There Was a Struggle for the Gun!: Let My People Go! by Stanley G. Buford

Author:Stanley G. Buford [Buford, Stanley G.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Urban, Children's eBooks, Children's Books, United States, Historical, African American, Genre Fiction, Literature & Fiction
Amazon: B00RZUZ8QO
Published: 2015-01-07T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 3: The Trial Takes a Twist in Johnson City

Sergeant Irving took the stand, and read a prepared statement:

“Let me tell you about my boy. When I first met him he was five pounds and three ounces of innocence and brown-eyed joy, and he fit in the palm of my hand. Over the years, he got strong and stubborn and smart, but he was just as innocent a spirit as he was back then.”

“He is not a thug. He is not a criminal. And he is not alone. There are thousands of stories like his all over this country: men shot down in their prime by the people charged to protect them. This thing is bigger than Johnson City, it’s bigger than black or white, urban versus suburban, and everything else that divides us as a nation. ‘Protect and serve’ has become ‘Oppress and intimidate.’”

“I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

“We’ve covered up gross misconduct, and we’d rather protect the criminals in our department than the innocent civilians of our city.”

“The truth is, we’re all running scared. There’s no more trust left in this country. You don’t trust me, you don’t trust these lawyers, and you probably don’t even trust the judge. But I’m asking you to trust the one thing no one else can take away: your conscience.”

“Now, I’m no hero. I’m not courageous. It took the death of my son for me to speak out. But here I am, with soggy eyes and pleading words, looking for justice.

Every one of you jury members has a voice now. Your voice is that of my son, Ivan. If he were here, he would ask that his death serve a greater purpose. That by his wounds we could all be healed. Please think of him when you render your verdict. And think of all the others like him. Send a message to those who think it’s OK to gun down our children because of the color of their skin.”

***

Clyde Voucher, the high powered notorious District Attorney for the county, thanked the jury, and finished up his closing statement. Before he was even done, Irving knew that the case was lost. There was no way that he had presented the case in a way to provide reasonable doubt, and Conner Dalton was going to walk free. Voucher was a crooked lawyer, one that Irving knew to be on the take more than once by criminals and police alike. Dalton, or someone else with the same interests as him, clearly paid off Voucher to avoid a criminal conviction.

The jury stared at the lawyer, and looked as though he was boring them. A few of them were picking their teeth, and most had averted their eyes. It was as if Voucher had purposely turned them against him: which, of course, he had. As the judge sent the jury out to deliberate, Irving thought back to how he had gotten here.

After he left Jason’s office, two months earlier, he had called every reporter he knew.

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