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Jermane Scott is an innocent man yet he has spent the last 20 years in prison. In 1996 Jermane was wrongfully convicted of the murder of Mr Bertram Thomas, a retired school teacher from his home town Springfield Ohio USA. Jermane (19 years old at the time) is innocent of this crime and has maintained his innocence from the very start. He was sentenced to LIFE in prison (without parole) and will remain in prison till the day he dies unless the Justice System recognises this shocking miscarriage of justice.

We (his family/supporters) are determined to fight for Jermanes freedom and for his release from prison so he can spend the remainder of his life at home with the people who love him. Jermane would like very much to get married, start a family and help his community by mentoring/counselling and advising other young boys (like he once was) about the dangers of Street Gang cultures and the importance of education.

We are looking for legal representation for Jermane ideally someone who is passionate about wrongful convictions. We also need help from people. We need people to expose Jermanes story via social media and highlight all the errors and mistakes our Justice System/Law Enforcement made when they convicted this innocent man

Jermane is Innocent:

• NO physical evidence linking Jermane to the crime scene or the victim was ever found
• NO DNA/Fingerprints of Jermanes was ever found at the crime scene, in the victims car or on the victim
• NO MOTIVE. Jermane had NEVER met the victim.
• NO Murder weapon has ever been recovered. The police have NEVER been able to link any murder weapon with Jermane. The police have NEVER been able to link any murder weapon with Jermane nor have they been able to forensically identify the gun used other than a documented assumption from a pathologist that ‘its likely a .22’.
• The 2 main ‘witnesses’ who testified in court gave inconsistent/contradictory statements throughout the entire investigation. Their ‘stories’ altered throughout and their ‘claims’ did not support each others. Both witnesses were unreliable youths who themselves admitted to being present at the scene of the crime, they both knew the victim well and were caught using the victims credit card (along with Jermane) the following day. The witnesses LIED and gave FALSE testimonies in court. They also had prior ‘history’ with the victim involving a physical altercation only weeks prior to his murder. These 2 youths also had prior charges of assault and robbery. Whereas Jermane had a clean criminal record and no history of violence.
• The police investigation was NOT thorough. The police took the 2 witnesses claims/stories at face value and never investigated their validity. The Police missed the opportunity to take crucial evidence at the scene of the crime which would have proved Jermanes innocence. The Police lied to the witnesses about having found Jermanes DNA in an attempt to influence their statements. We also believe police coercing took place and a ‘ no charges deal’ was made between the police and the all witnesses. The police were only interested in closing the case as fast as they could and ignored all the physical evidence in front of them. They chose NOT to carry out a thorough search of the victims home (for physical evidence that could have proved Jermane was not present). They failed to investigate the validity and reliability of the witnesses involved and took their ‘stories’ at face value. They ignored ALL evidence regarding these 2 witnesses having prior altercations and ongoing unresolved issues with the victim (only weeks prior to the murder) and instead chose to focus on Jermane who had never met the victim and had a clear criminal record prior to his arrest
• Many leads/possible suspects/motives and witnesses were known to the police and mentioned in police files yet no further action or attempt to investigate these leads/suspects were ever made. The police picked and chose what to believe and what to dismiss as irrelevant evidence to suit their desired investigation outcome
• The investigation of the murder of Betram Thomas took Springfield Police only 6 days to complete leaving many leads/suspects/evidence untouched, uninvestigated and unanswered to this day
• Incompetent Defence counsel. Jermane could NOT afford an attorney so was given a State paid for Defence Counsel who made very little attempt at defending Jermane. In the 11 months leading up to his trial his Defence Counsel spent no more than 6 hours interviewing Jermane, discussing his case or giving him legal advise. His Defence counsel failed to present the Jury with any defence evidence – even though an alibi and a separate eye-witness were willing to stand up in court and testify in Jermanes defence – they were never called upon and the Jury never heard these 2 crucial pieces of Defence evidence.
• Biased Jury. We believe that the Jury at Jermanes trial were biased towards Jermanes background, up bringing and his low-level involvement with a ‘street gang’ in his teenage years. The Prosecutor made out to the Jury that Jermane was a heavily involved Gang member and a threat to society and the streets  with no evidence to back these claims up (until this point Jermane had NO Police record and NO other criminal offences/charges on record). The Jury came to a ‘guilty beyond reasonable doubt’ verdict – but we ask how is that possible when SO MUCH evidence points to Jermanes innocence? How can there be NO DOUBT he did this crime when ALL PHYSICAL EVIDENCE points to him being INNOCENT?
• Court/Prosecution Misconduct. Jermanes trial was a catalogue of errors and misconduct by the prosecution. Jermanes defence counsels pleas for a mistrial were  denied. Jermanes trial was a Capital Murder Trial at the lowest level of courts and only took 7 days from start to finish, before he was sentenced. We feel this inadequate and quite ludicrous small time frame shows the complete lack of interest the police and courts showed in seeking the truth and sentencing the guilty person. It was a rush job from the get go. In this website we show proof of obvious court misconduct taking place in the court room (via legal court transcripts). Some of the evidence brought to the court and allowed to be heard by the Jury via the prosecutor did NOT follow court laws and procedure . Evidence must be handled and treated correctly or it should not be allowed to be heard/seen in court (this applies to prosecution witnesses and their testimonies). In Jermanes trial some witness testimonies were allowed to stand as evidence in court against him even though court laws had not been followed (evidence was not declared and shared with the defence counsel prior to it being heard in court). In these instances the Judge could/can throw out that piece of evidence or allow a mistrial – this rule did NOT apply for Jermane. We believe witnesses were coerced by Prosecution/LE and court procedures were not adhered to. We want Jermane to have a NEW FAIR trial were LAWS are followed both ways.

The Jury found Jermane guilty ONLY because of 2 FALSE testimonies given by 2  unreliable young men who were implicated in the crime themselves who had a history with the victim and who the victim himself had only recently prior to that night told friends/neighbours ‘he never wanted to see again’. There was NO other evidence to prove Jermane guilty. There is A LOT of evidence to prove Jermane is innocent. Jermane was NEVER given the chance of a fair trial back in 1996. We want Jermane to have that chance NOW. We want ALL evidence to be presented in court to a new ‘unbiased’ Jury. We want the Jury to be told who the REAL Jermane was/is. The prosecutor went to great lengths to paint Jermane out to be something he never was (nor is). The prosecutor lied to the Jury. We want a trial where FACTS are told ONLY. We want JUSTICE FOR JERMANE.

We want Jermane Scott to be a granted a new FAIR trial which he was denied 20 years ago. EVERYONE deserves a chance at a fair trial and we believe Jermane was NOT given one. ALL people regardless of race/religion/social statues is entitled to a FAIR competent complete (and non-biased) trial – Jermane received NONE of these things. We believe Jermane is ENTITLED to the chance of this. It is never too late to correct a wrong. His trial and his treatment 20 years ago was wrong – its now time to put it right. Please sign the petition (link below) asking John Kasich (Gov of Ohio) to grant Jermane a new trial. Your signature can help Jermane in his on going fight for freedom. Thank you

***********PLEASE NOTE**********

This website is not yet complete. There is SO MUCH MORE contents/evidence of innocence/areas of interest to include on this website regarding the wrongful conviction of Jermane Scott. Please read ‘Obstruction of the Truth’ with details of our on going fight to access the Public Records relating to this case. This website is being updated and more contents and proof of innocence and NEW evidence will be published shortly.