John Spirko:If I?m innocent, why should I serve life?

If Mr. Yocum truly believes in this so-called justice system, then how can anyone with a sense of justice ever make the bold statement he believes I?m ?innocent,? but nonetheless, let?s just give Spirko life without parole and wash our hands of this whole mess?

The problem I have with that type of argument is a simple one:

• First, I don?t claim to be innocent. I AM INNOCENT!
• Second, when the justice system does not work for whatever reason, then it is everyone?s duty as well as obligation to see to it that it does work.

That means not allowing crooked, corrupt judges, prosecutors and those in law enforcement to get away with sending innocent people to Death Row.

Society as a whole has a right to be protected from those who have no regard for human life, as well as to be protected from those who break the laws of this state. I have no argument with that at all. I fully agree with a society?s right to be protected.

I have spent 23 years?think about that just for one minute, 23 years?locked in a cage waiting to DIE for a crime I did not commit and could not have committed. What is even more disturbing is the fact that the so-called judges who have looked at this case for the same 23 years have passed the buck?not having the guts, the honesty, the integrity that every one of these politicians now in office keeps telling the public at large that they have.

The evidence is CLEAR, even to a blind man, that there is no question about my innocence. I have stated over and over that I lied at trial. However, it was the STATE who brought these false charges against me. It was the STATE?from opening statement, in their case in chief and all the way through closing arguments?who LIED, who used false evidence and even bought jailhouse-snitch testimony in order to gain this false conviction. Not only that, but it was the STATE who withheld evidence of my innocence, evidence that without any doubt would have freed me. 

In short, Mr. Yocum?s idea of justice is flawed to its very core. Let us give an innocent man life without parole, sweep under the rug the corruption and criminal acts committed by the powers that be, keep this runaway, flawed death machine going at high speed, and damn: JUSTICE!

Mr. Yocum also would allow OTHER innocent people on Ohio?s Death Row to suffer the same fate. Let me assure the public and also Mr. Yocum of this fact: I AM NOT THE ONLY INNOCENT PERSON ON OHIO?S DEATH ROW.

What do we do with the other 20 innocent men on Death Row in this state? Give them life without parole? Sweep the TRUTH under the rug? Hide it and pretend the problem is not there? Allow innocent people to spend their entire lives in prison while the real killers go free to kill again?

No, this is not the answer. And while I can respect anyone?s opinion on the death penalty?especially someone like Mr. Yocum, who says he is concerned that the execution of an innocent person would be the end of the death penalty in this state?I would ask Mr. Yocum to spend ONE DAY in my shoes and then state his opinion about the death penalty.

One other very important point I would like to make to Mr. Yocum and the people of this state: What about the VICTIMS? FAMILIES in these cases?

I have sat here for many years in this stinking cage, and I have prayed and held on to HOPE, even when I was just one week away from execution this past month. And I have thought of the victim?s family: the pure, raw hell that they have been through all these years, the lies they have been told by the so-called ?good guys,? and the effect all of this has had on them and their families as a whole.

I want JUSTICE FOR THE FAMILIES AS WELL, something that has been lacking in this case for 23 years. Not only justice but also TRUTH, something this justice system in Ohio knows nothing about. 
I don?t want to paint law enforcement with a broad brush, nor the good and honest judges and prosecutors who do care about justice. I have met some of those rare people. It is people with true honesty, integrity and a sense of justice who keep this hope alive in me, and I thank them so much.

We need change in this system. We need people with the honesty and courage to step up to the plate and right the terrible wrongs that have been and are being done in the ?people?s name.? Until we have that type of person in office, it will be business as usual, and innocent people will be murdered while the guilty go free.

If you think this doesn?t happen in Ohio or elsewhere in this country, then all you have to do is look in the newspaper every week. You will find people after spending 20 or more years in prison for a crime they didn?t commit being freed because of DNA evidence.

Should we also give those people life without parole, Mr. Yocum?

John Spirko
#171-433

Letter from John's Minister.

Thank you for Robin Yocum?s front-page story about the case against John Spirko (?Loathsome, but not guilty,? Nov. 17) and for reminding Central Ohioans how close we are to executing an innocent man.

While this story has generated front-page coverage in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Toledo Blade and the Dayton Daily News, this has not been the case with The Columbus Dispatch, which has tipped its pro-death-penalty hand by relegating its obligatory coverage of this story to the Metro section.

The possibility of an innocent person being executed should outrage everyone, especially those who object to the state?s killing in our name.

While Mr. Yocum did an accurate job with the facts of the case, I take exception to his description of John Spirko today. While his past record indicates that he was no choirboy, the John Spirko I know?and know quite well?has mellowed with age over the past 23 years in prison and can no longer be fairly described as ?wild, uncaring and vicious.? He is actually quite the opposite.

John expresses great remorse for his past and has become a devout Christian while in prison. He has genuine compassion for the Mottinger family, whom he considers the real victims in all this?not only for their loss but also for the lies being perpetrated by the state?s flimsy case against him and at the expense of real justice being done.

Finally, Mr. Yocum concluded his article by saying, ?This case should be of great concern for proponents of the death penalty. Once the wrong person is executed, that will be the end of capital punishment in this state.? This has not come to pass in other states where innocent people have been executed.

I only wish to share Mr. Yocum?s faith that a flawed, unjust and corrupt system is capable of correcting itself.

The Rev. Dr. David A. Van Dyke
Pastor
Broad Street Presbyterian Church
Minister of record for John Spirko