We have officially received 125 signatures on our petition. I want to personally thank everyone for supporting our Petition and our Platform at www.freedmenfreemen.com

We appreciate everyone who signed and shared this petition on behalf of my Uncle Michael "Malik" Garrett, who was wrongfully accused and convicted for a "vigilante killing"  in October of 2000.

(For those who don't already know, He served almost 24 years of his life for simply standing his ground.) Nobody should be locked away that long for actually trying to defend himself. Especially,at that age...

 What Stands out the most is that my Uncle has already served more time than the murderer(s) of George Floyd will ever serve. This is what makes it such a big deal to our family to have a support system like this!!!!

 BACKGROUND FACTS:

Practically a teenager at the time, he was confronted by a group of men waiting for him to enter the apartment complex where he lived. One of the young men in the group (the victim) had recently been released on bond for murdering his best friend a year earlier. Because the initial murder took place in the exact same apartment complex, the victim was literally violating the terms of his pre-trial release by criminally trespassing on the property where my Uncle lived. 

1. Despite having knowledge of all these facts, former Fulton County District Attorney Maura Krause falsely accused my uncle of "hunting down and murdering the victim in a revengeful or vigilante manner. Unfortunately, this is a very common occurrence in unconstitutional trial practices all over Georgia.

Despite of the fact that the victim's trespassing constituted a commission of a forcible felony, former Senior Assistant District Attorney for Fulton County, Maura Krause refused to allow my uncle to plea out to Voluntary Manslaughter.

In fact, she depicted my uncle as a "Vigilante" to a jury who subsequently convicted him of Malice Murder. He was sentenced to Life, and therefore he was severely penalized for an act that would be considered justified homicide under Georgia's 'stand your ground' law today. This has been an ongoing trial for my family. There are a lot of families in Georgia going through the same thing.

I know what you're probably thinking: If a new law passed, which removes an act from being a criminal act, my uncle's conviction should automatically be reversed. However, his habeas corpus was considered untimely, and barred from seeking post conviction relief. Therefore Michael Garrett remains unjustly imprisoned all because of his ignorance of the existence of a new law.

In 2020, we contacted Aimee Maxwell, of  the Conviction Integrity Unit, seeking her help.

After receiving documentation proving that former Senior Assistant District Attorney Maura Krause:

1) knowingly presented false testimony in order to convince the jury that the attack was unprovoked 

2)  with-held evidence that the victim was committing a felony by trespassing,

3) knowingly suppressed mitigating evidence (that Garrett's mother made a statement to the police in the victim's pending murder case, and that the victim was likely aware of Garrett's mother being a state witness)

The CIU informed Garrett in 2022 that his case had been accepted and would further be reviewed. 

We believe in our D.A.'s  office capacity to hold itself accountable for it's mistakes. We ask that Ms. Maxwell continue to use her position within the Conviction Integrity Unit to ensure that if there were any errors or unethical practices involved in Michael Garrett’s conviction, they are addressed promptly. At the very least, reduction of sentence would be a win for us but Michael Garrett deserves to be exonerated from the conviction of malice Murder.

 

Please sign this petition urging Aimee Maxwell from the Fulton County Conviction Integrity Unit to release Michael Garrett.