Words of comfort following the loss of Maurice Carter

October 25, 2004---the day my brother Maurice Carter died. He was only 60 years of age and had spent nearly half of his life in prison for a crime he did not commit. Our decade-long battle against the system was over. Maurice, having been finally released for medical reasons, survived in freedom for only three months. 

I was numb. Then the personal messages started arriving. I share a sampling of meaningful notes that buoyed me during that time of sadness. 

From that wonderful Pam Cytrynbaum, then with Medill Innocence Project, one of the moving forces in our fight for justice: 

Oh God. Oh God.

Here’s the hug I can offer. It comes in the words of Sister Helen Prejean, a friend of us all, and, magically, a friend to me while I was in New Orleans covering death penalty cases for the local newspaper. I was covering the grotesque trial of an innocent man, Vernon Williams. The night after he was (inevitably) convicted, I sobbed to Sister Helen. “What can I do? I failed him!”

She asked me, “Have I failed the men I have watched die?”

“Of course not,” I said.

“Why?” she asked me.

“Because you never gave up.”

She said, “What you have done is to walk beside this man. It is what I do. That is all we can do. Keep walking. Keep on walking beside him. That is our grace.”

He (Maurice) was free, Doug. But not merely. You are beside him. He is beside you.

That is grace. That is his.

My heart is with you both.

Pam

 

From Phil Campbell, Toronto attorney and another warrior on our team, representing the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, Toronto: 

…your contribution to Maurice went much, much further than legal advocacy on his behalf.

I wanted to let you know that I am thinking of you. And among the things I have thought is that your work accomplished a great deal. It was decisive in giving Maurice three months of freedom. Those must have been among the sweetest days of his life. It served as an inspiration for countless other people---me among them. And it was ultimately transformative.

The official record shows Maurice to be convicted of attempted murder. But in the eyes of the public, and of many more who studied the case, he achieved exoneration. When you met Maurice he was a forgotten man; he died a celebrity. When you met him he was reviled as a dangerous criminal; he died a symbol of wronged innocence. When you met him he had no real friends; he died surrounded by love.

The qualities he displayed during the bleakest years imaginable are answer enough to his accusers.

I wish you, and Maurice’s other friends, his family and supporters, all the best.

Warmly, Phil

 

And finally, this short note from my dear friend Keith Tanis, who was guest pastor at Ferrysburg Community Church on the morning that Maurice Carter made a brief personal appearance in the summer of 2004: 

It was an amazing year---Maurice getting outta jail, and then outta here altogether.

Heaven is closer. Life is precious.

Keep praising the Christ.

Drink good wine.

Laugh a lot.