There's a serious miscarriage of justice going on and it's going on right here in the Kansas City metro. It came to big light after KCTV5 aired their special report on the arrests of Raymore resident Glenn Stevens in late November. They'd been contacted by the Stevens family in the summertime and worked on the investigation for several months.
The story was also picked up by the Kansas City Star. Today, Mr. Stevens, his wife Irene, their lawyer and Channel 5's Dana Wright were guests of the Shanin and Parks Show on KMBZ. Blogger Groucho of Capt. Spaulding's World has also been following this case.
In a nutshell, Mr. Stevens has been accused of stealing from retail giant Wal-Mart. He has been charged with thefts at three Wal-Marts. They have actually been looking at him as a suspect in a string of thefts from 20 Wal-Marts! He has never been arraigned for these three known charges, but he has been taken to jail. For the Nodaway county case, he was jailed with a cash only bond of $30,000, a bond more appropriate to a violent crime involving a weapon! He spent July 4th in jail due to these charges and this ridiculous bail.
Mr. Stevens has proof that he was elsewhere during the alleged theft from the Wal-Mart in the Nodaway county town of Versailles. They won't even look at it. During Dana Wright's report, the police officer makes the outrageous statement that Mr. Stevens will have to work to show his innocence of the charges--an exact reverse of how the system is supposed to work!
As a sign of support to this innocent man, The Observer has his picture up on the side bar. Clicking on the photo will lead you to Glenn Stevens is Innocent--a blog maintained by one of his children. Leroy Stevens is putting everything about the cases he can up on the blog so it will be a vital way to stay in touch with this awful case.
Also you should read Groucho's posts on the matter as well, here, here and here. I know it's tough, but consider boycotting Wal-Mart--at least until they admit they are wrong and remove themselves as complainant in these bogus charges.
This man is just two years older than the Observer's mother and was born the same year as the Observer's late father--I am trying to imagine my mother going to jail for something she didn't do and would never consider doing. It's just outrageous.
What an appalling miscarriage of justice! Not only will I boycott Walmart...I will urge everyone I know to do the same.
ReplyDeleteLinda in Lenexa