Juan Roberto Melendez Colon
recounted his story of battling the Florida justice
system from death row for more than 17 years in a speech
at UT Law School on Monday.
"Imagine yourself in
a cold room, with your life on the line, and you don't
know squat," Melendez said.
The UT Law School
Chapter of the American Constitution Society asked
Melendez to address law students in an effort to
encourage debate and discussion of the death penalty.
Amanda Tyler, president of the campus chapter of
ACS, said the group is trying to renew the pursuit of
what were once traditional values of law.
"It's a
group of law students, law professors and attorneys
dedicated to restoring four traditional values: human
dignity, individual rights and liberties, access to
justice and genuine equality," Tyler
said.
Melendez, who grew up in Puerto Rico and
moved to Brooklyn as a migrant worker, said he was
assured by the attorney who defended him during his
trial that he would not be convicted.
"I've got
an alibi, I've got witnesses corroborating my alibi,
I've got everything you need for reasonable doubt,"
Melendez said.
Melendez was still convicted of
first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Seventeen
years later, after contemplating suicide and losing
several inmate friends he became close with, new counsel
took Melendez's case and discovered strong evidence
supporting his innocence. He was exonerated and released
from prison.
Abe Bonowitz, director of Citizens
United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, who is
touring the country with Melendez, said politicians use
the death penalty to present an image of being "tough on
crime." He said a moratorium, possibly just a temporary
one, is in order.
"No executions, not even the
ones we know are guilty, until we sort the system out,"
Bonowitz said.
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