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[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”About Me” _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”||68px|||”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,3_4″ use_custom_gutter=”on” padding_top_bottom_link_2=”true” padding_left_right_link_2=”true” _builder_version=”3.25″ max_width=”80%” custom_margin=”|-6px||304px||” custom_margin_tablet=”|10%||10%||true” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding=”100px|0px|0|0px|false|false” use_custom_width=”on” width_unit=”off”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https://exoneratednation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/IMG_2504-3.jpg” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.0.7″ custom_margin=”-60px|-46%||-101px|false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”|0%||” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” animation_style=”slide” animation_direction=”right” animation_intensity_slide=”5%”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ background_color=”#f7f9fc” custom_padding=”40px|60px|40px|60px” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”|40px||40px||true” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” padding_phone=”|40px||40px||true” padding_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.0.7″ text_font=”||||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”2em” header_font=”||||||||” header_2_font=”Montserrat|300|||||||” header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.4em” header_5_font=”||||||||” header_5_text_color=”#7f8dff” header_5_line_height=”2em” header_2_font_size_tablet=”” header_2_font_size_phone=”30px” header_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” locked=”off”]

By Obie Anthony:
In 1995 I was convicted of murder. I was innocent. Neglectful legal defense, perjury, and prosecutorial misconduct landed me being in prison, where I would live for the next 17 years of my life. In 2011, the Northern California Innocence Project and the Loyola Project for the Innocent won my exoneration, and I was released.

But coming home wasn’t easy. I had to reestablish my life in a world that had changed drastically while I was wrongfully imprisoned. I didn’t know how to use a computer or a smartphone. I didn’t know how to find a job. I didn’t know how to deal with my trauma. Even the seemingly mundane task of securing identification seemed impossible. I learned there was no program in California to help me transition home after release, and that exonerees don’t have access to the programs available to individuals on parole. Even after years of wrongful incarceration, there was no help.

I understand first-hand the impact that wrongful incarceration has on a person. My own experience of suffering through imprisonment and reentry motivated me to prevent other exonerees from experiencing the same suffering.

That’s why I founded Exonerated Nation. Exonerated Nation is on a mission to meet the immediate needs of exonerees in California, including access to trauma healing.

204 people have been exonerated from California prisons since 1989. After years of wrongful imprisonment, there is no established state program to help them to secure housing, access health and mental health services and transition home from incarceration.

Exonerated Nation’s programs include employment services, emergency housing, healing, leadership development, and community building. Through exoneree leadership, we aim to fill the gap in services that exonerees face. We also aim to build a community of exonerees that can access healing and develop strategies to transform our justice system.

I speak with exonerees all the time, and they sustain my inspiration. Some have just been released, and others have been home for a while. We all have common struggles – finding housing, stable employment, reconnecting with family, and facing our trauma. Fundamentally, I am motivated to create and be a part of a community of exonerees who are able to heal, experience justice, and transform the systems which cause wrongful conviction.

Now is a critical time to support the leadership of exonerees, who must be at the forefront of the movement to prevent wrongful conviction. While the strides made in broader criminal justice reform are threatened by the current administration, there is also more organizing by formerly incarcerated individuals than ever before. The number of exonerees continues to increase, and we’ve had an outpouring of interest, energy, and support from wrongfully convicted individuals and allies. Organizing and activating a network of exonerees will add a new capacity, expertise, and perspective to California’s field of civil rights defenders. I also believe that exonerees are positioned to humanize and raise the bar for all formerly incarcerated individuals.

Exonerated Nation is a new and growing organization. We are looking for partners, allies, volunteers, and interns. For more information, click here (here link to the place where there are non-financial ways to help).

Exonerees, we want to hear from you. What are the main challenges you are facing now that you’re home? What changes would you like to see in in your state? To share your ideas or your story, please contact us at Info@exoneratednation.org 

Experiencing wrongful conviction showed me that this level of injustice can happen to me, or anyone. My experience with the failed justice system motivates me to stand against wrongful conviction and to fight for the rights and welfare of others who have been exonerated.

It is my honor to welcome you to Exonerated Nation.

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WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE YOUR STORY?

We’d like to invite you to share your story with us. While sharing your story is emotionally charged, it can also be healing.

By sharing your story you are providing concrete support to other exonerees, and educating Californians about the crisis of wrongful conviction.

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_contact_form captcha=”off” submit_button_text=”SHARE” module_id=”et_pb_contact_form_0″ _builder_version=”4.0.7″ form_field_background_color=”#ffffff” form_field_font=”||||||||” background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” border_radii=”on|10px|10px|10px|10px” border_width_all=”2px” border_color_all=”rgba(0,0,0,0.06)” form_background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” button_letter_spacing_hover=”2px”][et_pb_contact_field field_id=”Name” field_title=”Name” _builder_version=”3.16″ button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”][/et_pb_contact_field][et_pb_contact_field field_id=”Email” field_title=”Email Address” field_type=”email” _builder_version=”3.16″ button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”][/et_pb_contact_field][et_pb_contact_field field_id=”Message” field_title=”Message” field_type=”text” fullwidth_field=”on” _builder_version=”3.16″ button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”][/et_pb_contact_field][/et_pb_contact_form][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

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By Susan Mellen:
On August 25th, 1997, I brought my nine-year-old daughter, Jessica to McDonald’s for a Happy Meal. In the parking lot, I was thrown to the ground and arrested for the murder of my former boyfriend Rick Daly. Jessica was crying hysterically. I was innocent.

I pleaded with the detectives to drop Jessica off at her older sister’s house instead of letting child protective services take her. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back for dinner,” I called to her from the backseat of the unmarked detective’s car. But I wouldn’t see my children for seven years, and when I did see them, it would be from a prison visiting room.

 

Wrongful Imprisonment

In 1997 I entered jail, and in 1998 was moved to state prison where I lived for 17 years. I was in denial. I was devastated. I was numb. I kept asking myself, “How can they do this to me when I’m innocent?” I kept thinking: one day they are going to come to my cell door and say “Mellen, roll it up, you’re going home, you’re going to be set free.”

 

That day didn’t come for 17 years.

Just six months into my incarceration in state prison my mother passed away. To this day I believe she died of a broken heart. Once she knew that her daughter was sentenced to life in prison and would never come home, she couldn’t take it anymore. We were always close. I went to my counselor’s office and asked to attend my mom’s funeral. My counselor replied: “Mellen, you don’t know your sentencing, you have life without the possibility of parole. You will never go home. You will never leave prison. You will go home in a pine box.”

I realized then that I’d been given a death sentence. I thought of my body in a pine box. I thought of my children seeing my body in a pine box. I thought of them never being able to see me walk free. It was torture. It was vicious, cruel, unusual punishment. I was paralyzed by the fear of the unknown. I could never process what was done to me and what my counselor said to me. I was injured mentally and physically. To this day I picture myself in a pine box.

Because I felt weak and broken, I relied on something that was bigger and greater than me. It was by God’s grace and His strength that I was able to get up every day and survive.

 

Release
In 2013 I wrote a letter to Deirdre O’Connor, a lawyer from an organization called Innocence Matters, and asked her to please take my case. In 2014 she did. She was an answered prayer – an angel and a pitbull. I knew my freedom was finally on the way.

On July 3, 2014, I was shackled on the bus for a seven-hour drive to the county jail. Even though I knew that my freedom was on the way, returning to the jail and court was like reliving the original nightmare. I was locked in my cell and only allowed to come out for one hour a day. I was all alone and felt like an animal. I’d gone from living in a cell crowded with eight women for 17 years to the shock of being completely alone. One day I was left shackled in the visiting room for hours, with no one responding when I pressed the buzzer to use the bathroom. I was held in county jail for more than three months, waiting, in limbo. My terror and trauma were so overwhelming that I asked to be sent back to prison. At times, I struggled to breathe. My lawyer visited me every other day. My kids visited every weekend.

The judge released me directly from court, refusing the prison’s request to return me to the county jail for several days of paperwork and waiting.
He said “I believe not only is Ms. Mellen not guilty, I believe based on what I have read, that she’s innocent. For that reason, I think the criminal justice system failed. I do not want her spending any more time in custody on this case. She is to be released as soon as possible, preferably from this courthouse today.”

I broke down when I heard these words. Sometimes, you just need to hear someone say sorry.

I was held in a holding area behind the courtroom for most of the day, waiting for the prison to complete its paperwork. In the afternoon the judge reopened the court, allowing my lawyer and my children to come and see me. This was the first time I was uncuffed, unshackled, and allowed to be with my children.

 

 

I took the elevator downstairs, automatically turning my back to the doors, facing the wall, as you must do in prison. The court officer with me said “Mellen, turn around! You don’t have to face the wall anymore.”

 

Adjusting to Life on Mars

When I first came out of the courthouse all I saw was my family and friends and lots of cameras. My daughter handed me my grandson and he didn’t cry when I held him. I felt on top of the world. It was like the feeling that mothers experience giving birth. It was overwhelming and beautiful.

But I felt like I was adjusting to life on Mars. So much had changed over the course of 17 years.

For the first year, I lived on my daughter’s couch. Living there was a blessing and I was so excited and thankful to be free and be with my oldest daughter and my grandson. My daughter had her own family, and I didn’t want to be a burden on her. I signed up for food stamps.

It was a huge adjustment. Getting into a car was overwhelming – I didn’t start driving for over a year. Going to the store and looking at all the stuff was overwhelming. I had no clue what a cell phone was. And I wasn’t used to using a key to lock the front door.

When I had the money to get my own apartment I waited until a unit opened up in my daughter’s building so I could be close to her. But did I really want to live by myself?

Buying furniture and moving in was exciting, but once I was alone in my new apartment I sat down on the couch and cried like a baby. I’d gone from living in a little cell with one locker and one drawer to having a whole apartment. I was scared and didn’t know what to do. The first night I thought I heard gunfire and I got down on the ground under my bed because I didn’t want the bullets to hit me.

You get scared of little things when you don’t know what’s going on around you.

To this day I go to the park and cry. Even though I’m free and with my family, I also left my second family who is still behind prison walls. I remember years ago while I was inside, I got a new pair of white sneakers. I got a black marker and wrote freedom on the soles, even though I had life without parole.

The women inside called me “the girl who loves on purpose.” Now, they write freedom on the bottom of their shoes, and it gives them hope and faith.
I never wanted to give up. A few days after release, my daughter Jessica, Deirdre and I went to McDonald’s to get that Happy Meal. We took it to the beach to have a happy ending.

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WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE YOUR STORY?

We’d like to invite you to share your story with us. While sharing your story is emotionally charged, it can also be healing.

By sharing your story you are providing concrete support to other exonerees, and educating Californians about the crisis of wrongful conviction.

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WE WILL NEVER BE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE

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By Kimberly Long:
I spent seven years and three months in a California state prison for a murder I didn’t commit. I was accused of murder in 2003 for the death of my boyfriend. I was 27 years old. I had two trials in 2005. The first trial resulted in a hung jury, with nine out of 12 jurors saying I was not guilty.

I was retried the same year, and found guilty. The judge in my case said that if he had decided on my case instead of a jury, that he would have found me not guilty. Instead, he sentenced me to 15 years to life in prison but allowed me to remain free on bail pending my appeal.

I never in a million years thought I’d be found guilty of a crime I didn’t commit. Not in America at least. When I was out on bail all those years even though I was physically free, mentally I felt like I was in prison. I had anxiety and never truly could be happy. I always felt there was a dark cloud following me around. I went back to my job as a Nurse, trying to reestablish a normal life, but it was hard for me to concentrate at work in the emergency room. Soon, I had to leave the emergency department to work in home health. Despite the trauma, I experienced due to the false accusation and the threat of losing my life, I returned to my role as a mother, daughter, friend and much more. I had a life.

But on March 23, 2009, I lost my appeal and had to give up my entire life for a prison sentence. I lost everything that day. My children were gone. They went to live with their dad permanently. It would be years before I saw them again. I felt I was no longer a mother, no longer a Nurse. I lost my purpose and my identity and became a number: X36387 Inmate Long.

In 2010 I reached out to the California Innocence Project (CIP). They took my case and fought hard for my freedom. CIP secured a court date for me and I was released on June 10, 2016 when I was granted a new trial. The District Attorney appealed the Judge’s decision and we are awaiting a decision as of present.

My first few days home were a blur. So much to be done and so much to get used to again. I had to get reestablished. I had no clothes or personal belongings. My lawyers bought me a purse and some clothes to come home in and that is all I had.

I couldn’t sleep for the first few months after coming home. I was afraid to close my eyes not knowing when I opened them if I would be back in prison.

There have been many struggles along the way. All of us exonerees struggle differently, but we all struggle because of the same injustices. I’m grateful for my parents and my extended family. Without them, I’m not sure where I would be. For example, I had a place to live when I came home and all my immediate needs were met. I know other exonerees whose families have passed away during their incarceration, and who come home without any support. I can’t imagine how they feel.

What I didn’t expect when I came home was feeling like I no longer had a purpose. My children were grown. They were 12 and 17 when I was sent to prison. They were 19 and 24 when I came home. I missed it all: birthdays, holidays, proms, sports, first crushes, heartbreaks, and graduations, all of it. My purpose in their lives as a mother to make dinner and help with homework was now gone. It was just me. When my children would come over to have dinner or to just hang out there was a new awkwardness. I was powerless in those moments. I knew time would have to mend the difficult silences.

I also struggled with finding a job and explaining to creditors where I’d been for seven years. Everyone wanted to know why I hadn’t paid and didn’t have credit history for all those years. I felt victimized every time I had to explain. I started saying to creditors, “Can you just Google my name? It will be easier.” I wanted to go back to community college (which I did) but I couldn’t get financial aid because I defaulted on my nursing loan because I was wrongfully imprisoned! Everything has been a hurdle. It’s so easy for your life to be taken away, but it takes years to get any normalcy back. I’m still fighting with the nursing board to reinstate my nursing license, but the board says I’m not rehabilitated from a crime I didn’t commit.

After I came home on June 10, 2016, I decided to get my Associates degree. I already had credits from attending college previously, both inside and outside of prison. Now that I’m back in college, I’m enjoying every minute of it. I am still undecided if I’m going to pursue a registered nursing degree or a law degree. I became a paralegal while in prison, and I’m doing an internship this summer with an awesome woman who is teaching me everything she knows. I also work two part-time jobs and volunteer at two non-profit organizations and love staying busy. I stay busy so I don’t think. It’s important for me to keep moving forward in my life. It lets me feel as if I’m like everyone else, but really all of us exonerees know we will never be like everyone else.

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WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE YOUR STORY?

We’d like to invite you to share your story with us. While sharing your story is emotionally charged, it can also be healing.

By sharing your story you are providing concrete support to other exonerees, and educating Californians about the crisis of wrongful conviction.

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