an accused was wronged, and no matter the age of the wrong, it remains wrong. Our capacity to right a wrong is a measurement of our true commitment to due process and justice as a State." A week later, on January 3, 2002, the Baltimore City State's Attorney, who had bitterly fought us all the way, decided not to retry Michael. All the charges were dismissed.

Capping a five-year effort by Centurion Ministries, an evidentiary hearing was held in July 2001 in which Michael's attorney, Larry Nathans and Booth Ripke (retained by Centurion Ministries), presented overwhelming evidence of Michael's innocence which was skillfully and painstakingly developed by Centurion Ministries investigator, Stephen Delaney. The jury from Austin's 1975 trial never knew any of this evidence due to a deadly combination of shameful police misconduct and disgraceful defense lawyering.

Firstly, Michael had an ironclad alibi. He clocked out of his factory job at 4:53 p.m. on April 29, 1974, only 27 minutes before the crime commenced. Given the time of day, the rush-hour traffic, and distance between the factory and the crime location, it was impossible for Austin to have arrived at the Crown Market Grocery store (the crime scene) and fatally shoot the security guard at the time the store was being robbed, which was 5:20 p.m.

Secondly, the assistant manager of the store, Eric Komitzski, testified at the 2001 hearing that he was positive that Mr. Austin did not shoot the guard. He knew this to be a fact because the suspect held a gun to his head and robbed his cash register immediately after shooting the guard. Mr. Komitzski was eyeball to eyeball with the shooter. The killer was absolutely no taller than Mr. Komitzski, who is 5'9" tall. Michael Austin stands 6'5" tall. Michael's trial lawyer never bothered to interview Mr. Komitzski. Thus, the jury never knew of his electrifying testimony.

Additionally, the only witness against Mr. Austin at trial was Jackie Robinson, another clerk at the store. Although Robinson was a life-long drug addict, and died of a drug overdose in 1997, his brother, Harry Robinson, testified at the 2001 evidentiary hearing that Jackie confided to him that he (Jackie) sent an innocent man to prison for the murder of the security guard at the Crown Food Market. Jackie was presented at trial by the Sate as a clean-cut college student on academic scholarship. Centurion Ministries' investigation proved he was a dressed up drug addict who never went past a 10th grade education.

Sponsored by 33 state legislators, as of March 2002, a special bill is currently being considered by the State Legislature that will enable Austin to receive special compensation by the State for his 27 years of wrongful imprisonment.

Michael is an accomplished jazz musician (song composer and trumpeter). In addition to playing gigs in and around Baltimore, he will soon be employed as a counselor helping adult and juvenile ex-offenders reintegrate into society. He also is an inspiring speaker who talks to all kinds of groups and schools about his life.

Russell Burton Freed

On Friday, May 24, 2002 Russell Burton walked out of a Georgia prison after living a 15-year nightmare falsely imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. The combination of a Centurion Ministries investigation by Kate Germond and the masterful lawyering of Paul Casteleiro, (Burton' s Hoboken, NJ attorney retained by Centurion Ministries) provoked the Federal Courts to toss out Burton's conviction.

On January 15, 2002 the 11th Circuit Court of US Appeals upheld the May 4, 2001 reversal of Russell Burton's conviction by Federal District Judge Hugh Lawson. The court stated that were it not for incompetent defense trial counsel and a basically unfair prosecution, "[t]his was a case in which the jury could well have concluded that Burton was falsely accused or that there was at least a reasonable doubt as to his guilt."

In 1988 Russell was convicted in a rural Georgia court of abducting and repeatedly sexually assaulting three teenage girls together in one of the girl's car. The State's case rested entirely on the victims' uncorroborated identification and account of the crime. The girls originally described their attacker to police as having a deeply pockmarked face, a stocky build, brown eyes, and brownish hair. Burton had clear skin, was slim, and 6' tall with blue eyes and blond hair. The teenagers also testified that they were innocently shopping, not drinking or partying when they encountered their rapist. Photos of the interior of the car in which the assault happened revealed a number of beer cans. The prosecution suppressed these photos. Physical evidence at the scene did not corroborate the girls' account of what happened.

Additionally, it was physically impossible for Burton to have engaged in any sexual act at the time this crime supposedly occurred. Two days before this assault, Burton had eight genital warts cryosurgically removed from his penis. Thus, on the day of the crime, he was recovering from the surgery and in considerable pain. Due to the procedure, the skin of his penis was completely blistered. Furthermore, Burton, an enlisted man in the Army, had been excused from duty at Fort Benning the day of the assault due to a severe case of poison oak that covered his stomach and legs. Nevertheless, this information was inadequately presented to the jury by Burton's woeful attorney.

Russell also had a very strong alibi. Russell was originally developed as a suspect because he had a white Toyota Tercel similar to the car belonging to the perpetrator. But at the time of the crime, the car was with Russell's wife at her place of work; and Russell, himself, was visiting with neighbors nearby their army base home.

Unfortunately for Russell, (and for Centurion Ministries) this case is not over. The prosecutor insists on retrying him. The retrial is scheduled for later this year in September. Meanwhile, Russell is living with his father and stepmother in California while out on bail which was posted by Centurion Ministries His is doing his best to enjoy his new life of freedom even though a retrial looms ahead.

Ed Baker's 28 Year Nightmare Ends

On Christmas Eve 1973, 17-year old Eddie Baker was arrested for the south Philadelphia robbery and murder of Mr. Steve Gibbons, a 75-year old retiree. Mr. Gibbons was found in his home hog-tied and gagged, with an ice pick in his neck. Eddie was convicted and sentenced to natural life in prison solely on the testimony of Donahue Wise, a 21-year old heroin addicted thug. Wise had recently been released from state prison after serving time for attempted murder. Diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic prior to trial, Wise told the jury that Mr. Baker, a neighborhood acquaintance of his, played a leading role in this crime while, he, Wise, ran out of the house when Eddie and another man began their assault on "the old man". In exchange for his testimony, Wise received only three years in the state penitentiary rather than a natural life sentence.

When I began Centurion Ministries' reinvestigation of Eddie's case in the summer of 1994 (21 years after his arrest), his case was legally dead in the water with no place to go. All his appeals had been denied. Centurion Ministries asked Leonard Sosnov, a great Philadelphia lawyer with whom we have worked successfully on other Philadelphia cases, to be Eddie's attorney. Mr. Sosnov did brilliant legal work and was able to convince Philadelphia Judge Darnell Jones to hold an evidentiary hearing in order to review the issues of incompetence of trial counsel and new evidence of innocence. The fruits of Centurion Ministries' two-year investigation were presented at this December 1996 hearing.

In August 1997 Judge Jones issued his decision. He characterized the Baker conviction as a "miscarriage of justice" stating that "there is independent evidence supporting the recantation [of Donahue Wise] and pointing to perpetrators other than petitioner…" But Ed had to wait another 2-1/2 years before his day of freedom came. Finally on December 16, 1999 Judge Jones freed Ed. It took that long for the higher Pennsylvania courts to deny the District Attorney's appeal of Judge Jones' decision.

Then it was another two years before Ed's 28-year nightmare was over. Finally on February 11, 2002, the Philadelphia District Attorney's office decided not to retry Mr. Baker. Since freed in late 1999, various avenues of legal maneuvering to bar a retrial had been exhausted, and a retrial seemed imminent. However, when the DA was presented with Ed Baker's refusal to accept any kind of a plea agreement, a passed polygraph conducted by a nationally renowned polygrapher, and a witness list that included twelve alibi witnesses, the DA agreed that a retrial was pointless. So, on February 11th all charges against Mr. Baker were dropped and his 28-year nightmare was over.

Ed is doing extremely well since his release. He married his high school sweetheart. He and his wife have recently purchased a home in south Philadelphia. Ed works as an electrician at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. They are also anxiously awaiting the arrival of the adoption papers to complete the adoption of a beautiful two-year-old girl, Jasmine, for whom they have been foster parents.

Centurion Ministries' Website

We proudly announce that as of March of this year, Centurion Ministries' official Website is up and running. The site address is www.centurionministries.org. Log on! Link it to your Website. Refer inquiries to it. Add it to your Favorites List.

Finances

On an annualized basis, so far this year, Centurion Ministries' income has fallen far below last year's. We are 30% below last year. I am not sure why this is happening, but it is.

I ask you to keep Centurion Ministries in mind when you next decide to give to whatever organization you feel warrants your generosity. I also ask you to refer a friend(s) of yours to our Website and ask them to consider a gift to Centurion Ministries as well.

Thank you.

Yours truly,

James C. McCloskey