Maurice Restarts After Over 10 Yrs Behind Bars Without Trial

After more than a decade of incarceration without a trial, Maurice Jimmerson and his mother, daughter, siblings, and extended family are incredibly deeply moved to be able to announce that he is finally able to live his life again. He is looking forward to reconnecting with his community and finding stability, but he needs our help with starting over and getting back onto his feet. Although he has just survived what may be the longest recorded pre-trial incarceration in not only Georgia but American history, Maurice is determined to rebuild. He told me, “At the end of the day, I won’t let myself down. Giving up is not in my state of mind.”

For all these years, Maurice maintained his innocence after being one of four people arrested after the occurrence of a double murder. He hoped for his day in court, but days turned into months, and months turned into years. While the government detained Maurice in jail, the government’s prosecution of Maurice was repeatedly delayed. As the years went on, defense counsel moved on from his case and months would pass before another attorney was appointed to him.

Beyond the trauma of being incarcerated while innocent, Maurice experienced unthinkable challenges over the last eleven years. He was physically separated from his family and could not freely see the ones he loved. Maurice’s mother regularly sent him postcards in between surveilled visitations and calls. His daughter grew up without her dad. His own father passed away unexpectedly in a tragic accident and he couldn't grieve normally with his siblings and his extended family. Even the phone calls and messages through prison telecoms cost him and his family exorbitant amounts of money. All of this happened while Maurice was behind bars. Maurice said he saw lots of people lose their sanity while in jail and told me, “We are fighting for more than our rights and our life; we also are fighting to keep a sane mind.”

Beginning with the start of the COVID pandemic, Maurice experienced significant restrictions on visitation and the jail scaled back the scheduled recreation hour outdoors. He had researched how to file complaints, so he wrote by hand to government officials saying his Constitutional rights were being violated, restating his innocence, and requesting a public defender. After media reported on Maurice’s story, an Atlanta attorney volunteered to handle Maurice’s case pro bono. When he finally went to trial last summer, it ended as a mistrial because of a hung jury—they did not all agree with the prosecution’s argument that Maurice was guilty.

The government was going to try Maurice’s case again, but instead this time they negotiated a release which did not include murder charges. If Maurice would plead guilty to aggravated assault and possession of a firearm, serve nineteen years of probation, and leave the county and all neighboring counties within 45 days, he could finally leave jail without handcuffs. After maintaining his innocence for eleven years in a legal nightmare, Maurice agreed to the plea and went home for the first time in over a decade.

As Maurice restarts his life he needs our help. He has expressed that he has so many things on his to-do list beginning with securing housing and finding “a good paying job.” Since he is required by the terms of his release to leave the counties where his mother, daughter, and extended relatives live, even basic next steps like getting a drivers license and finding a place to live require the coordination of his mother, siblings, cousins, and other extended family; incurring travel expenses; and the payment of fines and fees to get a healthy restart as he is forced away from home. Your donation will go directly to Maurice Jimmerson and help him to reclaim his life. He and his family are grateful to those who are moved to show support and to share his story with others.