Lesra Martin

Martin is notable for his involvement in the release of former boxer, Rubin "The Hurricane" Carter in 1985 after serving almost 20 years in prison for a 1966 murder that he had nothing to do with. His involvement began after he read Carter's autobiography The Sixteenth Round. Martin wrote to Carter, in prison, in 1980 and met with him at the prison where he was incarcerated in Trenton, New Jersey. This contact resulted in the involvement of the group that Martin lived with in Toronto, in the pursuit of Carter's release. Although Carter was convicted at a retrial in 1976 and lost his appeals from that further conviction, a further proceeding was commenced in February 1985 at a federal court which resulted in his release in November that year by Judge Haddon Lee Sarokin who ruled that the case was based on racism and the withholding of evidence that could have helped Carter. The story of Carter's release including Martin's involvement, is portrayed in the film The Hurricane starring Denzel Washington although extensive portions of the account are fictionalized; Martin was portrayed in the film by Vicellous Reon Shannon.

Martin has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live on CNN, and has been the subject of a National Film Board production, The Journey of Lesra Martin, directed by Cheryl Foggo.

• Soundprint.org – The Homeboy and the Hurricane Retrieved December 2, 2006.
• Vancouver Courier, 'Film focuses on man who helped free Hurricane', August 24, 2004 Retrieved December 2, 2006.

• Lesra Martin web site
• The Journey of Lesra Martin at NFB, 2002
• Movie Details, The Journey of Lesra Martin, The New York Times
• Internet Movie Database, The Journey of Lesra Martin