Some days you win!

Mr. T, a Latino prisoner who claims his wife must have fallen off the earth, who cannot find his grown kids, and who resides in the Michigan Prison System, was caught in recent transfers due to the closing of a prison. He went to Carson City, then he went to Adrian, then he was returned to Carson City, and finally he ended up in Coldwater. Through all of this his belongings were lost: a duffel bag containing all his possessions. But the most important thing in that duffel bag was his legal work. For the past year he had worked, by himself, on a motion for a new trial because he had no money. That motion was ready to be filed in January, along with all supporting documents. Then all were lost. Prison officials advised that their search came up empty. They were sorry.

When he called HFP, he explained that he had no one. He has been a friend of ours for some months, and he said in exasperation: "You're all I have!"

We took that seriously, and utilizing the experience of a former MDOC employee, we found the duffel bag yesterday! It was resting peacefully in a prison storeroom. If he hasn't received it yet, Mr. T should get it today.

Upon learning the good news, he called our office, but the poor man had no money left on his telephone card. He just had time to get out the words: "I can't thank you enough!"

And so yesterday we didn't free someone from prison, we didn't get help for the mentally ill prisoner, but we did locate critically important legal papers for one of "the least of these." For HFP, it was a major victory!

"We can do no great things, only small things with great love."-- Mother Teresa

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Half-a-race!

The HFP Drag-Racing Fund-Raiser had the potential of being extremely successful, and could have raised several thousand dollars. Let's just say it was partly successful. For background purposes I'll explain that I was racing a 1963 supercharged Studebaker Lark that has a reputation of being one of the fastest stock Studebakers in drag racing today. The engine was built by one of the finest Studebaker engine mechanics in the country, and the car many times has achieved quarter-mile runs in less than 14 seconds! We promised to make at least ten passes in the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drags at Mid-Michigan Motorplex in Stanton, Michigan, this past weekend, and we asked for pledges ONLY ON THOSE RUNS REACHED IN LESS THAN 14 SECONDS. On Friday, here's how we fared: Run #1 13.936 @ 101.24 mph Run #2 14.027 @ 101.30 mph Run #3 14.091 @ 100.88 mph Run #4 13.805 @ 102.84 mph Run #5 14.058 @ 101.26 mph By the 5th run we discovered that ...
Read more

Gregory John McCormick: 1964-2008

Itchy is dead. The lifeless body of this talented rock musician, whose band Shock Therapy was a popular group especially in Europe, was found in a field in Detroit last Wednesday, November 5. The Wayne County Coroner's office informed father Glenn McCormick that the body of his son Gregory, better known to all of us as Itchy, bore no signs of trauma. Glenn said that Itchy, who had been living at his father's dental lab in Detroit, had been drinking to excess for some time. While the toxicology report has not been released yet, the general consensus seems to be that he drank himself to death. Our agency, while still named INNOCENT, first got involved with Itchy in 2005. The Detroit native, who called Germany his home, got involved in some unfortunate activity that placed him in the Michigan State prison system on a charge of arson of a dwelling. It was really just a bonfire in an alley, but an alleged parole violation placed him in prison for 1-20 years. I personally sat w...
Read more

Three lives, connected by a divine thread

My kids say it should be a book! The Doug, Pat and Mark story is a doozie!   About 25 years ago, while fighting to free Maurice Carter from prison, I read a newspaper column written by Pat Shellenbarger of the Grand Rapids Press on the topic of eyewitness identification. I contacted Pat re that story. That led to a friendship between Doug and Pat that continues to this day.   In subsequent months, Pat would go on to assist me in an investigation into the Maurice Carter case that eventually led to solving the crime.  That particular episode became a chapter in my book about the Carter case, SWEET FREEDOM, published in 2006.   Fast forward to 2009, A New York businessman claims wrongful conviction, and while serving time in a Michigan prison is handed a copy of my book. Mark Hartman, who was also convicted in Berrien County, was amazed at the similarity of these two stories and tried to reach out to me. His letters bounced.   Persisting in his efforts to c...
Read more