Charles Mamou is a WITS writer. He has always maintained his innocence.  He has been on death row for over twenty years.  There is evidence and information the Harris County prosecution had that Charles Mamou didn’t know existed for over two decades.  That information could have been used to determine what happened to the victim if anyone had pursued it.

Nothing physically ties Charles Mamou to the scene of the crime, other than the testimony of witnesses that were involved in a drug deal with him that night.  There is not a fingerprint of his there. There is not a footprint of his there. No witnesses saw him there. There was a shell casing – that cannot be tied definitively to any weapon, but no weapon was ever found. Mamou was from out of town, the men who testified were not. The body was found in a location even the police described as difficult to locate.  One of the witnesses worked for Orkin – on the side of town where the body was found behind a house for sale.

The individuals who testified against Charles Mamou were apparently never charged for their involvement in any of the events that took place that night – and phone records the prosecution had access to indicate two of those witnesses were not telling the truth on the stand.

A letter never presented to the jury and written by the ‘star’ witness who said Charles Mamou confessed to him says, “I’m glad you didn’t tell me shit about that cause I don’t wanna know shit, I feel better off that way.”

Charles Mamou has waited long enough for someone to help him.  He’s not asking for any breaks – he’s asking for an investigation into his case, one that includes all the evidence the Houston Police Department had twenty years ago, which includes trace evidence obtained in a rape kit that was never shared with Mamou. 

Please sign the above letter asking the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to reinvestigate this case.

UPDATE: This post was temporarily removed, after I was contacted and told I couldn’t share this information. After a thorough review, I disagree. The information came from trial transcripts that Charles Mamou gave me access to. In addition to that, the other records are public and the letter was written to Charles Mamou and belongs to him. Walk In Those Shoes is about writers in prison and trying to understand their experience with the justice system. If I can’t share public information without being warned and told not to – is it a wonder people end up on death row that are innocent?

Photograph of Charles Mamou, courtesy of ©manfredbaumann.com