Kevin Cooper (born January 8, 1958)[SUP]
[1][/SUP] is a
death row inmate currently held in
San Quentin Prison.[SUP]
[2][/SUP] Cooper was convicted of four murders that occurred in the
Chino Hills area of California in 1983. Cooper also admitted in court to the kidnap and rape of an underage female in Pennsylvania during a burglary attempt[SUP]
[3][/SUP] and was accused of rape by a second woman in California.[SUP]
[4][/SUP] Since his arrest, Cooper, who is
African American, has become active in writing letters from prison asserting his innocence, protesting
racism in the American criminal justice system, and opposing the death penalty.[SUP]
[5][/SUP]
Cooper's
habeas corpus petitions have been denied. The evidence in the case has been reviewed during the original trial, by the California Supreme Court, by the United States District Court, and by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In 2007, two judges of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit wrote that "As the district court, and all state courts, have repeatedly found, evidence of Cooper's guilt was overwhelming. The tests that he asked for to show his innocence 'once and for all' show nothing of the sort."[SUP]
[6][/SUP] In a concurring opinion, however, Judge Margaret McKeown said she was troubled that the court could not resolve the question of Cooper's guilt "once and for all" and noted that significant evidence bearing on Cooper's culpability has been lost, destroyed or left unpursued.[SUP]
[6][/SUP]
In a dissenting opinion written in 2009, Judge
William A. Fletcher began by stating: "the State of California may be about to execute an innocent man."[SUP]
[7][/SUP] Fletcher wrote that the police may have tampered with the evidence and that the Ninth Circuit should have reheard the case
en banc and should have "ordered the district judge to give Cooper the fair hearing he has never had." Five judges joined in Fletcher's dissent and five more stated that Cooper has never had a fair hearing to determine his innocence.[SUP]
[7][/SUP]
I guess growing up as a minority (white) in my state, which also has more native Americans than blacks (less than 3% of the population) may be part of my disconnect.
