Jan. 2009

It is hard to believe that Dean's case has been going on since Jan. 1998 . It is now 11 years and we are still fighting to prove his innocence. I know there is a reason for all this and I expect in the next 9 years for it to become evident. Dean and his family have faith in the future and in karma. Hopefully 2009 will be a much better year for us and for everyone in our country except of course for the jurors and the prosecution team. To me, these negative people deserve only negative things in their life. Until they can seek the positive and earnestly stop always believing the negative, their lives will not be right. Have you ever noticed how easily people believe bad things that they hear about others before they believe good things?? I believe that more people are inherently good, than evil and so it boggles my mind how many people will jump onto a bandwagon in believing that someone is evil. This has happened repeatedly throughout history and caused many tragedies. I would rather err on the side of good, than make a mistake on judging someone. I would rather leave the serious judgements to God.
I wonder if the jurors in Deans case will ever fully realize how wrong they were in their condemnation of Dean and their rush to send someone to life in prison. They may not know until they go to the next life,but what awaits them there will be sad for them. I pray every day that the jurors will have a lightbulb shine in their heads and that through their awakening, they will come forward to try and rectify their mistake. They know there was jury misconduct and they know that they did not take their job seriously. May be this year, the few people who know that they disobeyed juror rules will come forward and tell us. Miracles and doing the right thing can happen.

Healthy looking Dean

We had a nice short visit with Dean. Because he is not at a permanent place yet, we only got to have a phone visit through glass for one hour each week-end day. He looks so good. He is healthy and bright eyed. The state system is run better than the county, and the guards are less lazy and more decent. Dean has color again from being able to jog outside and the food is more nutritious and better tasting.
He likes his cell mate who is very much like him and Dean reads and writes most of the day.
He is optimistic for his appeal and likes the new appellate attorney.
It was sad to say goodbye, but to see him in such good spirits makes our holiday better.
Restitution has been taking 55% of the money we send. That seems like way too much.
We look forward to seeing him again in another 6 weeks.

Holiday Season

Well, the Christmas season is upon us. We will be visiting Dean this week-end for the first time.
I hope the Christmas for the jurors, and the prosecution team is as good as Dean's will be. They deserve the same type of Christmas. I wonder if they will ever realize how callous and righteous they were and how wrong. How much government money is wasted every year on new trials because juries just do not understand how to decide verdicts within the perameters of the LAW? May be one day there will be professional jurors who do not bring their biases and power trips into the courtroom.
I am not much in the Christmas mood, and will escape to the mountains to try and have a peaceful Christmas. I wish all you blog readers a warm and wonderful Christmas season.

An Appeal has started

Hello every one,
I am sorry that I have been absent from the blog for so long. It has mostly just been a waiting process for us. We finally recieved all items from the trial. Among them were many audiotapes, and transcripts from interviews that we have never seen before. We have been going through them all and have found new evidence that was never brought out before and other eye-witnesses to the crime that we never saw at trial. We realize now that our attorney was not thorough enough in going through all the discovery. It amazes us again at how the jury ignored all eye-witness testimony when deciding Dean's guilt. There was an interview from an eyewitness all in Spanish which we had interpreted. He said the exact same thing as the other four eyewitnesses. All the eye-witnesses who do not know each other and never got together to corroborate, were interviewed the next morning, gave the same description of the victim and his assailants. That is: 1) arguing heard in spanish, one tall person with all dark clothing running away from two shorter males who were dressed in baggy pants , one with a white sweatshirt and one with a black sweatshirt, 3)the one assailant with the white sweater had light blue baggy jeans and the other had dark blue or black baggy jeans. HOW DO 5 PEOPLE ALL AGREE ON THIS AND THE PROSECUTION TRIES TO HAVE THE JURY DISMISS IT BY SAYING THAT THEY ONLY SAW THE SCENE FOR SECONDS??? As we all know Dean was wearing a gray uniform with straight leg pants and short sleeved shirt. The eyewitnesses were asked and all said that they saw no uniform.
We are still going through everything which will take time. It is hard because it brings up sadness and outrage all over again.
We now have our appellate attorney who is from San Diego. He is currently going through everything and will meet with us soon to discuss the appeal. It is more difficult to get a second appeal, but we feel confident that we will succeed.
Dean is doing fine at Wasco and reading and writing up a storm. He gets to go outside 2-3 times a week which he loves. He never got to be outside during his wait for trial. He feels healthier now. We finally get to go and visit him the first week-end in December. If any one wants to send him something for Christmas, he likes writing paper and envelopes and stamps.
Again his number is G-30030 and the address is on the Wasco State Prison web page.

Losing Hope

As time passes, we are losing hope that jurors will tell us something that will help Deans case sooner rather than later. It seems that the jurors mainly remember the prosecutions case, not the defendants'. Key facts (for Dean) slipped their mind. Did they really not hear Dean's attorney, Did they already have their minds made up after hearing the prosecution's story, or have they just conveniently forgotten important points (for Dean) to avoid feelings of guilt? I ask myself these questions trying to understand . It is extremely mind boggling to experience first hand the eager jump to punishment that these jurors inflicted on Dean. It tears at my hope for humanity. I take it to the bigger picture of our country. If this is what our country is made up of currently, how are we going to succeed again? Look at what is happening right now... our biggest financial companies are crumbling due to greed, self interest, and total dis-regard for our fellow human being. Where was caution, deliberation, empathy and common sense with these people of AIG, Merrill Lynch etc.?? How can these jurors now judge the corporate giants, when they are guilty of the same type of attitude? I find myself looking at real estate in Victoria, B.C., and then I remember that I cannot leave Dean alone in prison.
Our family has to stay here for him. We have had barriers put in place on us. At times, when I have caught myself having fun or even laughing, I feel guilt that I could have a good time, when Dean does not. I tell myself again that life is to be enjoyed when possible. There are many difficult and sad things that happen in life, so we must grab some happiness when we can.
I enjoyed so much being a mother to my children and staying at home with them. I got involved with all things that they were involved in. I coached, did PTA, volunteered for the Boys and Girls Club with them, and spent my time with them. I was the mom that took all the neighbor kids to the beach during summer break. What happened to Dean when he was 16, should not have happened in our family. My job changed from enjoying my child to now having to out smart him, spy on him and protect him from himself. If that had worked out, it would all have been worth it. The criminal justice system and the jury took that away from me. I failed to save him . Dean failed at convincing a jury of his innocence even though he was not supposed to have to do that.(according to the law). There have been so many lies told by the state, and by the snitches. Lies are all around us, especially in this presidential race. It just makes me feel hopeless sometimes about people. I still pray daily, but not as fervently. We have good grounds for an appeal, but the process will take two to three years. But then, what kind of jury will we get? Will it be more of the same? We know we want an actor for a lawyer next time. We want sarcasm and repeating the same things over and over so it stays in the juries mind, but will we be able to afford such a person. Andrea does federal law and mostly not in the court room, so she cant be the attorney. Is there hope still for Dean's freedom? He is innocent and there are many stories that are true about inmates getting released 10 to 20 years later on new evidence and snitches recanting their lies. Our hope rests on these stories.
If any one wants to read the whole blog, just click on the month on the side column and everything that happened that month in trial will come up. Each side heading has something to offer on Deans story and Deans case. I hope others who have gone through similar experiences find it, and it will help them realize that they are not alone in this bizarre legal system.
I will not write anymore until there is news on an appeal. That could be a year from now. We just do not know. Luckily, Dean adapts to any situation and tries to keep his spirits up and to help those around him. He really should be in the peace corps somewhere.

To Another Anonymous

We got another person trying to comment on the blog. Of course there was no name attached to the writings. It was mostly derogatory with plenty of profanity. We think it might have been from Johnny Roy. If it was, this is for him. Johnny, I doubt that I will ever be able to talk to you but your deal with the prosecution back in 1998 has hurt our entire family beyond repair. It wouldn't have been so bad if you really had told the truth. We understand that the detectives would not get you a deal unless you said what they wanted you to say for their case, but has it really been worth it for your soul? You can get high for the rest of your life trying to escape your conscience, but it won't change a thing. When it finally is your time to enter eternity, deals cannot be made to protect you. You can e-mail us at the address on the blog if you want; no one will see it, because we only put stuff on that people want on. I only pray that one day, you will stop caring about yourself and do the right thing. May be the truth will come out from you at the next trial when Dean gets another chance. If you do not have the guts, then at least write the real truth down and keep it safe somewhere, so that one day it could set Dean free.

Questions

I received a comment on the blog today from someone who seemed confused as to how Dean went so astray. He accuses me of not being a good mother as a possible reason. How does he explain Andrea then? So much does not make sense in this case except to those who have lived it with us. All I can say to this anonymous writer is that if he really wants to know the answers to his questions, he should write Dean and ask him. Ask him what kind of family he had, and what kind of mother and father, and how he got in to gang behavior? He will gladly answer you, because part of his finding himself again, was by asking himself these questions. I know the answers but it would be better coming from him. I am sure it will all be in a book some day. Deans address is on this blog.