[Pnews] Fighting for his life: An interview with Prakash Churaman

[Prisoner News]

peoplesdispatch.org
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/02/04/fighting-for-his-life-an-interview-with-prakash-churaman/>
Fighting
for his life: An interview with Prakash Churaman
February 4, 2022
------------------------------

Prakash and his supporters have never backed down from spreading the word
about his case. (Photo via the Free Prakash Alliance)

Prakash Churaman was 15 years old when NYPD officers kidnapped him from his
home in the early hours of the morning, drove him around in an unmarked
vehicle for three hours, and upon arriving at the 113th Precinct of New
York City, handcuffed him to a pipe attached to the wall. Prakash would
then be interrogated for three hours and fifteen minutes by two police
officers, before making incriminating statements allegedly connecting him
to the crime of which there was no physical or forensic evidence of him
committing.

After spending six years of his youth behind bars, Prakash, now 22, is
fighting for his freedom and for the life that the US criminal justice
system stole from him.
*“I was manipulated, I was pressured, I was coerced”*

Prakash described his experience in detail to *People’s Dispatch.* “On the
morning of December 9th, 2014, I was wrongfully arrested by NYPD and driven
around in an unmarked vehicle for approximately three hours. In all
reality, the precinct from my residence at that time was 10, 15 minutes
away.”

Prakash’s close friend, Taquane Clark, had been murdered in his home four
days previously during a botched robbery. Clark’s grandmother, Olive
Legister, who was present at the robbery, told police that she heard
Prakash’s voice, but did not see him. It was based on this report that
police arrested Prakash without a warrant. To this day, there is no
physical evidence tying Prakash to the crime.
Now retired Detective Barry Brown has come under scrutiny for his
manipulative tactics.

After being taken to the precinct, Prakash was reunited with his mother,
and interrogated for three hours and fifteen minutes before allegedly
making incriminating statements connecting him to the crime. According to
Prakash, he was coerced into falsely confessing to a crime he did not
commit.

“My mother and I were just taken advantage of and honestly, I was
manipulated, I was pressured, I was coerced…I was scared. I was terrified.
I just didn’t know what to do, what to say. Honestly, I was just in shock.
Because I did not know why I was there. And then being there for hours,
only intensified the pressure and the manipulation that was being utilized
upon me and my mother.”

NYPD Detectives Daniel Gallagher and Barry Brown are the officers that
Prakash alleges coerced him. Prakash told
<https://indypendent.org/2021/02/gamble-of-his-life/> *The
Indypendent*, “[Barry
Brown] did most of the manipulation.” Brown was also responsible for
getting a murder confession out of Chanel Lewis, which has since been
called into question over concerns regarding Brown’s possible coercion. Video
evidence
<https://gothamist.com/news/videos-show-confession-and-confusion-from-karina-vetranos-alleged-killer>
of Lewis, a 22-year-old disabled man, makes it clear that Lewis was not
well informed about his rights or the severity of his confession, and even
seems to imply that Lewis believed the District Attorney was his own lawyer.
*“Human beings that are accused of crimes…are treated as if we’re just
animals.”*

After his arrest, Prakash was sent to Crossroads, a secure juvenile
detention facility in Brooklyn. After spending a year and a half at
Crossroads, he was sent to the notorious Rikers Island jail complex at 17,
all before even getting the chance to stand trial. “My experience
incarcerated, particularly on Rikers Island, has been the most horrifying
experience that I’ve ever had so far in my life,” Prakash told *Peoples
Dispatch*. “It’s beyond dehumanizing. And it’s just beyond cruel the way
human beings that are accused of crimes, that are labeled as detainees, are
treated as if we’re just animals.”

According to the Vera Institute of Justice, 81.2%
<https://greaterjusticeny.vera.org/nycjail/> of people detained in New York
City jails are awaiting trial. This means that the vast majority of those
incarcerated in New York City jails have not been convicted of any crime.
In 2017, *The Gothamist* reported
<https://gothamist.com/news/half-the-people-awaiting-trial-in-nyc-jails-are-there-because-they-cant-afford-bail>
that half of all pretrial detainees in NYC jails are detained because they
cannot afford bail. And although constitutionally, every US defendant has a
right to a speedy trial, many, like Prakash, are forced to spend years in
jail before being convicted.

US prisons are notoriously cruel and overcrowded. At 2.3 million prisoners,
the US has the largest prison population in the world. Solitary
confinement, which has been labeled a form of torture
<https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25633>
by various human rights organizations, is common, with 20%
<https://bjs.ojp.gov/press-release/use-restrictive-housing-us-prisons-and-jails-2011-12>
of prisoners kept in isolation. Rikers Island, in particular, is infamous
for the high rates of prisoner deaths, especially suicide. In 2021, 15
people died while incarcerated at Rikers
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/09/22/death-toll-in-infamous-new-york-prison-reaches-11-this-year-as-crisis-spirals/>,
due to suicide, overdose, medical negligence, or unknown causes.

The Kalief Browder case can help illustrate the “horrifying” environment
that Prakash encountered while at Rikers. Then 16-year-old Browder, was
accused, based on inconsistent testimony, of stealing a backpack. After
refusing to plead guilty, he was arrested and charged. His family could not
afford his $3,000 bail, and so he languished at Rikers for the next three
years of his life. While incarcerated, Browder encountered what the U.S.
Attorney for the Southern District of New York described as a “deep-seated
culture of violence,”
<https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/before-the-law> with
frequent abuse by prisoners and guards alike. Browder spent his
imprisonment in and out of solitary confinement, mostly after fights with
other prisoners. Browder later revealed that while in solitary, he was
physically
abused
<https://www.democracynow.org/2015/4/24/watch_explosive_footage_from_inside_rikers>
by guards. Two years after he was finally released, and after enduring
three years of beatings, torture, and abuse, Browder committed suicide.
*“**One day, the truth is gonna prevail.”*

Despite dire conditions, Prakash did not lose hope for a release. “I’ve had
a lot of dark nights and days in that cell. But, I don’t know, for some
reason, I just woke up every day, telling myself, one day, the truth is
gonna prevail,” Prakash told *Peoples Dispatch*. “Honestly, there were days
I just felt like my life was over. That I was just gonna rot in a cell for
the rest of my life.” Initially, Prakash’s case had little support or
notoriety. Prakash himself organized
<https://indypendent.org/2021/02/gamble-of-his-life/> a defense team, a
support network, and media recognition. Prakash left messages at radio
stations, and enlisted allies like Jacob Cohen, his music teacher at Rikers
Island, to help him raise funds.

When asked what motivated him despite years in prison, Prakash answered:
“Just the simple fact of me being incarcerated for all those years before I
decided to take initiative to raise awareness and amplify my voice and my
story. I was muted. I was silenced from society for years. No one knew who
I was. No one knew where I was. I was just off the map. I did not exist to
society.”

At 19 years old, after building advocacy and a support network, Prakash was
finally able to stand trial for the crime he was accused of. However, Judge
Kenneth Holder denied the defense the right to present an expert witness on
juvenile forced confessions, despite the fact that Prakash’s confession was
the prosecution’s primary evidence, with nothing else tying Prakash to the
crime. Prakash lost his trial, and was convicted and sentenced to 9 years
to life.

According to *The Indypendent*, “[Kenneth] Holder has had 27 cases
overturned, almost all of them for pro-prosecution abuses such as excessive
sentencing and improper jury instruction”. Justice Holder has faced no
consequences for these actions. In fact, even though Prakash since successfully
appealed
<https://www.nycourts.gov/courts/ad2/Handdowns/2020/Decisions/D63080.pdf>
his conviction in May 2020, the same judge is now presiding over Prakash’s
new trial.
*“I just cherish every last moment that I have now with my family.”* In
December of 2020, Prakash and his lawyer, Jose Nieves, won his release on
bail. After six years incarcerated, Prakash was placed in home confinement,
and finally allowed to see his family.

Although Prakash appealed his conviction, he was still locked up for months
afterwards. Yet Prakash remained optimistic. After Prakash’s conviction was
overturned by an appellate court, Prakash says, “I’ve been given a second
opportunity to fight inside the courtroom and prove my innocence which in
and of itself is rare when you’re faced with a system like the one I’m
facing right now…I felt like I was reborn and given a second chance to
fight.”

Finally, in December of 2020, Prakash and his lawyer, Jose Nieves, won his
release on bail. After six years incarcerated, Prakash was placed in home
confinement, and finally allowed to see his family. Prakash told *Peoples
Dispatch*, “Honestly until this day, all of it still feels surreal to
me…I’m so used to being in a closed in environment, where I’m told what to
do, when to do it, how to do it…I still wake up every day, to this day,
like, is this real?”

“I was just so overwhelmingly happy and just grateful,” Prakash continued.
“Because I was just so used to my jail visits on Rikers island, just 30
minutes and 45 minute visits, and not even being able to hug my family, you
know? I just think about all of that. I just cherish every last moment that
I have now with my family.”

Despite this enormous victory, Prakash’s life in home confinement has come
with new challenges. Prakash recently welcomed his new son
<https://www.instagram.com/p/CXCfnrXOTBJ/> into his family, and is raising
funds <https://www.gofundme.com/f/freeprakashchuraman> to support his and
his family’s living expenses, as per his confinement he is not allowed to
find employment. “It’s far better than being in a jail cell in Rikers
island,” Prakash says. “I mean, I would prefer to have the opportunity to
engage in employment and provide for myself and my family…I feel like I was
just moved out of an actual jail cell and just put into my home now where
it’s kind of like my jail cell now.”
*“I am going to make sure they put a tight, tight rein on his ankle
bracelet.”* Pictured: Prakash speaking at a rally in front of Queens
Criminal Court. Prakash himself organized a defense team, a support
network, and media recognition. (Photo via: the Free Prakash Alliance)

Prakash and his supporters in the Free Prakash Alliance
<https://linktr.ee/freeprakashalliance> continue to organize for his
release. Prakash has spoken <https://www.instagram.com/p/CY7jD1OMtuC/>
numerous times at rallies on the steps of the Queens Criminal Court, and
supporters have organized phone zaps
<https://twitter.com/catcontentonly/status/1484005454145638400> to Queens
District Attorney Melinda Katz, urging her to drop all charges against
Prakash. In November, organizers with the Free Prakash Alliance disrupted
Katz’s public Diwali celebration, arguing that it was hypocritical for her
to celebrate South Asian culture while keeping New Yorkers of South Asian
ancestry locked up, like Prakash.

Tonight: @QueensDAKatz
<https://twitter.com/QueensDAKatz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw> held a Diwali event
talking about diversity & inclusion while she JAILS Black & Brown youth
from our communities like @freedom4prakash
<https://twitter.com/freedom4prakash?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

SHAME ON KATZ using Diwali to hide the harm the she has brought to our Sth
Asn + Indo-Carib communities #DropTheCharges
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/DropTheCharges?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
pic.twitter.com/I571TEPi10 <https://t.co/I571TEPi10>

— DRUM #FreePrakashChuraman (@DesisRisingUp) November 9, 2021
<https://twitter.com/DesisRisingUp/status/1457886975868952578?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

The attention his case has received due to these efforts has not gone
unnoticed by the New York City criminal justice machine, especially Judge
Kenneth Holder. During his last court appearance, on January 19th, Justice
Holder ruled that Prakash was no longer allowed to speak at rallies,
because as the Justice argued, this was a violation of home confinement. As
stated by Prakash’s attorney, Jose Nieves, this decision was “an
infringement of [Prakash’s] First Amendment rights to free speech”. Holder
went as far as to express his disapproval of Prakash exercising his right
to speak to the press, stating, “There’s been enough banter about this case
in the media, none of which makes any sense and most of which is ridiculous
that I see, but you haven’t seen me stop it. I haven’t told him to shut up,
I haven’t put a gag order on this, I haven’t put a gag order on you. I am
considering it, but I haven’t done it…I am going to call the sheriff, I am
going to make sure they put a tight, tight rein on his ankle bracelet.”

And today Prakash appeared in court for the 91st time. The judge and
prosecution accused him of using press and social media to sway public
opinion and "attempt to influence the jury pool." The judge then ruled
Prakash can no longer give speeches at our rallies at his hearings 1/
https://t.co/fzJPtcHqES

— Radio Free Amanda 余美娜 (@catcontentonly) January 20, 2022
<https://twitter.com/catcontentonly/status/1483997941752901632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

This is not the first time the criminal justice system has tried to silence
Prakash—Rikers Island music teacher Jacob Cohen was fired from his post and
banned from working in the jail complex for life for sharing Prakash’s
story. But Prakash and his supporters have never backed down from spreading
the word about his case. In fact, as Prakash’s own experience winning his
release shows, public awareness of injustice can change a person’s life.
*“Continue to have hope”*

Prakash has become familiar with the US criminal justice system, and can
point to many things that need to be changed so that no one has to endure
what he endured. According to Prakash, he was never treated like he was
“innocent until proven guilty”, despite the fact that presumption of
innocence is a universal human right and supposedly a guiding principle of
the US legal system. “Ever since I’ve been placed in handcuffs, I was
already automatically labeled by the system: guilty,” he told *Peoples
Dispatch*.
Prakash with his newborn son.

When asked what he would change about the criminal justice system today,
Prakash listed four primary issues: pretrial detention, bail reform,
juvenile interrogations, and the usage of “earwitnesses”, or those who make
accusations based on what they heard as a crime was occurring, not what
they saw.

Prakash told *Peoples Dispatch*, “I feel like individuals that are accused
of crimes, whatever the crime may be, they should feel it should affect
that they are treated with the presumption of innocence. And also just be
given the opportunity to fight their case outside of a jail cell.” Prakash
continued: “Just how the bail system operates, even though there was a bail
reform here in New York, there still needs to be more work…Juvenile
interrogations….Just given the fact that I am a victim of police coercion.
I was lied to for hours…I feel that all juveniles that are arrested and
interrogated or questioned by law enforcement must have an attorney present
prior to any questioning or interrogation.” On the usage of “earwitnesses”
Prakash said, “If someone could misidentify you with their eyes, what would
you think about someone making allegations that they heard your voice?”

Prakash will have his 92nd court appearance on Monday, February 7. Prakash
is fighting for his life: by refusing a plea deal in 2020 that would have
allowed him to leave jail soon, if he pled guilty, Prakash has never
admitted guilt for a crime he did not commit. However, by taking his case
to trial rather than negotiating a deal, he is taking an enormous risk that
his second trial will result in a much lengthier sentence. Prakash
continues to try to raise awareness about his case, and his supporters also
continue their efforts to shine a light on injustice.

When asked what he would tell others who find themselves behind bars for a
crime they didn’t commit, Prakash said, “Continue to have hope…wake up
every day with that drive, that you will prove your innocence and that the
truth will prevail itself.”

*To contribute funds for Prakash to be able to sustain himself and his
family, donate <https://www.gofundme.com/f/freeprakashchuraman> to his
Gofundme campaign.*

*To demand that D.A. Melinda Katz drop all charges against Prakash, sign
the petition
<https://www.change.org/p/freeprakashchuraman-we-demand-d-a-melinda-katz-drop-all-charges-against-prakash>.*

*To learn more about the Free Prakash Alliance, visit their Linktree
<https://linktr.ee/freeprakashalliance>.*
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