E63 - Free Tasha Shelby

Feb 15

In October Elizabeth Howard was in conversation with Valena Beety, lawyer and advocate for Tasha Sshelby who for decades has been proclaiming her innocence in the death of her two-and-a-half-year-old stepson who had a seizure and fell out of his bed. Mississippi State Medical Examiner Dr. Leroy Riddick testified at her trial, in 2000, that “the child was violently shaken to death – that is undisputed.” In 2017, Dr. Riddick issued a statement saying he had made a mistake. Last week the Federal Magistrate Judge released a Report and Recommendation denying Tasha relief. The Judge said Tasha should have filed before her federal timeline expired in 2003 and dismissed Dr. Riddick’s findings as not strong enough to demonstrate actual innocence and get beyond the time bar. Tasha called us from the Mississippi Correctional Facility to talk about this news. She needs our help.