Capital-"X" Walk 4 Life Journal

Wednesday 16th April is George Skatzes Day on The Walk 4 Life

http://capitalxwalk4life.blogspot.com/

http://www.myspace.com/capitalxaka305375

A Rude Awakeninq as to how the Justice System Really Works

I was convicted of three murders during the eleven-day rebellion at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasyille, Ohio in April 1993. When I tell people I was not guilty of any of them, they say: "But weren't you at SOCF because you were already found to be guilty of a murder"?

So let me begin with that earlier conviction.

In the city of Bellefontaine, Ohio,in October of 1979, the manager of Rinks Department store was murdered. It would appear that this may have been an armed robbery gone bad. There is more than one theory as to what really happened in this case.

This case went unsolved for nearly three (3) years. Then in mid to late 1982 some inmates wanted to cut a deal to get out of the trouble they were in.
In the summer of 1982 a good snitching inmate doing time in London Ohio Correctional Institution called the Bellefontaine authorities and told them he had information concerning the murder that happened in their town in 1979.
The price for this information would be his freedom, which he gained. Plus other perks.

The next thing that happened, in October 1982 I was indicted for this robbery/murder.

There was no physical evidence whatsoever to link me to this crime.
Mr. Prosecutor used this inmate, one that was doing 37 to
130 years in Lucasville, Ohio's maximum security prison, and his wife to convict me.

Both of these people were indicted for this murder and several other crimes, but they cut a deal.

They received immunity for all their crimes for testifying against me. The following questions and answers when Mr. Rogers testified against me are reported on page 1366 of the transcript:

Q. What would you do to keep from going to jail? Would you lie under oath? A. To --
Q. To prevent yourself from being convicted, punished, going to prison, would you lie under oath?
A. I certainly would. I have before.
Of course this is only a very short version of the deals,
the injustice in my original conviction. My case is by no means unique or rare. The system is full of cases like mine.

To sum it up, I started out doing a life sentence, convicted of murder on the word of two (2) lying snitches!

A good, honest review of the record of case number 83-CR-3, Logan County, Ohio would prove I am telling the truth!

In my opinion these convictions should not be able to stand.

Inmate testimony alone put me on Death Row.

These convictions were obtained by the use of bribery and intimidation of the inmate witnesses.

A review of the record will prove this.

Inmate Lavelle turned state's evidence and testified against other convicts. Mr. Prosecutor told Lavelle, "You are either going to be my witness, or I'm going to try to kill you" (Transcript, p. 4047)

How can this type of testimony be enough to convict anybody?

The prosecutor also told the jury that if I had agreed to snitch, I would have been the witness and Lavelle would have been the defendant.

These were his words:

Mr.Skatzes had his opportunity and he chose not to take it. Had Mr. Skatzes taken it, they're right. Mr.Skatzes, assuming he would tell us the truth, would be up there on the witness stand testifying and Mr.Lavelle could be sitting over there. I make no apologies for that.
Transcript, p. 5751.

Ohio Revised Code 2923.03(D) states in part that the "admitted or claimed complicity of a witness may affect his credibility and make his testimony subject to grave suspicion, and require that it be weighed with great caution."

One would think the above statement makes good common sense, but that is not so.

When an inmate testifies for Mr.Prosecutor his word becomes the gospel.

Think about it: Should snitch testimony, uncorroborated by any physical evidence, be strong enough to send a person to his death?

Even before I was indicted for the murder of Earl Elder, statements were made as to who really murdered this man.

The powers that be very well know I had nothing to do with the murder of Earl Elder, but since I would not snitch, I got charged and convicted, and sentenced to death.

One of the inmates who was involved in the Elder murder came to my trial and testified against me. This man is walking the streets free now.

Another inmate who was involved in the Elder murder was man enough to step up and confess to his crime. He got a life sentence this past June 6, 2006.

Still I sit on Death Row as if this confession never took place.

I was also tried, convicted and sentenced to death for the alleged murder of inmate David Sommers. The cause of death, according to the coroner, was one (1) massive blow to the head.

In my trial I was the one who dealt the one massive blow that killed Mr. Sommers.
In another convict's trial for the murder of Mr. Sommers, the prosecutor told the jury that he was the one who dealt that fatal blow.

The State's own evidence proves that I am not responsible for the murder of Mr.Sommers.

There is just so much to all this. I don't want to go overboard in trying to explain everything. All I can ask is that you please read about this case.

If you feel the evidence is there to convict and sentence me to death, so be it.

On the other hand, if you believe I am innocent, please help me.

These courts will not do their job unless they are made to do so.

People power, you getting behind me and making some noise, is the only way justice will be served.

I need the State of Ohio to look at my case with honesty and justice.

Please help me to achieve this.

With utmost Respect

George Skatzes

Judicial System Gone Awry

The Case of George W Skatzes 173 501

Nearly 25 years ago the lives of my family as well as my own changed forever.

No question about it, life will never be the same for any of us.

Being up front about it, I have been an outlaw for the better part of my life. One thing for sure, I will never pass myself off for something I am not.

I was not accepted in the mainstream of society. Being forced into a sub culture , no doubt I came up in this world with very different views.

With the above in mind, it was very easy for the powers that be to convict me of a crime I had nothing to do with. They really wanted me off the streets and it didn't matter how they had to do it.

The odd thing is, in early October of 1982, when they came to arrest me, I had put my life pretty well together. That was surely a first for me! At that time I had a wife and child. I pretty well settled down.

Cutting a long story short, I was charged with the murder of Art Smith, the manager of Rinks department store in Bellefontaine, Ohio. This crime happened in October 1979. It was a thorn in the Prosecutors side. He had to solve this crime.

When I went to trial for this murder, the only evidence they had against me was an inmate doing 37 to 130 years in Lucasville, Ohio's maximum security prison.
And his wife. Both of these people were indicted for this murder, plus several other crimes. They cut a deal, received immunity for AL their other crimes, and otherwise made out very well for testifying against me.

There was no physical evidence to convict me. Only the word of two lying snitches.

The system is not about justice, or convicting only the guilty. Mr Prosecutor can convict anybody he pleases! It takes nothing to convict an innocent person.

Upon being convicted, I was sentenced to life in prison.

It took nearly three years to get the courts opinion on my direct appeal.

My family and I, we just knew the courts of appeals would throw this case out. Wrong!

After my direct appeal I was on my own. I had no money and couldn't get any help from any lawyers.

My trial attorneys will tell you they believe I am innocent of this crime, but no money, no help! Money is what it is all about!!

Fighting a murder conviction pro se from the Walls of Lucasville, with no outside help was pure hell. !! That is one learning experience I will never forget.

As my case was turned down in court after court, all the way to the US Supreme court, I lost all hope. I outright lost any will to live. Many times I prayed for the Lord to take my life! I really felt there was no need to go on. As the old story goes, I lost my family. Life is only a big deal to the living.!!

One thing for sue, fighting my conviction pro se, I really discovered there is just no thing as justice. Being innocent means nothing,!!

April 11, 1993 a riot broke out in Lucasville. I became a spokesman with high hops of bringing the situation to a peaceful ending.

Telling the story the way it is, don't take me wrong, I am not looking to claim hero status or anything of that nature, but at the onset of that riot I put my very life on the line to get this injured Officer out of the riot. It is in the record. I saved lives in that riot, but you will not hear much about it.

The bottom line is, I was charged with 3 murders and kidnappings.

The powers that be used every dirty trick and pressure tactics to gain a conviction for all the above mentioned crimes.

They had no physical evidence. They had the uncorroborated word of their snitches. Inmates cutting deals and getting away with murder.
All this info is a matter of record.

One would not think that the justice system works like this.

After my conviction of the riot related charges all the records my trial attorney was passed onto my attorneys that would handle my appeal. Please see Exhibit A of this writing. This info could have been most useful in my trial. I had no knowledge such info even existed. Looks to me as if somebody was looking into my original conviction.

Let's take a look at inmate Lavelle. He was one of the prosecutions top snitches. It matters not that you will find tons of proof that Lavelle is guilty of several serious crimes in that riot.

Please see Exhibit B of this writing, transcript page 4047. When a prosecutor threatens somebody like this, "you are either going to be my witness, or I am going to come back and try to kill you" how could a jury believe Lavelle? How can Mr Prosecutor get away with this?

The powers that be came at me trying to get me to snitch. I would not help them. It matters not who committed what crime. If an inmate would snitch and lie for Mr Prosecutor he could get away with murder.

Please see Exhibit C of this writing. Mr Prosecutor admits on record that I had the chance to snitch. See Transcript page 5751. Does this tell the story or what?
I could have been sitting on that witness stand testifying against Lavelle. This whole ordeal is pretty hard to believe. It is hard to believe a prosecutor would admit to such a thing on record. Guess he was pretty sure of himself.

What does a convicted person do when he can prove he did not commit the crime but courts drag their feet on hearing his appeal?

It took 7 long years for the court to render their opinion in my direct appeal.

My post conviction was just ruled on. Of course they turned me down. At least now I can get on to the next court.

It is my opinion that the powers that be plan to wait me out, let me die right here in this rat trap cell. I have been dealing with a medical problem for almost 11 years. They will not tell me the truth about this condition. Over the years I have heard every story they could think of.
Getting any real help is out of the question!!

I suffer with this problem every day. They hope I will die in here soon. That is my opinion. That way they can get rid of a big problem, me!!
They know I am innocent. Most people would think I'm crazy after they rad this, but this is just the way it is. The powers that be will do anything to keep from admitting they are wrong.

If I sound off the wall here, I am very sorry, please forgive me. Nobody can walk through such a hell on earth and come out of it with all his faculties.

This may not be the place to bring this subject up, but it would no doubt help me so much if I could write about a big problem I have.

After going through the fight of my life with my original conviction, I surely lost all hope, I really lost my will to live. It is so hard, if not outright impossible to bounce back. Over the years a couple of people wrote to me only to hear nothing in return. For that I am so very sorry. I really want to get up and do better in the fighting of this injustice. I am just so paralyzed. Nobody would ever believe the head changes, the serious mood swings I go through in this cell because I didn't write and all. No doubt about it, people have to think I didn't care. Please believe me that is not at all the case. What this system, the power people, Mr Prosecutor, the Judge, etc have done to my loved ones as well as myself, it is too hard to live with. This is killing me with the passing of each day. Please don't think that I believe my case is the only case like this!

There is a lot of raw injustice right here on Ohio's death row. We need somebody to really do an honest study of these cases!! The results would blow your mind!

It is a miracle I am writing this!! I want to get up and fight what they have done to all of us. Just writing this makes me feel so good! I really want people to really know and understand me! Kick me! Push me! Make me get up! I need to see something positive come all of this!!

There has been so much done to expose this injustice, but nothing ever happens, at least it seems that way.

These evil power people are so wrong for what they have done to us. Oh, let me speak my mind, please hear my cry for justice!! I really need to see and know there are people who will help us right this wrong!


It is outright insane to know the powers that be gained all these convictions with the use of pressure tactics, bribery and intimidation of inmate witnesses!!

To this very day I have to ask myself, is this really happening? How in the world can this be?

The plea bargain action, if you snitch you can commit murder and get away with it.!! Just check into the Lucasville riot related trials!! You will see this very thing took place. People committed murder that night, and because they snitched, said what Mr Prosecutor wanted them to say, they walked!

Just think of having your whole life wiped out, sitting on death row waiting for the courts to set a date for you to be murdered. This is unreal. Sitting here facing death on the word of some jail house snitch. The uncorroborated word of a jail house snitch.! Is this really justice? Is it okay that the system works like this? If it is, please take me to Lucasville and murder me now.!! I have so had my fill of this evil injustice system!

The thoughts that run through my head, the courts are a joke! They are never wrong!!! They are not about justice. The system protects itself.!!

People such as myself, we come a dime a dozen. Our lives are meaning less to these power people. Every single day I think of how the courts, the judges all have total control of my life. I believe they plan to slow walk my case through all these courts, making me do as much time as possible. I have this medical problem and can't get it taken care of. So the bottom line is, the plan to let me die right here in this rat trap cell. I live with these thoughts!! I am not really crazy! I just fully understand and know how very evil the powers that be are!! My life really means nothing to them.!

I am asking you, all the people that read this, please take me serious!! Please show me that you the people are willing to unite and fight this injustice system!! I need this more than anything! There is just no way that I can go on in this hell hole for years and years to come. I am at my wits end.

It is my dream to see something positive come from this writing!! I want to help others expose their injustices too!! Please just hear my plea. Push me!! Fire me up and bring me out of this rut!! Let's get something done about the way these evil Power people destroy so many lives for their own gain.!!

In closing I will say thank you for hearing me out. Write and help the innocent people in these rat trap prisons.

Utmost Respect

George W Skatzes
#173-501
Man C I
PO Box 788
Mansfield
Ohio 44901

Justice For George

George Skatzes is the victim of not one but TWO miscarriage of justice cases in the State of Ohio. The information you will find out is shocking and disturbing.

George's first injustice has been overshadowed by the events at Lucasville in 1993.

There is much unknown information on the original case and work is underway to get all online.

As George himself has said, "The deck is seriously stacked against the accused in the American justice system. One accused of a crime is guilty until one can prove their innocence.

Most people think that if one has been charged with a crime, one must be guilty.

Once a person is convicted by a jury, it is near impossible to get one's case overturned. According to many trial judges, "ACTUAL INNOCENCE" is not grounds for release from prison.

In 1993, the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court at the time, William Rehnquist cited precedents suggesting that, " a claim of actual innocence is not in itself a constitutional claim".
It has been said that 95 percent of the justice an accused person can expect to get in the American Criminal Justice system must happen at trial. Because once the "new stuff" of forensic evidence, eyewitness accounts, police reports, expert witnesses and alibis is presented and decided upon by a jury, chances are no court will ever allow it to be looked at again.
The appeals system which in theory is a double check against injustices, in reality does nothing less than place enormous road blocks between a convicted person and a serious re-examination of the evidence in his case.
The American Criminal Justice system is pretty well one sided. The court room is a theater, and whoever puts on the best act will win the desired results. More often than not the prosecutor will claim victory. My opinion, there is nothing fair about the American Justice System. It has proved to be a true nightmare for many, many people, and the people have no way out.

The only way this Injustice System will ever change is when the people unite and stand up and make the courts and judges do their job.
No one is hurt when justice is served. All are damaged when justice is denied to even one condemned prisoner."