Ludie Mae offered to dial the number for him. When he was pressed on the timing, Myers struggled to pinpoint an exact time frame between when he found the VCR and when he took it to Madden on October 4. By deadorkicking.com Editorial Team. To start, many of them saw Myers in dark clothing that night, which contradicted what Tucker and Dutton had told police their assailant was wearing. I thought I was going to go back to New Jersey.35, A few months later, Puckett was at her home outside of Decatur when she got a call from one of the other jurors. Despite representing only 13% of the population, they make up 42% of those sitting on death row and 34% of those who have been executed. Maddens business was no secret to law enforcement, and rumor had it that he had an agreement to be left alone in exchange for information, and information on one of his regular customers was exactly what he had. A native of Bowers Beach, Delaware, Rocky is the son of educators and the youngest of four brothers. Is the Death Penalty Unconstitutional? A native of Bowers Beach, Delaware, Rocky is the son of educators and the youngest of four brothers. Send birthday cards: Today, three of them, including DeBruce, are still serving long prison sentences. That same year, Delawares Supreme Court banned the practice in that state.38, Alabamas use of judicial override was the most notorious. Alabama Is Going to Kill Rocky Myers. if( cta_2_check_305203 ){ He co-starred with Jes Macallan in the 2014 drama The Mentor. Your IP: This was a devastating moment, though Rocky wouldnt know it for another year. Learn more about his story directly from his lawyer here. Rocky Bleier Birthday. When Myers took the stand, his story remained the same: The afternoon before the murder, Myers had purchased crack from Madden. A woman who lived in the neighborhood called in and said shed seen him run into an alley near Ludie Maes house on the night of the murder, wearing a white shirt stained with blood. In 2017, Alabama became the last state to bar judicial override, but the new law wasnt retroactive, and therefore wouldnt save Myers from death row. In 2013 the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Alabamas judicial-override statute, but Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that judges in the state appear to have succumbed to electoral pressures. In Rockys case, the judge who imposed his sentence was facing reelection the next year.40 Cool Breeze was released, and Rocky was charged with the capital murder of Ludie Mae Tucker.24, Rockys trial began two years later. ASAP Rocky Death Hoax Dismissed Since Rapper Is 'Alive And Well'. tn_subject: ['criminal-j', 'death-pena', 'jails-and-', 'racism-and', 'social-jus', 'states'], var cta_2_check_305203 = false; An Alabama-based legal advocacy organization calculated that 20 percent of inmates on death row in Alabama had their sentences imposed through judicial override. 198.12.253.60 The panel of jurors was predominantly white, only one of the twelve jurors being black. cta_2_check_305203 = true; The detectives told Myers that Ewing had seen him sell the VCR to Madden in exchange for crack cocaine, and after a few hours, Myers confessed to pawning the VCR, and yes, he knew Madden and Raybon, but he hadnt been to Ludie Mae Tuckers house the night of the murder. Dutton and Tucker had even seen him across the street the morning of the murder. The case of Rocky Myers is a window into so much that's wrong with the death penalty in this country. inline_cta_bg_color_305203 = '#ffcf0d'; Rocky's doctor, Presley Jensen, reveals that Rocky is suffering from a condition called Cavum septi pellucidi, which is brain damage caused by extremely heavy blows to the head. Getting him to understand whats happening in his case at any given moment is definitely a challenge, Keeton said. Police were first drawn to Anthony Cool Breeze Ballentine, who had deep roots in Decatur, and his familys well-respected reputation carried him despite being a prolific crack user. This is especially vital in states like Alabama, where judges often stress their tough on crime stances to win votes, and tend to dole out more death sentences when election time rolls around. While waiting on Iveys pardon, which his legal team actively pursues, he awaits an execution date. var cta_1_check_305203 = false; Rocky Myers was convicted by a nearly all-white jury who sentenced him to life without the possibility of parole for the murder of his white neighbour. In my mind it never happenedjuror Mae Puckett, It was the states place to prove that Rocky Myers was in the home and committed that crime. Copyright (c) 2023 The Nation Company LLC, By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and, agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support. But inside in my mind and heart and stomach, Im scared.57 jQuery("#inline_cta_btn_305203 a input").css("background",inline_cta_bg_color_305203); Rocky Myers, AIS 0000Z563 Halloween H20 could have had the best ending for Laurie and Michael, as . His lieutenant, Willie Roadrunner Raybon, who had also come in for questioning with Madden in the initial questioning, confirmed that they had lied about it being Ballentine because he figured thats what everybody wanted to hear.. (Disclosure: The author is a staff reporter at the ACLU.) Not just alive but living life to the fullest. " He joins the long list of celebrities who have been victimized by this hoax. I just froze. [He] was just a jabbering and his voice was a quivering, Dutton said later in a statement. Mr. if( inline_cta_font_color_305203 !='' ){ Help us raise awareness on #RockyMyers quest for justice and our fights against the #deathpenalty. Rocky Myers was born and raised in Bowers Beach, Delaware. }else{ Rocky A. Myers Rocky Myers (born 1980) Jump to: . tn_keyword: ['anti-death'], Schwarz wrote in an email, I should have returned the file to the Equal Justice Initiative at that time; I did not; thats on me., It scared the hell out of me. The prosecutor told the jury a straightforward story: Rockys drug addiction had overwhelmed his judgment, and after Butch refused to give him crack on credit he broke into Ludie Maes house and killed her for her VCR. Violet Myers. He didnt tell Rocky, he didnt call the courts and let them know, he didnt tell the prosecutors, he just quit doing anything. (In an e-mail, Schwarz said that when he joined the new firm, he lost a four-person team working on Rockys case. As of right now, Robin "Rocky" Myers is still on death row, serving time in the Holman Correctional . Myers is worth a reported US$200 million (approx. Thats what it boiled down to.34, Rocky was thus convicted of capital murder, and by a margin of 9-3 the jury provided their agreed-upon recommendation of life without parole to the judge. jQuery("#inline_cta_2_305203").html(inline_cta_2_text_305203); It didnt entirely contradict the prosecutions narrativeRocky had, after all, already admitted to trading the VCR to Butchbut it raised powerful questions about the conduct of Decatur police during the investigation. The Supreme Court today unanimously affirmed the 2014 death sentence of Austin Myers, who, along with Timothy Mosley, strangled and stabbed to death 18-year-old Justin Back. . However, it wasn't until he was a little more than two years old that the first signs of . In the original Halloween, John Carpenter envisioned The Shape (as Michael was known in the script and credits) as a personification of evil, a view conveyed overtly by Dr. Loomis; this monster killed without rhyme or reason, choosing prey and stalking until it was dead. } The 53-year-old, who has an intellectual disability, was saddled with an incompetent lawyer, convicted on the evidence from a key witness who has since recanted his testimony, and sentenced to death by a . They filed a habeas petition, but it was too late. You can read our Privacy Policy here. On Saturday, from the set of Creed 2, Stallone . He graduated from Widener Law School with Honors and, upon receiving his Juris Doctor, moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. In the videos for people 18+, she plays a role that isn't right for her. At the time of Ludie Maes death, Rocky was living across the street from her with his wife and children on one side of a converted duplex. Rocky holds a dying Apollo Creed. var inline_cta_2_text_305203 = ''; According to another Equal Justice Initiative study, the use of judicial overrides to dole out death sentences in Alabama often spiked during election years. Alabama is building a new gas execution chamber a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Cities: Diamond OH, Warren OH Possible Relatives: Faith Nicole Bell, Pamela Ann Meyers. Rocky Myers was born in Dover, United States. With a vote of 9-to-3, an overwhelmingly white jury in Decatur, Ala., recommended that Robin be sentenced to Life Without the Possibility of Parole. var is_user_logged_in = getCookie('SESSname'); tn_keyword: ['anti-death'], actor. Authorities never figured out what happened to her, but now Myers hopes answers are coming . Joyce Meyer died "shortly after taking ill" in October 2016. Baby Laurie. Critical questions were raised at this point: If the murder victim knew Myers, why would she have believed any of the story she was told at the front door? inline_cta_2_text_305203 = '

Support our work with a digital subscription.

Get unlimited access: $9.50 for six months.