Alabama Man Says Parole Board Used Incorrect Information To Deny His Release
When Antonio Lafell Jackson was considered for parole on Tuesday, November 5, his brother felt like his chances were good. But after a lawyer from the Alabama Attorney General’s office and a victim’s advocate both stood up and claimed Mr. Jackson had a prior murder conviction in Georgia, he was stunned.
BY BETH SHELBURNE, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, CAMPAIGN FOR SMART JUSTICE
“I told them, that’s the wrong guy,” said Reverend Torail Jackson, Antonio Jackson’s brother. “I didn’t want to be out of order, but I was shocked. My brother has never even been questioned about a murder.”
Rev. Jackson attended his brother's parole hearing to advocate for his release. Alabama does not allow incarcerated people to attend their own parole hearings.
Rev. Jackson said in addition to the erroneous murder conviction, the AG’s office and VOCAL (Victims of Crime and Leniency) both also incorrectly stated that Jackson was serving two life sentences.
According to his family, ADOC and court records, Jackson has served almost 12 years on a life sentence for two 2009 first degree robbery convictions in St. Clair County. His prior convictions include two third degree robberies in Bessemer, in 1996 and 1998. A search of criminal histories maintained by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation turned up no murder convictions for Mr. Jackson.
“It’s a flat out lie and a defamation of my character to be called a murderer by the very people who hold the key to my freedom,” Antonio Jackson, who goes by Lafell, wrote in a letter. “The only violent charges I’ve ever had are the robberies here in Alabama in which no one was physically hurt.”
Jackson had been accepted into Shepherd’s Fold, a residential Christian re-entry program near Birmingham. Rev. Jackson said his brother has overcome a long addiction to crack cocaine and is determined to stay out of trouble.
“For this claim about a murder to just show up, it was devastating,” Rev. Jackson said. “The hearing seemed like it was just another prosecution and they didn’t even have the correct information. We had no recourse.”
The parole board denied Jackson’s parole and set his next hearing for four years away.
The day before parole hearings resumed on November 5 after a two-month hiatus, newly appointed parole director Charlie Graddick held a press conference expressing his opposition to releasing “violent criminals” and distributed a list of people on Tuesday’s docket, along with details of their criminal cases.
Alabama’s Bureau of Pardons and Paroles sent out the same information in a press release Tuesday afternoon under the headline, “Alabama parole board denies release of 14 violent felons.”
The entry for Antonio Lafell Jackson stated that he had a prior murder conviction in Georgia. Multiple media outlets published the information.
I emailed Terry Abbott, communications director for Alabama’s Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, requesting response about allegations that erroneous information was presented to the board and whether anything could be done to mitigate the damage.
“Board members noted in public session that their files noted the murder conviction in Georgia,” Abbott wrote. “That’s all the information I have to share.”
Rev. Jackson suspected the murder conviction was the result of an error. When he talked to his brother after the hearing, he asked him if he had a murder conviction in Georgia, just to make sure. Lafell Jackson assured him that he absolutely had never been arrested or convicted of murder, and he suspected the error was due to an administrative mix-up that he thought Alabama’s Department of Corrections (ADOC) had straightened out.
Lafell Jackson told his brother that earlier this year, the incorrect information about a murder conviction suddenly appeared in his prison records. He spoke with officers at the prison and thought the erroneous information was removed from his files.
“He was just flabbergasted and devastated,” Rev. Jackson said about his brother. “Never would we have thought that at a parole hearing they would have that same incorrect information to consider for his release.”
There are three people in ADOC custody with the name Antonio Jackson, according to a search of the ADOC database. One of them, Antonio Jackson Jr., is serving life without parole for two murder convictions out of Jefferson County.
I sent Abbott another email asking him to explain how the files are compiled for parole board members.
“The board services officers maintain files on all the inmates coming up for parole consideration. Those files include information from a variety of law enforcement resources, including out of state law enforcement agencies, district attorneys, the attorney general, parole officers, etc.,” he wrote.
Rev. Jackson said he now wishes he hired an attorney for his brother’s parole hearing. In addition to the incorrect information, VOCAL and the AG’s office also presented his brother’s 30-year record and a past disciplinary in prison, as if he was on trial again.
“Just to mention these things in abstract doesn’t really identify anything about the individual I know who has been working to rebuild his life in a maximum-security prison,” Rev. Jackson said. “The whole process has devastated us.”
On November 5, Alabama’s parole board denied 17 people release, including Jackson. Only one person was granted parole. For the week, the board only granted parole to 9 people out of 54 cases that were heard.
Governor Kay Ivey appointed Charlie Graddick as Executive Director after the legislature gave her appointing authority in a bill aimed at “reforming” pardons and paroles. Even though the Department of Justice issued a scathing report earlier this year that called Alabama prison conditions unconstitutional, Graddick has dismissed concerns about prison overcrowding.
"Inmates do not have an innate right to be paroled, they must earn such a privilege,” Graddick said.
But for Mr. Jackson and his family, they feel like they were robbed of that privilege, based on false information, with no opportunity to set the record straight.
UPDATE: A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office responded to an email request for comment.
"The attorney general staffer who attended and spoke at the hearing is not a lawyer, but a victim services officer. Furthermore, she did not comment on whether there was a prior murder conviction in Georgia. If such a comment were made, it was stated by someone else.
Antonio Jackson is presently serving two concurrent life sentences for two Robbery 1st degree convictions in St. Clair County. This was correctly stated by our victim services officer during the parole hearing last week."
Beth Shelburne is an investigative reporter for the Campaign for Smart Justice with the ACLU of Alabama. For investigative reporting on Alabama’s prison and pardons & paroles systems, follow her on Twitter at @bshelburne.