My husband pulled my hair. A cop arrested him.

He was on probation for having sex with a 16-year-old when he was 18. She lived in Alabama. Alabama doesn't know how to run a government (way for down below the rest of the country on that - just about everybody agrees).

The best option I have was to write a letter to the judge. But I really don't even know how to do that. And apparently, they won't listen because the "victim" of "domestic violence" must be "scared" if she's trying to to help. Which is, of course, ridiculous 'cause anyone who was so scared would be happy and unafriad of the person that can't get to them anymore.

I'm homeless. (So is he.) He needs a lawyer. Public defender? Probably won't even be appointed in this case, nor they ever do anything for anybody (especially here). The last one I talked to to try to get him to help us said he was going to press charges AGAINST my husband.

What do I do?

Does anybody know any lawyers that might help?

What else do I do?

Edited by God on November 9, 2006 at 7:45:18.

Yeah, that's kinda what I was trying to do...

The only problem is I have no idea how to do it, especially when I can't get a lawyer.

And as for my husband, I have no way of contacting him.

With his mother thinking I did this to him, and me having no phone, being homeless and nowhere near people who'd let me accept charges, I can't talk to him other then postal mail.

There's a strong possibility he thinks the same thing his mom does.

Dear Officer Bonnett,

This is in regards to [Shadow]. I have been working non-stop to try to find a way to help him. During this research, I found out that once a "client" is arrested again, he is no longer considered to be on your caseload, so you would be more focused on the other things you have to do. However, I also know that you may say to the judge will have a severe impact on what the judge will decide to do. [Shadow] has been extremely good throughout his probation. He has never been on drugs, never missed an appointment out of negligence, etc. (and trust me, on the day he did have problems, he was doing everything he possibly could to get there, and by the time we actually did, he was well past the point where he should have gone to the hospital). He has had some problems finding an acceptable address for an extended period of time, but having no income, a criminal record, and a disability lawyer who has not made a move in two years, this problem is beyond his control, and you seem to understand that.

You seem to be a decent person, so you probably agree that the original charge should never have happened the way it did - especially considering that I recently found out that Alabama Code section 13A-6-62 states that statutory rape can only occur if the victim is 15 years or younger, and the "victim" in his case was 16. Nobody deserves 15 years in prison for such a thing - and the last charge placed on him was even more messed up then the first one.

You have told me to leave the state by myself, "Don't worry about [Shadow], worry about the baby," etc., etc. Those statements are something you would tell somebody when there's actual abuse going on, and there isn't. He grabbed my hair and made me back up a few feet because he did not want me to follow him, this was AFTER I hit him in the back with a bag of change. In the section of Alabama State Code dealing with this it says there has to be "serious physical injury," but not only was there no serious injury, there was no injury at all! [Shadow] is a decent person and has never done anything truly terrible to anybody. The fact that he wears leather and has tattoos does not make him abusive - because he is not. He should not have plead guilty to these charges, and I realize these charges are already on him, but we can at least try to get him back onto probation instead of being sent to die in prison - where he will die because of his progressive diseases.

Was there truly any abuse going on, do you honestly think I would be trying THIS hard to keep him OUT of prison? He also seems to remember a conversation where you told him that prison messes you up, and if he ever did have any problems with hitting his girlfriend, you would help him...

Sincerely,

[God]


Edited by God on November 8, 2006 at 17:09:18.

Edited by God on November 8, 2006 at 19:49:57.

Thank you, Rioni.


------------------ [contact info]

November 10, 2006

Dear Judge Stuart,

I am writing to you on behalf of [Shadow] (AIS#######). I am the "victim" in the case which was supposed to have caused his probation violation. Before I go on to speaking about his case, however, I would like to clearly stress one thing: I am not working out of fear! I would not be working day and night on legal research and taking the time and effort to write this letter if that were the case. There is one very simple way for you to know this is the truth, and that is the fact that if this goes through, he faces prison for 12 years (though it should be 11). By that time I could very easily be untracable, if that were my desire. The reason for my statements on this subject include some things the assigned public defender said to me before his hearing, and some other intresting notations I turned up during my legal research.

My husband is currently up for a hearing for probation violation based on a charge of domestic violence. His original sentence was of 15 years for statuatory rape (Rape in the 2nd degree). I do not know if you are the same judge who gave him that sentence (there were two seperate trials with two seperate judges), but if so you stated that you did not agree with Alabama's laws on this subject, nor did you believe that he should even have been convicted in that case, but that you had to sentence him because he had plead guilty. (This was probably due to the fact that he has a mild form of cerebal palsy and some brain damage, which sometimes interferes with his abilities of logic, therefore he was convinced by the other party that if he did not accept an admission of guilt he would be convicted of Rape1, even though that did not happen and there was no evidence). If you are not, then there is one important point for you to consider: The judge who sentenced him did not believe he should have ever been convicted. Some other things you might want to keep in mind about the original case are the fact that he made a point to speak to the parents and mention that they might have sex, and they claimed not to mind, the fact that the sexual relations they did have were initiated by her while he was asleep, and upon waking, he promptly told her to "Get off!," and the fact that he was actually ignorant of the fact that she was a minor. I do not know if any of these points came up in court; his inhibited logical abilities may have caused him not to mention some or all of these facts. However, that is the nature of any relevant actions he had had with the supposed victim and her family.

His next arrest was for domestic violence. If I am such a "victim," then why am I fighting so hard for the other party's rights? Do I also lose all rights and credability, because someone else was arrested?

The arresting officer, whom we both know on a semi-personal basis, had already stated his dislike for us many times to the "social population" of Southside Birmingham. The fact that he submitted to the jail two conflicting arrest reports should be the first sign that he severly exaggerated what happened. He made a report for assualt (which was later changed to domestic violence because I am his fianc�e), yet the State Code for assault at all three levels (1st, 2nd or 3rd degree) states a condition of that charge as requiring "serious physical injury" or "injury with a weapon." [color="red"][To anyone who is reading this on Xanga/MySpace/PrisonTalk/etc., this is where I would have stated what actually happened if I had not seen that advice on PrisonTalk.][/color] There is no weapon that either was claimed to be or actually was involved, so that part of the Code is not even thought to apply. So we immediately look at the other possibility: "Serious physical injury." I was not taken to the hospital and I was not bleeding. I had no bruises, no scratches, I did not even have any red marks! Nor were there any documented. As a matter of fact I was standing (easily) in the area trying to get Officer Morris to allow [Shadow] to give me a few things of important value so that something did not happen to them in holding at the jail or worse.

Once at the jail, my husband was not informed of his rights nor were they given to him. I do not know what you do or do not know about the Birmingham City Jail, but one thing they are notorious for is not giving any information on rules or cases (the inamte's own, of course) to the inmates. Another is not following the law or proper arrest and court procedures (for instance, it is illegal to revoke a city probation solely for non-payment of misdemeanor fines, yet the majority of inmates are in there for that very thing). My husband was not informed of his right to request a trial, nor was he allowed to speak to an attorney. He plead guilty because he thought his only options were to plead guilty or not guilty at that moment, and did not think the court would even remotely consider a fair trial when the paperwork included what Officer Morris wrote on the arrest report. When I went to speak to the public defender on his behalf, I was told that as the victim my feelings on the prosecution or dismissal did not matter, but that my husband could request a trial if he so chose. I was also told by the public defender, in exact words, "I am going to prosecute." I was not allowed to speak to my husband before he appeared to the judge to tell him he could request a trial.

I realize that both of these charges have already been put into place, and that these trials are not the ones being put in front of you. I am currently working on that situation. However, with one conviction being unjust and the other being illegal (and the illegal conviciton itself being the probation violation), I think you know it would not be prudent to send my husband to die in prison (if sent back to finish the full 12 years, he will die, or at least become what is referred to in slang as a "vegetable," due to progressive diseases).

Please show me & my husband that you have a sense of justice. That is, after all, why you were appointed. If you incarcerate my husband you are punishing me as well. What other alternatives can you offer? For example, there are many volunteer organizations in our area for which he could do community service.... this would be a great way for him to learn how to be appropiate in society and around people, if you think he needs to learn that.


[font="Brush Script MT"]Sincerely,
my name in cursive[/font]
[Raven]

~One thing I knew to do because of the information on prisontalk.org was to refrain from saying, ~"All he did was pull my hair."~ (Of course it would not have been phrased exactly like that.) If someone you care about, or you, is/are facing jailtime, you can join their forums, too. Saying that in a letter or elsewhere admits that he DID pull my hair, and is one less thing for the opposing party to have to prove.~

Edited by God on March 9, 2018 at 15:38:19

Trial's on Novemebr 29th if that's of intrest to anyone... is this worthy of a double-post?

I'm going to say good luck, God. Not many people have fun dealing with Alabama's circuit judges, they kinda just end up filing the case off somewhere, or doing some jury thing.

Also, to them they won't see it as 'just pulling hair'. Depends on the case too.

Friend went last week for custody to get with his dad, and well they just pushed it to next year.

Edited by Sage on November 14, 2006 at 18:35:56.

So I've noticed.

Though this particular judge seems somewhat decent... (OMG!). He was standing up for reducing prison rape and such. Also a custody case is a different type of case, and a criminal case will not be delayed so mucg unless someone requests it. But if it was that'd be good... better then 12 years.

He's already been convicted of the hair-pulling. This one is for probation violation (the violation being the hair-pulling conviction).

I've got a whole write-up of it. But no one here would be intrested to read that long. Anyway, yeah, in Alabama they take away the "victim's" rights to show the truth of the matter in such cases. They assume you're "scared." And it's fucked up. (Why would somebody scared try to get the person out of prison where they couldn't get to them for at least 5 - 10 years...?)

Edited by God on March 9, 2018 at 15:32:37

Oh the charge is already there, like I said. But he didn't do any damage to me either... so the damage thing doesn't matter. He wouldn't be raped in prison, by the way... it's impossible.
And that's kind-of my main point here... he didn't physically harm me (at least not within the circumstances of this case).

They know I didn't do anything to him afterwards because Morris kind-of arrested him then, oh yeah. They're not going to do all of that because they have no reason to, it is a question of whether or not they choose to care what I say... but thats what the letters are for, anyway. The charge he got wasn't enough to do any time even when convicted.

And you're right, I can't do much damage... I have to be trained. But I can do plenty to him; have before also on accident. All I gotta do is push him and it could permanantly paralyze him if he lands the wrong way. He's disabled.

Edited by God on March 9, 2018 at 15:40:50

You're right but the possible options available are anywhere between getting 12 yrs. or just adding an extra year of probation. And this judge doesn't like to put people in prison, so it looks... he let one car theif out for some social reason I didn't understand... and has been on the good side of the wrongness of Alabama prisons.

I'm already looking at the possibility of an appeal to something you plead guilty for, but that's a lot more work to the Supreme Court and I'm working on the probation only right now.