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At the time of Larrys death, ShelbyCountyJailwasalreadyunderfederaloverviewbytheU.S.Justice Department following suit by the U.S.A. One would think that overview by the United States Department of Justice would ensure openness and honesty from everyone connected with Larrys death. Contrarily, for more than four years, all requests by Larrys family to government entities, including the Justice Department, for reports, explanations, and accountability regarding my brothers euthanasia have been ignored, or we were told no reports exist. We attribute the fact that Larrys family has never received any information explaining Larrys incarceration and death to THE COCHRAN FIRM. Unfortunately, Larrys family hired The Cochran Firm to file Larrys wrongful death suit, never knowing that The Cochran Firms managing partner in the law firms Memphis office, Julian Bolton, Esq., had a vested interest in seeing to it that our suit against Shelby County Jail never got filed. [See Ex. 1 Comm. Bolton.] I cannot begin to tell you how hurt we were to learn that The Cochran Firm deliberately tricked my grieving, elderly mother into signing a contract for legal representation which that law firm never had the smallest intention of honoring. Rather, it was necessary for The Cochran Firm to trick Larrys family into believing we had lawyers so that no honest lawyer would ever get the opportunity to really work on our behalf and file suit against Shelby County Jail. Because we planned legal action, it was not surprising that Shelby County Government was not forthcoming with information about Larrys incarceration and death. However, if Larrys family had indeed had an honest attorney, those records would have been subpoenaed and released during discovery. That is exactly why The Cochran Firm contracted with my mother to prevent her hiring an honest attorney with no conflict of interest in the matter of Larrys wrongful death. [See Ex. 2 Death Certificate.] To what civil rights organization can disenfranchised people turn for assistance when they are aggrieved by African Americans in positions of power? Please contact your congressional representative today and demand that hospitalization replace incarceration for the mentally ill people in your state. http://www.house.gov/writerep Next, I offer a brief chronicle of my familys fruitless efforts spanning over four years to get information and demand accountability for Larrys death: [...Background on The Cochran Firm and Shelby County, TN] -2-

THE FULL STORY [ Shelby Co. Jail ] [ The Cochran Firm ] [ U.S. Dept. of Justice ] [ Fulton Co. Sup. Court ] [ The Bar & DeKalb Police ] [ Media Blackout ] [ Unacceptable Solutions ] [ Looking Back ] [ Looking Ahead ] Listen to the interview! [ Hear Larry's story on the Wake Up Call Show blogtalkradio program. ]

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TheFullStory Larry TheDocuments ContactUs Updates Foundation A DETAILED BACKGROUND

The Cochran Firm Fraud / Undisclosed Conflict of Interest / Deliberate Malpractice

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THE FULL STORY [ Shelby Co. Jail ] [ The Cochran Firm ] [ U.S. Dept. of Justice ] [ Fulton Co. Sup. Court ] [ The Bar & DeKalb Police ] [ Media Blackout ] [ Unacceptable Solutions ] [ Looking Back ] [ Looking Ahead ] Listen to the interview! [ Hear Larry's story on the Wake Up Call Show blogtalkradio program. ]

Immediately after notification of Larrys death on August 1, 2003, his family contracted with The Cochran Firm to file a wrongful death action against Shelby County Jail and negligence suits against the State of Tennessee and Larrys final care home. The Cochran Firm did not reveal to its clients the fact that the firms Managing Partner of the Memphis office, Julian Bolton, Esq. was a 20+year member of the Shelby County Commission, which is the entity that owns and operates the jail where Larry died. The Cochran Firm used its position as our attorneys to shield Shelby County Jail from our lawsuit by accepting our case and allowing it to languish on its shelves while the statute ran. After successfully preventing our suit against Shelby County, Bolton was promoted to the position of Treasurer of the Board of Commissioners, and then to Chairman. Ironically, Julian Bolton is/was also a valued member on the Midtown Board of Mental Health. [See Ex. 3 - Contract.] The Cochran Firm lied to clients before contract, stating that the firms conflict check resulted in no impediments to their representation. This firm lied to the Neals in writing after contract regarding a fictitious and nonexistent investigation and discovery process it was conducting and cautioned us not to discuss the Larrys jail death with anyone, because that law firm would handle everything. We were told before signing contract that The Cochran Firms Atlanta, Georgia office and Memphis, Tennessee office would work together to get justice for my family (My mother and I are Atlanta area residents). But, instead of behaving as the Neals attorneys, The Cochran Firm merely held Larrys wrongful death case inactivefornearly11monthswhilethestatuteoflimitationsran (12monthsinTennessee).BythetimetheNealsfoundoutaboutTheCochranFirms ties to their defendant and the law firms lies about a nonexistent discovery process, it was too late for another law firm to accept our case on a contingent fee basis. (The poor in America suffer many injustices for the lack of affordable legal counsel.) Later, The Cochran Firms attorney assigned to our case, David McLaughlin, lied to the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility during its investigation of the Neals malpractice allegations. The Neals filed suit pro se for fraud against The Cochran Firm, having their Complaint served to the law firms Atlanta office, which was the office the Neals originally contacted and arranged for legal representation on August 1, 2003, immediately following Larrys death. [See Ex. 4 Complaint] This Atlanta law office answered our suit in the name of Cochran Cherry Givens Smith & Sistrunk, P.C. (CCGSS) and claimed in its discovery responses not to be The Cochran Firm (as it had represented to the Neals prior to contract signing and contrary to much public advertising), and it denied any affiliation whatsoever with other Cochran Firm offices. [See Ex. 5 CCGSS Response to Interrogatories.][SeeEx.6- Cochran Firm Web Pages.] & [SeeEx.6a- More Cochran Firm Web Pages.] Instead, it claimed before the court to be a law firm completely owned and operated within the State of Georgia. The Georgia Secretary of States office, however, issued a report that no such entity as Cochran Cherry Givens Smith & Sistrunk, P.C. was registered with the State of Georgia. [See Ex. 7 GASec.of State Search.] Further investigation and search of public records revealed no firm called Cochran Cherry Givens Smith & Sistrunk, P.C. registered with the City of Atlanta or as a d/b/a with the Fulton County Superior Court. So this law office, well known and advertised as the Atlanta office of The Cochran Firm, presented itself to the court as being a completely disinterested third party but was nevertheless allowed to answer our complaint against The Cochran Firm and to have our suit dismissed by Georgia Superior Court in May 2006. Shelby County Jail Shelby County Government Shelby County Attorney In response to my inquiry, the County Attorney declared We did nothing wrong, but rendered no explanation or report regarding Larrys incarceration and death in jail. [SeeEx.8 Letter from Brian L. Kuhn, Shelby County Attorney, dated 8/17/06.] Shelby County Coroners Office The coroners office faxed the Neals a poor copy of Larrys autopsy drawings with sketchy narrative descriptions, but lacking a full narrative report. When asked for a detailed autopsy report and a coroners investigative report, the Coroners office replied that there were no further reports on Larrys death. According to the autopsy, Larry died of a heart attack. However, the autopsy report did not explain the fresh head injury on Larrys body, and Larrys family does not consider the Shelby County Coroners office a credible resource. Larrys autopsy was performed by the office of Shelby CountysChiefMedicalExaminer,Dr.O.C.Smith.Thissame man was later indicted for faking his own kidnapping after placing a note on his person and accusing himself of lying in favor of Memphis police in a capital murder case. The accused in this case was facing a death sentence, having maintained throughout his trial that it was a policeman who shot the policeman he was accused of killing. [See Ex. 9 - Smith Indictment.] [...The Department of Justice] -3-

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MEDIA BLACKOUT

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THE FULL STORY [ Shelby Co. Jail ] [ The Cochran Firm ] [ U.S. Dept. of Justice ] [ Fulton Co. Sup. Court ] [ The Bar & DeKalb Police ] [ Media Blackout ] [ Unacceptable Solutions ] [ Looking Back ] [ Looking Ahead ] Listen to the interview! [ Hear Larry's story on the Wake Up Call Show blogtalkradio program. ]

I have contacted the media repeatedly to no avail about these relevant news events. The mistreatment of dogs continues to take journalistic precedence in America, while my poor brothers secret jail death and The Cochran Firms subsequent cover-up remain unreported. Perhaps this journalistic blackout is because of the advertising dollars the media earns from The Cochran Firm. That firm continues to advertise its law office at 127 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia, although that law office denied it is an office of The Cochran Firm in Georgia Superior Court in order to avoid responding to my familys suit for its fraud. We remain hopeful that some journalists will become interested in our quest for information and justice regarding my brothers death and launch an investigation, an investigation which Larrys family cannot afford to finance and the Justice Department refuses to conduct. Meanwhile, we thank God for Bill Gates and others who made it possible for ordinary citizens to research and report their own issues via the Internet. In the absence of official government-issued reports, which Larrys family lacks the means to substantiate anyway, we are hopeful that one of Larrys fellow inmates or some sympathetic police officer or jail guard will some day visit our web site and come forward to tell us how things really were with Larry during his final incarceration, thereby helping to bring closure to his family. The list of persons and entities the Neals contacted in our continual quest for assistance, information, and justice regarding Larrys wrongful death is over four-years long, despite verifiable proof for all allegations. Numerous persons related to these events have resigned their jobs; however, this brings little comfort to Larrys family, being yet deprived of full disclosure of the circumstances of Larrys death and restitution by The Cochran Firm for its fraud. The details of our quest for justice in this matter are truly shameful for America, a country so concerned about human rights around the globe, with a creed of equality and justice for all of her citizens. This web site is a personal appeal for your assistance. Hopefully, our efforts to ascertain information and justice for Larry will also raise public awareness of the plight of the incarcerated mentally ill and assist thousands of mentally ill persons like Larry who yet languish in American jails. If you are interested in helping, please contact us. Please contact your congressional representative today and demand that hospitalization replace incarceration for the mentally ill people in your state. http://www.house.gov/writerep [...Unacceptable Solutions] -7-

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JAIL, HOMELESSNESS, AND EUTHANASIA UNACCEPTABLE SOLUTIONS

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THE FULL STORY [ Shelby Co. Jail ] [ The Cochran Firm ] [ U.S. Dept. of Justice ] [ Fulton Co. Sup. Court ] [ The Bar & DeKalb Police ] [ Media Blackout ] [ Unacceptable Solutions ] [ Looking Back ] [ Looking Ahead ] Listen to the interview! [ Hear Larry's story on the Wake Up Call Show blogtalkradio program. ]

A young mother became alarmed in her local grocery store when she realized that her active three-year-old son was no longer trotting along behind her as she shopped. She and the store personnel hurriedly searched up and down the aisles looking for him and calling his name. They found the little tot sitting on the floor near the checkout on aisle 7, surrounded by colorful candy wrappers. He had opened dozens of different candies and sampled each one! His mouth and chin were covered with chocolate, and melted candy was smeared across his shirt and on the floor around him. In a similar incident, my brother, Larry, walked into a supermarket one summer day, taking the opportunity to enjoy the air conditioning, for it was oppressively hot outside. As he walked down the fresh food aisle, his eyes fell on the rows of plump, sweet grapes. He stopped at that display, and with no effort to conceal his actions, Larry began to eat the grapes. They were cool and good, and he laughed aloud, delighted at how pleasant they tasted. Larry was interrupted in his consumption by an angry clerk who was yelling and pointing at him, directing the store guard to restrain that thief while the police were called. In fact, Larry was no more a thief than the three-year-old, because neither of them was acting out of malice, and in both scenarios an essential element of crime was missing: intent. Indeed, neither the three-year-old boy nor my mentally ill brother, in his diminished capacity, was capable of planning and executing a real crime. The child rebelled when his mother lifted him away from the sweet feast. The youngster began to cry loudly and struggle against his mother to get back to his candy. But the boys mother was bigger and stronger than he was, and she effortlessly carried him away from the scene of his crime. Contrarily, no one in Larrys family was big or strong enough to extricate him from the many situations his mental illness caused as he wandered at will the streets of Memphis. Indeed, Larrys family was not allowed to either restrict his movements or enforce psychiatric treatment and drugs to help him. After all, mentally unstable people like Larry have their rights! There are those organizations that denounce enforced hospitalization and treatment of the mentally ill, calling such intervention a violation of civil rights. The sincere efforts of such organizations may benefit those mentally ill persons who manage to stay clear of our nations jails; however, for thousands of others like Larry, it is just as unreasonable to expect them to run their own lives without psychiatric drugs and restraint as it would have been for the young mother to allow her little boy to finish the candy at his leisure and then find his own way home. Let those organizations fight not only for the rights of the moderately mentally ill, but let them also fight for inpatient care for mentally ill men and women who are today serving time for committing crimes they cannot even understand as well as for scores of mentally ill persons who are homeless, living under wretched conditions and deprived of treatment that might restore many to useful lives. [...Looking Back] -8-

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