FOOD FOR THOUGHT PARTS 30-34 2012 ARTICLES
FOOD FOR THOUGHT PART 30
There was a news article in the Philadelphia Inquirer October 23 2011, written by Nancy Phillips, talking about the costly mistakes lawyers representing capital cases in Pennsylvania, that would shock the conscience of the average person. Mistakes that lead to reversals because of their ineffectiveness and the scary part about it is many of these cases of prisoners on death row haven’t been reversed that had similar things happen and they are still on the row awaiting execution.
Some of these lawyers found to have provided ineffective assistance of counsel, are still routinely appointed to new cases. At least two lawyers whose work on death penalty cases that were labelled ineffective, in court opinions now serve as judges in courts in Philadelphia, Pa . That’s crazy!!! Willis W. Berry Jr, and William Austin Meehan Jr are two of the lawyers that were found to be ineffective and their death penalty cases were reversed and these lawyers were not only not sanctioned or disciplined, but were rewarded and given a “Robe” Yes, promoted to Judge, Now how can a lawyer that was proven to be ineffective in a D.P case preside over trials and make rulings on what’s right or wrong, in compliance with the law and constitution, when he or she doesn’t even know themselves. I assume according to them, anything goes…
After this inept and ineffective lawyer (Willis W Berry) was rewarded for his performance to Judge, this chump ran a real estate business out of his judicial chambers for more than a decade, using his taxpayer paid secretary to collect rent on a string of ramshackled apartments, he owned in North Philadelphia (a slumlord) In 2009 the state judicial conduct board gave him a four month suspension after ruling he violated judicial canons and brought disrepute to the bench. They briefly transferred him to a civil division, for a minute, but he returned to hearing criminal cases after the smoke cleared. This chump was not only an ineffective lawyer and not even qualified to be a judge, but a crook and criminal that should have been disbarred and sent to prison. As you can see, there is a selective position when people of the lower or average class break the law and when one of their own gets jammed for something.
The inquirer found that there were 125 capital cases reversed for ineffective assistance of counsel and dozens more in which courts ruled the lawyers clearly erred but the mistakes didn’t reach the threshold of prejudice required to overturn the sentence. Keep in mind these are capital cases!! Lawyers supposedly fighting for defendants lives often spend little time preparing their cases and put on only the barest defense, don’t seek witnesses or do any investigating. A lot of the problem is because defendants are indigent and the court doesn’t pay the lawyers enough. The court appointed lawyers only get $2,000 for trial preparations and $400 a day in court to handle cases. Most legal experts and lawyers say it requires a minimum of 35 to $40,000 to try a capital case and the appeal process can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Critics say, the peanuts the lawyers get to represent a capital case, deter good lawyers from getting involved. By paying these lawyers such little pay we get the bottom of the barrel and its inexcusable and reprehensible, to say the least, where the state is either trying to kill us or put us under the jail for the rest of our lives.
After they railroad capital defendants at the trial level, the process continues on the appellate level where a lot of the appeal lawyers file the most scarce legal challenges and make meagre arguments, citing little or no case law. This is no more than a sham or a dog and phony show. People should be outraged of how tax payers money is used for this sham.
That judge I mentioned earlier, Willis, that was found to be ineffective representing Harold Wilson, who later was retired and acquitted, after getting a new trial because of Berry’s ineffectiveness, was found to not have made any attempt to prepare for the penalty phase of the trial. The appeals court also found he made no effort to investigate Wilson’s background or search for evidence to argue against the D.P. Wilson had a history of psychotic behavior got hit in the head with a baseball bat, as a child and suffered brain damage. He didn’t even have a significant history of prior convictions, but none of this was told to the jury. The appeals court ruled the record is full to the brim with Berry’s ineffectiveness. Now, keep in mind, this is the lawyer that is now a judge. This is what we are working with in Pennsylvania, when we go to trial in a capital case and this is only the tip of the iceberg. I can go on and on about similar situations in this state and in every state In America.
To be continued
Power to the Struggle
Food for Thought Prt 31
“Food for thought”
Part 31
There was an interesting article in the New York Times in July,2011 called “Death Penalty Still Racist and Arbitrary” by David R Dow. All the people that continue to support this punishment and those that havent taken a position one way or another should read this, its extremely informative. It mentions that this is the 35th anniversary of the return of the D.P after it was reinstated in 1976 and a law professor,along with two of his colleagues published a study examining more than 2,000 homicides in Georgia since 1972. They found black defendants were more likely to receive the D.P than white defendants and that murderers of white victims were about four and a half more likely to be sentenced to death than those killed blacks. This study became known as the “Baldus Study”. Most legal experts agree that the Baldus Study established racial bias.
It’s well established that nationwide blacks and whites are victims of homicide in roughly equal numbers, yet 80% of those executed had murdered white people. In jurisdiction after jurisdiction the Baldus Study has revealed the same racial bias. This is crazy, when we are working with a system that allows this to jump-off. After its been proven beyond any doubt what-so-ever, how can it be justified???. Is this a nation that is so blood thirsty that things like this don’t matter?. This study points out how the system in general is racially biased, but there are too many individuals instances of racism involved with who and who doesnt get sentenced to death.
In 2008 a district attorney in Harris County,Texas (Chuck Rosenthal) had to resign after news got out that he sent and received racist e-mails, Now, in an earlier Food for Thought article I mentioned how people in the KKK and other hate groups have infiltrated our police forces,prison guards and judicial system. Now the fact that this prosecutor was one of the few that got caught and had to resign may not sound like such a big deal to some,but his office had sought the death penalty in 25 cases while he ran the show and his successor sought it in 7 cases. So out of those 32 cases where the D.P was sought, 29 of them involved a person of colour. I mean, when you have racist people in office these things happen and its happening much too often in every town,city and state in America on a regular basis.
Since 1976 Texas carried out 470 executions, only two involved a white murderer and a black victim according to research by the author (David R. Dow) of that article. None of that facts mentioned in Dow’s article about the death penalty still being racist and arbitrary surprises me, nor should it surprise anyone else. Many in this country and around the world are in denial about the racism that still exist in America. Its hard to move away from some of the stuff embedded in our being. Not that long ago during slavery times a black slave named “Dred Scott” tried to sue for his freedom. Justice Taney of the U.S Supreme Court ruled “ People of colour had no rights, which the white man was bound to respect”. Therefore Dred Scott didnt have the right to sue for his freedom. These are the founding fathers of this so called great country that wrote the constitution, saying that they didnt intend for people of colour to enjoy the rights afforded whites under the constitution.
These are the same founding fathers that said a black person was to be only counted as 3/5 of a person. So its ironic how blacks and other people of colour expect any relief from the courts on the grounds that his/her constitutional rights were violated from the people that believe they arent entitled to any rights!! So lets keep it real… TO BE CONTINUED… Intensify the struggle!!!
Food for Thought Prt 32
Food for thought prt 32
“Wiki Leaks” is often under fire for allegedly leaking classified material. Much too often stuff our government wants to hide, not because it’s classified, but things that don’t put the U.S government in the most favourable light. The founder has also been accused of a few crimes, since wiki leaks has been gang-warring with the US government, so to speak. Anyway a while back they reported that 64%of Guantanamo detainees were detained by mistake or because of the US offering substantial bounties to allies for Al-Qaeda or Taliban suspects, the idea of trusting our government to imprison people for decades in some case, based on secret untested evidence, often never reviewed by a court, should repel and shock any decent rational person, some of these detainees at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and other similar spots, some secret spots, are rounded up because a poor neighbour, in Afghanistan for example, hungry and trying to feed his family can get a nice little reward for saying he thinks the guy down the street is working with the Taliban, or Al-Qaeda, it doesn’t matter how true it is. Thats all it takes no more questions asked. Then the unsuspecting suspect is in for years of imprisonment, abuse, torture and sometimes even death. The abuse is not only water boarding and beatings, but there have been reports of food contamination and humiliation in general constantly!
The ones that are fortunate enough to get lawyers are subject to new rules that aren’t common to any court of law. Its been reported that the government is now allowed to read and review all communication between the prisoners and their lawyers, which violates the attorneys client privilege by any standards.
None of these things ive just mentioned should be a surprise to any of us because of the typical everyday abuse that jumps off on a daily basis in prisons all across America. This past December 2011, prisoners in some of the Georgia prisons held a peaceful protest strike in regards to the inhumane conditions, they were enduring, they got beat down and suffered abuse at the hands of the prison guards with the full sanction of the D.O.C.
mLast summer 2011, inmates at the SHU in Pelican Bay, supermax, in California refused food for 19 days, as reported in an earlier F.F.T article saying they would rather die than continue to suffer inhumane conditions. Other prisons in California, refused food in solidarity with pelican bay, also got support from across the Country.
There is a pattern of abuse in every state in America, often much of it is caught on camera, because of the arrogance of these guards, knowing not much, if anything, will happen when these incidents are reported. One of the guards directly involved in the disgusting Abu Ghraib scandal (Charles A Graner) in Iraq, where he is seen in several photos abusing and humiliating prisoners, is a product of this prison, SCI Greene, the western Pennsylvania prison that houses the majority of the states death row prisoners. Before he left for Iraq he was caught up in all kinds of beatings and abuse situations here, plus his wife filed charges against him for beating the crap out of her, so that should give a picture of his character.
SCI Greene, has a history and pattern of abuse, dating back to when it first opened in the early 90′s which is fairly new, In 1998 superintendent Ben Varner was demoted and removed from the prison, along with several commissioned officers and 42 guards for abuse in the restricted housing units. Most of the time the prisoners were handcuffed behind their backs while getting beat down!!!
This abuse is still jumping off, as I speak. There is a federal probe right now, March 2012. about a group of guards at a Pittsburgh PA, Prison not far from here, accused of tormenting and brutalizing inmates. A 60 year old guard (Harry Nicoletti) was charged with over 100 counts of felony abuses, including 10 counts of anal rape, contaminating food trays, and more;l He allegedly targeted gay, transsexual and prisoners convicted of sex crimes involving kids. 11 other guards are charged with assaults and using intimidating to keep the abuse a secret. If you believe the grand jury testimony, Nicoletti is a real sicko. Professionals routinely say rape isn’t for sex, most of the time, but it appears this dude got plenty of sexual gratification from his repeated acts. I won’t get into the graphic details, but prior to his anal rape there was testimony that he felt up transgender prisoners with breast.
Another Pa prison, is under investigation for running a “fight club” guards putting inmates against each other, betting on the winner and rewarding the winners with cigarettes and commissary. This happened at a Fayette County Prison south of Pittsburgh. A letter from a guard (whistle-blower) sent to prison officials and human rights groups told of inmates receiving major injuries, missing teeth, broken knuckles, jaws, hands and more, the guard that reported it got death threats after he told.
The P.A D.O.C as other Dept of Corrections in most states routinely cover up abuse as they do other legitimate complaints by inmates. For example , whenever a prisoner files a grievance, the grievance coordinator or person that responds to it, is more concerned with backing up the officer or staff member grieved about, then trying to solve the problem. The mentality of them is that the prisoner is always lying and the guards or staff can do no wrong. Until this problem is corrected and guards and officials are held accountable, this problem will continue to exist.
To be continued Intensify the struggle.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT PART 33
Prosecutors are given absolute and qualified immunity, so they will not be held liable based on the performance of their duties. The messed up part about that is when you immunize government officials like prosecutors, judges etc. defendants who have been jerked around by their malicious acts cant be compensated for their injuries except In extreme rare cases (Il get into this farther at another time) Qualified immunity only protects these officials as long as they do not violate the defendants clearly established constitutional rights. In other words these prosecutors can put their things down, doing all kinds of rotten unsavoury unlawful tactics to ensure a conviction, with little worry about being fined, sanctioned or brought up on criminal charges. To make a long story short, prosecutors have absolutely no incentive, what so ever to actually seek justice as the laws and rules prescribe, but only to load up their score cards with victories, furthering their political careers.
In an earlier FFT article number 18 I talked about a prosecutor in Philadelphia, Pa (jack McMahon) that gave training classes to new D. A’s in Philly and surrounding counties in Pa. On how to keep black and other minorities off the juries. Although the state supreme court and federal district court eventually condemned those acts, it didn’t deter Bruce Sagel, the director of training in Philadelphia, Pa during a 1990 lecture from openly advocating the use of racial stereotypes in jury selection. I mean, these chumps are so bold and arrogant even after the McMahon tapes in the 1980′s this clown in broad daylight, not even in the cover of darkness taught his class that an ideal jury is “12 Archie Bunkers” that is 12 racist white men,. Who will convict on little evidence. This only confirms that the McMahon videotapes is not an isolated incident. (Archie Bunker was on a comedy sitcom. His character on t.v. But in real life its disgusting) When this conduct is allowed to continue to jump off, it shows that the American judicial system is a complete joke!! The sad part about it is the average citizen really thinks the system is fair and works properly. It shows a pattern of racial discrimination in the Pa. Courtrooms that target the black community. It also gives another example of how these prosecutors so called officers of the court snub their noses at the judicial system in general and the basic constitutional rights of the accused.
Bruce Godschalk, a guy that was convicted of raping two women In Montgomery County Pa. In 1986 spent 15 years in prison before being freed, due to DNA evidence that cleared him. The prosecutor in that case Bruce Castor fought tooth and nail opposing his efforts for 7 years to get DNA testing done to prove his innocence before a federal court finally allowed it to happen, over Castors objections. Castor has a history of using every foul trick in the book to ensure a conviction, I know first hand because in my second trial he prosecuted me, so I’m a victim of his crooked, deplorable actions. The point I’m Trying to make in this situation is the prosecutor knew Godschalks confession was coerced which he later recanted. Castor also knew one of the victims could not even identify Godschalk and the other victims identity was shaky. The whole case was flimsy, to say the least and Castor was scared to death of the results of the DNA test, so instead of him wanting to seek justice, as his oath required, he chose to allow an innocent man suffer in prison for 15 years. What kind of monsters are we working with in the Pennsylvania judicial system!!
In another case Montco’s D.A. Bruce Caster was involved, not long ago, a chef (Guy A. Sileo jr.) at the General wayne Inn, in Lower Merion, township in Montgomery county. They flipped this guys case because of an instruction that wasn’t given by the trial judge, if you read the opinion and all the issues the defense briefed and argued, this case could have been overturned for numerous other reasons. Anyone with even a “kindergarten law game” could have peeped all the injustices the defendant received at his trial, due to the prosecutors dirty tricks and unsavory acts, which are too numerous to get into now, but fortunately the appellant courts did it’s job, however the new D.A. Risa Vetri Ferman appeal it to the next higher court.
The actions of this prosecutor and so many others across the country is the kind of conduct you would expect from a state hospital patient or a degenerate criminal , not from a professional elected official we trust to maintain Law and Order.
The state of Penna. Is not only infested with many crooked prosecutors, they also have plenty of judges that are no more than criminals themselves. A while back in August 2009 it was reported in the news about two Luzerne County Judges admitted to taking bribes of severel hundred thousand dollars to send juveniles defendants to a private institution. Most of the kids were not even represented by counsel. Thats crazy, these are our Judges.!!
Then more recently last year in 2011 there were reports of two other judges in Penna. Involved in altering trial transcripts. This is crazy how can a defendant get the appropriate appellant review of the issues, if the judges are removing stuff or doctoring the transcripts. A defense attorney (Noah Geary) claimed to the Pa. Last week that a Washington county judge (Debbie O’Dell-Seneea) ordered her court stenographer to alter trial transcripts in a 2008 murder case.
The other case, where the judge Rennee Cardwell Hughes was removed from a death penalty case by the state supreme court for getting her stenographer to remove a disparaging remark she made about the defendant. One of the supreme court justices called her admissed actions “Reprehensible”. I happen to know the defendant Daniel Dougherty (Doc) that judge Renee Hughes doctored the transcripts and he has maintained his innocence ever since I’ve known him and he still sits on the row as I speak due to in part the actions of this crooked judge. No one really knows how often this jumps – off. I’m sure it’s not always caught. ONE thing for sure these are not isolated incidents and it occurs much too often in the courtrooms across America. How can we trust a system with all these flaws to administer the death penalty or lock people up for life or a bunch of years when tactics like what I’ve mentioned jumps off so regularly.
To Be continued. Power to the struggle!!
ROBERT FISHER AS-1738
175 PROGRESS DRIVE
WAYNESBURG,
Pa. 15370
USA
Food For thought part 34
TRAYVON MARTIN
In an earlier “food for thought” article, I talked about some of the abuse in prisons across America by some of the guards, especially in the “Restricted housing units (the hole) Prisoners getting beat down maliciously and sadistically, most of the time while handcuffed from the back, by cowardly guards. I might mention these are common place routine acts and not isolated incidents that only occur every now and again.
A while back I read an article in a human rights coalition newsletter where a mother of an abused prisoner said “the Ku Klux Klan” is no longer necessary for white racist to put their thing down, if you want to assault, abuse and torture people of color, then simply apply for a job with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Corrections, where this behaviour is unwritten institutional policy.”. That statement is so true, but the sad part about it is, this mentality doesn’t exist and begin in the prison system. Some are in denial, but racism shows its ugly face much too often in this country and is accepted by the vast majority, many that don’t want to acknowledge its existence.
For example, the Trayvon Martin case that has been dominating the news for the past month or so. The 17 year old Black teenager killed by a self-appointed neighbourhood vigilante watch group joker. Martin was unarmed, coming from a store where he purchased ice tea and candy. He was followed on his way home because George Zimmerman the so called watchman was suspicious that he may be up to no good, being a black teen with a hooded sweatshirt on. To make a long story short, Zimmerman shot him and wasn’t even arrested. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Zimmerman isn’t innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but I’m saying he should have been arrested and charged for the incident and allow a jury to decide if it was self-defence as Zimmerman claims or not. If the situation was reversed and Trayvon had of shot Zimmerman, for sure, without any doubt what so ever, Trayvon would have been locked up on the spot!!! It’s been two months since the murder and Zimmerman is still walking around free not arrested or charged. It goes to show an on going policy of how Black Lives are of no value in America and highlights the troubling words of an earlier United States Supreme Court Justice Taney, wrote in the “Dred Scott” opinion: “People of color had no rights which the white man was bound to respect”.
The Trayvon Martin case is disturbing to so many because of what has been revealed so far, sparking protest all across the U.S, but no one should be surprised at all because although racial situations have gotten a little better over the years, it’s still extremely evident in our courts and society in general, but as I’ve said earlier many are in denial!!! I can go on and on citing numerous cases all across America jumping off daily to support my position, but I will only name a few, for example also in Florida, not far from where Trayvon Martin case jumped off two people of color turned up missing 8 years ago under mysterious circumstances. A black dude and a Mexican that were arrested by the same police officer. This happened in Marco Island, Florida. A white deputy sheriff was fired because his stories just didn’t add up but they claim there isn’t enough evidence to arrest and charge him. This cop arrested Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos and no one has seen them since. The cop claimed he dropped them off at a convenience store because the Black guy (Williams) worked there, but after a little investigation it turned out the guy worked several miles away from there. That coupled with other out right lies got the cop fired but there still hasn’t been an arrest demonstrating once again how unimportant the lives of people of color are in this so called best judicial system in the world are!!!
To Be continued