SAVE Kevin Cooper in California
NEWS
2019
KIM KARDASHIAN VISITS KEVIN COOPER ON DEATH ROW, AS PART OF HER CRUSADE FOR PRISONS REFORM AND CRUSADE
Read Pulse article here
KIM KARDASHIAN VISITS KEVIN COOPER ON DEATH ROW, AS PART OF HER CRUSADE FOR PRISONS REFORM AND CRUSADE
Read Pulse article here
Write a clemency letter
for Kevin Cooper in California
Kevin Cooper needs our help. His appeals are exhausted, and if California reinstates the death penalty this fall, he is at risk for immediate execution. His legal team and supporters have now begun the clemency campaign for Kevin.
The Kevin Cooper Defense Committee is making a big push to get people to write and call California’s governor asking him to give Kevin clemency so that he may be freed. Please send a the below letter (or your own) asking for clemency. Thank you.
The Kevin Cooper Defense Committee is making a big push to get people to write and call California’s governor asking him to give Kevin clemency so that he may be freed. Please send a the below letter (or your own) asking for clemency. Thank you.
Governor Jerry Brown
c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173 Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Governor Brown,
I request that you honor Kevin Cooper’s request for clemency, as stated below.
After more than thirty years on California’s death row, after coming within three hours and 42 minutes of being executed in February 2004 for crimes he did not commit, after eleven appellate judges declared in 2009 that Mr. Cooper has never had a fair hearing to establish his innocence, after the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found violations of Mr. Cooper’s human rights including eight due process violations, ineffective assistance of trial counsel, an unfair appellate process and evidence of racial discrimination, it is time that Mr. Cooper be given the chance to conclusively prove his innocence.
Accordingly, Mr. Cooper respectfully asks the Governor to exercise his power under Article V, Section 8(a) of the California Constitution: (1) to grant Mr. Cooper a reprieve of his death sentence; (2) to undertake a complete investigation into Mr. Cooper’s case under the auspices of the Governor’s office with the goal of determining whether Mr. Cooper is innocent and whether he should be released from prison; (3) as part of that investigation to permit Mr. Cooper’s defense team to do all the forensic testing that it determines should be done, including that which the State has refused to permit; (4) to give Mr. Cooper access to documents that have been denied him, including from the San Bernardino County Sheriff and District Attorney’s Office and the Scripps Institute laboratory, that may prove his innocence; and (5) to pardon Mr. Cooper if, after said testing and review of documents is completed, the evidence shows that he is innocent or, should there remain any question as to his innocence, to instruct the San Bernardino District Attorney that if he does not retry Mr. Cooper within a reasonable time in a fair trial, the Governor will pardon him.
Sincerely yours,
Signature
City, State or Email Address
Date
cc: Kevin Cooper Defense Committee
PO Box 21636
Oakland CA 94620
Who is Kevin Cooper?
Kevin Cooper (born 1958) was convicted of four murders that occurred in the Chino Hills area of California in 1983. Since his imprisonment, he has become active in writing letters from prison decrying the judicial establishment as racist, protesting his innocence, and against the death penalty in general.
Read his essays here
Kevin Cooper is also an accomplished artist: WATCH his creative work here
Kevin Cooper (born 1958) was convicted of four murders that occurred in the Chino Hills area of California in 1983. Since his imprisonment, he has become active in writing letters from prison decrying the judicial establishment as racist, protesting his innocence, and against the death penalty in general.
Read his essays here
Kevin Cooper is also an accomplished artist: WATCH his creative work here
Case summary
Kevin Cooper was wrongfully convicted of the 1983 murders of the Ryen family and houseguest. According to his supporters, the case has a long history of police and prosecutorial misconduct, evidence tampering, and numerous constitutional violations including many incidences of the prosecution withholding evidence of innocence from the defense (known as Brady violations.) -- On November 30, 2009, the United States Supreme Court upheld the Ninth Circuit Court’s denial of Kevin Cooper’s appeal. The Ninth Circuit Court was divided. An unprecedented 103-page dissent signed by five of judges warned that, “the State of California may be about to execute an innocent man.”
Kevin Cooper was wrongfully convicted of the 1983 murders of the Ryen family and houseguest. According to his supporters, the case has a long history of police and prosecutorial misconduct, evidence tampering, and numerous constitutional violations including many incidences of the prosecution withholding evidence of innocence from the defense (known as Brady violations.) -- On November 30, 2009, the United States Supreme Court upheld the Ninth Circuit Court’s denial of Kevin Cooper’s appeal. The Ninth Circuit Court was divided. An unprecedented 103-page dissent signed by five of judges warned that, “the State of California may be about to execute an innocent man.”
The 103-page dissent pleaded identified many instances of police and prosecutorial misconduct, including:
On September 15th, 2015, the Inter American Commission on Human Rights has ruled in favor oof Kevin Cooper.
- False testimony- Josh Ryen, the only eyewitness to the murders and the victims’ 8-year old son, initially told the police that three white men killed his family.
- Destruction of evidence
- Undisclosed exculpatory evidence
- Falsified lab reports
- Presenting false evidence
- Police misconduct
- All details on fact sheet below prepared by his support team or Find out ore on www.savekevincooper.org
On September 15th, 2015, the Inter American Commission on Human Rights has ruled in favor oof Kevin Cooper.
| kevin_cooper_fact_sheet_oct_2015.docx |
What his supporters say
Kevin Cooper's controversial 1985 conviction and death sentence is the subject of a new book by veteran journalist J. Patrick O'Connor, titled, Scapegoat: The Chino Hills Murders and The Framing of Kevin Cooper. O'Connor is the editor of www.crimemagazine.com and the author of The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal (Lawrence Hill, 2008). WATCH M. O'Connor discuss the Kevin Cooper case below.
Kevin Cooper's controversial 1985 conviction and death sentence is the subject of a new book by veteran journalist J. Patrick O'Connor, titled, Scapegoat: The Chino Hills Murders and The Framing of Kevin Cooper. O'Connor is the editor of www.crimemagazine.com and the author of The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal (Lawrence Hill, 2008). WATCH M. O'Connor discuss the Kevin Cooper case below.
What does Kevin Cooper says
My Friends & Comrades,
While I am somewhat down concerning the U.S. Supreme Court not taking my case on appeal, I am not out. Down, but not out!!! I, and some of you, have
been down this road before, only with less to work with than we have now. If you read the press release by my lead attorney Norman Hile (available at www.savekevincooper.org) then you know that he and his law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe haven’t given up either. Nor will they give up on me, or
us in this fight! We now have a plan, and that is to get Eric Holder, the U.S. Attorney General on this case. We must help in any way that we can.
We must come up with new ideas and strategies. I will do my part in all of this because after all, it is me who will be strapped down and tortured and then murdered by the state if we lose.
Please know that I am strong, and upbeat and positive! I look forward to this upcoming battle, and I plan on winning. With your help, your continued help and support, I don’t see why we can’t win in the long run. After all, we do have a great deal of Truth and Evidence on our side to use.
I thank each and every one of you for all that you have already done, and all that you will do in this fight for my life.
With respect and appreciation,
Your friend and comrade…
Kevin Cooper
What you can do to help save Kevin's life
Distribute a flyer about Kevin or the link to his website www.savekevincooper.org
If you know anything relevant about his case contact his attorney: Norman Hile – Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe LLP | nhile@orrick.com | 916.329.7900
Distribute a flyer about Kevin or the link to his website www.savekevincooper.org
If you know anything relevant about his case contact his attorney: Norman Hile – Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe LLP | nhile@orrick.com | 916.329.7900
Find out more: Contact the Free Kevin Cooper campaign or write to Kevin
. WATCH the trailer of his new documentary explaining his case here
. READ the unprecedented 103 pages dissent by 5 Federal Judges (Filed May 11th, 2009)
. WATCH CBS report: Death row inmate seeks Schwartzeneger's reprieve
. Find out more on the Death Penalty Focus website
. WATCH below -- full hearing the Inter American Commission for Human Rights including video transmission of the testimony of Kevin Cooper. His attorney gives a synopsis of the case on October 28th, 2013, asking respectfully for a full and fair trial.
Recent Media
. Five times prosecutor Kamala Harris got the wrong guy, The Washington Examiner, September 2019
Kamala Harris has been facing criticism from fellow Democrats over her criminal justice record during her time as a top California prosecutor, for example, or blocking DNA testing that could have exonerated death row inmate Kevin Cooper while she was district attorney of San Francisco.
. Spotlight: Kevin Cooper's case exemplifies decades of systematic failures, The Appeal, June 2019
. READ the unprecedented 103 pages dissent by 5 Federal Judges (Filed May 11th, 2009)
. WATCH CBS report: Death row inmate seeks Schwartzeneger's reprieve
. Find out more on the Death Penalty Focus website
. WATCH below -- full hearing the Inter American Commission for Human Rights including video transmission of the testimony of Kevin Cooper. His attorney gives a synopsis of the case on October 28th, 2013, asking respectfully for a full and fair trial.
Recent Media
. Five times prosecutor Kamala Harris got the wrong guy, The Washington Examiner, September 2019
Kamala Harris has been facing criticism from fellow Democrats over her criminal justice record during her time as a top California prosecutor, for example, or blocking DNA testing that could have exonerated death row inmate Kevin Cooper while she was district attorney of San Francisco.
. Spotlight: Kevin Cooper's case exemplifies decades of systematic failures, The Appeal, June 2019
