Monday, July 14
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Indianapolis Liberation Center
1800 N. Meridian St., Suite 305
For Immediate Release
Vernon T. Bateman has been struggling for exoneration since 1998 after he was falsely convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Despite the alleged victim recanting three times, the only eyewitness recanting two times, no evidence tying him to the crime, and more, he spent 26 years in prison and is not yet free. His lawyers, family, friends, and community are changing that.
On Monday, July 14 at 12:00 pm, the Coalition to Free Vernon T. Bateman will hold a press conference where lawyers from the Innocence Project, Mr. Bateman’s mother, Coalition volunteers, and Mr. Bateman will, for the first time, reveal the details behind Mr. Bateman’s ongoing struggle for exoneration. Hosted at the Indianapolis Liberation Center, the press conference takes place one week before the Grand Opening of “Art for Exoneration: The Vernon T. Bateman Experience,” a two-week event at Gallery Forty Two sponsored by the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, Innocence Project, the Exoneration Project, and others.
At 18-years-old, Vernon T. Bateman was convicted of two counts of rape and one count of criminal deviant conduct and sentenced to 30 years in prison. The trial was riddled with miscarriages of justice. A Nurse testified a sexual assault kit was performed and DNA evidence was collected, although that evidence was never entered at trial. Bateman’s co-defendant, Sa’ron Foley, did not testify. Det. Mary Banks delivered his testimony, depriving Bateman of the right of cross-examination. The alleged victim, Angela Truitt, admitted lying three times: in a 2003 letter to Prosecutor Bernard Carter, a 2003 recorded statement to Bateman’s lawyer, and a 2004 deposition. She pleaded for his release. In a 2008 appeal, while she was in a psychiatric ward, Ms. Truitt claimed she only recanted because Bateman’s sister paid her a single sum of $100. In 2009, Truitt’s brother wrote Truitt, diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, recently went missing for three days before returning with the same story she told police in 1998.
In early 2017, Bateman filed motions for DNA Collection and a Subpoena Duce Tecum to force the state to produce the DNA results of the Sexual Assault/Rape Kit collected. On June 20, the state denied the first motion because “Attorney Tavitas’ recollection of the trial testimony was that the perpetrators used a condom. Due to that reason, no DNA testing was performed.” On Aug. 18, the state denied the second motion claiming, “neither the Gary Police Department nor the Indiana State Police can locate any evidence that a rape kit was taken in the investigation of this case.”
Nonetheless, Mr. Bateman is still not yet exonerated and continues living under severe, costly, and parole stipulations that violate the Indiana Supreme Court’s Ruling in Bleeke v. Lemmon (2014).
All media will receive physical and digital kits with evidence confirming each assertion made in this release and more. They will also have the opportunity to ask Mr. Bateman, his lawyers, and supporters questions.
Press Contact:
Dr. Derek R. Ford
Volunteer, Coalition to Free Vernon T. Bateman
Chair and Associate Professor of Education Studies, DePauw University
Phone: 315-491-6987
Email: derek@freevernon.org