The more you learn about the circumstances around James Richardson’s 2011 conviction for a drive-by double murder, the more upsetting his incarceration becomes. A caring father and a devoted son, Richardson has spent the past 16 years behind bars for a crime he consistently denies committing. Today, the retired professional basketball player from Greenville, NC is fighting for a new trial, a chance to reclaim freedom wrongfully denied, and time with his family.

An entire community — in Greenville, and around the state — is fueling a campaign to win his release. A packed courtroom full of people, and a sizable UU contingent led by Revs. Lisa Garcia-Sampson and Kaleb Graves, came out to support Richardson during his most recent hearing on August 26. 

“It means a lot to me to have people fighting for me, for something that I said, from day one, I didn’t do,” says Richardson. “I’m proud to be from Greenville. We have a good community.”

Richardson believes several key pieces of exculpatory evidence will prove his innocence, if they’re allowed to be presented. For years, the Richardson family has labored to undo the damage from a flawed prosecution, in a county with a history of wrongful convictions. 

In November 2024, Gov. Roy Cooper granted a pardon to Rev. Darron Carmon, a Pitt County pastor who served eight years in prison for a robbery he also did not commit, after prosecutors agreed to overturn his conviction. A new investigation showed that key evidence had been concealed during Carmon’s trial. 

Three years earlier, Gov. Cooper pardoned Dontae Sharpe. A decade-long investigation by the Duke Law Wrongful Convictions Clinic proved that Sharpe’s 24 years of incarceration for a 1994 Greenville murder were also, undoubtedly, a miscarriage of justice. 

“Mr. Sharpe and others who have been wrongly convicted deserve to have that injustice fully and publicly acknowledged,” Gov. Cooper said in a released statement at the time. 

All three men — Richardson, Carmon and Sharpe — were prosecuted by the same Pitt County district attorney, Clark Everett, and sentenced by the same judge, Superior Court Judge Russell “Rusty” Duke.

In Richardson’s case, just like in Dante Sharpe’s, the story of the crime the prosecution presented at trial did not match any of the state’s forensic or eyewitness evidence. And, similar to the Sharpe case, Richardson’s conviction hinged on recanted testimony from the prosecution’s star witness.

Like Sharpe and Carmon, Richardson has had to wage his fight for justice slowly and deliberately, for years. Despite a wealth of evidence that backs up his story, and a well-established history of faulty prosecutions in Pitt County, Richardson is still facing an uncertain future waiting for freedom. 

Superior Court Judge Henry W. Hight Jr., the judge presiding over the August 26 hearing, has yet to make a ruling. A positive outcome would allow Richardson the opportunity to present those key pieces of evidence, along with expert testimony, in a new evidentiary hearing.  

“As we await the judge’s ruling, we remain prayerful that the decision will be in James’ favor, and that we’ll have an opportunity to present new evidence proving his innocence,” says Hibah Elawad, Richardson’s fiancee and leader of the Free James Richardson Campaign. “I do hope the judge is going to make a very thoughtful decision on this.” 

Elawad launched the Free James Richardson campaign in 2021, and has been extraordinarily successful in attracting statewide partners – like UU Justice NC, NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NCCADP) and Forward Justice – and activating the Greenville community around this fight for justice. 

This summer, UU Justice NC  organized a month of action prior to August 26th hearing. “Through Friday Action Hour, we were successful in getting six Letters to the Editors published in the Greenville Daily Reflector. Additionally, UUs across the state have made hundreds of phone calls and sent hundreds of emails to the office of Pitt County District Attorney, Farris Dixon. This has helped send a loud and clear message that in the lead up to this decision, all eyes are on Greenville.” says Rev. Garcia-Sampson, Executive Director of UU Justice NC. “Liberation is about getting people free. It is more than policy. It is more than a slogan. We live into our liberatory vision for the world through deep and sustained solidarity with James.”

 

As they focus on the legal battles ahead, Richardson and Elawad are also keenly aware of stories of too many other people facing similar circumstances. 

“I try to encourage guys in here,” says Richardson. “It’s hard to see people give up. People don’t have hope.” 

One of the secondary missions of Elawad’s campaign is to find and help other people in the same predicament as Richardson. 

“There are a lot of people out there that are really voiceless, and are, essentially, being buried alive” says Elawad. “It’s going to take somebody to champion an effort.”

Elawad sees two major hurdles for anyone trying to clear their name. Most people don’t know how to begin fighting their wrongful conviction. And, even when a legal course of action becomes clear, it is difficult for incarcerated individuals to maintain sufficient contact with the outside world to participate meaningfully in efforts to win their release. 

That’s one of the reasons campaigns like Free James Richardson, and organizations like NCCADP, Forward Justice, Duke Law Wrongful Convictions Clinic, NC Justice Center, North Carolina Second Chance Alliance, Emancipate North Carolina and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, are necessary. They do a lot of the heavy lifting, fighting for justice on behalf of people who are unable to do so for themselves, in a judicial system seemingly reluctant to see justice served. 

Observing the August 26 courtroom proceedings with other UU supporters, Rev. Graves was disturbed by the extent to which the state went to preserve their reputation and power. 

“The DA’s representative repeatedly twisted known facts about the case to cover their tracks. They tried to muddy the waters about their own actions, which were negligence at best and malice at worst,” concluded Rev. Graves. “It is a testimony to the systemic injustice and corruption sadly still present in our racist state court system.”

If things start percolating at a rally, protest, march or polling site in Wilmington, NC, there’s a good chance you’ll see a hulking man with flowing silvery locks somewhere near the mix. His imposing stature and hair make Denny Best — or, “Papa Bear,” as he is affectionately called around town — instantly recognizable. As does the bright yellow Peace Monitor shirt Denny wears when he patrols events around town for trouble makers.

But Denny doesn’t use physical force or intimidation to keep the peace. He relies on de-escalation tactics, like a calm, steady voice, a friendly smile, an approachable demeanor, and an occasional cigarette, to lower tensions and pacify potentially explosive situations.

Papa Bear has been a steady presence on the Wilmington protest scene for roughly 15 years. For much of that time, peace monitoring had been a solo pursuit for Denny. A few years ago, however, that began to change.

Last summer, Denny was joined by more than 30 of his friends from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wilmington, NC (UUCWNC) at The Long March for Unity and Justice, a multi-city trek organized by the late Rev. Nelson Johnson and the Beloved Community Center. Denny’s Peace Monitors took on the job of March Marshalls, patrolling the perimeter of the rally along the route to help ensure safety for participants as they completed the last leg of the statewide journey in the port city.

One of those friends in a yellow shirt was Peter Rawitsch. Peter, a member of the UUCWNC’s Social Justice Ministry, first saw Denny in action during the pandemic at a contentious school board meeting debate about policies relating to trans kids. Papa Bear had placed himself as a barrier between two opposing groups. That struck Peter as incredibly courageous.

“Here was this guy with a yellow shirt and red letters that said “Peace Monitor,” trying to keep two very vocal groups at a safe distance from each other,” recalls Peter. “And I thought ‘well, that’s kind of interesting, he’s all by himself. What does he think he can do?’”

Two years later, after completing a de-escalation training by Blueprint NC and procuring his own yellow shirt, Peter decided to join Denny as a Peace Monitor. Then, another member of the Social Justice Ministry, Dr. Michael Sheridan, began to accompany the duo at an occasional rally or event. Soon after, Denny had a committed following.

Today, the Peace Monitors have a leadership core of about 10 members – many from the UU congregation – and dozens of trained volunteers ready to deploy their de-escalation training whenever the need arises. For many, this isn’t the role they ever thought they’d take on in the movement.

The group now enjoys the benefits of real organization, with members establishing vetting processes for new Peace Monitors and guidelines for selecting which events to attend. And there is plenty for the Peace Monitors to do. This August alone, their presence has been requested by event organizers at more than a dozen actions around Wilmington.

Demand is high. That’s been one of the challenges in recent months. That’s why the group is mobilizing to grow its ranks, hosting three orientation sessions for new members.

“People certainly have a right to express themselves. We want to make sure that it doesn’t get out of hand,” says Peter. “And hopefully [we] can use some of our de-escalation skills to help them breathe, to move them to a different place, but most importantly, just to listen and to be present for them as they work through their emotions.”

Volunteers are trained in a few core practices, starting with the essential principles of de-escalatory action. New members are also taught tactics like parasol patrol – the use of umbrellas or other objects to obscure the view of opposition groups – and corking – blocking off road intersections ahead of a rally procession.

When deployed to an escalated situation, Peace Monitors are instructed to observe, recognize participants who intend to be disruptive, and employ their de-escalations training as necessary. The goal in approaching an agitated participant is to listen and re-direct hostility or aggression into more productive or benign actions. Simply put, the job is to keep things calm.

Peace monitoring does require steely nerves, at times. But not all de-escalation actions are fraught with tension. Just as often, Peace Monitors are out there creating and contributing to a more joyous atmosphere through music and song, humor and friendly banter. After all, it’s harder to start trouble when everybody is having a good time.