Guilty Despite Proven Innocent: The Fight to Seek Justice for Krishna Maharaj

At the age of 82, Krishna Maharaj has been in the Florida State Prison for almost 35 years for murders he insists he did not commit. With new evidence and even confessions coming to light, his team hopes to finally exonerate him of the crimes that even the Federal Magistrate Judge claims prove his innocence by ‘clear and convincing evidence’.

From Rags to Riches

Prior to his conviction in 1987, Maharaj had quite the success story. Born in Trinidad in 1939, Maharaj set his eyes on England to make something of himself. Without a penny to his name, he began dabbling in the import of tropical fruits, which acquired him an immense amount of wealth. At a point in time also holding the time of the second biggest racehorse owner in the U.K. However, due to the rise of restrictive trade practices by the British during the late 1970s, Maharaj decided to invest his time in the U.S., specifically Florida, where he hoped to prosper even further. This, however, marked a turning point in his story as he would later be sentenced to death by electric chair for the fatal incident that occurred on 16th October 1986.

The Fatal Incident in Room 1215

On 16th October 1986, two men by the names of Derrick and Duane Moo Young, a father and son, were found dead in Room 1215 of the DuPont Plaza Hotel. The people involved insist on their own accounts of the events.

 The story that the Court deemed to be the “truth” was the one told by the State’s primary witness, Neville Butler. According to Butler, Maharaj had instructed him to arrange a meeting with Derrick in hopes of resolving a dispute over $160,000, which Derrick had allegedly extorted from Maharaj’s relatives in Trinidad. Blindsided by Maharaj’s attendance, the meeting quickly turned sour, and an argument ensued between the pair, which ultimately led to the shooting of Derrick and his son, Duane, who was also present.

 Moreover, the State presented further evidence from the maid who cleaned Room 1215 that recalled that on the morning of 16th October, the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign was hanging on the inside of the room. Later that evening, the staff was asked to check the room due to concerns, in which she attempted to enter the room, however, with no luck as the room had been locked from the inside. After approximately 10 minutes, this time accompanied by a security guard, the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign was hanging on the outside of the door, which was now unlocked, and the bodies were found inside. The police fingerprint expert found the samples taken from the do not disturb sign and other surfaces belonged to Maharaj. Also, a firearms expert testified that the gun used in the killings was the same model owned by Maharaj

 As the Court, and more precisely the jury, deemed this to be the “truth”, Maharaj was then sentenced to (1) death for the murder of Duane Moo Young, (2) life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for twenty-five years for the murder of Derrick Moo Young, (3) two life imprisonment terms for the kidnapping convictions and (4) 15 years for possession of the firearm to run consecutively to each of the above sentences.

 As one can expect, following the death penalty verdict, subsequent appeals expect to follow, especially as Maharaj insisted upon his innocence. However, despite Maharaj’s efforts, a direct appeal was denied. So was his motion for post-conviction relief where he stated that he was denied the due process as the prosecutor withheld information in his favour. Moreover, his counsel had been ineffective in 45 different ways, including failing to present an alibi defence which supported his claim of innocence. It was not until 2002 that a Florida Court decided to overturn the death sentence and reduce it to life imprisonment. Still, for Maharaj’s team, life imprisonment is nothing more than ’a death sentence in all but name’, hence why the fight goes on, especially as new findings show a different side of what could have happened on the night of 16th October 1987.

New Findings Pointing to Maharaj’s Innocence

The new findings, brought to light by Maharaj’s team, including the legal action non-governmental organization, Reprieve, show that the murders were likely carried out by the members of the drug cartel of Pablo Escobar. Since a discovery showed that both Derrick and Duane had laundered billions of dollars for the drug baron. Per Reprieve’s findings, the Moo Youngs had allegedly lost or even stolen some of the money which was being laundered. Five drug cartel associates of Escobar supported these claims. Moreover, the new findings show that a cartel assassin stayed in Room 1214, the opposite room where the bodies were found. Furthermore, concerning is the testimony of Neville Butler. Even though the Court was told that the State’s key witness had passed a lie detector test, it was, Maharaj who actually passed the polygraph and not Butler. Additionally, a further finding on 24th November 2020 of fingerprint evidence which Reprieve claims come from of the possible suspects in the case, might further support Maharaj’s claim of innocence.

 With almost 35 years in Prison, Maharaj and his team are still fighting for justice, in hopes for a Court to acknowledge the newly discovered evidence. As previously mentioned, in 2019, a Federal Magistrate Judge stated that Maharaj has, in fact, sufficiently proved to the Court that he was not the one to pull the trigger that killed the two men, and that ‘no reasonable juror could convict him’. Still, according to the judge, this does not equate to becoming a free man again. Why? – The issue, outlined in Maharaj v. Jones, Case Number: 17-21965-CIV-MARTINEZ-OTAZO-REYES (S.D. Fla. Nov. 30, 2020), lies in Maharaj’s failure of establishing a Brady violation, i.e., a defendant bears the burden of proving that the new evidence has ‘reasonable probability’ which would lead to an outcome in the trial be different if the evidence was brought to light. Furthermore, established in Herrera v. Collins, 506 U.S. 390, 401 (1993) and highlighted by the 3DCentre, a non-profit organization, even though Maharaj presents convincing evidence of his innocence, this is simply not enough to let him walk free. Instead, he must prove ‘an independent constitutional violation occurred in the underlying state criminal proceeding’.

Currently, a fundraiser has been created by the 3DCentre in which they hope to raise funds necessary to bring this case before a judge on the ‘issue of substantive innocence’ and, hopefully, exonerate him of the crimes that seemingly appear to have been committed by drug cartel members.

For anyone interested in learning more about the case of Krishna Maharaj and donating before the deadline on the 22nd December 2021, please visit the #FreeKrisMaharaj Crowdfunder.