Justice for Paul Scott: Support His Fight for Freedom

The story of Paul Scott is one of complete injustice and failure of our legal system. This innocent man has been sitting on death row in Florida since 1976. When Paul was convicted of murder, he had no resources to support his innocence in this case and the man who committed the murder (and who has since admitted to the murder) had resources that ultimately allowed him to live free.

I met Paul through a program called The Death Row Support Project that allows for individuals (such as myself) to write and correspond with people on death row. Many years ago, while in graduate school and working as a physical therapy intern, I worked on a spinal cord injury unit in a hospital and there met a patient of mine who ultimately was convicted of murder (but not until after I met him and began treating him). When I met him, I knew he had been in an horrific car accident (later I learned it had been a police chase and he was fleeing the scene of an awful crime). Peter and I had developed a great rapport and even friendship and it was during my time working with him (and the ensuing trial and conviction) that I truly started to grasp a new level of complexity to the human condition. Since that time, I have also become interested in the rates of wrongful convictions (thank you Sarah Koenig and Serial) and all of this lead me to begin participating in The Death Row Support Project and to meeting Paul Scott.

Before I go any further, I am not looking for funding support for Paul's legal battle. I am looking to help Paul stay strong as this process of appeals continues to unfold....

In the past couple of months as Paul and I have written back and forth to each other daily (and sometimes multiple times a day), and as I have read his book and all the materials he has provided me on his case, and as I have talked to people who have supported Paul from afar over the past many years from around the country, and as I have talked to him on the phone and listened to his story-- I have come to understand how TRULY unjust our legal system can be and in the case of Paul Scott, is.

Since Paul's conviction in 1976, and since the admission of guilt on the part of the actual man who committed murder in this case, and since the use of DNA technology in recent years that CONFIRMS the blood found on the murder weapon and at the scene of the crime matches that of the man who admits to committing the murder-- and, since 10 out of 12 jurors from Paul's case have written letters on Paul's behalf claiming they were not given the true story let alone Paul not being given adequate counsel, Paul still remains behind bars today-- 48 years later.

Now, nearly 70 years old, Paul is once again trying to appeal his conviction. But, after so many years in jail, Paul has developed diabetes and the diet provided to him is not adequate and does not meet his dietary needs (in fact he has ended up in a diabetic coma more than once ).

I realize that I can't provide Paul with legal supports (and gratefully he has a wonderful new attorney taking on his case pro bono) but what I can and hope to help with is raising some money that I can transfer to Paul so that he can purchase food that he is able to eat, stamps to support connecting to people on the outside, and other necessities he is not given unless he has money.

Paul does not have much family and therefore those of us who correspond with him think of him as our family and likewise, he feels the same.

In the coming weeks, I plan to try and document some of the details of Paul's story so that I can shed light on what happened that night many years ago-- why Paul was ever associated with the crime-- and why we know Paul is innocent of murder in this case.

In the meantime, if you are able to help share this page and if you are able to donate-- even just a little-- every little bit will help Paul as he tries to stay healthy in both body and mind until someday this conviction is overturned.