Help Me Howard: Reid Not Guilty

WSVN -- The letter was given to me by Byron Reid whose son is serving five years in prison for beating up his girlfriend.

Byron Reid: "He swore to me 'Dad I swear to God I did not hit that girl.'"

Joseph Reid plead not guilty, but was convicted and then he claims he got this letter in prison from the girl he was convicted of beating up.

Byron Reid: "She said she lied on him because she was jealous he had that woman, and if she couldn't have him all to herself. Nobody else is going to and for that reason she came up with all these allegations."

The letter said if I knew you were going to be locked up this long I wouldn't have gotten you in trouble. She went on to say, I can't forgive myself because I have a guilty conscience. Adding, my mom had a lot to do with me telling the police that nonsense because she didn't like you. The letter ended with my lie caused you five years It was signed Knaromi.

Knaromi Lockett is the girl Reid was convicted of beating.

Byron Reid: "This is her handwriting. This is her letter to him. He mailed the letter to me. He got it from her so I have to take it what the letter says right here."

If the letter was written by the victim if she is telling the truth in it, Reid says his son is not guilty and an innocent man is sitting in state prison.

Byron Reid: "My heart is hurting over this. He cried many times and call from the jail, and he's at his wits ends and sometimes just want to end his life over things that he didn't do."

Patrick: "He wants to kill himself?"

Byron Reid: "That's what he tells me. He's so frustrated over the situation, nobody will listen to him."

Byron Reid believes his son and believes this letter proves he does not belong in prison.

Byron Reid: "I want to see him out Mr. Fraser. I want to see him out. I want to see justice done, see him get out and his record wiped cleaned because this is going to be against him for life."

Howard, people who work in prison will tell you every inmate claims they are not guilty.

Howard Finkelstein: "I have been a defense attorney for 32 years and its not uncommon for a convicted inmate to say they are innocent and in some cases even offer evidence, but in most cases, it turns out not to be true. However in enough cases, it is true so everything has to be thoroughly checked out."

We then tracked down Knaromi Lockett and showed her the letter.

Patrick: "Did you write this letter?"

Knaromi Lockett: "No."

Knaromi showed us her handwriting to prove she didn't write the letter. She is left handed the writer appears to be right handed and Knaromi says the writer has no idea what Reid did to her.

Knaromi Lockett: "You should have seen me. My face was like this wide, I was left for dead."

Knaromi thinks a girlfriend of Reid's wrote the letter and says she knows why Reid is trying to convince the courts to let him out of prison .

Knaromi Lockett: "He's trying to get out to come find me and finish what he started."

Patrick: "You keep saying finish what he started. What do you mean?"

Knaromi Lockett: "Kill me like he tried to. He left me for dead back in 2008."

Meaning Reid's attempt to get his conviction overturned on this letter is over.

Howard Finkelstein: "Based on the facts we have where the victim says she did not write the letter and that someone else forged it even if it made it to court, a judge would deny the request to overturn the conviction."

Maybe Joseph Reid doesn't know the letter is a fake. A father certainly had no idea it was a forgery. Knorimi knows one thing, she just wants them all to go away.

Knaromi Lockett:: I'm a single parent I'm doing it on my own and I just want to be done with it. I want to be left alone. I don't want any hassles. I don't want anything. I don't want nothing to do with him."

Patrick Fraser: "Mr. Reid gave us the letter thinking it would get his son out of prison, but clearly someone was trying to trick us. Joseph Reid was sentenced to five years. After this failed attempt to get out odds are he will be under the loving care of prison guards for five years."

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CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:

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REPORTER: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
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