Barry Roberson’s life was upended in March 1996 when he faced a devastating injustice in a Saint Louis County, Missouri, courtroom. Wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit, Barry’s refusal to accept a five-year plea deal led to his conviction by an all-white jury and a harsh 37-year prison sentence. The prosecution and trial judge, both white, systematically excluded all African American jurors from the trial, marginalizing Barry and treating his life as if it did not matter.

Raised in a strict Pentecostal family as the fifth of nine siblings, Barry was the only member of his family to experience incarceration. While enduring the shock of a maximum-security prison, he sought solace through prayer, leading to a profound spiritual awakening. Over two decades of proclaiming his innocence, Barry contacted numerous innocence projects, but his case, devoid of physical evidence, remained unresolved.