Justice Delayed is Justice Denied
Tell Jared Polis and the Colorado Judicial System that RIGHT NOW is the right time to do the right thing.
Making the Case: Appealing for Freedom
Who is Billy?
Summary of Facts (The short version)
On Jan 19, 1997, Billy Edwards, 22, was sick at home with a stomach bug. His mom Donna, his Grandma Barb, and his Grandpa Bob were all home.
Across town, at Dexter's Nightclub, a shooting took place where one man was shot and died on the scene. Three others were injured (victim names have been omitted here but are accessible in news articles, trial transcripts, and other court documents).
On January 27, 1997, Billy went voluntarily to the police department to be questioned. At the beginning of being questioned, the police asked Billy to write down his statement. In this statement, he outlined that he was home sick and had not been at the club. Billy was held and questioned for roughly nine hours. During this time, police continued to question him and threatened him that he would be charged with first-degree murder, he would never see his family again, and he would never hear the birds sing again. Billy was broken. Eventually it was suggested that if he would tell them what they needed to know, he would be allowed to go home. Police interrogation included good cop/ bad cop techniques including bad cop getting into Billy's face while making threats. Billy later testified that he was scared.
Billy wrote a new statement which was later called a confession. It is important to understand that there are a lot of inconsistencies between witness testimony and what was in this statement. The "confession" was never signed, which is not typical in these cases. Billy was immediately charged and detained.
Billy was tried three separate times.
The first jury was hung (6 to Acquit and 6 for guilty) and stated that they had a hard time with the inconsistencies between Billy's confession and the eye witnesses testimonies not matching.
The second trial was hung with some saying 11-1 and others saying 10-2 (with either 10 or 11 saying to acquit and 1 or 2 saying guilty). Despite both of these hung juries being asked and commended for how hard they tried to come together, they just could not all agree that he was guilty.
So, a third trial took place. This time however, the jury came back saying they could not agree again (10 said guilty and 2 said not guilty). The judge ordered them to try again, and shortly thereafter, the jury returned a guilty verdict. The Gazette newspaper in Colorado Springs later requested the names of the jurors to ask if they would be willing to be interviewed about why they had such a hard time coming to a conclusion, and why it changed so quickly. The motion was denied by the presiding judge in the case.
Billy was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Officially, his Department of Corrections file says that he is not even eligible for parole until after the year 3000! This deals specifically with sentences being stacked as well as mandatory minimums based on Colorado law.
It is essential to include here that Billy does admit that he had run-ins with the law due to drug possession (marijuana) and eluding the police. He accepts his responsibility and his charges pertaining to those records. However, he has always maintained that he was forced into a confession. And that is why this case is so important!
Here are a few more vital details:
1) The police interviewed 199 people in connection with this shooting. 198 of those people had signed Miranda waivers, but Billy was not given a Miranda waiver. Later, in court testimony from police detectives and officers, it was discovered that not even one of them could remember reading him his rights or Mirandizing him.
2) What was discovered during testimony:
Witnesses stated:
* The shooter had been in the nightclub
* The shooter was between 5'8 and 5'10, medium build
* The shooter was white (1st trial); this was changed after a witness was charged with a felony. The witness was given immunity in exchange for his testimony against Billy; the witness then later said for sure it was Billy
* The shooting was gang related
* The shooter left in a white or light color car
Evidence showed:
* They had found 2 types of bullet casings at the scene, 9mm and .45 caliber
* The video of the club entry did NOT show Billy entering or leaving the club
Prosecutors claimed:
* The shooting was payback or revenge
* Police could not have scared him into writing a statement because innocent people do not write confessions
* The shooter went to the club with the intention of shooting into the crowd to kill
* Taking a polygraph and signing a waiver for the polygraph should be hold the same weight as being mirandized.
Summary of Inconsistencies and Issues
1) Physical descriptions from eye witnesses and victims do not match. Billy is tall with a very lean build; the lanky body type. Billy is a black man, and could not have changed race to commit the crime.
2) There were two weapons, and two suspects but Billy was the only person ever arrested and charged
3) Billy's friends were part of a music group/ band of sorts that created rap music and were not hard-core gang members.
4) Billy did not have access to a white or light color car, but he was proud to drive his gold Cadillac
5) The "confession" was not signed and was secondary to the original statement made nine hours prior before interrogation techniques that have been shown to be predatory took place. The "confession" had details that were explained to Billy during questioning but did not line up with the eye witness testimonies.
6) Billy was not Mirandized (the only one out of 199 people to not be given a waiver that is on file)
7) The polygraph test was offered in court as proof that Billy knew he had rights not to take a polygraph (and was therefore considered a Miranda waiver- despite these being very different documents)
8) The video from Dexter's Nightclub does not show Billy entering or exiting the club
9) Dexter's Nightclub interacted with police over 60 times prior to that incident- one of those times 4 days prior- when one man was beaten severely and around a month later, that man shot and killed the person who assaulted him at another nightclub.
10) Many people who are half-black are referred to as "Goldie" and this does not mean Billy was the only "Goldie" that was there, or could have committed the crime.
11) The same judge who presided over Billy's case was also presiding over a case with Billy's mother at the same time. He did not recuse himself from either case.
12) One of the main eyewitnesses testified at each trial, and gave different information at each pertaining to the shooter. This testimony changed after the witness was charged with a different felony and agreed to testify with "new" information at Billy's second trial in exchange for a reduced sentence or immunity. Later, the story changed again.
13) Billy's original attorney was disbarred amid complaints about conduct; Billy's appellate attorney got sick during the time that the case was being presented and did all of the appellate work on the case was completed without Billy being present or included in the process thus denying him the right to defend himself.
14) Legal documents show that despite attorneys requesting documents to help further Billy's defense, he has been denied the rights to have access to documents in his case. Without these documents, he is not able to continue to seek the truth.
Possible Outcomes
We all want Billy to be free again, removed from prison, and able to be with his family. With that said, the ways that we can see this happening are:
1) Billy is granted clemency from Jared Polis. This would get him out of prison and home. From here, Billy could pursue his defense and work to prove his innocence.
2) Billy can be exonerated- the case could be reviewed by an external Integrity Unit, and the Colorado Judicial System could work with the District Attorney's office to vacate the murder and assault charges; they could reopen, re-investigate, and charge the correct person for the crime.
3) Other people can get involved- maybe there is someone else that was there that saw something or knows something; maybe more people become involved and additional help is provided to bring spotlight to the case, and this leads to connections that are able to take other steps to get Billy free.
4) Colorado Law can be changed to reduce mandatory sentences as well as to clarify and set precedent in how many hung juries is too many, and what that means for cases where this happened in the past.
5) A review of cases that passed through the hands of the original disbarred attorney (for Billy but also for others that have been disbarred both in defense and prosecution) and the judges in cases where injustice has happened, should also be reviewed. If there are other circumstances where things were not correct, it is time for those things to be fixed.
6) A stronger precedent needs to be set that a "confession" does not stand alone or take the place of evidence. When evidence, testimony, and "confession" do not match, more investigation needs to be done to close the gaps so that innocent people do not get sentenced.
Help us to Free Billy
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Help Our Cause
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Every dollar will be used to help bring Billy home.
Join Us at our First Freedom for Billy Rally
Our Freedom for Billy Rally is planned for May 14, 2024 from 2-4 pm outside the Denver State Capital Building (at the west steps)
First and Foremost- this is a peaceful rally. We will be there to show support both in numbers as well as to promote education about Billy's case and actions that can be taken to free Billy.
Please come prepared with sunscreen and water!
If you need additional information, please feel free to reach out to us!
