Families of Prisoners Support Group
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It has been 2 weeks since my 29 year old little sister was wrongly convicted of something she just DID NOT and WOULD NEVER DO. We as a family are trying to cope, praying, and using every avenue we can to seek justice and hopefully get her vindicated and set free. She has never been in trouble, is educated, hard working, and just an all around great person. How can something so terrible happen to such a good person? She was sentenced to 10 years and has to serve at least 85% or 8.5 years. We are petitioning everyone we can think of legislatures, the court system, the governor and just praying someone will listen. This is breaking my heart as a big sister knowing that she is innocent, but breaking my heart even more doing research and finding out she is only one of many not only here in SC, but also in the nation that is sitting behind bars as an innocent person.
Injustices and false convictions in our criminal justice system are common. There are thousands of innocent men and women convicted of crimes every year and sent to prison.
I suffered the same fate a few years back, so I can give you some suggestions.
I am assuming this was a state conviction and not a federal conviction.
If your sister was convicted by jury trial, she can always appeal the conviction to the South Carolina Court of Criminal Appeals. If there were some major procedural errors in her trial, then she could appeal and possibly get the conviction overturned. But that is a long shot, trust me. Most appeals are denied; in other words, the conviction is affirmed.
There are a couple of problems with these direct appeals to the state----
Even if she is successful with having her conviction overturned, they will most likely not throw the charges out. Instead, the appellate court will remand the case back to its original jurisdiction and the DA can then decide if he wants to retry the case. In other words, your sister would be starting all over. Most of the time the DA will just retry the case.
People do not quite understand the nature of appeals. When an appellate court receives an appeal, they do NOT retry the case. They do not determine if the witnesses lied or if the DA had enough evidence to bring the charges. In other words, they will not second guess the jury.
The appeal is only decided on procedural matters, i.e. did the state follow the law when they convicted your sister? Was there some evidence entered that should not have been entered? Was a witness allowed to testify who should not have been allowed? Was there some hearsay evidence entered? Were the judge's instructions to the jury proper and according to law? These are some of the factors the appellate court will use to determine if a case should be overturned.
The other problem with direct appeals is that the procedural errors have to be serious or they will not overturn the conviction. If there were just a couple of minor errors, the appellate court will say that these minor errors were "harmless error" and the appeal will be denied. It usually requires an egregious procedural error for a case to be overturned.
If she pled out for her sentence, then she cannot appeal the sentence. After all, if she signed the plea, she admitted guilt, so there is no room for an appeal. The only basis for appeal at that point would be "ineffective counsel" if she could prove that her attorney was incompetent in her defense.
Once a person actually gets into the prison system, the options for any judicial relief are greatly reduced.
Some states have a program in which a judge can review an inmate's case within the first few months and modify the sentence if he thinks there was an injustice or if the jury handed down a sentence that was too harsh. In my state, it was called a "120 day judicial review" but it was only used for non-violent crimes. After 120 days in the DOC, the inmate could apply for it and if the judge agreed, he would look at the case and possible modify the sentence. I have seen guys with 15 year sentences have them reduced to 10 or even five years with this method.
You can check the South Carolina statutes to see if they have such a program. Your sister is probably not well versed in the law, but she can go over to the law library and talk to one of the law clerks. They would know more about it.
At some point, she can file a writ of habeas corpus, but that is also a long shot.
These suggestions I have just given exhaust the legal remedies for a false conviction.
If she is in a position to earn good time credits, I would advise taking all the programs possible in an effort to reduce her sentence. Many programs in prison offer 30 days good time credits upon completion. And then, there is parole, but she might be limited on the good time credits and any possibility of parole if the statutes dictate that she serve 85% of her sentence. Much of it is dependent on the nature of her crime.
I work in prison reform, so if I can ever be any help, contact me.
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Rew will always be here to help with questions, he's been a savior to many of us, he's been there so he knows what he is talking about.
Good luck,
Pat
At this point her trial lawyer has put in his post trial motions to try to see if there will be any recourse to get this overturned. We are prepared to appeal after that and are mentally preparing for the long process. I will NEVER give up fighting for my sister's freedom. We just welcomed in a new nephew last week that she did not get to see or hold. She is turning 30 this Thursday and will have to spend her birthday in prison. Her life has been turned up side down.
Good luck,
Pat
Nobody pays too much to petitions and an attorney can only do so much, but trust me, politicians, judges, police officers, etc., ALL hate it when they are criticized in the media.
They hate untoward media attention. I have seen cases which had a much favorable outcome once the facts began appearing on the 6 o'clock news.
Just a thought.
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DAs coach witnesses, police officers commit perjury, judges allow the prosecution far too much latitude, and the deck is stacked against the defendant from day one.
If a defendant----exercises his Sixth Amendment right----and goes to trial, he is severely punished if found guilty, which will happen in the majority of the cases. The federal conviction rate is around 95% and the individual state's conviction rate is about 90%. The DA will invariably stack the charges, ask the judge to run them consecutively instead of concurrently if the defendant is found guilty, and the defendant winds up with a ridiculous sentence. DAs play these little games like that.
God will have to built a special auditorium in hell to house all the DAs in this country who, throughout history, has constructed a case built on lies in order to convict an innocent person.
There are few fair trials anymore; some trials are just a little more fair than others.
Also, you live in South Carolina, which is located in the Bible Belt, which is a region of the country full of rednecks and country hicks. These people are very religious, very conservative, and very "tough on crime."
I know how you feel and I know how your sister feels. I went through the same process as she did. At first there is total shock, then a feeling of betrayal by the very system which is meant to protect the innocent.
If your sister's case involved any DNA or any physical evidence which might have included some DNA, you could write Barry Scheck's Innocence Project.
I am very much against these 85% laws, as they are fixed----much like mandatory minimums----and leave little room for a judge to allow any kind of mitigating circumstances to lessen the sentence.
If she cannot get her sentence modified and is forced to serve her sentence, I will give you some advice about prison and how to survive emotionally.
The best method is to "carry yourself well." Be honest and make sure your word is good. No borrowing or getting in debt, no snitching, no talking too much to the COs or the prison staff, and just being an OK person seems to work pretty well.
Respect for others is of the utmost importance in prison, much more than it is out here. In prison, everyone is broke, wearing tattered clothes, eating lousy food, and just trying to survive. Respect for each other is all that's left, so respect is important. I saw guys get stabbed or beaten down with the ole lock in a sock routine for just slamming a door too loudly and waking someone up. Of course, this will not happen in a women's prison as violence rarely occurs, but I mentioned this to show you have revered respect is.
She will have to build up a daily routine to help pass the time. One thing prison does that is not very beneficial is that it gives an inmate too much time to think. It is easy to get depressed in there by stewing over something which has already transpired.
I threw myself into my tutor work during the day-----I taught inmates how to read in the mornings and GED classes in the afternoon; I also worked over at the law library at night. I kept busy and wanted to do a job where I felt I was serving a purpose instead of picking up trash on the compound or sweeping floors.
She needs LOT of support. Letters are gold to inmates. They can read them and re-read them, and read them some more if they get a little depressed or down in there----which will happen at times.
A good tip is when she receives a letter from you, your family, or anyone from the outside, is to tear the return address off as soon as it is read and flush it. Inmates are a nosey bunch and they tend to stead addresses. We don't need any inmates trying to contact you or your family.
She will be at a women's prison which is much different than a men's prison. Men's prisons have far too much testosterone floating around in the air and some of the inmates are constantly fussing to prove who is the toughest.
Women's prison focus more on family and relationships. Fights are uncommon.
If she keeps a low profile, minds her own business, and keeps busy she will do fine. Prison is survivable and I personally do not think it is as bad as some people think. There is no evil warden and the COs will leave you alone unless you are a smart ass or cause them trouble.
Prison is nothing like you see on TV or in the movies. Those programs are made to attract viewers so they dramatize everything. Actually, prison is boring most of the time and consists of inmates sitting around playing cards, working crossword puzzles, or watching TV just waiting to go home.
The food is not good at all, but it will allow one to survive. Where I was at there was no a/c in the summer or heat in the winter and that made it tough.
For an inmate serving a sentence more than four or five years, he or she has to learn to "make your own happiness." Happiness is a frame of mind. If she can learn to make her own life for the few years she is there, she will do much better.
Above all, I want you to always remember this----Prison is DOABLE. It is not the end of the world. Again, the word is DOABLE.
She will be fine. You, your family, and she WILL get through this. I have not had one mother or wife I support whose son or husband did not make it through.
And one last thought----In the history of our nation, thousands upon thousands of men and women----some innocent----have gone to prison and came out fine. There is absolutely no reason on this earth that your sister cannot do the same.
I will think of you daily. I believe in you.
God Bless you and if you ever have any problems with prison or anything else in the criminal justice system, message me.
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I realize that you are trying to come to terms with how this happens in our criminal justice system. You will never figure this out as in the legal system, two plus two does not always equal four. There is no logic to some of the outcomes in these investigations and trial. If there were some logic, we would not ask so many questions, but there is not so it leaves us confused and bewildered, and finally, mad as hell.
We do not have a justice system in this country. Instead, we have a LEGAL system. Society likes to throw the word "justice" around, but there is rarely any justice in these outcomes.
The ideal system would mete out justice in all cases. I am not sure of the definition of "justice" and I don't think many who work in the system do either. Justice means different things to different people.
But we have a legal system, NOT a justice system. This system is really pretty straight forward and is nothing more than an adversarial system which pits two parties----the state and the defense--- against each other in a legal battle.
Whichever side can gain the most leverage by telling the best story will win. Period. It does not matter if the defendant is innocent or guilty. He or she can be innocent and be convicted or a defendant can be guilty as sin and be acquitted.
Guilt or innocence does not even play into it, actually.
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