Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Unless otherwise noted the work on this page is that of Ralph T. Stokes.
This is a long page so it will take time to load.
Please read it all.
I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A LOVER OF ANIMALS, A QUALITY OF LIFE THAT I LEARNED 'TO
APPRECIATE FROM A VERY YOUNG CHILD. I AM CARING, UNDERSTANDING, VERY OPEN
MINDED, AND MOST OF ALL HONEST.
IF THERE IS ANYONE OUT THERE SEEKING UNCONDITIONAL FRIENDSHIP, THAT CAN ALLOW
ME TO SEE THE WORLD THROUGH THEIR EYES, CONTACT ME BY E-MAIL OR AT THE
ADDRESS LISTED BELOW:
NOTE: THIS MANNER OF MAN IS CURRENTLY IN THE LAST ROUND OF HIS FIGHT... IF YOU SO
DESIRE TO READ MORE GO TO:
THE LAST ROUND
BY
MR. RALPH T. STOKES (#AY-9034)
175 -PROGRESS DRIVE
WAYNESBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 15370-8090 (U.S.A.)
TO ATTEMPT TO FATHOM THE ENORMOUS INJUSTICE RALPH TRENT STOKES EXPERIENCED
IN HIS STORY THE LAST ROUND YOU ONLY HAVE TO READ THE TWO YEAR STUDY ON
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT RELEASED BY THE DEATH PENALTY INFORMATION CENTER IN
WASHINGTON, D.C. THE REPORT IS TITLED, "THE DEATH PENALTY IN BLACK AND WHITE
WHO LIVES WHO DIES, WHO DECIDES". COMPILED BY UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LAW
PROFESSOR DAVID BALDUS AND STATISTICIAN GEORGE WOODWORTH, WHAT THEY FOUND
WAS SHOCKING. THEY EXAMINED A TOTAL OF 667 MURDER CASES OF PHILADELPHIA,
PENNSYLVANIA FROM 1983 TO 1993 (STOKES' CASE AMONG THEM) AND OF THE 520 BLACK
DEFENDANTS AND 147 WHITE DEFENDANTS NINETY FIVE OF THE BLACK DEFENDANTS
WERE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN STARK CONTRAST TO ONLY 19 DEATH SENTENCED WHITE
DEFENDANTS. A BLACK DEFENDANT CHARGED WITH MURDER IS ALMOST FOUR TIMES
MORE LIKELY TO GET THE DEATH PENALTY IN PHILLY THAN A WHITE DEFENDANT, NO
MATTER HOW HEINOUS THE MURDER IS. THE CHANCES OF A POOR BLACK DEFENDANT
GOING TO DEATH ROW FROM PHILADELPHIA IS FAR GREATER THAN DEFENDANTS IN MOST
STATES IN THE DEEP SOUTH. THESE FINDINGS SHOULD SHOCK ANYONE'S SENSE OF
JUSTICE. SUPPORT RALPH T. STOKES! WRITE RALPH T. STOKES
You don't have to be a boxing aficionado to understand the celebrity status Smokin' Joe Frazier enjoys in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and around the world. Millions of fight fans and those who simply wanted to
witness history in its making could never forget the memorable fights between Smokin' Joe and Muhammad
Ali" the Greatest. There were three bloody wars between them-the most spectacular fight being "The Thriller
in Manila", and one that is forever etched into the annals of boxing history. Years after he'd retired, ~Joe
Frazier opened several businesses in and around Philadelphia. One such establishment was "Joe Frazier's
Restaurant”, which catered to an up scale clientele.
On a warm spring day in 1882, two men burst into the restaurant with guns drawn and announced a hold up.
When it was over three victims lay dead from gunshot wounds. The brutal murders, which had tragically
occurred in an establishment owned by the city's most beloved resident-sent shock waves ripping through the
community. The police scoured the city in search of the killers.
Young Ralph Trent Stokes, a 19, year old black male. Who was once a restaurant worker at Frazier’s soon
learned that he was the central focus of the investigation. There was word on the street that the police were
going to kill him on sight. Fear seized him because in the city of Philadelphia, the racist police murder young
black men with impunity. Stokes knew he had absolutely nothing to do with this vicious crime-so he
immediately called his attorney and went down to the police station. A guilty man would have taken flight-
like the actual triggermen in this case', Donald "Razor" Jackson and Eric Burley, who court records show-
made a hurried hegira to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and New York City, shortly after the murders.
Stokes told the cadre of homicide detectives that interrogated him he knew absolutely nothing about the
crime, that there was nothing he could proffer. They assailed him with a fusillade of verbal obscenities and
leading questions, and he answered them the best he could. The cops' angry interrogation resounded off the
grimy, graffiti-scared walls of the holding cell with the fury of viscous attack dogs howling in the night. But
they had no legal reason to hold the young f suspect simply because he'd once been an employee of Joe
Frazier’s-so they" begrudgingly released him.
He emerged from the police station, a proud and happy young man, thinking it was over. He didn't know the
reputation and careers of the Philadelphia homicide detectives, assigned to this case, were on the line. And he
didn't know they all were under enormous pressure from the District Attorney's Office to quickly make an
arrest in this case-and Stokes' euphoria was short-lived-on the basis of a statement from one of the actual
culprits-the police stormed his home, and tore it apart in search of evidence linking him to this crime-but did
not find a single shred or anything that could vaguely inculpatate him. They arrested him anyway, and in
spite of the absence of evidence-Stokes was charged with triple murder.
News of the arrest dominated the front page of local newspapers for months, and it was customary for the
nightly news anchors to lead in with titillating details about the Joe Frazier restaurant case. Before the
commencement of his, trial, the private attorney, who had accompanied Stokes to the police station,
abandoned him and the court appointed a pitifully inept attorney to represent the defendant.
Defense lawyer Malcolm Waldron confided to his client that he hadn't handled a criminal case-particularly a
capital case of this magnitude-in twenty years! He'd only litigated a hand full of insurance cases-and the
complexities of affirmative defense and trial strategies were unfamiliar and inauspicious terrains, he did no
investigation, and he called no witnesses who could have established the defendant’s whereabouts at the time
of the offense. This was crucial to counter the maliciously false accusations by his now co-defendant who
seized upon the opportunity to testify against Stokes. In exchange for a life sentence, and another, who was
given little or no jail time, they were eager to be the prosecutions star witness. They would do or say
anything. One
co-defendant was allowed unsupervised sexual liaisons with his wife in an upscale hotel. He was supplied
with
illegal drugs and other amenities readily available to pampered snitches.
They both pled guilty well before trial, Confessing their guilt well before trial, confessing their guilt to
escape death-but they weren't sentenced until Stokes was found guilty.
The trial was a farce, an alleged eye witness told the police that on the day of the murders he couldn't identify
anyone, for how could he? They had on ski- masks; he told them, masks that covered their entire face-and it
was impossible to proffer an accurate description as to the weight, height, or facial features. He couldn't even
tell whether the robbers were black or white. His story changed once he got on the stand. Oh, yes that was
him he swore. He was able to see his eyeballs through the two small holes in the black ski-mask. Yeah, he
was positive in his identification of the defendant, he was, "the shortest one". This
witness told the police three different stories of what occurred that day-and it was clear that the final version
was meticulously tailored to fit the prosecutions twisted scheme. The state utilized unspeakable tactics in
insuring a conviction and forgoing signatures on statements inculpatating the witness, Donald Blackson, was
cross-examined by defense attorney Malcolm Waldron about this egregious misconduct:
Blackson: "Yes"-
Waldron: "Did I ask you whether or not they were your signatures on page 1,2,3,4 and 5"?
Blackson: "Yes”.
Here, a prosecution witness admitted under oath that he hadn't even endorsed the statement accusing a man
of being involved in a triple murder that inevitably sent him to death row.
Then who did? His pitiful inept attorney should have asked. It became clear that the evidence against the
defendant was deliberately fabricated.
Waldron: "Did I ask you whether you had a conversation with Mr. Stokes about the incident referred to in
that statement?”
Waldron: "About the things you said in that statement/and, did you tell me that, "I don't remember whether I
talked to him?"
Waldron: "Now, you were asked here today if you remembered a conversation on March 11, 1982. Isn't it a
fact that you don't know whether you had a conversation with the defendant?"
Blackson: "Well, I went over my testimony, and from my testimony, it said that I had talked to the defendant
on the day of the murders.
Blackson: "No"
Any reasonable man or woman could deduce, from this portion of the trial transcript-that this witness'
testimony was not only patently manufactured, but perjurious. He was merely one player out of a sickening
sequence of tainted witnesses for the prosecution-like Philadelphia homicide detective Robert Kane, who was
under state and federal investigation for police corruption and tampering with evidence. Detective Kane
testified that he was the central figure at the scene of the crime, who collected, and preserved crucial physical
evidence. Introduced positional photographs and body charts of the victims. He was allowed, (without any
objections from attorney)-to testify about the ballistic evidence concerning bullets that were in no way
connected to the crime-though the jury was told they were. Kane swore under oath that this observations of
the crime scene and the critical evidence he'd collected there undeniably established the defendant's guilt-but
documentary proof, recorded in police log books, clearly contradicts this ridiculous assertion-because he was
somewhere else at the time, and his presence at the crime scene would have been physically impossible.
Stokes was barely 19 years old-one of the youngest defendants to be sentenced to death in the state of
Pennsylvania at the time. In a hellacious battle for his young life, the state was a formidable opponent-and
without a competent attorney-it was no contest. There are no screaming crowds of supporters, no strict
referees issuing stern warning against the states illegal tactics. This is biggest fight.
*Footnote
Mr. Ralph Stokes has been a prisoner of the Commonwealth for 21½ years... and throughout his appeal
process the Philadelphia court-appointed attorney system, repeatedly appointed attorney's that have no
interest in the case. Half of Mr. Stokes trial has never been transcribed and not one of his past attorney's
looked into this very important fact, but submitted a "so .called appeal". How can an attorney file an appeal
without a complete record, secondly how can an appeal court make a decision without a complete record???
Mr. Stokes needs the help and support and attorney or attorneys that are not into playing "one hand washes
the other with the Phila., D.A.'s office"... This is why Mr. Stokes is reaching out to the unbiased citizens of
the productive society that he was taken away from. To learn more about the court-appointed attorney system
go to: abcnews.com crime and punishment aired 2-3-00 ...Mr. Stokes also said that he would like to
encourage those who see this article to distribute leaflets (even if it is copies of the article) in support of his
campaign for justice. You might also recommend to people that they forward the article and news about the
brother to any friends/subscriber groups that could also put his plea on their web site and link to many others
sites thought appropriate. He would also like to encourage those who are able to get abolitionist and anti-
death penalty newspapers & magazines to publish his plea to please do so to help spread the word of this
horrific injustice.
Lastly, after all the years that Mr. Stokes has been incarcerated he still does not have sufficient funds to hire a
competent attorney, your contributions are both welcome and needed. So please do send whatever small
monetary gift in the form of money-orders and those outside the U.S. please remit international money-orders
to help Mr. Stokes hire a competent attorney. It does not have to be very much every little bit helps.
Mr. Ralph T. Stokes (#AY-9034)
175 -Progress Drive
Waynesburg, PA 15370-8090
(U.S.A.)
Or
E-Mail at:
ralphstokes@mail2world.com
P.S. Please do read the following article on a study done by, Professor James S. Liebman, of the Columbia
University School of Law titled, "A Broken System: Error Rates in Capital Crime".
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
ERROR RATE IN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT SYSTEM IS AT "EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS"
STUDY CHARGES
A REPORT RELEASED JUNE 12, BY THE JUSTICE PROJECT, A WASHINGTON, D.C. -BASED
ORGANIZATION, CHARGED THAT "SERIOUS ERROR-SUBSTANTIALLY UNDERMINING THE
RELIABILITY OF CAPITAL VERDICTS-HAS REAC.HED EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS THROUGHOUT
OUR DEATH PENALTY SYSTEM. "THE REPORT IS BASED ON A STUDY CONDUCTED BY
PROFESSOR JAMES S. LIEBMAN, OF THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, OF 5,760
CAPITAL SENTENCES THAT WERE REVIEWED BY COURTS BETWEEN 1973 AND 1995.
THE REPORT COUNTED 87 INMATES WHO HAVE BEEN RELEASED FROM DEATH-ROW "AS
FACTUALLY OR LEGALLY INNOCENT". WHEN A CONDEMNED INMATE TURNS OUT TO BE
INNOCENT, THE REPORT NOTED, THERE ARE INCALCULABLE COST TO THE INMATES, TO
THE FAMILY OF THE VICTIM, TO PERSONS AT RISK FROM THE REAL PERPETRATOR, TO THE
PUBLIC'S CONFIDENCE IN LAW AND LEGAL INSTITUTIONS, AND IF THE MISTAKE IS NEVER
CAUGHT, TO THE WRONGLY EXECUTED FUTURE REASEARCH. THE AUTHORS OF THE
REPORT PLAN TO CONTINUE THEIR RESEARCH, FOCUSING ON THREE QUESTIONS:
* WHAT ACCOUNTS FOR THE HIGH RATES OF SERIOUS ERROR IN THE CAPITAL
JUDGEMENTS, AND
* WHAT POLICY RESPONSES ARE CALLED FOR BY THE PROBLEMS IN THE SYSTEM?
TEN (10) THINGS MOST MISSED ABOUT THE FREE WORLD?
2. MY FAMILY FATHER, MOTHER, BROTHERS AND SISTER WHO IS THE YOUNGEST OF ALL
THE CHILDREN. JUST BEING AROUND THEM DAILY AND ALL THE SMALL THINGS WE THINK
THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT. ME BEING THE OLDEST OF THEM AND ME FEELING, IT WAS MY
RESPONSIBILITY TO LOOK OVER THEM.
3. MY MOTHER AND HER COOKING WHO KNEW HOW TO COOK ~VERYTHING JUST THE WAY I
LIKE IT TO THE POINT WHERE IF I WAS EATING SOMEONE ELSE'S COOKING IF IT WASN'T
COOKED THE WAY MY MOTHER COOKED THAN IT WAS COOKED WRONG.
5. FAMILY GET TOGETHERS AND COOKOUTS GETTING TOGETHER WITH FAMILY MEMBERS
YOU MAY NOT HAVE SEEN ALL YEAR LONG AND SOME EVEN LONGER AND YOU MAY NOT
SEE AGAIN UNTIL THE NEXT FAMILY GET TOGETHER OR COOKOUT.
6. COMING OUT OF MY HOUSE AND STANDING ON MY FRONT STEPS AND LOOKING BOTH t
WAYS UP AND DOWN THE BLOCK AND SEEING ALL THE LITTLE CHILDREN BUSY IN THEIR
PLAYING WITH EACH OTHER AND NOT A WORRY IN THE WORLD.
7. MY BABY SISTER WHO AT THE TIME I WAS ARRESTED WAS ABOUT 1 AND A HALF YEARS
OLD WHO IS NOW 19-YEARS OLD AND ME MISSING OUT ON THIS TIME TO BE THERE FOR
HER LIKE A BIG BROTHER SHOULD. ALSO MY YOUNGEST BROTHER WHO AT THE TIME OF
MY ARREST WAS ONLY 10-YEARS OLD (WOULD'VE TURNED 11 YEARS OLDLATER THAT
YEAR WHO I FELT THAT HE AND I WERE THE CLOSEST OF MY BROTHERS. WHO ALSO WAS
MURDERED THIS YEAR ON MY BIRTHDAY FEBRUARY 8th, 2000.
8. WHENEVER I HAD A PROBLEM OR SOMETHING ON MY MIND AND JUST NEEDED TO GET
AWAY FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS TO BE BY MYSELF, I WOULD TAKE LONG WALKS
SOMETIMES TO THE PARK AND TAKE MY DOG AND BEFORE I KNEW IT WHATEVER
PROBLEMS THAT I HAD ON MY MIND WERE GONE.
9. AT LEAST ONE OR TWO SATURDAYS EVERY MONTH MY MOTHER AND AUNT WOULD GET
TOGETHER EARLY IN THE MORNING TO GO SHOPPING WHICH WOULD TAKE THEM ALL. DAY
LONG TO DO ALL THEIR SHOPPING AND HOW THEY WOULD MAKE ME AND MY COUSIN GO
WITH THEM TO CARRY THE BAGS AND REMEMBERING HOW ME AND MY COUSIN NEVER
WANTED T'O GO WITH THEM BUT THEY MADE US GO ANYWAY, ALSO REMEMBERING AT
TIMES HOW WE USED TO TRY AND HIDE SOME WHERE BUT HOW THEY USED TO ALWAYS
FIND US,
10, WAKING UP EVERY DAY AND NOT THINKING OR WORRYING ABOUT THE DEATH-ROW
AND WHETHER OR NOT I'LL EVER GET OFF OF DEATH-ROW.
CAN YOU HELP IDENTIFY...
LOOKING IN THE MIRROR I SEE THE FACE OF A MAN. THE AGE, STRESS PERMINENT
FROWNS, BUT THOSE ARE SUPPOSE TO BE THE SIGNS OF A MAN THAT HAS LABORED HARD,
THAT WAY IN THE LATTER YEARS OF HIS WISDOM HE CAN RELAX, AND ENJOY UNTIL
DEATH.
AS YOU SEE IT'S REALLY HARD TO EXPLAIN, I AM SORT OF STRUGGLING WITH IT MYSELF...
BUT, BEFORE THIS I USED TO BE ABLE TO SAY, I AM A YOUNG MAN CHILD. WHOSE GOAL IS
TO HAVE A FAMILY, LABOR AND PROVIDE.
FOR A WHILE IT ALL LOOKED PROMISING, MY LABORING WAS GOING WELL... THEN I FELL
IN LOVE, OUT OF LOVE, IN LOVE AGAIN.
MY LIFE HAD IDENTITY DURING THOSE DAYS, MONTHS, YEARS... AT THE DROP OF A DIME IT
WAS ALL TAKEN AWAY FROM ME...
WELL YOU KNOW MY NAME, AND WHERE I WAS BORN, IS THAT WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING
FOR?
THAT IS NOT WHAT MAKES YOU WHO YOU ARE. YOU COULD HAVE DIED ON THAT BIRTH
DATE AND NEVER GIVEN A NAME. YOU UNDERSTAND? IT'S NOT WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR.
I AM NO LONGER A MAN LABORING FOR HIS FAMILY. THERE ARE NO FRUITS FROM MY PAST
LABORING.
I ONCE WAS A YOUNG MAN THAT QUICKLY HAD TO BECOME THE BEING THAT I AM TODAY.
ARE YOU WHO THEY SAY YOU ARE? A COLD HEARTED, NO CONSCIENCE MAN?
NO! I DON"T THINK SO ...I MEAN THAT MAKES ME SOUND DEAD... I AM NOT DEAD!
AM I DEAD? NO! I AM NOT DEAD!
I SIT FROM DAY TO DAY NIGHT TO NIGHT SEARCHING WITHIN MYSELF FOR ANSWERS THAT
SEEM TO HAVE NO ANSWERS.
I NEED NEW LIFE IN ORDER FOR MY IDENTITY TO RETURN BECAUSE RIGHT NOW, JUST
BEING A MAN WITH A NAME IS NOT ENOUGH.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP... I DID NOT DO ANYTHING..., IN TIME, ALL IN TIME.
CHANGE
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
ELEMENTAL CHANGE
CONTROLLED CHANGE
TO CHANGE ONE'S INNERSELF
ONE'S ACTION
NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE
POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE
CAN ONE JUDGE ANOTHER
FOR FALLING
HAVE WE ALL NOT FALLEN
I'VE FELL
I'VE CHANGED!
SHOULD I DIE?
OR SHOULD YOUR OPINION CHANGE?
Statistical Frankenstein