This
case should concern all of us. What
happened to Sean Casey could happen to anyone. This is a
story about a young man who was accused in Florida of a crime he
did not commit and is currently serving a 12½-year prison
sentence at New River Correctional Institution, East Unit, in Raiford,
Florida.
On March 11, 2001, Sean Casey was charged
with DUI Manslaughter, Vehicular Homicide, and Leaving the Scene
of an Accident with Death. The
charges stem from a traffic accident on Harding Avenue in Miami
Beach, Florida, in which an automobile owned by Sean Casey struck
and killed an elderly pedestrian crossing the street. The
only description of a driver was that of a Black male. Sean
is a fair-skinned Caucasian male. The car was abandoned around
a mile away. Minutes later, police found the car and sent
a unit to Sean’s apartment on the other side of town, where
he was located. The police arrested him even though there
was absolutely no evidence he was the driver of the vehicle.
Sean Casey hired prominent Miami criminal
defense attorney Milton Hirsch to defend him, but instead Hirsch
told Sean to flee the country. He had Sean meet with psychologist, Michael E. Rappaport,
to also convince him he should flee. Both convinced Sean
that the State Attorney’s Office was going to show no regard
for the truth and he needed to flee the country to avoid being
wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit.
An arrest warrant was issued and Sean
returned to the U.S. in 2006. Milton Hirsch set Sean up by tricking him into signing
a plea agreement instead of going to trial where Sean would have
had the opportunity to reveal Hirsch’s and Rappaport’s
criminal advice to flee and prove his innocence. They were
aiding and abetting a fugitive and obstructing justice and were
going to do everything to not get caught.
In 2007, Sean tried to vacate his plea
and go to trial. At
the hearing both Hirsch and Rappaport committed perjury by denying
they ever gave Sean the advice to flee even though a tape recording
exists where both of them unequivocally give this advice. Judge
Leonard Glick would not listen to the tapes and refused to vacate
the plea. What is worse, the prosecutor on this case, Assistant
State Attorney Gail Levine, knows what is on the tapes, yet chooses
to protect Hirsch and Rappaport instead of opening a closed case
and seeking the truth.
Now, Sean is fighting to reopen his
case so the truth can finally be told. His Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment
rights were blatantly violated. Please read his story. You
will be shocked at how the criminal justice system really works
in this country!
If you think you can help, please
click here to contact Sean. He
would appreciate your support. |