On October 26, 2014, two men shot up the Imperial Courts projects in Watts, injuring several and murdering Samieke Griggley. At the time the shootings occurred, Christopher Stone was 45 miles away with his mother, daughter, and girlfriend.
His alibi is supported by material evidence. The State’s case against him is not. Nevertheless, four years later, after contradictory eye-witness identification and no physical evidence, the Los Angeles District Attorney prosecuted and convicted Christopher for the murder.
Christopher Stone is serving life without the possibility of parole in the California prison system for a crime he did not commit.
Every wrongful conviction is a complex story. Christopher was convicted on weak circumstantial evidence by a Police Department and District Attorney with a tried and true playbook for railroading men who grew up on the streets of South L.A.
As we started looking into Chris’s case, it was astounding to see how prevalent it is for men in Watts and Compton to be locked up for crimes they didn’t commit. Astounding for us, that is. For them, it’s just part of life in South L.A.
But what makes his case unique is that everyone on the streets knows he wasn’t involved. But in neighborhoods that are as terrorized by law enforcement as they are by gang violence, the culture runs deep that you don’t talk to the cops. That might seem crazy to those of us who were born into privileged communities, but when you understand the origins of the mandate and what’s at stake when you break it, then you start to understand the knots we have to untie on both sides of the equation to free Christopher.