A FIFTH OF JULY, 2014, GREETING FROM PRISON

July 5, 2014

My wife, Libby (I like saying that), drove 320 miles from Jacksonville to Crestview, Florida, to visit with me on the July 4^th weekend. I am always thrilled and excited to be with her, but today, Saturday, the 5^th, I was uncharacteristically irritable and testy for much of the day. Perhaps it was because I was supposed to be getting released from prison on July 5^th, not waking up in a hot, overcrowded, raucous dorm, waiting to be called to visit my wife, who would later have to leave without me, and I would have to return to my hard, narrow bunk, alone, yet in a crowd.

It’s a long story, well-documented, but I will cut to the chase. At my first parole interview with an examiner in 2001, he recommended a 2009 release date. That seemed like an awful long time in the future, especially for a crime I didn’t commit, when men who had been guilty of one, two, or even three murders were released ahead of me.

At my 2002 parole hearing in Tallahassee, the corrupt politician/prosecutor, Mark Ober, made several blatantly false statements to the three parole commissioners in a successful attempt to keep me in prison longer, despite an unparalleled history of service and positive accomplishments over the previous twenty-four years. The parole commission, under pressure from the crooked politician, improperly “aggravated” my parole release date from the recommended 2009 to July 5, 2014. Today. That seemed like an incredibly longer time, considering how many prisoners have been released after serving their 25-year minimum. Every deck is stacked against the prisoners in the “justice system,” and all my appeals were for naught.

Then I went through a second round of retaliation, for writing about Ku Klux Klan (KKK) prison guards, and was confined in solitary for 30 days in 2010 for exercising my constitutional right to free speech. No big deal? No, BIG deal.

At my March, 2012, parole hearing in Tallahassee, the corrupt Mark Ober brought in his faithful former sidekick, Pam Bondi, as backup (after he had been thoroughly trounced by my lawyer at an October hearing), to improperly influence the parole commissioners. As Attorney General, Ms. (or is it Mrs.?) Bondi appoints the parole commissioners to their jobs, or disapproves them, if that is her fancy. How many government bureaucrats do you think would oppose their powerful bosses? Not many. More lies on the record. Norman is dangerous! I’m afraid of him! Baloney! [Editor’s note: In the words of the parole commissioners, a prisoner’s future performance is predicted by their past behavior. In all of Charlie’s 36 years of incarceration, there is no instance, not a speck, of violent behavior or threats against anyone, nothing at all that would lead to a conclusion that he is dangerous or that anyone should fear him.  On the contrary, there are many instances of just the opposite, of Charlie going out of his way to benefit others.]

Using the fabricated 2010 KKK retaliation d.r.  as justification, to please their mistress and Mark Ober (who Pam appointed chairman of the committee that nominates new commissioners) the parole commission bumped my release date from July 5, 2014, to July 5, 2017! Three more years of enduring Hell, for no reason but political corruption and abuse of power.

When will it end? Soon, hopefully. Attorney William J. Sheppard of Jacksonville, and his team, work diligently to overturn that improper three-year aggravation and reinstate my 2014 release.

Meanwhile, I will keep the faith, try not to be cranky on such memorable dates, and pray that this nightmare ends soon.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

Charlie