Dear Friend,
This photo is one of the only happy memories my children Creedence and Lainey have of their father and my husband, Josh...
...because Josh is serving 11 years in prison for a crime another officer committed!
I don’t think my husband Josh should be punished for being INNOCENT.
My name is Tori Taylor, and my husband is Police Officer Josh Taylor of the Wilson Police Department in Oklahoma.
Josh is serving 11 years in prison right now for a crime that another officer committed.
The case for Josh’s innocence is clear as the difference between night and day.
If you’ve missed the national headlines on this case, here’s a quick summary...
On July 4th, 2019, Josh and his partner Brandon Dingman were called to a domestic disturbance and found a large 350-pound man named Jared Lakey walking down the street entirely NAKED.
Clearly, Lakey wasn’t in his right mind. Whether it was drugs or mental illness, Lakey needed help, and he needed to go with Josh and Brandon.
Unfortunately, Lakey fought Josh and Brandon, and he was too big and strong to be put into handcuffs by just the two of them.
Following their training, Josh and Brandon decided they would use a NON-LETHAL taser to subdue Lakey, but Lakey ripped out the taser barbs, rendering it ineffective.
Then an aggressive county deputy sheriff arrived as more backup. He didn’t ask Josh and Brandon what they needed. He just acted.
The deputy sheriff snuck up on Lakey and put him in a dangerous chokehold for 40 seconds. Finally, Lakey was placed in handcuffs.
But after the sheriff put Lakey in a chokehold, Lakey began having trouble breathing and was rushed to the hospital, where he passed two days later.
The incident was investigated, and Josh and Brandon
were TWICE CLEARED by the Chief of Police and the City Council because they had used the NON-LETHAL taser...
...and it was the deputy sheriff who put Lakey in a dangerous chokehold that restricted his airways for 40 seconds.
The sheriff is the guilty party, not Josh and Brandon.
But a year after the incident, a politicized prosecutor brought second-degree murder charges against Josh and Brandon...
...but he did NOT charge the deputy sheriff because the deputy sheriff was politically connected, and Josh and Brandon are not.
The deputy sheriff was allowed to quit his job and testify against Josh and Brandon, and in return, no charges would be brought against him...
...even though the deputy sheriff’s chokehold likely caused Lakey’s death!
As outrageous as this story is so far, it gets worse.
One of the fundamental issues at the trial was whether Lakey’s death was caused by the NON-LETHAL taser or the deputy sheriff’s dangerous 40-second chokehold.
But when the Medical Examiner testified at trial, he said it was a “guess” as to the causation of death.
A “GUESS”!!! No one should be convicted on a guess.
Indeed, there was ample testimony at trial by taser experts that tasers are non-lethal and didn’t cause Lakey’s demise.
The 40-second chokehold was the likely cause of Lakey’s passing.The corrupt bargain with the deputy sheriff and the flawed testimony from the Medical Examiner sealed Josh and Brandon’s fates, and they’re now serving 11-year sentences.
I need your help to right this massive wrong by supporting an emergency appeal we’ve filed to overturn their convictions.
While the facts of the case are on our side, our bank accounts are empty, and we don’t have the money to fully fund the next stages of the appeal.
That’s why I was so relieved when Jim Fotis from the National
Center for Police Defense (NCPD) told me he would help our case.
You may know NCPD as the group that helped Sheriff Joe Arpaio,
Tulsa’s Police Officer Betty Shelby, New York Cops, Anthony
Federico and Hugh Barry Jr., Michigan’s Mark Bessner, and more.
NCPD is the best friend that an INNOCENT police officer can ever
have.
NCPD is working to assemble the best legal team to free Josh andBrandon, as well as raise the money to pay for these immense legal expenses.
That’s a godsend for a family like ours. We’re not rich people. Not even close. In fact, since she was just four months old, Lainey has had Type I diabetes. She’s required a lot of extra care and love, and expensive medical care.
Raising Lainey and Creedence alone without Josh is incredibly tough. Josh is my rock.
He’s such a good man. And Creedence and Lainey want their dad back.
I’m hoping you can donate $15, $25, $50, $100 or more to NCPD to help Josh get a new — and FAIR — trial.
Your donation could make the difference between Josh coming home for Christmas and being with Creedence, Lainey, and me...
...or Josh not getting home for a decade!
The anti-cop crusade by some radical prosecutors must stop. No more railroading innocent cops! Help me free Josh and Brandon, who are in prison for another officer’s crimes.
Thank you for your time today. I’ve poured my heart out to you, and I hope to hear from
you soon.
With Gratitude,
Tori Taylor
P.S. I forgot to mention this, but being a cop
in prison can be a death sentence. I know
Josh doesn’t tell me how scary it is in there
for an honest police officer like him, but I can
tell it is. I don’t want to lose Josh forever.
Please help Josh today. We have a great
chance of winning his appeal if NCPD has
your support with a donation of $35, $50,
$100, $250, $500, $1,000 or more. Thank you!
