ROBERT LARK INNOCENCE PROJECT

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The Robert ("Sugar Bear") Lark Advisory Council Under The VSP Foundation Non-profit Phila.

The Robert ("Sugar Bear") Lark Advisory Council Under The VSP Foundation Non-profit Phila.
THE INNOCENCE PROJECT PHILLY... FOR ADULTS AND SCHOOL STUDENTS. JOIN US TODAY!

Van Stone Phila: Know Your Rights With Robert ("Sugar Bear") Lark Advisory Council Website/Exhibit

THE THIN BLUE LIE MOVIE

Robert "Sugar Bear" Lark was on death row for 38 years and remains in jail in the state of Pennsylvania. The events of an accused murder, trial, and conviction that put a man behind bars is not the story that is in the 'Thin Blue Lie' movie - a 2000 television film directed by Roger Young and starring Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Jonathan Neumann (Rob Morrow), who, along with his partner Phil Chadway (Randy Quaid), for exposing Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo (Paul Sorvino) and the Philadelphia Police Department for corruption (observing the years 1976-1978) is in the movie. It was released on August 13, 2000 on Showtime.
According to the articles, suspects were beaten and tortured in interrogation rooms, as well as in many cases murdered, in an effort to meet the high quota of criminal cases solved by Philadelphia detectives. Neumann and Chadway met extreme opposition from the police department, working amidst phone tappings, apartment ransackings, and threats of death and bodily harm.
However, the above-mentioned reference about the methods used by mayor Rizzo and the Philadelphia Police Department for corruption success is in the story (allegedly) that has been told in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Appellee, v. Robert LARK, Appellant case, 1985.
Throughout the movie, Neumann faced a number of ethical dilemmas. First, most of his colleagues did not think that he should pursue claims of torture and death from suspects and a few police even; the city's crime level was at an all-time low, and some people felt that to question Rizzo's police policies would put the city's safety in jeopardy. Second, when interviewing victims of police brutality, Neumann had to assure the frightened victims that they would not be harmed by talking to him, when in fact, they had been threatened by police and warned against talking to and/or cooperating with reporters - may result in repeated jail lockup or even their death. Third, Neumann had to find one or more detectives willing to essentially betray a fellow officers in order to substantiate his claims.
In the case of Robert Lark, aka Sugar Bear, from West Philly and North Philly Street-life upbringing, people felt that to question police polices, City of Philadelphia, district attorney policies, City of Philadelphia and court of common pleas judges polices, City of Philadelphia practices would put the city's safety in jeopardy.
And the cops, the DA and the judges have no remorse over (allegedly) framing an innocent man and almost getting him executed - ongoing, once again.

PHILLY LIVE PRESENTS:TALKSHOW-PODCAST DOING IN JAIL - YOUR HOST JANIS BARKSDALE/J. WILSON/V. STONE.

Van Stone Presents: The Super Heroes of The Last Q Show Be A Hero

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Van Stone Phila: Know Your Rights - Robert (Sugar Bear) Lark Official Website/Exhibit - Join The Fight To Solve A Murder Mystery Case Since 1979

Van Stone Phila: Know Your Rights - Robert (Sugar Bear) Lark Official Website - Join The Fight To Solve A Murder Mystery Case Since 1979

Welcome to the Exhibit:

The Robert (Sugar Bear) Lark Advisory Council.

Readers will find news about the Robert (Sugar Bear) Lark Advisory Council here at this news feed site. 

Advisory councils provide specific guidance and oversight for boards of directors. 

The advisory council provides tailored advice that focuses on specific areas, such as technology, marketing, etc. Experienced advisory council members provide technical advice and critical thinking in areas beyond the board members’ typical fields of expertise.

Advisory councils - as officers - provide the members with the latest solutions, trending techniques, and knowledge so the organization stays competitive in its industry. 

In other words, the council gives the members a fresh perspective on programmatic issues. 

An advisory council can help an organization execute a project from launch to completion. It might include drafting project designs, developing competent teams, creating budgets, and establishing the roles of a project’s stakeholders. 

Additionally, an advisory council can help the board evaluate risks and plan proactively to enhance preparedness and resilience in the project. If risks do occur, the organization will be well-positioned to tackle them accordingly. 

The council also helps the members manage projects to ensure progress and key deadlines are met. That way, the organization can make informed decisions and ensure the project remains on track with predetermined goals. 

An advisory council can act as the organization’s advocate in the community it serves. Leveraging their expertise and industry network, council members can help an organization connect to a greater constituency. 

For example, organizations may appoint a county-specific advisory council to provide in-market expertise and shed light on the local industry and political culture. 

Alternatively, some advisory councils support industry development by making new introductions and acting on the organization’s behalf at social functions and industry events.

Advisory councils conduct their own meetings, which should be effective for maximum productivity.

We begin with a real life once  upon a time story. But this is only the beginning of a 'last death-penalty case' in the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Oh, and please join the membership if you like. You may register at the top right of this website by filing out the register info and then hit submit.

In Philly's 'last death-penalty case,' killer gets a life sentence instead: Story from Philly.com

Above left: Robert (Sugar Bear) Lark, 26 yrs-old. Above Right: Philadelphia Police Dept. detaining Robert (Sugar Bear) Lark. Asked whether to impose the death penalty, the jurors, who had already found Robert Lark guilty of the 1979 murder, sent a note: "We are at a deadlock."

On Nov. 7, Philadelphia elected a district attorney who pledged to take the death penalty off the table.

But two days later, prosecutors asked a jury of Philadelphians to impose it one last time — in the case of Robert Lark, a 63-year-old man who has already spent more than three decades on death row for the 1979 murder of 36-year-old Tae Bong Cho, at a  take-out restaurant Cho owned in North Philadelphia.

The jurors, who had already found Lark guilty of the murder, sent a note out to Judge Steven Geroff after just an hour of deliberations: “We are at a deadlock. Nobody is budging, and there won’t be a unanimous decision.”

That meant Geroff would have to sentence Lark instead — to the mandatory term of life in prison with no possibility of parole.

“It’s obvious to me that you are quite a villain,” Geroff told Lark. Then, he tacked 22½ to 45 more years in prison on to the life sentence, for a series of related convictions on charges including terroristic threats and kidnapping.

Lark was first convicted of the crime in 1985. But that verdict was overturned in federal court based on Lark’s claim that the prosecutor in his trial had used race-based practices in jury selection. At an evidentiary hearing, the prosecutor could not provide an explanation other than race for striking three African-American jurors in the case.

Jury selection for Lark’s new trial, which began Oct. 2, took more than a week. In a death-penalty case, lawyers must select a pool of jurors who state they’re willing and able to impose the harshest punishment the law provides.

“Each of you,” Assistant District Attorney Gail Fairman told the jury, “looked inside of yourselves, and each of you stated, ‘Yes, we can do this.’”

A majority of Pennsylvanians no longer support capital punishment, according to a 2015 York College of Pennsylvania poll. One complaint is that so-called death-qualified juries are inherently biased, and that studies have shown such juries inherently are more likely to convict.

No one has been executed in Pennsylvania since 1999. Since 2015, Gov. Wolf has maintained a moratorium on executions.

The standard penalty for first-degree murder in Pennsylvania is life in prison, but aggravating factors can trigger the death sentence. The prosecutors described two such factors. The first, they said, was that Lark had murdered a witness. They said he killed Cho on Feb. 22, 1979, because Cho was scheduled to testify in court the next morning that Lark had robbed him at gunpoint two months earlier. Second, they said, Lark qualified to be executed because of his significant criminal history, which included the gunpoint robberies of a Strawbridge & Clothier store clerk, of Cho, and of his own landlord.

“The crime was an affront to the justice system,” Fairman said.

Lark’s lawyers presented mitigating factors: a childhood destroyed by his mother’s drug addiction and neglect, and his stepfather’s violent abuse.

His birth was a surprise to his 15-year-old mother, defense lawyer Regina Coyne said. “In his first year of school, when he was 5 or 6, he went to five different schools,” she said. “He was in survival mode.”

She described rats and a leaking roof, vomit on the floor. She spoke of foster homes where he was taken away from his siblings, and described how he ran away from those placements and slept in cars, until he could find his siblings and reunite them.

The jury’s decision means Lark will move from death row — where for 32 years he has been kept in his cell for 23 hours a day, according to his lawyer — into the general prison population.

Nonetheless, Lark will appeal the verdict, according to his other lawyer James Berardinelli, who said he had been prevented by the judge from presenting key evidence, including a pattern of questionable behavior by the police who investigated the case.

That, prosecutors noted, means prolonging the pain for Cho’s family as well.

Seeing the case return to court, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Notaristefano said, “brought back everything. They thought this was over with, and then they had to relive it all over again.”

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