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Preface

I stand for the rights of all victims and believe that an unprovoked murder is one of the most barbaric and savage acts committed by man against man. While my heart and prayers go out to the Janke (pronounced, Yahn key) family who lost their loved one to murder, they also go out to the families of Giovanni Reid and Carlton Bennett who lost them after they were wrongfully convicted of having conspired in the robbery/murder.

The following story took place fourteen years ago in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . On August 10, 1991 at the break of dawn, Mr. Robert Janke, a pedestrian who had been minding his own business, was robbed and cruelly shot execution style by a lone stranger at the intersection of 17th and South Streets; he died later that same day. The miscreant who robbed and shot him was later identified as Dwayne Bennett.

Although five people were with Dwayne Bennett on that fateful morning, none of the five was near him or in his immediate space when he robbed and shot Mr. Janke. Giovanni Reid along with brothers Tyrone Mackey and Richard King were all in the vicinity when it happened. Two of the murderer's cousins were there as well - Dajuan and Carlton Bennett.

Immediately after the incident, Mr. Tyrone Mackey reportedly stopped by a relative's home to report the crime. He would also be the one to later initiate contact with the police. All five young men identified Dwayne Bennett (his cousins included) as the lone culprit; just the same, Giovanni Reid and Carlton Bennett would end up being tried together as Dwayne Bennett's accomplices. The Government's key witness, who purportedly eyewitnessed the crime as it unfolded, testified in court that she saw three, dark-skinned Black males surround the victim before he was shot.

A death-qualified jury was seated. However, the day before the trial was to get underway, in a desperate attempt to escape the penalty of death, Mr. Dwayne Bennett accepted a plea bargain of life in prison without the possibility of parole. So, how did a then sixteen-year-old, visibly light-skinned Giovanni Reid end up in a courtroom seated at a defense table? And, how on earth did he wind up receiving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole?

Though Dwayne Bennett (the confessed murderer) has always maintained that no one else knew what he was contemplating, it seemed to fall on deaf ears. If you'll click on and read "The Case", I am sure that you too will conclude that Giovanni Reid and his co-defendant, Carlton Bennett, were unjustly convicted of conspiracy to robbery and murder.

I interviewed Mr. Giovanni Reid, read over official documents and court transcripts to write about his story. I feel that his appeals over the years should not be viewed as a request for freedom from an unjust man, but rather, as a moral plea from a just man beseeching justice.

cwms©2005

Charlotte A. Williams, Writer