The nephew of Willie Bennett, who was falsely accused for the homicide of Carol Stuart in 1989, has sued Massachusetts for compensation for his personal wrongful conviction and has retained nationally outstanding civil rights lawyer Ben Crump to symbolize him.
“Joseph Bennett lost decades of his life because the system got it wrong, and no amount of money can ever give him those years back,” lawyer Ben Crump wrote in an announcement.
“What we can do is demand accountability and fight for meaningful justice that recognizes the full human cost of wrongful incarceration. Joseph has rebuilt and turned his pain into purpose. Now we will pursue every remedy available to help make him whole.”
Joseph “Joey” Bennett was charged twice for homicide: The primary time was in 1993 for the Morning Star Baptist Church stabbing in Mattapan, a cost which prosecutors would drop that very same 12 months.
The second was in 1997 for the capturing homicide of Jasper Gillard within the Rolls Membership of Mattapan. This cost caught: he was convicted of second-degree homicide and spent 22 years in jail earlier than he was granted a retrial and launched in 2019.
The Suffolk District Legal professional’s workplace declined to prosecute within the second trial. In a courtroom submitting, a prosecutor wrote that after a overview of the state of the proof following practically 27 years, “the Commonwealth has concluded that it cannot prove the murder charge again beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Since his launch from jail, Bennett went on to discovered YardTime, a Boston group that Crump describes as one “that supports returning citizens and works to break cycles of incarceration in Boston.”
Bennett writes in his YardTime biography that he “has made a commitment to building partnerships and improving the quality of life for inner-city African American youth and men of color in Boston.”
Crump says that Bennett must be compensated for wrongful incarceration from about 2016 till his launch on April 30, 2019.
Bennett was current when in December 2023 Boston Mayor Michelle Wu formally apologized on behalf of town to 2 black males wrongfully arrested and accused within the Oct. 23, 1989, capturing homicide of a pregnant Carol Stuart. These males have been Alan Swanson, who appeared on the occasion himself, and Willie Bennett, who was represented by his members of the family together with Joseph Bennett.
Carol Stuart’s homicide grabbed headlines in 1989 based mostly on the dramatic allegations of Charles Stuart. He instructed police {that a} black gunman invaded their automobile in Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood and shot each him and his pregnant spouse.
This was a lie that led to police fingering each Swanson and Willie Bennett because the perpetrators earlier than the reality got here out: Charles Stuart himself had fatally shot his spouse after which shot himself as a canopy story.
Joseph Bennett accepted Wu’s apology on behalf of his uncle.
“We are truly humbled to finally be receiving this apology,” he stated.
“I want to emphasize the importance of strength, resiliency, empathy, and growth as it’s through these principles that we change the narrative so the world can be informed of what transpired 34 years ago and begin the process of healing from our trauma,” he added.
AP Photograph/George Walker IV, file
Legal professional Ben Crump speaks throughout a information convention earlier this 12 months. (AP Photograph/George Walker IV, file)
