Michael D. Smith

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Michael D. Smith – Police Frame-Up Victim
30 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit
Killed by medical neglect

Tragically, on May 19, 2011, Michael D. Smith died from prostate cancer at Dixon Correctional Center.  He had been in prison over 30 years for a crime he did not commit.  Although diagnostic tests had revealed the disease years earlier, the failure of the Illinois Department of Corrections to correctly diagnose and properly treat Smith resulted in his death, which would have been completely preventable with the appropriate medical care.

In late 1980 Michael D. Smith was charged with three separate murders: Russell Diggs, Lawrence Foster, and Maurice Dukes.

Only one conviction for one of these murders still stands.  The state dropped the charges in one case when it was clear that  one of their wittnesses was lying.  The courts threw out the other on the grounds that the state had improperly used hearsay testimony to give credibility to an incredible statement by one of these key wittnesses.

The only evidence against Smith in all three cases was the same: testimony from gang members, since repudiated under oath, in exchange for leniency from police and prosecutors.  Yet Michael Smith was sentenced to 80 years in prison.

Leon Moore and Derrick Potts testified against Smith at the trials for the Diggs and Dukes murders.  Both Moore and Potts have subsequently sworn that they perjured themselves before the grand jury and in Smith’s two trials.  They swear that Darryl Moore (no relation to Leon Moore), a leader of the Black Gangster Disciples threatened to harm them and their families if they did not lie against Smith.  Darryl Moore, Leon Moore and Derrick Potts all state that they were pressured by police to frame Michael Smith in exchange for leniency regarding other charges, and in some cases, threats that they would be charged with one or more of these murders.

Michael Smith was innocent.

Write to State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez and protest his wrongful conviction.  Demand that she re-open all cases of police frame-up and torture.

Demand that the Illinois Department of Corrections institute a Medical Grievance Procedure that is independent of the Department and in which medical profressionals review grievances, unlike the current procedure.