Abandoned by the Justice System

On February 9, 1979, I was walking to my girlfriend’s house, cutting through a gated community. When I walked through the public open gate area, I had an esophagus attack. This caused me to stumble and black-out, falling into the snow. After 2 or 3 minutes of laying in the cold snow, I got up, wiped myself off and turned around to take the shorter route going down an alley to get to my girlfriend’s home. 

As I entered the alley, an off-duty detective who was working as a security guard drove up almost hitting me with his vehicle. As I moved away from the vehicle, he jumped out of the vehicle pointing his service weapon at me. Another police officer pulled up. At this point the first officer put the barrel point in the middle of my chest and reached into my pockets finding a lighter that looked like a gun, which lit up for smoking cigarettes. I had it on me to show to my girlfriend. When the detective found it in my pocket, he threw it in the snow expressing, “I got you Mother F____ for a “ACA”, (carry and concealed weapon), you some kind of pimp?” 

I was turned over to the police officer who had just arrived in his police vehicle and was taken to the 7th District Precinct Police Station and placed in a holding cell. After being there about 20 minutes, I heard my “arresting officer” yelling, “Where’s he at. I’m going to kick his ass!” as the officer opened the cell where I was waiting, he stated, “Why didn’t you tell me it was a lighter?”, I said laughingly, “You was too busy trying to give me a case.” The officer was so mad he tried to punch me. I beat him to it and punched him twice. That was when other officers stepped in to restrain me and the captain came in and yelled, “All y’all cut that bull____ out. Book him or let him go…” 

After waiting for an hour, the arresting officer took me to then notorious Central Hold Over, who then turned me over to the 9th District Precinct Detectives who placed me in 29 Line Ups illegally. On the very last “line up”, a black-African American detainee was picked out. Then one of the two 9th District Precinct detectives left the line up room and expressed to me, “Berry, she picked you out.” Naturally, I made a fuss, but it fell on deaf ears. 

 I was booked and arrested, according to one police report for Armed Criminal Action, Rape, Robbery, and Kidnapping of a Twenty-Two years of age white female. My original arrest was for Trespassing 2nd Degree, which was not a crime (felony or misdemeanor) in the State of Missouri. This original police report, was withheld from my Jury Trial in the year 1979, by the ten Circuit Attorney’s Office of the City of St. Louis. 

There was even more evidence that was kept from my defense attorney, most importantly the Physical Biologic Evidence that when tested would have exonerated me! This caused me to be wrongfully convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for Rape, Robbery, and Kidnapping of this twenty-two-year-old white female. 

After almost 20 years, my case was made part of a Civil Rights Lawsuit, by the Innocence Project in New York City, New York. This ultimately resulted in the creation of a new law which was passed by the Missouri State Legislature in 1999 which was passed to assure DNA Testing was made available for any incarcerated person convicted claiming actual innocence. The Innocence Project filed the required motion for DNA testing on my behalf on November 19th of 2001 and the Judge approved this motion. It is now April of 2025, and I have yet to receive the DNA testing that was ordered on July 29th of 2002. 

I was abandoned by the Circuit Attorney’s Office. I still have a right to DNA testing. I am being obstructively denied to finish my DNA Testing which I was lawfully granted by Judge Riley. 

I have written both US Senators of the State of Missouri and I have also written recently to the US Attorney General Pam Bondi and the newly elected Governor Mike Kehoe to intervene and investigate how I am being denied lawfully granted DNA testing of the withheld physical biological evidence in my case. 

In addition, may I add that the parole board member who presided over my last hearing expressed to me in front of Rev. Larry Rice that if I did not admit guilt, I would not be released. No law supports this stand. 

If you can help me, please contact me by writing to:  Irving Berry #38268, C/O Digital Mail Center-Missouri DOC, PO Box 25678, Tampa, FL 33622-5678.  You can also see a video of Irving Berry performing for a TEDx Talks by searching on YouTube for “Love is in this place| Irving Berry”.