Voices of the friends.. 

An audio project by Alex Wood

1. Click here to hear Bob Perske - We are coming back. 34 seconds. February 11, 2008.

     Bob Perske discusses how the current political and judicial environment makes it difficult to win a new trial, through a writ of habeas corpus, for a person who has been convicted of a crime.
     "Fuger" (pronounced FI-ger) refers to Connecticut Superior Court Judge Stanley T. Fuger Jr., who denied Richard Lapointe's most recent petition for a writ of habeas corpus. That decision is on appeal.

     "Kate" refers to Kate Germond, an investigator with Centurion Ministries, a New Jersey-based organization that works to free innocent people who have been convicted of crimes. Centurion Ministries has taken up Richard Lapointe's case, and Bob comments on the organization's dedication to the case.

2. Click here to hear Bob Perske - Justice for individuals with disabilities. 2 minutes. February 11, 2008.

     Bob Perske discusses some of the difficulties persons with disabilities have in getting justice -- even from news reporters.
     Liz Martin was the step-mother of Karen Lapointe, who was Richard Lapointe's wife but divorced him after he was charged with murdering Karen's grandmother, Bernice Martin. (After the divorce, Karen changed her name back to Karen Martin.) Liz was the person who first tipped Bob off to the injustice being done to Richard.

     Johnny Paul Penry is a man with mental retardation who was convicted of a murder and sentenced to death in Texas. There were extensive legal proceedings in the case, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and a second trial in which Penry was again sentenced to die. Eventually, his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment as a result of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in another case that it is unconstitutional to execute persons with retardation.

3. Click here to hear Bob Perske - Richard couldn't do it. 1 minute. February 11, 2008

     Bob Perske discusses Richard Lapointe's physical inability to have committed the "highly athletic" murder of Bernice Martin.

4. Click here to hear Bob Perske - A Fierce Prosecutor.  1 minute, 23 seconds. February 11, 2008.

     Rosita Creamer, who was the lead prosecutor at Richard Lapointe's murder trial in 1992, was known for the aggressiveness of her courtroom style.
     Here, Bob Perske recalls how Stephen Greenspan, an educational psychologist who specializes in disability issues, recruited a fellow educational psychologist, Richard H. Bloomer, to testify at the death-penalty phase of the trial -- and how Dr. Bloomer reacted to Attorney Creamer's cross examination.
     The jury that had convicted Richard Lapointe of murdering Bernice Martin ultimately decided to spare him the death penalty. As a result, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of release.
 

Thanks to Alex Wood for creating and submitting these audio clips!

Alex Wood is a reporter for the Journal Inquirer and long time friend of Richard Lapointe. He is the author of the Journal Inquirer's 5 part analysis of the murder case against Richard A. Lapointe, published from Monday, January 9 through January 13, 1995. To read that series, check out http://www.friendsofrichardlapointe.com/tainted_justice.htm. The Journal Inquirer is published afternoons Monday through Friday and Saturday mornings in Manchester, CT, and serves 17 towns in the north-central part of the state, including Enfield, East Hartford, and Vernon. For more info about the Journal Inquirer, visit their website at http://www.journalinquirer.com.