Tuesday, July 2, 2019
I Need Your Help--Letters of Support
The Florida Parole Commission changed their name to the Florida Commission on Offender Review (FCOR), removing "Parole," perhaps because only fourteen people were paroled last year, out of over 4,300 people in prison under the authority of FCOR. At that rate, it will take over 200 years to release us all. I don't think we will make it.
Where we are right now: At my April, 2017, prison interview with parole examiner Mr. Z. C. Rowan, he recommended a July 4, 2017, parole release date, based on my excellent parole release plan and acceptance to the "Prisoners of Christ" faith-based residential transition program in Jacksonville, Florida. My trial judge's letter to FCOR approving my parole played a large role. FCOR administrators in Tallahassee also accepted my parole release plan. My wife, Libby, and I were ecstatic, as you can imagine, with the upcoming Independence Day being my first day of freedom after 39 years of wrongful captivity.
It was not to be. Due to the political tampering and conflicts of interest of two corrupt politicians with a personal vendetta against me (another long story), at the May 24, 2017, Tallahassee hearing, the parole commissioners, who owed their cushy jobs to those politicians, refused to sign my parole papers, for vague, contradictory reasons. We went to another hearing on July 19, 2017. Before the hearing, my then-lawyer, Bill Sheppard, was given a copy of FCOR'S "Final Order" denying my release and suspending my July 4, 2017, parole date for seven years. The Final Order was signed and pre-dated, "August 1, 2017," and we got a copy thirteen days BEFORE the final order was supposedly signed, effective August 31, 2017. Obviously, the decision had been made prior to that day's hearing, and nothing we could say that day would have any effect. When attorney Sheppard stated on the record that the decision had been predetermined, Commissioner Davison, who had skipped the previous hearing, denied it.
Although FCOR suspended my date seven years (an "ex post facto" violation), we do have options. Lawyer Sheppard bailed out when the money ran out, although he'd vowed to fight my wrongful imprisonment as a "good cause," leaving us to continue the fight on our own. It took us a year to get all my legal documents from the lawyer.
We are preparing a new parole release plan, in accordance with Florida parole law, seeking a "subsequent hearing" based on new information. As part of that effort, we need letters of support from friends and family, showing that there are reputable, law-abiding citizens (voters) aware of my case, and urging FCOR to right the wrong, grant me a new hearing, and release me on parole. If no one cares if I am not released, why should FCOR care if I am?
It's a numbers game. If only one person wrote a letter of support, they wouldn't feel sorry for me. If a thousand people wrote letters, that would get their attention.
I teach a weekly Parole Planning Workshop for old-timers like myself, most of whom are clueless about the parole process. I asked for a show of hands: "How many of you have no person in free society who would write a letter on your behalf?" Half the class raised their hands. Most of them have outlived their families and supporters. They have no resources or any place to go. They are "The Forgotten Ones."
I don't want to be forgotten. It has been over 41 years of imprisonment in some of Florida's worst, most dangerous prisons, yet I have survived, by the Grace of God. If you want to help, and will write a letter of support, I would greatly appreciate it. If you reach out to others, tell them about my case, refer them to the website and blog, ask them to write letters of their own, that would be great. If you need more information, or help with your letter, please contact Libby, and she will send you the information needed. She has copies of previous letters that might be helpful.
You can email your letter to FCOR Chairman Melinda Coonrod, melindacoonrod@fcor.state.fl.us or write a letter to:
Melinda Coonrod, Chairman
Florida Commission on Offender Review
4070 Esplanade Way
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2450
RE: Charles P. Norman, DC#881834
### Important---please copy your email or letter to Libby---we have to have a copy to include with the new parole release plan:
Libby Norman
11475 Americana Ln.
Jacksonville, FL. 32218
email: freecharlie2001@yahoo.com...ph.: 904/269-0966...website: www.freecharlienow.com. blog: http://charlienorman.blogspot.com
I am grateful for any help you can offer. Please keep in touch. We should be celebrating two years of freedom on July 4th. Instead, Libby and I will be together in the prison visiting park inside Tomoka C.I., Daytona Beach.
Sincerely,
Charlie Norman
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