Black case stirs unease in Alabama

There is mounting pressure for Banks' release

By Justin Webb BBC correspondent in Washington

The US state of Alabama is not famous for its justice system, particularly when it concerns black people.

But a case is being fought there at the moment which is causing real consternation.

Imagine for a moment that you live in rural Alabama - surrounded by the trucks carrying logs to the sawmill - but not otherwise greatly connected to the modern world.

To convict someone of murder you really should have evidence that a killing took place - even in Alabama

New York Times

You are poor and black with the mental age of a seven-year-old. You are arrested on a capital murder charge for a crime you did not commit and your court appointed counsel is Rick Hutchinson.

Mr Hutchinson tells you that he has never practised criminal law. He also tells you - in his engaging southern drawl - that he is "not the brightest".

You might have reason to be worried. An impartial observer might say you had little chance of successfully fighting your case.

But what Rick Hutchinson lacks in legal acumen he makes up for in determination. That is why much of America is talking about the appeal of Medell Banks.

'Incessant pressure'

The case that Mr Hutchinson has so successfully publicised is this:

Three years ago a black woman called Victoria Banks was in prison on remand - she claimed she was pregnant and got out.

That's not unusual in these parts - the prison authorities don't want the fuss and the expense of bringing a baby into the world.

But months later a local sheriff noticed that Victoria didn't have a baby and decided she her sister Dianne and her estranged husband Medell had killed the infant.

All three were arrested and the women apparently confessed, or at least did a deal to reduce the severity of the charge from murder to manslaughter.

Rick Hutchinson says they had little choice.

"It is my belief," he says, "that the incessant pressure put on them by the law enforcement officers took its toll."

No evidence

One of the sisters has since done a further deal to get out of jail - the other is serving time for another offence.

It's like things that used to happen in the old days

Vernon Underwood
Black community leader

But Medell Banks, the husband, is still in prison today.

Medell's mother Christine says her son just doesn't understand why he's in jail.

There was never any evidence that a baby existed.

There was never any evidence that a baby was killed.

For many local people, Medell's denial and the lack of physical evidence was enough - but what's persuaded the Alabama court of appeal that this case is wholly problematic is evidence provided by an eminent fertility professor - who testified that Victoria Banks could not have been pregnant.

She had been sterilised years before.

Yet still Medell Banks is in prison because the local law officers are contesting the appeal court ruling.

Tommy Campbell, editor of the local newspaper, thinks he knows why.

He says the lawmen are upset that they were originally duped by Victoria Banks into letting her out of jail.

She was never pregnant but they were fooled.

Now they are making someone pay.

Black and white

Perhaps Mr Campbell is right.

Perhaps this is a case of bloody mindedness on a monumental scale.

But others wonder whether this region's unhappy past is haunting it still.

Vernon Underwood, a black community leader, says he's lived a long time in the area and the whole case reminds him of things that used to happen "in the old days".

Hew points out that the Sheriff and his deputy and the District Attorney are all white. The accused were all black.

Luckily for Medell Banks, the case is now receiving considerable publicity here - if the local authorities keep him in jail much longer they will have the whole nation on their back.

His mother says her son is doing fine - and looking forward to freedom.

As the New York Times put it recently: "to convict someone of murder you really should have evidence that a killing took place.

"Even in Alabama."