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JESSIE LEE WISE Music in Real Audio
Jessie was murdered by the State of Missouri May 26, 1999
CLICK BELOW TO JESSIE LEE WISE'S MUSIC IN REAL AUDIO
"LAMENT FOR TONY M."
1.
Aries in July & June
7. Lament
for Tony M
2. Rainsfall
8. Carole's Blues
3. Reflections in the Afternoon
9. A Wish for Life
4.
Soliloquy
10. If They
Only Knew
5. The
Wisecracker Suite
11. Coollage ( Funk St. Lou )
6. Once A Smile
12. This Rose Eternal
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE SUPPORTERS OF JESSIE WISE
Wise (black) received a death sentence for the 1988 murder of
Geraldine Rose McDonald (white), who lived in a condominium
where he was a maintenance worker.
Prosecutors say he confessed but he denies it.
IMPORTANT ASPECTS:
1. Combination
of conflict of interest and Jessie's mental health
issues resulted
in him defending himself at trial with obvious results.
Jessie's trial lawyer
was running for prosecutor while he was
representing Jessie.
Jessie felt his lawyer was disregarding his input
and suggstions.
His trial lawyers filed a motion to have Jessie declared
incompetent to
stand trial without Jessie's permission. They based their
motion on Jessie's
defensive theory of the case, which they contended was
irrational, and
on a psychological examination of Jessie which diagnosed
him as having
delusional disorder. The court required that the basis of
the motion be
made available to the prosecutors, thus making them aware
of Jessie's defense
strategy. As a result, Jessie requested to act as
his own attorney
at trial, and was permitted to do so. He did accept
help (from other
lawyers) at the penalty phase, but the judge would not
given them even
one day to prepare for the penalty hearing.
2. Videotaped evidence that could have been useful in Jessie's defense
were not available during the trial. The prosecutor "lost" a videotape
of the crime scene and one of an interview with a witness who testified
against Jessie at trial. They were not found until Jessie's appeal was
in progress. While the appellate courts have found that the loss was
not reversible error, the tapes would have been useful in presenting
Jessie's theory of the defense and in cross-examining the witness.
3. The prosecution introduced police testimony that Jessie had confessed
to the killing. Jessie denies making the confession. There were no
audio or video recordings of the confession, and Jessie did not sign a
written statement. Jessie maintains that he was high on cocaine at the
time of his arrest so that any statements he made to the police are not
reliable.
4. In his federal habeas corpus case, Jessie was appointed lawyers who
did not meet the qualifications set forth by Congress for appointment in a
capital habeas corpus case. Neither had the required three years
experience in felony appeals. This impacted their ability to present
quality habeas claims on Jessie's behalf.
5. Jessie suffered several traumas in his early life. His mother died
when he was 5. He then went to live with his grandparents, but his
grandmother, who was like a second mother, died when he was eight. He
received little warmth from his father and grandfather, and was
separated from his brothers and sister who were close to him in age.
6. Jessie has been a well-behaved inmate in prison. He sings for
church services, teaches and writes music, and has won a prize for his
prison poetry.
Any part helps:
1. Ask Gov. Mel Carnahan to commute the sentence
phone 573-751-3222,
or fax 573-751-1495
(life in prison without parole is a statutory alternative to the
death penalty for first degree murder);
State Capitol, Box 720, Jefferson City, MO 65101.
In Kansas City: 889-3186; St. Louis: 340-6900
CANCELLED IF COMMUTATION OR STAY.
The above information was provided by Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty
Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty
PO Box 54
Jefferson City, MO 65102
573-635-7239
Jessie Lee Wise, an African-American man convicted and sentenced to death for murdering and robbing a European-American woman, has never had his constitutionally-guaranteed "day in court". The overall proof of Jessie's "actual and factual innocence" has been abandoned by every appointed counsel, and the courts in Missouri, under a questionable practice of bias toward pro se litigants, have consistently refused to address Jessie's pro se constitutional issues.
Jessie's case is also afflicted with over a hundred instances of police and prosecutorial misconduct which have never been addressed by any court, and results in unreliability in the jury's guilty verdict, including:
1) police fabricated Jessie's "confession" under the total circumstances;
2) police threatened and acoerced Jessie's retained private investigator to cease all investigations, and prosecution covered it up;
3) police and prosecution made but denied deals made with key witness in exchange for false testimony and non-prosecution of charges;
4) police and prosecution tampered with and also failed to disclose crucial physical evidence proving another committed the murder; and,
C;) prosecution tampered with jury and incited its passion and prejudice on at least 25 occasions.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Because Jessie's pro se claims of innonence have been ignored and relief denied- by the lower state and federal courts, Jessie needs expert legal and investigative assistance outside the State of Missouri to file complaints, petitions, briefs and any other pertinent corrective documents for relief in the United States Supreme Court on his behalf. Without your help, Missouri wiIl execute a man completely Innocent of murder by the total evidence and circumstances.
For further
information, please contact:
JESSIE LEE WISE CP 86 5B47
POTOSI CORRECTIONAL CENTRE
ROUTE 2 BOX 2222
MINERAL POINT , MO
63660 USA
EXCERPTS FROM :
ARTICLE - "DEATH ROW JAZZ"
By Jim Knipfel January
1999
JESSIE WISE KEEPS THE BEAT & COUNTS THE DAYS - Death Row Jazz
CLICK TO LISTEN TO SELECTIONS FROM LAMENT FOR TONY M. (Songs 1-12)
In December of 1990, after a nine day trial, Jessie Lee wise was found guilty of brutally murdering Geraldine Rose McDonald, 49 with a wrench, In her Condominium outside of St. Louis. After being sentenced, Wise was sent to serve out his term at the Potosi Correctional Center In Mineral Point MO- an experimental prison that had been opened just a year earlier.
There are plenty of things that make Potosi an anomaly among American prisons, but probably foremost among them Is the fact that being incarcerated there means you've been given one of three sentences: 50 years to life without parole, life without parole or death.
Wise got death, and will probably die by lethal injection in the very near future.
Wise
himself is an anomaly among American death row inmates. Not because he
maintains his innocence (which he does) or argues that he was framed by
the police and the prosecution (which he does as well). Most death row inmates
I've dealt with over the years claim both those things. No, Wise is different
because it was in prison that he became an accomplished, self
taught jazz musician. He's even offering his latest cassette,
Lament For Tony M., to anyone who contributes to his legal defense fund.
On top of that, he's also an award-winning poet and writer.
in fact, that's what first caught my attention. I've dealt with any number of prison inmates over the years, but have never encountered one quite as literate as Jessie Wise.
None of these things, of course, implies that he's innocent. I don't know whether he is or not. But he certainly is interesting.
Because of Wise's situation, conducting a normal interview-whether over the phone or by taking him out for a few beers-was pretty much out of the question. Since it had to take place via regular surface mall (which also ran into some snags when Potosi started holding both his incoming and outgoing letters), the following interview took place over several months, during which Wise moved closer and closer to his execution date.
* * * * *
* *
Now that he's been on death row - especially in a place like
Potosi - for as long as he has, I wondered, what does he do to maintain his
sanity and prepare for the inevitable?
"There are approximately 100 prisoners on Missouri's death row," he wrote, "and though we all are subject to the same fate, we each have our own agendas. Some sleep their lives away, a defense mechanism, I presume; some are fluent in criminal law, fighting their way out of this deflating, airless balloon; some are strong while others are weak, intolerable, pitiful. And some have decided that what will be will be. Others, like myself, are trying to make the best of a very bad predicament and seek to rise above both environment and fate. Fortunately, I am assigned as the inmate music room's coordinator, which I perform daily. I teach the fundamentals of music and instrumentation to prisoners, and am also responsible for the upkeep of the musical equipment."
That was the in I needed. I wanted to talk to him about his musical career more than anything else- You hear about a lot of prison writers, but precious few musicians. I asked Wise how he ended up with the teaching job.
"I was given the job because I'm the most competent " he wrote back with undisguised pride "Not only have I had years of experience, but no other person here, including staff, knows more about music than I do."
Lament
For Tony M., which Wise is releasing under the name WiseGuy, is a collection
of 10 songs, which he performs mostly on guitar and keyboards. It's extremely
-and surprisingly -mellow, coming from a man who's been accused
of such brutal crimes. When I first received a copy, I was expecting
some nastyblues, maybe, or just a lonely, wailing harmonica.
Anything but the new-agey cool jazz synth washes I heard.
It's very smooth and light and melancholy. Wise freely admils that
people will be interested in his tape for its novelty value.
It was during that first long stint - the life sentence-that Wise decided, with no prior training of any kind, to teach himself music. He said he wanted a way to communicate with other musicians.
"There was no one in teach prisoners way back when, so I just gathered all the books I could, made drumsticks out of pencils and fretboards and keyboards out of cardboard, and went to work." He taught himself how to play keyboards, drums and guitar and went on to lead several prison bands. Along with the cool jazz, he also writes r&b ballads. I asked him how this new tape came about.
"I was prompted to do Lament fFr Tony M, after the state of Missouri executed my friend and fellow musician, Robert Anthony (Tony) Murray- For a few years at this institution, he and I were the nucleus of one of the best bands. His death touched me because his creativity and musicianship were stripped from the world. Irregardless of what he had allegedly done over a decade before, people do change while incarcerated, hut no one takes notice of that fact. Anyway, I miss one of my best friends; we collaborated on many exciting and interesting compositions."
While he's not currently in a band, Wise says some of his old prison bands were pretty good, and a few of them even tried recording a few rimes. They always ran into trouble, though.
"We could never complete a project before some of the members were transferred or executed," he wrote, without the slightest bit of irony. But, he says, they did play a lot of inhouse shows, primarily on holidays.
Apart from an active musical career, Wise has also, over the years, maintained a pretty busy writing career from inside his cell, turning out poetry, screenplays, even working on a couple novels.
"I've ben fortunate and have won poetry awards over the past 20 years, all minor accomplishments. In 1984, I sold one one of two teleplays to CBS for The Jeffersons (The show, though produced, was never aired, because the series was canceled.) 'Presently, I have a collection of poetry; enough for a chapbook, that I would like to see in print. My writings during this particular imprisonment have focused on death and dying, definite melancholic material, especially my poetry collection, which is entitled, Silhouette of a Colored Portrait.
"I have begun on several books and full-length feature screenplays...," he continued. "One of the screenplays, and the very first one I hegan during this incarceration, is a comedy about a black guy and a white guy who were ex-slaves. The setting is during the goidrush years and is entitled The Forty-Eighters. Believe me, it is hilarious. One of my so-called novels, The Theocracy, is a helluva drama about the real right-wing extremists and their plans for the end of the world; how they have systematically decided to end all of mankind, except for a chosen few, by Christmas of 1999. One other, and my favorite, The Cerebus Agenda, is just a little too deep to discuss; it concerns the migration of all black people around the world back to Africa to rebuild it, ending for the first time the old slave conceptions and mentality around the globe.
"As my case progressed through the appellate courts, I was forced to set aside any and all extensive writing projects and focus on my case. I haven't a clue what the future will bring, and If I am executed, I will most likely burn all of my unpublished manuscripts. I have no one to leave them to who would appreciate the effort. I want to write my books so bad; and when they come to get me I just want to tell them that I'm not through with this life; that I have so much to say, and ask them if they can walt awhile. Crazy; isn't it? it's ridiculous to even consider compassion from such an obnoxious system, and they care less if they're killing a possible creative entity."
* * * * * *
On Christmas Eve, I received a greeting card from death row. It was gold, with foil poinsettas splayed across the front. I hadn't heard from Jessie in a while, and was getting a little worried. We'd been having trouble with the mail for some time. I'd heard, though, that a poem of his was going to be published in an anthology of writers who had won the PEN prison writing award.
Inside
the card, he wrote: "Will write very soon. Just despondent these days
over some extremely bad news from the courts. Have a good holiday,"
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