🙏🏽Leon Benson’s Letter of Gratitude🙏🏽
HalleluYAH: Leon Benson Finally Free!
Supporters outside Correctional Industrial Facility, where Leon was released on March 9, 2023. Photo: Fury Young (glow added😊)
A WORD FROM DJC: We couldn't be more excited to welcome Leon Benson - aka EL BENTLY 448 - home! We've got lots in store from LB, including his debut EP INNOCENT BORN GUILTY dropping in June. And thanks to the Frank Family Foundation, Fury was able to fly to Indiana for LB's release and film his first few days free with the help of filmmaker Britni West (see clips below). For now, we present to you Leon in his own words... - BL 💙
FIRST & FOREMOST, ALL PRAISES TO YAHWEH 🤲🏽
“Therefore, I give thanks to you, O'Yahweh, amongst the heathen, & I will sing praise to your name. He is the tower of salvation for his king, & shows mercy to his anointed, to David, & his seeds forever." — 2 Samuel 22: 47-51
Finally, I have ascended the tombs of Indiana prisons. Do you hear me? I am here. I am back for everything and some. All praise goes to the creator, the Most High, Yahweh. Yah-Echad (God is One!) I am literally crying tears of joy as I write this love letter to the world, while listening to “Krazy” by Tupac.
I no longer believe in Yah, I KNOW (him/her/them) personally. The divine spirit has been with me from the beginning. I just had to walk in the wilderness of captivity for 25 years to finally realize it. I am not a broken man. I don't suffer from mental illness. I am not a bitter soul. I was not violated sexually. I didn’t become a snitch, a sell out, a coward, a lame, nor a hater. Yet, I am full of love, energy, creativity, and vision. This was only possible through the blessings of Yah. Now, I can give thanks to everyone else involved in manifesting my freedom. Please read my LETTER OF GRATITUDE. See y'all soon. HalleluYah.
The biggest and longest standing supporter of my innocence and freedom was my biological sister, Valerie Buford. When I was convicted in 1999, she was a single mother to my niece, LaDashia. And like most younger adults at the time, she had little-to-no understanding of my wrongful conviction nor how to bring me justice. In the first decade of my incarceration, Val came to visit me more than any other family member. She brought my niece when she was around four years old and LaDashia sung "America The Beautiful." I thought it was cute despite the irony of the conditions I was forced to live in while in prison. Nonetheless, my niece left me with a much needed smile.
By 2009, Val had become more involved with my case, even contributing financially to hire legal representation. She connected with other supporters of the innocence movement (Tamika Sanford, Kim McCellan, Steve Willet, etc.) and began to educate herself on the many flaws in the system and how to campaign to correct them. There were a lot of trials and tribulations along the way, but she stayed involved and connected.
The best ability is availability. My sister is not an Ivy League educated person nor has large financial resources, but she stayed available to do what she could; and in the end that is what mattered the most. For that and much more, she is my QUEEN SIS. I feel so blessed to have a sister that cares about me so much. Out of all the supporters I encountered before my eventual exoneration, none comes close to having a family member back me. My Queen Sis to me is like what Moses' sister Miriam was to him in Biblical times. HalleluYAH! Thank you Queen Sis. You are the truth that never died. That truth is divine love. Keep such a big heart open. It's your superpower.
Over the years of my struggle I came to realize that there is nothing like being supported and celebrated by your own family. However, things don't always happen the way we would like. As the years passed while I was in prison many family members grew apart from me for different reasons. The excuse that I always heard most was: "Life happens fam!"
OK. Smfh. I get it though. For this reason it’s easy for me to recognize those real family ties that pulled me through in one way or another. Firstly, much love and gratitude to my King Bro, Roderick. Rod, it has been a long fought battle, but you have been there for me. I saw your face at every court hearing that I can remember, even if you had to fly from across the world to be there. Man I really appreciated that, not to mention the many other contributions you have made for my well being and freedom. I look forward to living free while building a better world with you as a brother while finally meeting your family.
Much love and gratitude to my Queen Daughter, Koby. You have truly been a blessing to me. Whether graduating from college or when you drove to visit me on your own once you were old enough. I understood your plight as a young Black woman seeking to find herself, and even you being a little distant at times. However, when you showed up — you showed out! Especially all the events and campaigning you did on my behalf in 2021. Your efforts were a part of the reason I AM FREE. Thank you.
Much love, respect, and gratitude to my Queen Mother, Yvonne. You have always been there for me in the capacities that you could provide. This had a positive impact on my spirit. I have always understood where you came from and what you went through due to my wrongful incarceration. There is nothing more powerful than a mother's love, understanding, and embrace. Also, I recalled how you always believed in me and as a child you told me that I could overcome any obstacle. Now, I more than believe that. I know it. Smile. Thank you Bomba.
Much love, gratitude, and respect to my Queen Aunt, Tiny. You have had a tremendous impact on my life due to all the positive reinforcement you impressed upon me as a child. This encoded confidence was invaluable to surviving and thriving through my carceral experience. Early on you sent me key books that helped shape my thinking. And you wrote to me a lot. One of your letters encouraged me not to succumb to hating those who inflicted injustice upon me. In another letter you shared with me the "Goat & The Well'' parable. Even more, I appreciate all the petition signatures you got from your church members. So I'm smiling, because a smile travels a thousand miles and frowns ain't getting started. Lol. Thx.
Much love and gratitude to several other family members: My Queen Sis, Ronda; Thx for your support and prayers. My Queen Sis, Chevon; Thx for your support early on and helping me buy a cellphone. My Queen Daughter, Keandra; Thx for your support early on and for putting out that music video for my song. My King Sun, Leon; Thx for holding me down when you got out. We are gonna build now that I'm out. Also, much love to my cousins Christina and Lance. Tina G thx for sharing your book with me, it was empowering. And Lance, aka Rich the Ruler, thx for plugging me on your I-Heart Radio show. Let's get to the music fam. Family is loyalty, not blood.
Top: Queen Sis Valerie Buford. Below: Queen Daughter Koby Bluitt.
"I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination — indeed, everything & anything except me."
- Ralph Ellison
The way Shannon Coleman became an intricate part of my exoneration is extraordinary. It was like she was God/Yah sent. This is why I call her my Godmother. After 2018 I exhausted all the legal avenues in Indiana state courts. The only move I had left was to file a Federal Habeas Corpus under "Actual Innocence" as an attempt to overcome procedural default for my failure to file timely. I feared that I would be in prison for the remainder of the 60 year sentence. At this point I was at the crossroads of spiritual and mental exhaustion, lacking legal resources, considering going pro se in federal court, and figuring out the best way for a sentence modification in state court. So I decided, against the push back from others, to file a state clemency petition by the end of 2020.
In doing so, I wrote a post on Facebook seeking letters of support for my clemency. I received 21 letters, but one stood out from the rest. It was from Shannon, a Black woman from Philadelphia; who pleaded for my release because she personally knew about the flaws of the system. She helped exonerate Anthony Wright, a man who was wrongfully convicted in 1991 for the rape and murder of 77 year old Louis Tally. What was even more powerful about this story was that the victim in that case, Mrs. Tally, was Shannon's great aunt. She went against the grain to help Wright after discovering so many conflicts in his case. DNA evidence would finally clear Wright of the crime in 2016.
After I thanked Shannon for supporting my clemency, she replied asking if she could help my case in some way. I sighed. We brainstormed. By December 2020 she connected me with a new Conviction Integrity Unit starting in Indianapolis in 2021. By July 2021, the CIU had accepted my case for investigation. In the course of the CIU accepting to investigate my case, Shannon contacted a prior acquaintance of hers. This was none other than attorney and professor Lara Bazelon, of San Francisco School of Law, and director of the Racial Justice Clinic. By August 2021, Bazelon became my official attorney. Bazelon would introduce me and my case to her assistant professor, Charlie Nelson Keever, a legal team of law students, a private investigator, and a retired attorney. After working with them, I grew to believe that they all took the time to see me for more than my case, but as a human being. Of course, the rest is history. Chuckles.
Godmother Shannon, I THANK YOU SO MUCH for your wit, intellect, practicality, and motherly intuition. You listened to and read from me critically. You never sold me dreams of what you could do, but you did the ordinary things in the deepest of love and humanity. In the end that is what counted the most. As a result, I will continue the legacy that your late friend Jane bestowed to you. And that is to act kindly to others in need, while knowing that the smallest efforts done with the heart of sincerity can and will change the world.
LB and Shannon Coleman, the Godmother! This was their first time meeting in person.
Charlie Nelson Keever (left) and Lara Bazelon, Leon’s tireless attorneys.
I had to be the most blessed innocent man in prison for my case to have been rediscovered by the Legal Dream Team of the University of San Francisco School of Law and its Racial Justice Clinic. Without the assistance of their unique legal team, made up of law professors, attorneys and students, a private investigator, and a retired attorney; I am absolutely sure that I would still be suffering the deepest despair of hopelessness in an Indiana prison.
At our first group meeting, Lara introduced me to her legal team: professor Charlie, Eric (private investigator), Terri (retired attorney), and Wendy (law student). They were all very welcoming and well informed on the facts of my case. I remember leaving that initial meeting with a lot of mixed feelings. On one hand, I was excited to finally have a group of enthusiastic people working my case; and on the other, it was hard for me to trust and believe that a bunch of white people were so genuine in helping me.
Before encountering attorneys Lara and Charlie, I had bad experiences with all six of the attorneys that had been involved with my case the prior decades. They all happened to be white males. Due to their apathetic legal performance and outright sabotage, I came to believe that they were either racist or suffered from some form of implicit bias. Since the victim Kasey Schoen was a white male, it was easy to understand why these white male attorneys could only see Schoen, his family's loss, and the attack on white privilege. But they seem to only see me as my conviction, denied appeals, being a Black male, a murdering drug dealer from Michigan, a prisoner, and another convict in the system falsely claiming to be innocent. Yeah, they saw everything and everybody else, except ME.
Their refusal to see the REAL ME was not only the denial by these white males, but as the years passed my humanity became more invisible to the system and society as a whole. Ironically, me being misidentified by a white eyewitness during trial was symbolic of the fact that I (& others like me) had long been invisible in America. While i was held in solitary confinement for ten years, all the hate I experienced from white power at that point caused me to become untrusting and unfavorable to white people in the U$.
Now it should be understood why I had mixed feelings after my initial meeting with a legal team made up of mostly whites… however, due to the fact that Lara and Charlie were not only white, but also WOMEN, MOTHERS, attorneys, professors, and GRASS ROOT ADVOCATES AGAINST RACIAL INJUSTICE, it made a different impression upon me. Over the months their words of respect and accompanied actions demonstrated that they SEEN ME, BELIEVED ME, BELIEVED IN ME, & BECAME MY HOSTESSES OF HOPE.
"It's been said that a person can live 40 days without food, 4 days without water, 4 minutes without air, but only 4 seconds without hope." - John C. Maxwell
My legal team's belief in me and my innocence were confirmed by their actions. This gave me back my hope of freedom that had been tragically lost after I exhausted all legal avenues which had me existing in a prison within a prison, dying spiritually. I would grow to realize that we all live in some type of prison, but few us can still see the stars.
My team instilled hope in me by their dedication and how fast they worked on my case. By spring of 2022, they flew to Indy to put boots on the ground. The group consisted of Lara, Charlie, Jordan & Roxanne (law students), & Eric (P.I.). They met the CIU, interviewed witnesses, and visited the crime scene. They discovered new evidence and aspects of my case that had not been revealed. One piece of that new evidence burst open my case. While interviewing lead detective Alan Jones, he confessed to his bias and withholding of an eyewitness who identified and was with the real killer while committing the crime. Jones gave a sworn statement that he kept this evidence from the defense — a bold Brady violation.
After Charlie compiled all of their findings in a detailed petition, the actual court filings was done by Indiana attorney Fran Watson. They recruited Watson (an IU law professor and director of the Indiana Innocent Project), due to her vast experience with Indy's legal system. As a result of their nationally unified efforts, the court granted the petition. Now I AM FREE!!!
Therefore, I give my deepest GRATITUDE to my LEGAL DREAM TEAM of Eric, Terri, & USF law students: Wendy, Jordan, Roxanne, Noah, Madison, Leigh, Nate, Kirsten, Emma, Hannah, Ron, Kali & Alison. Also, I give SPECIAL THANKS to my attorneys Lara & Charlie because you took a chance on me and you both embody the HOPE that is essential to applied HEALING JUSTICE.
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One of the cornerstones that made my exoneration absolutely possible was the work of Indianapolis (Marion County Prosecutor's Office) Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) for my case.
While ClUs had been established in many other major U$ cities in the early 2000s due to so many wrongful conviction cases coming to light due to new DNA evidence and corrupt prosecutions, the Indy CIU was not founded until 2021. The initiative was led by Prosecutor Ryan Mears' office and directed by Kelly Bauder and Jessica Cicchini.
Honestly, after my Godmother first told me about this new CIU in Indy I was skeptical and didn't have the confidence that they would really help me. However, I reluctantly filled out the CIU's questionnaire on April 18, 2021 along with this statement attached: "Although I AM BLACK, a former drug dealer, a deadbeat father, & to many a worthless son of a bitch, I AM NOT A MURDERER!"
At that point I had nothing to lose but more hope if I didn't do something. Surprisingly, in May of 2021 the CIU had accepted my case for review. This caused me to amp up my campaign events and social media voice. So much so that Kelly of the ClU wrote to me in July asking me to stop my supporters from calling their office demanding updates and for them to refrain from mentioning CIU's ongoing investigation of my case online. Initially I felt like Kelly's demand was another attempt by the state repressing and suppressing the truth of my innocence. Smfh.
However, in August of 2021 my new attorneys gave me the same advice. I refrained from any more detailed disclosures of my case online or anywhere else. What became apparent to me was the integrity of the CIU through the interactions of Kelly, my attorneys, & I during the course of investigations. I believe that due to the mutual respect we had of each other and a shared idea of what justice should be, there was an undeniable harmony between my legal team and the CIU.
This relationship was paramount to the justice I would finally receive from the same Marion County Court that once convicted me and denied my appeals. Even more, I felt like CIU co-director Kelly started to see me not only as a human being, but one she empathized with. Now to me the CIU has come to mean:"See I [am like] you [Leon]."
This empathy was affirmed after I finally met her, with my attorneys present, during a Zoom visit in May of 2022. When she spoke her eyes and voice both spoke of confluent compassion. This was especially so when she shared that she had finally found my court files that were mysteriously missing since 2003. Eventually, after concluding the CIU's investigation, Kelly submitted her findings to the Court that the State no longer had integrity in my conviction and recommended my release.
Therefore, my gratitude and respect are deep for Indy D.A. Ryan Mears and the entire ClU staff. You embody the ideal of integrity and Restorative Justice. Meaning, you restored me back to the whole of society by clearing the injustice suffered by me and my family the last 25 years. Although I can never recover the time lost from my life, my exoneration is a great step in the right direction. Lastly, THANK YOU Kelly for sharing with me the spiritual wealth of justice and humanity in your heart.
I couldn't end this series of thanks and appreciation without acknowledging all the comrades and brothas I met while in prison that inspired and guided me through those hard times. Some of these men have been released, some have transitioned from this life, while others still remain in the concrete and steel maze of the Prison Industrial Complex.
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Nonetheless, I believe they were each essential encounters that guided me to freedom. My battle was more than through the courts; it was a spiritual and mental battle too. When I didn't receive letters, visits, or when my appeal was denied, I had real brothas who would bring me comfort and perspectives of hope.
Each one of these brothas were from different cultures, faiths, and backgrounds that were the elements that forged the fortitude that I now possess today. I only can pray that I had a tenth of the impact on you as you had on me. Surely, I know that I am not done learning from many of you, as we can count the apples on the tree, but not the many trees that are in an apple.
A flyer for court support, circa 2015.
When I reflect I see this truth from all wisdom bestowed to me while serving a decade in solitary, sitting at the ankles of the elders like LJ, Balagoon, Naeem, Lokmar, and Bilal. It was years after I left them before some of that wisdom would take root.
As the comrade ObadYah reminded me one day: I AM, BECAUSE WE ARE. Meaning we're all standing on the shoulders of others who helped us through life one way or another. Therefore, THANK YOU MY BROTHAS. I only regret that I can't have many of you with me out here in the FREE WORLD, but I will NEVER abandon the struggle while in society. HalleluYah! MUCH LOVE & RESPECT ✊🏽
My deepest GRATITUDES to you all. Each one of you, one time or another, bigger or smaller effort, helped contribute to my FREEDOM. You are angels to me in many ways. I can't explain how much I appreciate the small and large contributions you have made to me. You have left a deep impression upon my heart and soul due to all the humanity you have shown me in the past and for those of you who are still sharing such love with me today. My gratitude is endless. 💞
UHURU SASA.
SINCERELY, LEON BENSON.
