SAVE Ralph Trent Stokes in Pennsylvania
Who is Ralph Trent Stokes?
I AM A MAN
I wish for the world to know who I am...
I wish to run to the top of a mountain and scream my name to the world...
"I am Ralph T. Stokes", "I am Ralph T. Stokes"
Sitting in this cave I sometimes forget I am a man.
The cold air that blows upon me day and night
It makes me feel like an animal...
I am a man, I am a man;
This I must repeat to myself In order to keep my sanity.
I seek life, I seek a renewed spirit, I seek peace...
The world is a beautiful place...
I never got a chance to live in it...
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Case summary
Ralph T. Stokes was arrested on March 13, 1982 and charged with first degree murder
and related offenses for the killing of Mary Louise Figueroa, Eugene Jefferson, and Peter Santangelo during a robberyof Smokin’ Joe’s Corner, a restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ralph T. Stokes has been on death row for 33 years.
Ralph T. Stokes is accused to have robbed his employer (a restaurant known as Smokin' Joe's Korner in Philadelphia) with his co-defendant Donald Jackson. Armed with guns, he and Jackson allegedly entered the restaurant before it opened, herded the employees into the walk-in refrigerator, threatening to kill them if they failed to cooperate. Despite the fact that Stokes wore a ski mask, some of the employees recognized him, in response to which he shot and killed two of them, Mary Louise Figueroa and Eugene Jefferson. Appellant terrorized and threatened two other employees, Renard Mills and Pierre Blassingame, but did not shoot them. However, when a United States Postal Service employee happened onto the scene, Appellant shot him in the head, killing him.
Both Appellant and Jackson were arrested and charged with the murders. Jackson cooperated with the Commonwealth and agreed to testify against Appellant in exchange for a guilty plea to second-degree murder and a life sentence. The Commonwealth proceeded to trial against Appellant and sought the death penalty. At trial, Jackson testified that he willingly participated in the armed robbery that Appellant had devised. However, Jackson told the jury, the shootings were not part of the plan and Appellant killed his co-workers because they would have identified him. Mills, who escaped death on the day of the robbery, also testified for the Commonwealth. He knew Appellant from working with him at a previous job. Mills described the robbery and the murder of his co-workers; he too identified Appellant as the shooter.
Ralph T. Stokes was arrested on March 13, 1982 and charged with first degree murder
and related offenses for the killing of Mary Louise Figueroa, Eugene Jefferson, and Peter Santangelo during a robberyof Smokin’ Joe’s Corner, a restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ralph T. Stokes has been on death row for 33 years.
Ralph T. Stokes is accused to have robbed his employer (a restaurant known as Smokin' Joe's Korner in Philadelphia) with his co-defendant Donald Jackson. Armed with guns, he and Jackson allegedly entered the restaurant before it opened, herded the employees into the walk-in refrigerator, threatening to kill them if they failed to cooperate. Despite the fact that Stokes wore a ski mask, some of the employees recognized him, in response to which he shot and killed two of them, Mary Louise Figueroa and Eugene Jefferson. Appellant terrorized and threatened two other employees, Renard Mills and Pierre Blassingame, but did not shoot them. However, when a United States Postal Service employee happened onto the scene, Appellant shot him in the head, killing him.
Both Appellant and Jackson were arrested and charged with the murders. Jackson cooperated with the Commonwealth and agreed to testify against Appellant in exchange for a guilty plea to second-degree murder and a life sentence. The Commonwealth proceeded to trial against Appellant and sought the death penalty. At trial, Jackson testified that he willingly participated in the armed robbery that Appellant had devised. However, Jackson told the jury, the shootings were not part of the plan and Appellant killed his co-workers because they would have identified him. Mills, who escaped death on the day of the robbery, also testified for the Commonwealth. He knew Appellant from working with him at a previous job. Mills described the robbery and the murder of his co-workers; he too identified Appellant as the shooter.
What his legal team has said
Without any question, the most troubling aspect of this case is that Petitioner’s
convictions and sentences rest upon the misconduct of a prosecutor that spanned the course of the proceedings. This was a prosecutor who not only steam rolled hapless defense counsel in this case, but who has done it as a matter of habit throughout his career. He not only failed to disclose required impeachment material, he withheld exculpatory police and laboratory reports
which to this day are not in the official file of the Philadelphia District Attorney, but which
habeas counsel have secured from the Postal Service file.
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