Evidence
The legal files found below are complicated to understand outside of the larger context of Keith LaMar's entire legal case. He details the significance of each of these documents very clearly in Condemned. Please read the book to understand just how meaningful these records are.
Further, it should be clarified that most of the evidence that could have exonerated Keith was intentionally kept from his defense by the prosecution team, a clear Constitutional violation of his Brady Rights. To this day, he still hasn't been granted full access to the State's evidence, in spite of the fact that the four other men sentenced to death alongside him after the Lucasville Prison Uprising were all able to gain access to these files (because their attorneys filed the paperwork, while Keith's did not). The others are finding substantial amounts of contradictory eyewitness statements, suppressed confessions, and other exculpatory evidence to help prove the State of Ohio had an incentive to clean up quickly after the riot was over, even if it meant they were engaging in prosecutorial misconduct.
A few of the files found below were passed on to Keith by other inmates and/or their attorneys:
Aaron Jefferson Murder Confession
Interview #1264 (PART 1) with Aaron Jefferson wherein he admits to murdering Darrell Depina, someone for whom Keith LaMar sits on Death Row. Click here for the pdf file
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Frederick Frakes Indictment
The April 21, 1994, indictment against Frederick Frakes, wherein he was charged with the murder of William Svette, one of the men's deaths for whom Keith faces execution. The evidence against Frakes was presented to a grand jury, who were persuaded to grant prosecutors permission to proceed with this indictment. The evidence against Frakes was clear PRIOR to the State mysteriously dropping his indictment and turning their attention on Keith, whose indictment coincidentally came only AFTER key witnesses were enticed to cooperate with the State (i.e. to go along with a made up narrative that implicated Keith). These jailhouse informants received early paroles and dropped charges in exchange for their perjured testimony against Keith. Click here for pdf file
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Michael Jones Eyewitness Statement
The transcript from a November 22, 1993 statement given by Michael Jones, confirming that he 'saw Freddy Frakes beat William Svette over the head with a baseball bat, chopping him 3 or 4 times until he collapsed where he died.' Jones states that William Svette was alive prior to that incident and that no one else was involved during or after his collapse. Included in the interview is a possible motive of a prior altercation between the men. These statements led to Frakes' indictment long before Keith was ever indicted; however, Frakes' indictment vanished when the State turned their attention on Keith. Click here for pdf file
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Statement of Stacey Gordon
Stacey Gordon's Sept. 8, 1994, statement, wherein he claims that he does not know Keith LaMar, nor saw him in the early hours of the uprising. Gordon would later take the stand in LaMar's trial and name him the leader of the "death squad," receiving an early parole in exchange for his testimony. Click here for pdf file
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Withheld Witness Statements
Following Keith's trial, Seth Tieger, the very same prosecutor who refused to turn over witness statements to the defense team (citing the promise of confidentiality to witnesses, which was never proven to actually be in place), turned over the very needed statements in the cases of Rasheem Matthews and Derek Cannon. Proof of Keith's claims of innocence can be confirmed here in copies of exculpatory evidence taken from their files:
Click here for the Rasheem Matthews pdf file
Click here for the Derek Cannon pdf file
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21 Point Agreement
This document, signed by SOCF Warden Arthur Tate, is the 21 point agreement that ended the 1993 Lucasville Prison Uprising in a peaceful surrender. The State of Ohio almost immediately violated essential points of the agreement, when it pursued legal action against alleged leaders and others who refused to cooperate with investigators. Keith was someone who was vocal about not helping the State as they searched for men who they could pay to inform (lie) on others, which made him a target when they needed someone to pin the inmate deaths on. Click here for pdf file
Poor Representation — Letter from Keith LaMar's attorney, Kate McGarry
This Sept. 17, 2012, letter from attorney, Kate McGarry, acknowledges Keith's request to file a motion to remand (to be included with the other four death-sentenced men in gaining access to the State's full warehouse of evidence, including critical interview transcripts). She says, "I am not opposed to filing a motion to remand; I just have not seen the basis to do so..." When McGarry and Keith spoke, she assured him she would file the motion.However, she never did, which has left Keith out of the process of combing the evidence in order to properly build his defense. Instead, he must rely on the other men's attorneys to share files with his attorneys. Click here for pdf file
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Letter in response to the attorney's letter
In response to Kate McGarry's Sept. 17, 2012, letter (wherein she indicated she could see no basis to file a motion to remand on Keith's behalf), supporters/attorneys Staughton and Alice Lynd sent this letter, wherein they detailed the abundance of outstanding evidence. Keith's attorneys broke their promise to file this motion on his behalf, the deadline to file came and went, and he, alone, has been left out of this discovery. His case has now been completely exhausted, placing him in imminent threat of execution (November 16, 2023). Meanwhile, the other four death-sentenced men's cases are on hold as their legal teams are carefully combing the database for any relevant evidence to use in their appeals. Click here for pdf file
Attorneys' memo against "interference"
In spite of their earlier collaboration with the Lynds, Keith's attorneys suddenly issued a memo on October 22, 2012, warning Staughton and Alice that their "interference" was no longer going to be allowed. Their letter came after Keith voiced his concern that David had been ill-prepared to argue his issues. Click here for pdf file