C.F. writing from Alabama
“We do have people by the masses that are willing to sign petitions and protest. I’m fighting for my life here...I don’t want to lose another family member. I’ve been here 15 years. No Mom, Dad, grandparents. Please help me out.”
Location
Limestone County, AL
Crime of Conviction
1st Degree Rape; 1st Degree Sodomy; Contributing to Delinquency of a Minor
Year of Conviction
2010
C.F. was arrested in 2002. Eight years later, he was convicted at trial by jury and sentenced to two 99 year sentences (plus one year). He had no prior convictions and his bond was set at $360,000—which he paid within an hour of being arrested. It took eight years for him to receive a trial, and he made over 35 court appearances during that time. The prosecution offered him a plea deal that would result in a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure and a sentence of six months of unsupervised probation and required sex offender registration. C.F. refused to plead guilty and affirmed his innocence. At trial, C.F. experienced inaccurate testimony, inappropriate conduct by the prosecution, and ineffective assistance of counsel. He claims that his lawyers lost, misplaced, and withheld evidence. He later learned that his lawyers were campaigning for the prosecutor, who was running for office at the time of the trial.
Procedural issues
C.F. appealed his conviction in 2010 and was denied in 2011.
Counsel
C.F. has been represented by counsel since December 2023.