On January 1, 2008, Charles Santana, accompanied by his brothers Alex and Giovannie, left his apartment building in the Bronx for a brief moment to run to a local convenience store. What was initially a night meant to celebrate the New Year and Alex’s son’s first birthday resulted in the wrongful conviction of Alex’s brother, Charles. While Alex, Charles, and Giovannie were occupied at the corner store, Kenneth McClinton, accompanied by two others, approached the Santanas, armed with an aluminum baseball bat. Some words were exchanged between the two parties; however, Charles repeatedly attempted to diffuse the situation, insisting that he did not want an altercation to break out.

Moments later, Kenneth and his company began to attack the Santanas. Nearly a minute later, a full on brawl broke out, with nearly 40 individuals associated with the McClintons participating. Witnessing the altercation which ensued on the block, Charles’ mother ran outside from the family’s apartment unit with the intention of diffusing the altercation. Wielding a heavy aluminum baseball bat in his hands, Kenneth swung the bat at the back of her head, fracturing her skull and requiring her to obtain 10+ staples in her head. Seconds later, he swung the bat at the Santana brothers’ stepfather, also fracturing his skull. After being attacked, Charles’ mother looked directly at her oldest son Alex, and described the gaze in his face as “a pure fit of rage.”

Having witnessed Kenneth brutally assault his mother and stepfather, Alex sprinted into his apartment building, grabbed two kitchen knives, and charged towards Kenneth in an effort to defend his family. After charging towards Kenneth, Alex swung at him with the knives, stabbing him three times in total around 2:43 AM near the corner of 183rd Street and Walton Avenue. Charles ran out of the building approximately 15 seconds after Alex with a bread knife in his hand, and after Kenneth had been stabbed. As seen in the video surveillance tape, there is a clear indication that Charles was nowhere near the scene when the stabbing had occurred. In fact, as Kenneth is seen crossing the street onto 183rd Street and Jerome Avenue, Charles was a substantial distance away from where the prosecution claimed the stabbing occurred. After crossing the street, Kenneth passed away from the injuries inflicted on him from Alex. Alex Santana said he did it. Alex’s mother saw him do it. The DNA suggests he did it. And the videotape shows he did it. So why did they lock up Alex’s brother, Charles?

Charles and Alex Santana appeared before a judge in the Bronx Hall of Justice on the morning of June 25, 2010. The two brothers were tried simultaneously by the same judge in a dual trial; which is a process that is a notoriously unfair and an unjust way to prosecute an innocent man, as negative association is highly evident when prosecuting the guilty. There were inconsistent witness testimonies, unfit and inadequate defense attorneys, and corrupt NYPD officers that made it almost impossible to prove Charles’ innocence. Charles was ultimately wrongfully convicted, and sentenced to 20 years followed by five years of post release supervision. At just 24 years old, Charles was taken away from his loving family, specifically his two young children, for a crime that he never committed. Justice was not served and an innocent man has remained behind bars for fourteen years now.

To learn more information about the case, please visit:

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