Young Brothers Legal Defense Foundation

The Story of the Young Case:

July 18, 1995, Three armed assailants robbed and killed 5 patrons in a bar located in Tulare County. One of the victims (the owner of the bar) lived and reported to police what happened. As the sole survivor, the bar owners eye witness account of that night is very different from what the prosecution presented in trial.

With the help of a convicted and incarcerated felon, the prosecution concocted a story of what they claim happened that night.  Ten years later...     Donald Ray Young  and Timothy James Young were erroneously charged and convicted of the crime.

The Young brothers were never privy to a preliminary hearing and were held in the Tulare County Jail (Visalia, CA) for seven years prior to going to trial…

On April 19, 2006, Donald and Timothy Young were railroaded and sentenced to San Quentin's Death Row.
 

Problems With The Case According to Court Transcripts:

Description of Suspects Do NOT Match Youngs

According to the surviving eye witness: TWO of the THREE suspects were shorter than 5”8 and were reported to be “skinny”:  Donald and Timothy are both over six feet tall. (Vol. 73; page 3407) Descriptions of Donald and Timothy Young at the time of this crime:  Timothy Young 6’2” 300 lbs,  Donald Young 6’3” 260 to 280 lbs, Anthony Wolfe approx 6’0” 250 lbs. (vol 73 pg 3316,3317,3318,3329, also Vol 76 pg 3842)
 

Evidence That Others Committed This Crime

Testimony during the trial shows that police officers believed the Pato's murder to be a drug hit. There was information that Lupe Cantu and “Fundy” (Horacio Angulo) co owners of Pato’s Place Bar had a dispute over "Fundy" selling drugs out of the bar two months before the murders.

Lupe Cantu  initially reports to police that Fundy “killed innocent people” over drugs. (Vol 74 pg 3541, 3556 3573)

DNA evidence found at the crime scene does not match the defendants according to the prosecution's forensic expert. (Vol. 73; pg. 3291-3293)  

Other witnesses who admitted to being involved in committing the crime did not have their DNA tested. (Vol. 73; pg. 3302)

Masks reported to have been worn by the assailants contain DNA of unknown persons.

At least two other people confessed to being involved in this crime. One was given an immunity agreement by Tulare County District Attorney's Office for her testimony and named persons other than Donald or Timothy Young to be responsible for committing the murders. 

Witness Virginia Walker faxed a written letter to the court out lining who really committed these murders and why. The court did not acknowledge her letter as evidence although it was received before jury sentencing.

Ms. Walker physically came to court during the trial proceedings to resubmit the document because she did not get a response the first time.  The contents of her letter corroborates the sworn taped confessions  of 2 other people who admitted -under oath- to being involved in this crime.

TWO independent witnesses mention the same individuals Virginia Walker talks about in her letter. These witnesses also pick the same two men out of a police line up. They did not pick Donald Young, Timothy Young or Anthony Wolfe out of this line up. (Vol. 73; pg. 3302) NONE of them had ever even heard of Donald or Timothy Young.

Main Witness NOT Credible

Suspect and prosecution witness, Anthony Wolfe, changes his testimony numerous times through out court proceedings. He was considered a main witness despite the fact that he is a known con artist, drug addict and child molester with prior felony convictions that include: Lewd and lascivious acts with a child, burglary, carrying a concealed weapon, possession of stolen property, vehicle theft, 2 assaults on a peace officer (two separate incidents), possession of  weapon while incarcerated at Folsom Prison,  and escape from custody while incarcerated in Fresno County 3-7-1990. (Vol 76 pg 3851)

Convict Anthony Wolfe (prosecutions "star witness") was promised a shorter sentence on an unrelated crime--If he helped to convict the Young brothers.

Originally arrested for counterfeit charges, Wolfe agreed to help solve the “biggest murder in Tulare County” in exchange for full immunity from prosecution for the crime and dismissal of pending counterfeit charges. In other words he would “confess” and walk away free.

Anthony Wolfe gives an account of the murders that does not match actual facts of the case or forensic evidence presented in court. His testimony is in direct conflict and opposition with the one surviving eye witness/victim in the crime. (Vol 73 pg3407,3429, Vol 75 pg 3689,3738,3739,3750)

Anthony Wolfe was ordered to be released from prison May 2006. Misuse of the Witness Protection Program will allow him to relocate with a new identity utilizing our tax payer dollars.

Judicial Misconduct- A Flagrant Violation of Due Process

Judge Ronn Couillard, who presided over the trial, continually aided the prosecution through out the trial. Couillard gave the DA hand signals when he felt the prosecutor should object to statements by the defense or objected on her behalf when she didn't.

Couillard would object on behalf of the prosecution, sustain the objection and then refuse to allow defense attorneys to thoroughly cross examine witnesses. (Vol. 74 pg. 3576)

Judge Couillard also prevented defense attorneys from exposing details about Anthony Wolfe’s prior Felony convictions because according to the Judge, the information was “prejudicial”. This did not allow the jury to know the details of his many felony convictions. (Vol 75 pg 3669)
 

Juror Misconduct and Bias

One of the jurors in this trial lived next to a relative of one of victims; they talked about the case before the juror was assigned this duty. (Reporter’s transcripts; jury selection process )

Another juror was dismissed shortly before rendering the unjust, death verdict due to sharing confidential information with a private citizen.  Unknown to the juror, was the fact that this citizen was a former high school student with one of the defendants (Donald Ray Young). The citizen reported the violation to authorities which resulted in the juror's dismissal.

The jury ignored raw facts of the case and credible testimony: They did not acknowledge significant evidence such as the Young brothers’ finger prints not being found on the murder weapons. There was also no DNA evidence from Timothy or Donald Young on the murder weapons. Police have not yet determined who the finger prints on the murder weapons belong to.

The finger prints do not match Donald Young, Timothy Young or Anthony Wolfe.

Evidence was Tampered With or Mishandled

The evidence in this case was so grossly tampered with, that the trial against the Youngs  had to be temporarily stopped so the court could subpoena officers and critical documents from the Tulare Police Department. Officers were put on the stand (out of the presence of the jury) and told to explain the many incidences of discrepancies: white out on documents, forged signatures, back dating of reports, dates that were changed, evidence "lost", destroyed or misplaced, improper logging or lack of logging evidence in and out of the evidence locker. Some items of critical evidence were stored in the trunk of an officers car for several days. Officers as well as the prosecution team were asked how the defense ended up with documents that were different than the prosecutions although they were purported to be the same documents.

Other key evidence such as audio taped confessions to these crimes were tampered with; when one plays the audio, sections of the confessions and details to the case are missing. Some audio tapes where suspects confessed in Spanish were never translated. These tapes also explain that the killings were a drug hit, not a robbery. (transcripts from 1999)

Some evidence collected from the scene of the crime on July 18, 1995 was not analyzed or examined until three years later. Many items were tested by the prosecution during the trial (more than ten years later!) only after defense attorneys raised questions as to why key DNA evidence had not had forensic testing.

Samples of evidence were mishandled.  The masks reported to be used during the commission of this crime and hair samples that were later collected from the defendants, were improperly stored together which leads to the high probability of cross contamination. (Vol. 73 pg. 3308)

Other evidence was improperly stored for several years and subsequently "degraded" becoming unsuitable for DNA testing.

INNOCENT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SENT TO DEATH ROW!!

MURDERERS ARE STILL ON THE RUN!!

JUSTICE WILL NOT BE SERVED BY PUTTING INNOCENT MEN TO DEATH!!

 

What’s been done on behalf of this case as of December 2006:

1.  A press conference was planned for March 1, 2006 when the Young brothers were scheduled to be formally sentenced—SCLC President Woody Miller and NAN President Rev. Floyd Harris showed up to the trial in support of the Young family and to speak to the injustices.  The trial was postponed to April 19th and a press conference was held by both presidents after the postponement to discuss the concerns and problems surrounding this case—the media failed to air the press conference although they were present and taped the conference.

(Click here to see Supporter Photos)

2.  At the request of the Young brothers and family members, Julia Dudley Najieb agreed to do research on this case to compile a book so that facts and testimonies can be exposed to the public—important facts that the media has not covered or failed to report concerning the injustices of the Young case.  Julia is working closely with the family and assisting in an active role to expose the case nationally.

3. On February 27th from 9 PM to 10 PM, The Young brothers spoke to a live radio audience. For the first time ever, listeners got a chance to hear important hidden truths.   88.1 FM, KFCF’s Valley Politics in the African-American Community (VPAAC)  is hosted by Woody Miller, Julia Dudley Najieb and Mel Sanders. (CD's of interviews are available for sale-- See "Your Support" Page)

The show aired through out the San Joaquin Valley and got such a huge response that another show was scheduled by the by VPAAC hosts—AKA Valley Black Talk (VBT)--The Young brothers were on the air for two hours for listeners to call in—March 27, 2006 from 8 to 10 PM on 88.1 FM. One can also listen in via the internet by going to this website:  http://www.kfcf.org/.

4.  Woody Miller, president of SCLC, sent out a letter to the local media about injustices in this case to be investigated by local Civil Rights organizations.  Mel Sanders sent out letters to the US Department of Justice and California State Representatives informing them of what has happened in the Young Brother's case.

5.  A “Stop the Injustice Now” benefit was held on April 8, 2006, where several Fresno County Civil Rights organizations stepped in to make people aware of the injustices in this case: CAN, SCLC, NAN, & FRESNO STUDY GROUP (Nation of Islam). This benefit was also to help the Young Brother’s Defense Fund which has been depleted due to the long trial. (See Benefit Photos)

6. Mel Sanders and Woody Miller contacted churches and organizations throughout the San Joaquin Valley to help spread the word of the injustices, to solicit support for the case and support for the benefit that occurred in April.

7.  The list of supporters continues to grow while Donald and Timothy Young persevere in the fight for justice from Death Row. Both men are in the process of writing biographies, books of poetry and other memoirs that will soon be available to the public.