Rogelio in prison hospice, 3/3/04

Rogelio was supposed to be released 10/2001

Rogelio Scull:
founding member of Afrocuba de Matanzas
dies in Texas jail after kangaroo court gives him life
 Andres Petit 6/04

Rogelio Scull was a talented percussionist who was among the founding members of Afrocuba de Matanzas, along with Francisco Zamora, Dolores Perez, Pedro "Pello" Tapanes, Regino, and the other greats of that group. He is remembered fondly by the members of the group. He died on Saturday, June 12, 2004.

Rogelio left Cuba in the 1980 Mariel event and played for some time in NY.  He spent over 10 years in jail on a life sentence for being an accessory to a murder.   I obtained a copy of the court transcript and was not too surprised to see that the case against Scull was unsupported by physical evidence and relied only on the testimony of one Ana, who fingered him as a participant after being squeezed by the cops on a bad check charge.  It turns out from the transcript itself that Ana was the wife of the murderer and there were high heel marks at the site where the body was found.   Ana has since been jailed for her participation in 3 other murders. Hardly a reliable witness.

The reputation of Texas "justice" is that it is very hard to get out of jail once they get you in.  Nevertheless, through AfroCubaWeb in 2000, I sought and received donations to fund the $270 costs that remained to get a copy of the various papers needed to get a habeas corpus done.  I was successful in getting the trial transcript, after many months of delays, as the State of Texas managed to lose the file, yes, lose it. I also got the Statement of Facts for Cause No F90-03553-NJU 04-98-00179-CR and the Punishment Portion of the trial on that same cause number. 

His family is in Cuba on Calle Vellardes in Bario Marina, Matanzas, a center of AfroCuban culture in Matanzas.  His nephew Avelino, now deceased, was a tremendo percussionista.  

Rogelio has been composing music and songs in jail.  He sent these to an individual in the northwest US, who has ceased communicating with him.