Visit

We had our Christmas visit with Dean. His Aunt Mona, and cousin Sara came with us. Dean was happy to see them. He looks good and is well acclimated now to Kern Valley. His cell mate is a transfer from Oregon who tells Dean that the Oregon prisons are much better. I guess the cells are nicer and the food is better and there are more programs for the prisoners to keep them busy. Interesting. Dean has enrolled in a program here that counsels young juveniles on the realities of prison and the consequences of being in a gang or hanging out with the wrong crowd. I think he would be excellent at it. If it is God's will for him to do this, it will happen.
If anyone wants to send him something for Christmas, he and various inmates like to play this card game. It has depth and many characters that need to be added. I found them at Amazon.com and they will send them to him. They are called Magic, The Gathering. It is a science fiction creative story game. He likes the Alara Reborn series. There are many different ones and he likes any of them. Pick one and have Amazon send it to him at Kern Valley State Prison with his number G30030. It is amazing how he gets inmates involved in peaceful things. Last time, he got many of them involved in reading books and talking about them.
We heard that Miguel's brother got convicted for murder recently and we wonder if he got railroaded too, and might be innocent. It was bad enough that his family lost Miguel, but now, they lose Jose too. Gangs are so stupid and so hurtful to families. I wonder what the solution is. Hopefully Dean will be able to talk some juveniles into shaping up. He has learned the hard way how unfair the justice system can be, and how political it is.
We will never give up on Dean, and a group of attornies have decided to take up his cause. Someday, the truth will come out. Hopefully, we will not need their service because the second appeal will be granted.

Timeline

There seems to be some confusion by a reader of the blog of the exact timeline of Dean's life associated with this crime. Let me clear it up.
October of 1997, the crime occurred . Dean was working.
Four days after the crime, he was arrested for a parole violation of giving two gang members a ride to their house. He was really being locked up as a suspect for the murder of Miguel, but there was no case yet . One had to be built or formed against him. So.... The police took six months to build a case using snitches who were in prison for other crimes and wanted to make a deal so they could get out. One snitch came up with the story that the police and the prosecution built their whole case around. Dean remained locked up during the trial, lost the trial and was sent to one of the most violent prisons in California where he stayed for 3 years while his appeal was filed. He won his appeal
So March 2001 he was released. We put up his bail which the prosecutor tried to raise ,but failed.
For 4 years Dean worked, traveled and lived life reconnecting with his family and himself. He was a self supporting citizen with the shadow of another trial hanging over him. The trial kept getting delayed which was fine because he got to enjoy life a little longer. Then as the trial neared, the prosecutor wanted Dean in jail. (It makes Dean seem more criminal than if he was walking in every day with the jury.) So how could he do this? Dean was not committing any more crimes; like the snitches did. Simple, he drops the original charges, and comes up with new ones that make the original crime a capital one which means that no bail is allowed. Dean was walking his dog, when two plainclothes police officers jumped out of a car with guns and arrested him. It was for the same crime, but new charges. He stayed locked up in jail while the trial got delayed over and over until the new trial started in 2008.
Dean is innocent of this crime and the last crime he had been involved in (joy riding in a stolen car) had happened 14 years ago. The murder of Miguel which he did not do, happened 12 years ago this month. Any time spent in jail has been because of this case. It has taken 8 years of his life, because for 4, he was free.
It is very difficult to prepare for a case when one is locked up and all conversations are taped. Dean was not allowed to go through discovery and find the things he needed to help him. He relied on an attorney who missed things and had his own ideas. If Dean had been free, he could have prepared better, looked better and felt better.
Any one who has read this blog knows how we feel about the injustices in the system. Dean feels that he is going through this for a spiritual reason and that it guarantees him a place in heaven, not like the jurors and the prosecution. He is strong spiritually and that gets all of us through this.
Thank you Jean for your support. You were there through the whole trial and unfortunately did not get a chance to be the one with common sense in the jury room. You were not taken in by the theatrics and misrepresentations of the prosecutor.

Discovery

We finally have all the discovery which is tapes, transcripts, photos, dvds, etc. that was previously in the hands of the court, our attorney, and the prosecution. We have been slowly going through it and have only dented it. Already though, we have found things that show how Dean is innocent. It is amazing how our attorney missed these items, and how the prosecution overlooked them in deciding Dean's guilt. These items should have definitely come out in trial for the jury to hear and see, though with this jury, they might have ignored it too, just like they ignored other things that showed Dean's innocence. It is frustrating to find these items. It is just a reminder again how flawed our justice system is. How many innocent people are behind bars where most in society do not care about them or their situation? Why do prosecutors who know they are wrong keep going for the conviction?
Dean has never been a threat to society, and now the government supports him. He could be a self supporting citizen like he was for the four years he waited for a new trial. No wonder California is broke, and the prisons overcrowded. Too many people lack common sense and just want to punish and/or feel a sense of power over another.
I wonder how many more items I will find in Discovery that got overlooked. One day, these will all be important.

Visit

Andrea and I drove up this last week-end to visit Dean at Kern Valley State Prison. We wore the proper attire, and got through metal detectors and the line within the record time of one hour. We brought 60 one dollar bills for the vending machines so he could get food that he usually does not get, while we visited in the big rec room. We were assigned a table and then he got to come sit down and visit.
It was great to see him, and he looks good except for a receding hairline. I think the disappearing hair comes from stress. He likes his cellmate Mario who is much like him and has a similar story. The only real frustration that he has is how long it takes to get his mail and packages. It takes 2 to 3 weeks for the staff at the prison to deliver the mail. It might be due to overcrowding or it might be because they just do not care. Who knows.
We got to visit for 2 hours the first day, and then 5 hours the next day. The Holiday Inn Express in Delano is very comfortable, includes breakfast and has good rates. A Fresh and Easy Market for healthy food and a Starbucks is down the street.
We know our routine now for future visits.
Dean says Hello to everyone who cares and says that he is fine and hopeful.

Letters work

I heard back from both government offices that I wrote, and lo and behold a few days later got my first phone call from Dean, saying that all is well now. YAAAAY!! He said it was like a miracle. He got transferred to his permanent cell and there was all his property, books and a quarterly package that I had sent (with high hopes). His spirits are up and we will finally visit on the 8th and 9th.
It is so nice to know that letters are read by the governing bodies and that a reasonable request is granted.
So he is at Kern Valley Prison and the address is on the Ca. Prison web site.

A mess

Well, here Dean is at Kern Valley Prison, but because it is overcrowded, he has to be in temporary housing waiting for a spot. Why on earth did they move him from Wasco in the first place? With the budget the way it is, and our society being so punitive, there is overcrowding in the prisons. This makes it so difficult for the guards(who are overworked too) and for the prisoners. Dean still cannot have contact visits because of this unorganization.
I have written a few letters to the government bodies to see what can be done. I know one solution would be to deport all the illegals in prison first,( instead of punishing them, and then deporting), release all drug related criminals to rehab places, and review prisoners up for parole.
I wonder if he will ever get a permanent prison before he gets his appeal. As usual though, Dean seems to handle all this just fine. He immerses himself with reading and writing.

Kern Valley

I just got a note from Dean saying that he is being transferred to Kern Valley State Prison.
Finally, after almost one year, he is going to a permanent place. Sloooow!
He also said that he will write back any jurors or others that question his case or want to defend their position. His new address is: Dean Jacobs #G30030
P.O. Box 6000
Delano, Ca. 93216-6000