FREE LITTLE B!
Michael Lewis, known as Little B, was arrested at only 13 years
old for a murder he did not commit. Michael was tried as an adult in an Atlanta,
Georgia, courtroom, convicted and sentenced to life in prison at the age of 14.
In a case stricken with lying drug-dealing witnesses, an incompetent public
defender, concealed evidence, and racism, this innocent young black man was
condemned to life in prison. Born and raised in The Bluff, an impoverished area
of Atlanta, Michael was condemned from the beginning of his life. His criminal
conviction is a tragic exemplification of our inequitable legal system.
***Michael was tried as an adult under Georgia's Senate Bill 440, which allows
for children 13-17 years old to be prosecuted and sentenced as adults if charged
with certain offenses known as the seven deadly sins.
***The newly elected district attorney, the first black D.A. in Georgia, Paul
Howard, declared at the outset that he would try this boy like a man.
***Though Michael was a ward of the state at the time of his
arrest, he was never assisted by child protection services, and he was never
read his Miranda rights.
***The only evidence against Michael was the testimony of admitted drug dealers,
one of whom, Big E, the state's star witness, was also the original murder
suspect. Although Big E was facing 40 years-to-life on his own felony
drug-dealing charges, after testifying against Michael and making a sealed deal
with the district attorney, he was set free!
***There was no forensic testimony as to the trajectory of the bullets and the
probable height of the shooter, the recoil relating to probable weight and
required strength of the shooter, or the size of the murder weapon and Michael.
This evidence was crucial in the case of a 13-year old suspect who was under
five-feet tall and weighed a little over 100 pounds at the time.
***Michaels alibi witnesses were not interviewed or subpoenaed for trial.
***Michaels trial lasted only three days.
***Within hours, the jury convicted Michael and sentenced him to LIFE IN PRISON.
***Within a few weeks, Michael was transferred to Lee Arrendale State Prison,
called Alto, a Maximum Security Adult Prison. HE WAS ONLY 14 YEARS OLD!
***Michaels public defender was not only markedly incompetent, he was facing
his own criminal charges, relating to bringing contraband into a prison for a
death row client.
***Michael has been in prison for 9 years now, having turned 23 years old this
March 2006. He is currently serving out his life sentence at Georgia State
Prison in Reidsville, Georgia.
Many neglected facts and potential witnesses can now be brought forward in the
next step in Michaels appeal, the filing of a Writ of Habeas Corpus. We
desperately need to raise funds for new legal counsel. You have the power to
help this innocent young man while exposing the unjust Georgia state laws that
are imprisoning children, especially black youth, as 94% of children tried and
convicted as adults in Georgia have been black.
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT. FREE LITTLE B!!!
THE MICHAEL LITTLE B LEWIS LEGAL DEFENSE COMMITTEE
FOR THE WEST COAST
Contact us at
freemichaellewis@yahoo.com
To learn how you can help, join our myspace group--Micahel "Little B" Lewis
Legal Defense Committee--http://groups.myspace.com/freedomforlittleb
To learn more, read
Elaine Brown's book "The Condemnation
of Little B"
OR contact
Elaine Brown
