This week Jordan Smith at the Austin Chronicle offers up a fine article on failures of the Board of Pardons and Parole to follow its release guidelines, and a pending lawsuit filed by the Texas Civil Rights Project to seek an end to the cloak of secrecy surrounding parole decisions. Good stuff! Read it for a better understanding of how the parole system works and some of the problems from an inside perspective.MORE: From the Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer.
Anyone that accepts a plea bargain because a defense attorney advised them they could get parole after a quarter or half of the sentence should be able to win an appeal based upon ineffective assistance of council!
ReplyDeleteAnyone that asks "Why would anyone plead guilty when they're innocent?" should read the comments of the Judge in Ms. Cotton's case. He wrote that her mother refused to cooperate with the system and accept a plea bargain, and that's why she wasn't given probation.
The secrecy in the parole process needs to end.
Anyone who accepts a plea bargain automatically signs away their rights to appeal at a later date. We found this out to our cost.
ReplyDeleteIts good to see someone taking an interest in Rissie's cronies.
how does one get on your mailing list? bifbolch@swbell.net
ReplyDeleteOn the mailing list, in the right hand column you can sign up, just above all the quotes. Let me know if yo can't find it. best,
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