#FreePrakashChuraman
PRAKASH IS FINALLY HOME BUT STILL NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!
Thanks to community support Prakash is out on bail and is currently on home confinement. But the fight is not over. The same system that took Prakash's childhood from him is still heavily invested in locking him up for the rest of his life. We know the system will not do right by Prakash without the community rallying behind him. We are trying to raise funds to sustain
stable housing for Prakash and his family, and to support Prakash with living expenses because the courts have restricted him from employment. As a result, Prakash and his family is now being dragged along by the Queens county criminal justice system on home confinement with an ankle monitor awaiting a new trial where he faces life in prison or acquittal.
Read Below For Background Information Concerning Prakash's Injustice:
At the mere age of 22-years-old, Prakash Churaman, has had seven years of his youth robbed from him by malicious Queens County police officers, prosecutors and an unjust court system who have targeted, vilified and wrongfully arrested since he was just 15-years-old, for a crime he did NOT commit.
On December 9, 2014, around 6 a.m. in the morning, 15-year-old Prakash was woken up by NYPD officers who entered his basement apartment without a warrant for his arrest, handcuffed him and transported him to the 113th Precinct. He was later handcuffed to a metal bar attached to the wall until his mother arrived. Upon her arrival, Prakash’s mother, who speaks little English, was manipulated by Detective Barry Brown, who has a history of misconduct dating back to 1995, and Detective Daniel Gallagher into signing away Prakash’s right to have an attorney present, allowing both detectives to use heinous tactics to coerce Prakash into a false confession.
No DNA evidence was ever found to link Prakash to the crime. Detectives needed a confession in order to charge Prakash, which is why he was not charged until after he was forced to provide a false confession. The prosecution’s case was built on this false confession.
Prakash was forced to grow up in jail, as he waited nearly 4 years before his first trial, where Judge Kenneth Holder refused to allow Prakash’s defense to have an expert witness on juvenile false confessions testify. His rights to a speedy and fair trial were shattered by the Queens County justice system.
Prakash has been offered a total of two plea deals, and has turned down both of them on the basis that he is innocent. THE CITY writes this past October, that Prakash “recently got a new trial and an offer from Queens prosecutors: plead guilty to a lesser charge and walk away at age 21 next summer,” Prakash rejected this plea deal.
Though Prakash’s conviction has been overturned, he remains confined to his home awaiting a disgusting method of prosecution by District Attorney Melinda Katz. We will not rest until Prakash is free. As Queens County police, prosecutors, judges continue to terrorize our communities and Prakash’s life, and while public officials continue to ignore this clear injustice, we will continue to amplify his story and dissect how the system failed him and identify those responsible & accountable for the array of injustices and trauma he has been forced to endure.
Follow @FreePrakashAlliance On Instagram For Updates, Information, and Call To Actions!