IS JUSTICE BLIND? RACE ALWAYS MATTERS.
As Americans, we've been brainwashed into believing a lie: that Justice is Blind. From childhood we're taught that OUR criminal justice system is the shining example of justice systems around the world. That all men are created equal and our Constitution "guarantees" our equal protection under the law. "Sure, mistakes occasionally happen..." they tell us, "...but you wouldn't want to be on trial in another country!"
Maybe not... if I was white.
The entire American Criminal Justice System is built on a foundation of racial double standards. There are rules of criminal procedure that apply to white Americans... and there are another set of rules for all non-whites. The inequality of the separate rules have been proven time and time again.
During my trial, Judge Stephen B. Miller told the the jury, "It has taken a thousand years of Anglo-American history to come up with those rules."
ANGLO-American history. The definition of Anglo-American is specifically: A non-Hispanic white inhabitant of the U.S.
When Judge Miller uttered those words in front of a packed courtroom, I knew right then, that the Rules of Evidence and those Constitutional "guarantees" didn't apply to this Chicano!
Yet, I thought that after spending eight months in the county jail with no sun to brown my skin, I could "lighten up" for the jury. When my trial date came, I entered the courtroom looking as dapper as I always do. I shaved the baby face and suited up.
Prosecutor John Kelsey was irked when he saw my appearance in court. His preconceived notion of who I am, didn't match what he was looking at in person. We had never met. Everything that Prosecutor John Kelsey knew about me before he stepped into that courtroom, had come entirely from what he read in deliberately crafted police reports... and the fact that I was arrested in Mexico. Therefore, he expected to see what his racist mind envisioned... a dirty Mexican.
Prosecutor John Kelsey was troubled by my appearance. And according to "the law" my appearance shouldn't have mattered. Nevertheless, Prosecutor John Kelsey made it blatantly apparent to the jury that he had a problem with how I look.
"Looks nice and clean," he says. "Well-dresses," he added. I guess I didn't fit Prosecutor John Kelsey's racial profile. I wasn't suppose to be "clean" or "well-dressed."
Outside of the courtroom, when referring to my appearance during a press conference, Prosecutor John Kelsey told reporters, "He used to look like a Mexican gangster rapper but now he looks like a college student going to a job interview."
The person Prosecutor John Kelsey intended to portray to the jury was a heartless Mexican killer. He was troubled by the fact that I'm not the stereotype he envisioned. Even though, I presented myself in court as exactly who I am... who I've always been. I stay clean. I did go to college.
Hoping to tilt the balance of bias in his favor, Prosecutor John Kelsey maneuvered to implant a more menacing image of John Ortiz-Kehoe into the minds of the jury. He found an old mug shot, taken when I was arrested for driving without a license. Then, during my trial, he used a projector to cast the giant image onto a wall of the courtroom for all to see.
"This isn't John Kehoe sitting here in the courtroom... THIS is John ORTIZ-Kehoe!"
My attorney objected. There was no reason to show the mug shot to the jury. Identification was never an issue in my case. My attorney even stipulated that yes, I was John Ortiz-Kehoe.
Look at the picture. It's obvious to ANYONE, why Prosecutor John Kelsey wanted to show the jury that mug shot.
Trial Judge Stephen B. Miller allowed the mug shot to be shown to the jury, even though the U.S. Court of Appeals has strongly condemned the use of mug shots in the courtroom:
"The use of mug shots has been strongly condemned in federal trials, as effectively eliminating the presumption of innocence and replacing it with an unmistakable badge of criminality." --Barns v. United States
The mug shot was, and was intended to be, prejudicial. There was absolutely no reason to display the photo. Once again... identification was not an issue. However, Judge Stephen B. Miller allowed the mug shot to be shown to the jury and stated on the record that he didn't "find anything prejudicial about the photograph."
Of course Judge Miller saw nothing wrong with allowing Prosecutor John Kelsey to present prejudicial evidence. Remember, those rules of Evidence were established over thousands of years of ANGLO-American history.
When racism is ingrained in a person, they don't even realize that they're a racist. To them, their racism is normal behavior. Read Judge Stephen B. Miller's instruction to the jury about not allowing prejudice to sway THEIR judgement.
Judge Miller is lecturing the jury on prejudice, while using a derogatory term for a diverse Asian community. He can't even judge how offensive HE himself is.
And not only does the mug shot reek of racism, the mug shot also suggests that I have a criminal past. ATTENTION... I have no prior criminal record. The mug shot was taken when I pulled over and arrested for driving without a license. I had just finished mowing my friend's lawn and was driving home with the lawn mower sticking out of the trunk of the car. Two cops pulled me over, drew their guns and ordered me to "get out of the car" and "get on the ground" before arresting me... for driving without a license. And it's not like I didn't have a valid drivers license. I just didn't have it on me!
But projecting the prejudicial mug shot onto the courtroom wall during my trial wasn't enough for Prosecutor John Kelsey. To further remove any possibility of Blind Justice, Prosecutor Kelsey gave the jury a copy of the mug shot to view while they deliberated. Just so they could stare at the dirty drug dealing Mexican while they decided my fate.
Prosecutor John Kelsey's tactics reveal his true character and expose the court's willingness to violate the Constitutional Rights of man because of the color of his skin.
Obviously, Prosecutor John Kelsey's trial strategy was to exploit the latent racism of jurors. He painted a picture of me as a monster, to dehumanize me in the eyes of the jury. He exploited the fact that the victim was a young white woman and positioned Billy as the helpless white co-defendant who only participated out of fear for his life.
Would you be surprised to know that the only "Hispanic" juror in my case was designated as an alternate to be removed and not allowed to deliberate. Do you think that was a coincidence?
I never wanted to talk about the racial aspect of my trial. When you're not white and you're dealing with The System, racism is always expected and accepted. I thought that if I exposed it, people would be distracted by the "race card" and not pay attention to the mountain of evidence that was manipulated or withheld during my trial. But I believe that a majority of Americans know that prejudice plays a profound role in our criminal justice system and they are no longer going to keep quiet about it. We must speak the truth... Race Always Matters.
Maybe not... if I was white.
The entire American Criminal Justice System is built on a foundation of racial double standards. There are rules of criminal procedure that apply to white Americans... and there are another set of rules for all non-whites. The inequality of the separate rules have been proven time and time again.
During my trial, Judge Stephen B. Miller told the the jury, "It has taken a thousand years of Anglo-American history to come up with those rules."
ANGLO-American history. The definition of Anglo-American is specifically: A non-Hispanic white inhabitant of the U.S.
When Judge Miller uttered those words in front of a packed courtroom, I knew right then, that the Rules of Evidence and those Constitutional "guarantees" didn't apply to this Chicano!
Yet, I thought that after spending eight months in the county jail with no sun to brown my skin, I could "lighten up" for the jury. When my trial date came, I entered the courtroom looking as dapper as I always do. I shaved the baby face and suited up.
Prosecutor John Kelsey was irked when he saw my appearance in court. His preconceived notion of who I am, didn't match what he was looking at in person. We had never met. Everything that Prosecutor John Kelsey knew about me before he stepped into that courtroom, had come entirely from what he read in deliberately crafted police reports... and the fact that I was arrested in Mexico. Therefore, he expected to see what his racist mind envisioned... a dirty Mexican.
Prosecutor John Kelsey was troubled by my appearance. And according to "the law" my appearance shouldn't have mattered. Nevertheless, Prosecutor John Kelsey made it blatantly apparent to the jury that he had a problem with how I look.
"Looks nice and clean," he says. "Well-dresses," he added. I guess I didn't fit Prosecutor John Kelsey's racial profile. I wasn't suppose to be "clean" or "well-dressed."
Outside of the courtroom, when referring to my appearance during a press conference, Prosecutor John Kelsey told reporters, "He used to look like a Mexican gangster rapper but now he looks like a college student going to a job interview."
The person Prosecutor John Kelsey intended to portray to the jury was a heartless Mexican killer. He was troubled by the fact that I'm not the stereotype he envisioned. Even though, I presented myself in court as exactly who I am... who I've always been. I stay clean. I did go to college.
Hoping to tilt the balance of bias in his favor, Prosecutor John Kelsey maneuvered to implant a more menacing image of John Ortiz-Kehoe into the minds of the jury. He found an old mug shot, taken when I was arrested for driving without a license. Then, during my trial, he used a projector to cast the giant image onto a wall of the courtroom for all to see.
"This isn't John Kehoe sitting here in the courtroom... THIS is John ORTIZ-Kehoe!"
My attorney objected. There was no reason to show the mug shot to the jury. Identification was never an issue in my case. My attorney even stipulated that yes, I was John Ortiz-Kehoe.
Look at the picture. It's obvious to ANYONE, why Prosecutor John Kelsey wanted to show the jury that mug shot.
Trial Judge Stephen B. Miller allowed the mug shot to be shown to the jury, even though the U.S. Court of Appeals has strongly condemned the use of mug shots in the courtroom:
"The use of mug shots has been strongly condemned in federal trials, as effectively eliminating the presumption of innocence and replacing it with an unmistakable badge of criminality." --Barns v. United States
The mug shot was, and was intended to be, prejudicial. There was absolutely no reason to display the photo. Once again... identification was not an issue. However, Judge Stephen B. Miller allowed the mug shot to be shown to the jury and stated on the record that he didn't "find anything prejudicial about the photograph."
Of course Judge Miller saw nothing wrong with allowing Prosecutor John Kelsey to present prejudicial evidence. Remember, those rules of Evidence were established over thousands of years of ANGLO-American history.
When racism is ingrained in a person, they don't even realize that they're a racist. To them, their racism is normal behavior. Read Judge Stephen B. Miller's instruction to the jury about not allowing prejudice to sway THEIR judgement.
Judge Miller is lecturing the jury on prejudice, while using a derogatory term for a diverse Asian community. He can't even judge how offensive HE himself is.
And not only does the mug shot reek of racism, the mug shot also suggests that I have a criminal past. ATTENTION... I have no prior criminal record. The mug shot was taken when I pulled over and arrested for driving without a license. I had just finished mowing my friend's lawn and was driving home with the lawn mower sticking out of the trunk of the car. Two cops pulled me over, drew their guns and ordered me to "get out of the car" and "get on the ground" before arresting me... for driving without a license. And it's not like I didn't have a valid drivers license. I just didn't have it on me!
But projecting the prejudicial mug shot onto the courtroom wall during my trial wasn't enough for Prosecutor John Kelsey. To further remove any possibility of Blind Justice, Prosecutor Kelsey gave the jury a copy of the mug shot to view while they deliberated. Just so they could stare at the dirty drug dealing Mexican while they decided my fate.
Prosecutor John Kelsey's tactics reveal his true character and expose the court's willingness to violate the Constitutional Rights of man because of the color of his skin.
Obviously, Prosecutor John Kelsey's trial strategy was to exploit the latent racism of jurors. He painted a picture of me as a monster, to dehumanize me in the eyes of the jury. He exploited the fact that the victim was a young white woman and positioned Billy as the helpless white co-defendant who only participated out of fear for his life.
Would you be surprised to know that the only "Hispanic" juror in my case was designated as an alternate to be removed and not allowed to deliberate. Do you think that was a coincidence?
I never wanted to talk about the racial aspect of my trial. When you're not white and you're dealing with The System, racism is always expected and accepted. I thought that if I exposed it, people would be distracted by the "race card" and not pay attention to the mountain of evidence that was manipulated or withheld during my trial. But I believe that a majority of Americans know that prejudice plays a profound role in our criminal justice system and they are no longer going to keep quiet about it. We must speak the truth... Race Always Matters.
