(Click here to download a word document of the article below)
Michael D. Smith – Police Frame-Up Victim
27 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit
In early 1980 Michael D. Smith was charged with three separate murders: Russell Diggs, Lawrence Foster, and Maurice Dukes.
- Only one conviction for one of these murders still stands. The state dropped the charges in one case when it was clear that one of their wittnesses was lying. The courts threw out the other on the grounds that the state had improperly used hearsay testimony to give credibility to an incredible statement by one of these key wittnesses.
- The only evidence against Smith in all three cases was the same: testimony from gang members, since repudiated under oath, in exchange for leniency from police and prosecutors. Yet Michael Smith remains under an 80 year sentence for one of these crimes.
- Leon Moore and Derrick Potts testified against Smith at the trials for the Diggs and Dukes murders. Both Moore and Potts have subsequently sworn that they perjured themselves before the grand jury and in Smith’s two trials. They swear that Darryl Moore (no relation to Leon Moore), a leader of the Black Gangster Disciples threatened to harm them and their families if they did not lie against Smith. Darryl Moore, Leon Moore and Derrick Potts all state that they were pressured by police to frame Michael Smith in exchange for leniency regarding other charges, and in some cases, threats that they would be charged with one or more of these murders.
Michael Smith is innocent.
Write to State’s Attorney Richard Devine and demand that he reopen the case against Michael Smith, and drop the charges against him.
Cook County State’s Attorney Richard Devine
69 West Washington, Ste. 3200
Chicago, Illinois 60602
312/603-1849
Fax: 312/603-9689
National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression 1325 S. Wabash Ave. Ste 105 Chicago IL 60605 312-939-2750
Men & Women In Prison Ministreis 10 W. 35th Street 9fl. 9C5-2 Chicago, IL. 60616 773-328-9610
