Antonio Beaver's Involvement In Carjacking

Antonio Beaver is an African American male who was wrongfully imprisoned for a carjacking which occurred on August 15th, 1996, in St. Louis, Missouri. The situation that Beaver was involved is a great example of how innocent people can fall into being victimized for crimes that they had no involvement in. Antonio had no reason to be involved in this crime that had taken place. Here is written evidence that will prove why he did not deserve to be stricken from the years he lost as a free man.

On the day of August 15th, 1996, the carjacking that brought Antonio’s “involvement” in the crime had taken place in a St. Louis parking lot. As stated in the article, “Antonio Beaver”, a 26-year-old white woman drove into a St. Louis parking lot to park

In the article, “Antonio Beaver”, it was said by the woman that the attacker had been a, “Clean-shaven African-American man wearing a baseball cap. She said the man was 5'10" tall, with a "David-Letterman-like" gap between his teeth” (O’Brien). The only identification available was below-average details describing the man and should not be enough information to catch the attacker anytime soon. Next, the police had been on the lookout for the man who had attacked the woman. Six days after the attack had taken place, Antonio Beaver had been arrested by a detective because he had resembled the police sketch that had been made following the woman’s description (O’Brien). This shows that the police didn’t waste any time in trying to find the criminal and immediately arrested Beaver for resembling the sketch. Following this, Beaver tried to prove himself innocent. Beaver’s details didn’t fully match the description as he was 6’2, had chipped teeth, and a full mustache. This being the case, Beaver wanted to participate in a lineup to prove his innocence but him and an undercover police officer were the only two to wear a baseball cap, so Beaver was identified by the woman (O’Brien). This suggests that the police did not want to look that hard for the criminal so they chose the individual who matched the description the most and arrested him. In conclusion, the

As stated in an article written by Heather Ratcliffe, Beaver was sentenced to 18 years in prison for first-degree robbery (Ratcliffe). This shows us how an innocent man can be sentenced to prison for 18 years because of a mistake made by the police department. To add, Antonio had tried to request a DNA testing. According to the article, “Antonio Beaver”, “In 2001, Beaver filed a motion on his own behalf requesting DNA testing” (O’ Brien). This suggests that the state possibly believed Antonio Beaver’s truth and did not want the public to know that they had sent an innocent man to prison. Finally, after ten years spent in prison, the court had agreed to Beaver’s request. After the denial of a DNA testing in 2001, another request was placed and the court granted a hearing on the issue in 2005 (O’ Brien). This evidence tells us that the court had finally taken the chance to see if Beaver is actually innocent. In conclusion, the police did not want to doubt themselves and kept Beaver in prison but finally, after some time, they decided to take the chance by filing a DNA