Efren Paredes: jailed for life at 15

Efren Paredes, at the age of 15, was jailed for a crime he did not commit. Within three months of the murder of his friend and boss, the teen was sentenced to three life terms, two without parole. He’s 35 now -- 20 years behind bars.

I have seen cases like this before, having been a secretary at the Medill School of Journalism when David Protess taught investigative journalism. Dr. Protess’s classes were directed at wrongful convictions. The Ford Heights Four (1996) were shown to be innocent when his students were working their case, as was Anthony Porter (1999).

Efren Paredes’s case is a classic. Start with the media circus surrounding the murder of a well-liked member of the community, a beloved family man and a good friend/supervisor. The District Attorney and prosecutor are wildly anxious to find the killer. Add a local drug dealer (and possibly a police informant) who puts forth his son as someone who will testify on condition of immunity. Add two teenagers who admit to involvement in the crime and two under-age teens who knew about the plans. Have all five of these conspirators finger a prominent very good boy who is vulnerable because of his Hispanic background (the only one in school).

Add to this array of snitches a purposely inept investigation, a little planted evidence, some rap lyrics to prejudice a jury, a couple of lies during jury selection, a lawyer who didn’t have time for a real investigation, a gullible public and ... well, you’d have to read up on the case at www.4efren.com.

Efren was never in trouble with the police before this happened. It was his first offense -- except it wasn’t. Efren is innocent of this crime.

In addition to his innocence, he is someone you’d like to know. I feel privileged when he asks to talk to me on the phone. I had the honor to speak at his parole hearing. He is an expert in Braille translations and works for the Michigan Braille Transcribing Fund. Efren organized a walk for breast cancer inside the walls; he advocates for other prisoners, and has prevented suicides.

If you want to help Efren, his case now awaits the Michigan Parole Board’s recommendation to Governor Granholm regarding a commutation. All you need to know and instructions for helping are at the website. Any questions you would like to ask me can be forwarded from arise@newsandletters.org. And thank you for any help you may offer.

--January

Home l News & Letters Newspaper l Back issues l News and Letters Committees l Raya Dunayevskaya l Contact us l Search l RSS

Subscribe to News & Letters

Published by News and Letters Committees