Lawyer Jeffrey Deskovic innocently asks if enjoying John “Divine G” Whitfield in A24’s “Sing Sing” is actor Colman Domingo’s largest function. Subsequent to him sits the actual John Whitfield, who thinks deeply about this and movies like “Rustin” and “The Colour Purple.”
There’s actually a chance, he concludes. Domingo scored an Oscar nomination for Greatest Actor this 12 months for taking part in Whitfield. He joins Denzel Washington as the one Black actors nominated for the class in back-to-back years.
Nonetheless, the efficiency is undoubtedly an important to Whitfield and Deskovic, who met with the AmNews on Feb. 5 at Manhattan’s Angelika Movie Heart, the place the film was re-released. “Sing Sing” follows a “based mostly on a real story” play manufacturing placed on by Rehabilitation By the Arts, a jail theater program Whitfield helped set up within the mid-90s. The true plot, nevertheless, lies in Domingo’s model of Whitfield, who unravels between rehearsals as his once-confident declare to innocence meets countless roadblocks.
That very same declare to innocence for a 1988 second-degree homicide in Canarsie reached the Brooklyn District Lawyer’s Conviction Evaluation Unit (CRU) in actual life greater than seven years in the past. An ex-staff lawyer from Deskovic’s eponymous Deskovic Basis initially filed the applying, searching for consideration for Whitfield’s exoneration. They nonetheless await a call.
They name him ‘Divine from Brooklyn’
Court docket paperwork present witnesses didn’t know of a John Whitfield — however all of them knew “Divine G” from the neighborhood.
Born Could 16, 1964, in East New York, Whitfield spent most of his adolescence in Brooklyn’s Canarsie neighborhood on the straight and slim. His childhood was spent filming and promoting home made karate movies, unaware he would at some point stroll the Oscar purple carpet.
The Brooklynite later rose to native prominence in his teen years as a DJ and thru a semi-pro dance crew known as Realism. As talked about in “Sing Sing,” Whitfield was on observe to hitch the NYPD as a police officer, however his household couldn’t lose one other grownup man within the family. Anxious concerning the dangers of patrolling New York Metropolis within the Nineteen Eighties, Whitfield withdrew his candidacy. He remembers his recruitment officer saying he would remorse the choice.
A automotive accident left Whitfield with a limp and no skilled alternatives. He tried his hand at delivering pizzas however give up as a consequence of his damage. In a narrative all too frequent in Nineteen Eighties Brooklyn, he fell into hustling.
“My complete life, I stayed away from all that, and was considered one of them good youngsters that simply by no means actually went off-track,” stated Whitfield. “Then I began promoting medication to attempt to assist my household out. Acquired caught actually inside a month or two, as a result of I’m in an space I had no enterprise in [and] didn’t know what the hell I used to be doing. To make an extended story quick, I ended up copping out to a one to 3 [-year sentence].”
Whereas serving his sentence upstate, Whitfield was accused of homicide. “The film talks about me going to jail for against the law I didn’t commit, and that’s that exact crime,” he stated. The killing occurred close to his Canarsie dwelling, standing out as a consequence of an atypically white sufferer. Authorities introduced him again all the way down to New York Metropolis for trial, holding him on Rikers Island.
Trial by ambush
Whitfield’s present attorneys Deskovic and Oscar Michelen say your entire conviction was constructed on a lone witness: Richard Doyle. Initially, would-be co-defendant Wesley Harold seemingly implicated Whitfield within the homicide, however he took his life shortly after confessing.
“We have been simply left in limbo for a 12 months and alter,” stated Whitfield. “[I] don’t know who’s accusing me, how I’m being accused, why I’m being accused, after which a day or two earlier than the precise trial, we lastly uncover who [is] accusing me.”
Resulting from New York State’s “Blindfold Legislation,” which was solely repealed in 2020 by way of discovery reforms, prosecutors may withhold proof till the day of trial, together with witness identities. Doyle testified in the course of the trial that he noticed Whitfield and Harold working close to NYCHA’s Breukelen Homes, higher generally known as the Brookline Tasks, on March 23, 1998.
In his testimony, Doyle claimed he noticed the sufferer come by way of a fence, adopted by sparks and gunshots. Then the shooters allegedly ran towards Whitfield’s condo and a automotive he later realized belonged to Whitfield was double-parked close to the scene. He then claimed he returned to the homicide scene with a person named Wayne Harris.
“This was a case that got here all the way down to the credibility of 1 explicit witness,” stated Michelen final October. “It is a taking pictures in entrance of a constructing, clearly, a long time and a long time in the past. [It’s] at all times exhausting to attempt to recreate these previous crimes, notably the place you don’t have the type of video footage that you simply may need now.”
No DNA or forensic proof backed such claims, nor did another witness corroborate them. The truth is, Harris denied seeing Doyle in any respect that night time and tried to testify to that in court docket. The prosecutor ordered his arrest for what amounted to witness intimidation. A jury convicted Whitfield of second-degree homicide.
Divine’s Intervention
“Mainly, I used to be discovered responsible, went upstate, and lived within the jail legislation library,” stated Whitfield. “[I] began studying sure components about FOIA (Freedom of Info Act) requests, the right way to do motions, [CPL] 440s, Article 78, and have become fairly efficient in it, and finally, I began coming throughout proof of my innocence.”
With the Authorized Assist Society’s assist, Whitfield tracked down doubtlessly exonerating witnesses and proof. Whitfield additionally realized extra about Doyle, who testified in 5 different circumstances and boasted a considerable rap sheet. These findings unearthed particulars a few fateful Father’s Day spent in a holding cell, which the primary of many makes an attempt to vacate the conviction centered on.
Police arrested and charged Doyle and co-defendant Scott Bell for housebreaking on June 19, 1988. The 2 have been then held on the Brooklyn Legal Court docket lockup, the place they acknowledged Harold. They have been later launched and their costs dismissed with out ever seeing a decide for arraignment.
Doyle really talked about the incident throughout Whitfield’s trial when requested about police interplay after the homicide. He claimed the house owner set him and Bell up for an inside job. His model painted a wrongful arrest and subsequently, a rightful launch. The homicide trial’s court docket minutes additionally verify that Doyle encountered Harold in lockup.
However Bell, who vouched for Whitfield in a 1993 sworn assertion, offered a unique account. He recalled a prosecutor first approaching Harold, who indicated Doyle knew one thing. The three spoke extensively. Then the prosecutor beckoned Bell to ask about an incident “on the tasks”; particularly, what he knew about John Whitfield’s involvement. Bell stated he “didn’t know what he was speaking about.” Then he recounted the next dialog in his affidavit:
“Doyle advised me that I ought to have stated I knew John Whitfield was concerned within the incident the D.A. requested about,” wrote Bell. “He stated that he didn’t like Whitfield and that he was blaming him for an incident that occurred within the tasks. He additionally stated I didn’t ‘want to fret’ concerning the housebreaking cost towards us, and that we might be dwelling later that day. Doyle by no means talked about that he was blaming Whitfield for a murder.”
One other sworn assertion got here from the proprietor of the house Doyle and Bell have been accused of burglarizing in 1994. The proprietor wrote about going to press costs towards them a day after the incident, solely to study the suspects have been now not held.
Utilizing Bell’s testimony, the Authorized Assist Society filed a CPL 440, New York State’s movement to vacate a conviction, for Whitfield within the mid-Nineties. He obtained an evidentiary listening to. “[To] make an extended story quick, the decide denied that movement,” stated Whitfield.
His digging led to a voluntary disclosure kind revealing a possible tape associated to the case. Whitfield and the Authorized Assist Society disagreed on subsequent steps. He needed to pursue the tape; the Authorized Assist Society deliberate to skip the recording and search federal habeas corpus reduction, which challenges the legality of an individual’s imprisonment. Whitfield finally ended the connection and pursued the tape on his personal with out authorized counsel.
A pivotal “Sing Sing” scene depicts Domingo’s model of Whitfield presenting the audio proof throughout his clemency listening to. His co-defendant Harold was the voice on the tape, chatting with an ATF agent after a gun arrest on the 73rd Precinct in Brownsville lower than two months after the homicide. In hopes of getting into witness safety, he admits to the killing on the tape with the identical TEC-9 seized by the feds.
There was, certainly, one other man on the scene based mostly on Harold’s claims, however he pointed to a “Patrick” from Queens, who he stated he was compelled to fireside a spherical into the sufferer so he wouldn’t stay an uninvolved witness. The investigator additionally requested if Whitfield ordered the hit. “No, he didn’t order it,” the transcript reads.
Blossoming behind bars
Whitfield’s combat for freedom dragged on after one other failed 440 movement based mostly on the tape (he represented himself this time), so Whitfield channeled “Whitman” to remain busy. All of the litigation long-established him right into a succesful author. Whereas getting Rehabilitation By the Arts (RTA) off the bottom, he started writing performs.
“That was proper concerning the time we got here up with an concept to make use of theater arts as a means of remedy, as a lifestyle, expertise, and a means of serving to people,” stated Whitfield. “I gravitated towards the writing part. We had playwrights [who were] coming in, educating us the right way to write performs. And I began writing performs … I had no clue I used to be an excellent author.”
Authoring performs for RTA opened the door to writing books. His memoir, “The Whitfield Information,” gained a PEN America award. He additionally mastered writing fiction, publishing three urban-action journey novels. He utilized tighter narrative construction and literary panache to the widely unpolished style about gangsters and drug sellers.
The novels grew to become successful in jail. The true John Whitfield really has a small cameo look in “Sing Sing,” asking Colman Domingo’s portrayal to autograph a replica of “Cash Grip,” considered one of his hottest books.
“That really occurred — I had a number of prisoners approaching me, asking me to signal the autograph,” he stated. “And each time I noticed the ebook, the ebook was beat as much as the core — like ‘how many individuals [did you have] studying this ebook?’ It might come to me with pages falling out. I feel with one ebook, all people within the cell block [had] learn that ebook.”
Coming dwelling
Whitfield finally served his minimal time and certified for parole, remaining behind bars after a potential pardon from then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer fell by way of shortly earlier than his abrupt 2008 resignation. He enlisted Deskovic, who established his basis after DNA proof exonerated him from the wrongful imprisonment of a schoolmate’s homicide.
Outlying components like race and unique crime have a disproportionate influence on parole selections, however hearings finally middle on the flexibility to return to society. Whitfield’s prolific engagement with the humanities in jail gave him a preventing likelihood. Nonetheless, he nonetheless confronted the “harmless prisoner’s dilemma,” with a greater shot at launch by exhibiting regret to the parole board over the homicide for which he maintains his innocence.
“Both you falsely admit guilt, which is barely going to barely improve your possibilities anyway, however within the means of that, you’re creating further proof,” stated Deskovic “In case your case will get reversed however it’s a must to return to trial, no matter you stated to that parole board can be utilized to attempt to convict you once more. Or do you as a substitute preserve your innocence and thereby danger extending an already unjust jail sentence?”
In the end, Whitfield grew to become the primary individual free of jail by the Deskovic Basis. Letters advocating for his launch factored closely within the resolution, he recalled from his listening to. He spent 25 years in jail for the conviction.
Whitfield returned to a really completely different world from the late Nineteen Eighties. Again throughout his DJing days, he took children below his wing. “They used to get my information from me,” he recalled. “They’d at all times get the information flawed. I stated, ‘Yo, give me “Dance to the Drummer’s Beat.”’ They’d give me ‘Bongo Rock.’”
A kind of children grew as much as work with Lil Wayne and approached Whitfield about taking a job on the rapper’s subsequent tour. His parole officer was not eager on the concept. Whitfield filed an Article 78, which challenges company selections in New York state. It labored: Whitfield traveled internationally for the primary time in his life, visiting seven European nations, together with France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
“Had I not filed that Article 78, I might have by no means [gone] on that tour,” he stated. “And let me let you know one thing: It was among the best experiences of my life.”
Extra proof surfaces
Whereas Whitfield gained his freedom, the homicide remained on his conviction document, so he continued pursuing avenues for exoneration. Initially, Deskovic assigned a workers lawyer to the case as a result of he was nonetheless making use of for legislation faculty on the time. All through the 2010s, different witnesses offered sworn statements concerning the homicide (a few of whom the AmNews tried to succeed in however couldn’t interview as a result of pending CRU evaluation).
A White Citadel worker recounted listening to the pictures and smelling the gunpowder to Deskovic’s investigators — Harold’s taped confession appeared to establish her as a lady in a military jacket. Like Doyle, she claimed to see two males run from the scene, however she stated with certainty that neither man was Whitfield, whom she knew from the neighborhood.
Harold’s brother Ralph, a.okay.a. Essence, additionally attested to Whitfield’s innocence in a 2014 sworn assertion from jail. He corroborated listening to from Wesley concerning the involvement of “a Patrick from Queens” with the homicide.
One other affidavit got here from Bryant Devery, claiming he and Whitfield have been hanging out with a woman they picked up when the taking pictures occurred. “John Whitfield didn’t commit that crime, he didn’t shoot the white man as a result of he was with me since 12 midday or 1 p.m. of that day till not less than 1 a.m. of the subsequent morning,” he wrote.
The brand new proof went towards the applying for the Brooklyn District Lawyer’s Conviction Evaluation Unit to contemplate the innocence declare. Deskovic finally took on Whitfield’s case personally after he earned his legislation license, together with enlisting Michelen — a well known wrongful convictions skilled who serves on the muse’s board. They tackle circumstances professional bono till the purpose of exoneration so that they need to be choosy about which of them they pursue.
“We’re not going to spend that point on a case [that] we predict is a procedural subject,” stated Michelen. “There are appellate attorneys for that … I don’t do prison enchantment. This isn’t a prison enchantment. We expect this individual is harmless.
‘I’m by no means going to cease preventing’
The Brooklyn District Lawyer’s Workplace declined to remark as a consequence of an open investigation, however confirmed the case stays below evaluation by the CRU. Deskovic stated they will refile one other 440 on Whitfield’s behalf in the event that they get a rejection, however the course of will take about one other two years and “the highway is fraught going the litigation route.”
“At this level, man, if [Whitfield] did it, the gig is up,” stated Deskovic. “You blew trial. You probably did 25 years. You’re on parole.Why sustain with this charade? Solely an harmless individual would proceed preventing now at this level.”
The conviction continues to have an effect on Whitfield immediately. He missed the British Academy Movie Awards earlier this month as a result of the UK denied his entry visa as a consequence of his felony document, in line with Deadline.
But sky appears the restrict for Whitfield at age 60. Whereas employment stays a significant impediment for returning residents (notably these with violent felony information), he boasts a secure union job as an MTA conductor. He’s off parole. He enjoys success as an govt producer of “Sing Sing.” Why undergo all the difficulty nonetheless?
“Man, doing 25 years, waking up each morning asking your self, ‘How the hell did this occur?,’” stated Whitfield. “I’m by no means going to cease preventing. I didn’t do that, and I deserved my day in court docket, my justice. I should have my identify cleared. I don’t need that to be part of my legacy.”
A petition to help exoneration for Divine G may be discovered at: https://www.change.org/p/free-john-divine-g-whitfield-from-a-wrongful-conviction-now
Tandy Lau is a Report for America (RFA) corps member who writes about public security for the Amsterdam Information. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps preserve him writing tales like this one; please think about making a tax-deductible present of any quantity immediately by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.
