From: Susan Chandler
Date: April 2, 2013 3:09:46 PM EDT
To: executive@ag.state.la.us
Cc: ASKDOJ <ASKDOJ@usdoj.gov>, irsob@do.treas.gov
Subject: Regarding the Murder of Officer Brent Miller
Dear Attorney General Caldwell,
Your letter greatly displeased me, sir; if there was insufficient evidence to file charges against Albert Woodfox for multiple rapes and robberies, you had no call to bring them to my attention as though his guilt were certain. If you have sent the same letter within Louisiana, you have risked tainting potential jurors should Mr. Woodfox and/or Mr. Wallace are [be] granted new trials.
I was already greatly displeased with you before I ever heard from you, as you played a leading role in successfully pleading Connick v Thompson before the U.S. Supreme Court, the result of which was to more firmly entrench prosecutorial and supervisory immunities for misconduct that Justices created in Imbler v Pachtman, Van de Kamp v Goldstein and Brady v Maryland.
Just because SCOTUS says something is right doesn’t make it so … exoneration after exoneration is proving that separate but equal justice is just as dastardly and deadly as separate but equal facilities before it. And some day – probably sooner rather than later – there will be a majority of Justices honest enough to author an majority opinion that will thereinafter have prosecutors, D.A.’s and A.G.’s defending their misconduct in open court, rather than behind closed bars before the Bar … whose history of ignoring rather than addressing misconduct is so heinous that retroactive revocation of their income tax exemptions is incumbent on the IRS Oversight Board, which I have formally brought to their attention more than once, just as I have more than once brought Bar-ignored serial prosecutorial and supervisory misconduct to the attention of the Justice Department.
Given that you have immunity for misconduct, there is nothing compelling you to be truthful. And you weren’t. I have been participating in social justice action campaigns since the 1970’s, and have never had cause to doubt the investigations or intentions of the two organizations – if memory serves – that conducted campaigns on the behalf of the Angola Three. Nonetheless, I troubled myself to verify that their portrayal of solitary confinement in their action campaigns is completely consistent with international rights agreements to which the U.S. is a party.
Mr. Woodfox (67) and Mr. Wallace (71) have medical conditions that make it wildly improbable that either could exhibit any behaviors that would pose a danger to other inmates or to corrections personnel, making Closed Cell Restricted confinement unnecessary, and cruel and unusual by that criteria alone. They may in fact both be so frail that compassionate releases would pose no danger to any community.
If their convictions are upset, you will be violating the public trust if you refile charges with only shaky witness testimony as evidence, especially since one of the shaky witnesses has apparently already recanted.
An esteemed officer – Gary Morales – was recently killed in the line of duty in my community, leaving behind a wife and two young daughters. While I want justice for his family, I do not want vengeance, nor do I have a lawful right to vengeance. No one does. In seeking vengeance, you have dishonored Brent Miller’s sacrifice with your inflammatory rhetoric, making me grateful that public servants in my community are not emulating your behaviors, and hopeful that they remain on the high road.
Your appending a “privilege” notification was inappropriate. You authored self-serving representations that Mr. Woodfox, Mr. Wallace, their defense attorneys and the public at large should be well aware of, just as the public should be made aware that it was not the intent of John Thompson to capitalize on a prosecutorial mistake; it was his intent to be compensated for being victimized by prosecutorial malice evidenced by the withheld lab report indicating that his blood type did not match the perpetrator’s. Then the public would know that SCOTUS’ decision in Connick v Thompson was disingenuous, so much so that impeachments are in order, as they make it lawful for prosecutors and their supervisors to conceal/misrepresent/”lose” evidence, conceal witnesses, coach informants, secure false expert testimony, and much, much more.
The FBI has discredited their Comparative Bullet Lead Analysis as well as their Hair and Fiber Analysis. Both were in use for decades, and the latter was taught to law enforcement officers nationwide. Fire forensics have been updated, so have blood splatter forensics. The criteria for Shaken Baby Syndrome has changed. Most scent dog handlers have been DNA discredited; the FBI’s scent dogs have a high failure rate. With this new clouding of tens of thousands of standing convictions, you don’t have time to write to me again. Given that 21st century forensics damn all those before it, you have the obligation to the citizens of Louisiana to devote your time to calling upon state and federal legislators to mandate Conviction Integrity Units … over and over, as many times as it takes, until they provide what is needed to sort fact from fiction in standing criminal convictions.
When every state has a Conviction Integrity Unit, Connick v Thompson – and the dark horses it rode in on – will not stand, sir; what you will have “won” is infamy.
Sincerely,
Susan Chandler
From: LADOJ Webmaster <NoReply@ag.state.la.us>
Date: March 28, 2013 11:12:13 AM EDT
To: [Susan Chandler]
Subject: Regarding the Murder of Officer Brent Miller
Thank you for your interest in the ambush, savage attack and brutal murder of Officer Brent Miller at Louisiana State Penitentiary (LSP) on April 17, 1972. Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace committed this murder, stabbing and slicing Miller over 35 times.
Between the years 1967 and 1969 before coming to LSP the last time for armed robbery and aggravated escape, Albert Woodfox was in the streets of New Orleans and charged with numerous crimes, some of which, he was convicted. Among those numerous charges are at least 6 separate, unresolved aggravated rapes and armed robberies. Some of these victims were female patrons or waitresses who were raped during the late night or early morning robberies of bars in the New Orleans area.
NO court has ever ruled that these inmates are innocent of the murder of Officer Miller. I have been prosecuting murders for the past 35 years as a District Attorney in Louisiana. If these inmates would have been innocent, we would have never had any of these proceedings and I would have personally turned Woodfox loose. The evidence against him is overpowering. There are no flaws in our evidence and this case is very strong. We feel confident that we will again prevail at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. However, if we do not, we are fully prepared and willing to retry this murderer again. Woodfox was indicted by two separate grand juries and unanimously convicted by two separate juries of his peers. Wallace was indicted and unanimously convicted by a jury of his peers.
Contrary to popular lore, Woodfox and Wallace have never been held in solitary confinement while in the Louisiana penal system. They have been held in protective cell units known as CCR. These units were designed to protect inmates as well as correctional officers. They have always been able to communicate freely with other inmates and prison staff as frequently as they want. They have televisions on the tiers which they watch through their cell doors. In their cells they can have radios and headsets, reading and writing materials, stamps, newspapers, magazines and books. They also can shop at the canteen store a couple of times per week where they can purchase grocery and personal hygiene items which they keep in their cells.
These convicted murderers have an hour outside of their cells each day where they can exercise in the hall, talk on the phone, shower, and visit with the other 10 to 14 inmates on the tier. At least three times per week they can go outside on the yard and exercise and enjoy the sun if they want. This is all in addition to the couple of days set aside for visitations each week.
These inmates are frequently visited by spiritual advisors, medical personnel and social workers. They have had frequent and extensive contact with numerous individuals from all over the world, by telephone, mail, and face-to-face personal visits. They even now have email capability. Contrary to numerous reports, this is not solitary confinement.
As you know, these convicted murderers filed a civil lawsuit alleging they have been denied due process and have been mistreated. It is important to know that if they win this civil case they could possibly receive money and a change in their housing assignments. This lawsuit WILL NOT result in their release from prison.
It is also important that you know that Woodfox and Wallace have not resided at LSP for the past several years. Woodfox was transferred to David Wade Correctional Center on November 1, 2010 and Wallace was transferred to Elayn Hunt Correctional Center on March 19, 2009.
Let me be clear, Woodfox and Wallace are GUILTY and have NEVER been held in solitary confinement. They are serving out the life sentences handed down by the unanimous jury verdicts for brutally and savagely murdering Officer Brent Miller.
Sincerely,
James D. “Buddy” Caldwell
Louisiana Attorney General
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