October 18, 2004

Thank you for writing to me. I have prepared this letter in an effort to continue to keep you updated on the current issues regarding parole and parole related issues.

Ray Hill Prison Show:

On September 24, 2004, I was interviewed on the Ray Hill Prison Show, FM 90.1. Some of you receiving this letter may have heard the interview, but for those of you who are outside of the broadcast range or did not listen to the show, the following is a summary of that broadcast.

SB-45 Votes and the New Parole Policy:

Beginning September 1, 2004, the Parole Board changed its policy regarding inmates charged with Aggravated Sexual Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Rape, and Aggravated Rape for release to parole. Prior to the policy change, inmates charged with one of these four crimes could be released to parole if two Parole Board Members out of a three board panel agreed the inmate should be granted parole. As of September 1, 2004, any inmate being considered for parole who is convicted of one of these four crimes will have to be voted on as an SB-45. Presently, the Parole Board consists of six board members. When this six member board is considering an inmate classified as an SB-45 for release to parole, there has to be four of the six members agreeing to the release. If, and when, the Governor finally appoints the seventh board member, an SB-45 vote will require five votes from the Parole Board Members for an inmate to be released to parole.

Discretionary Mandatory Supervision:

There are two major cases which affect inmates who are appearing before the Parole Board on a mandatory release date or a discretionary mandatory release date.

Ex parte: Mabry, 137 S.W.3d 58 (Tex.Cr.App. 2004) indicates there is a controlling offense. The law affecting the controlling offense is the law that was in effect at the of the controlling offense was committed that determines parole eligibility and/or mandatory supervision. Since Mr. Mabry had served more than one-half of his sentence before the parole revocation was issued, he was entitled to restoration of his street-time spent on parole during his latest release and treated as an inmate eligible for release to mandatory supervision. I have found inmates are not being granted the credit for time served on parole as set forth in HB 1649. Inmates are not being granted the correct time credit because Classification is confusing HB-1433, HB-1649 and Gov. Code 508.146 requirements.

Ex parte: Retzlaff, 135 S.W.3d 45 (Tex.Cr.App. 2004) this is the second time Mr. Retzlaff has had to file a writ regarding what is sufficient notice on discretionary mandatory reviews. The court ruled there is a liberty interest in discretionary mandatory review procedures and the parole panel must justify non-release to the two statutory findings of (1)The inmate’s occluded good time to time is not an accurate reflection of the inmate’s potential for rehabilitation; (2) The inmate’s release would endanger the public. Because of this ruling on August 20, 2004, the Parole Board instituted the following rules: the inmate shall receive notice of the pending discretionary mandatory supervision review no later than the 75^th day prior to the offenders projected release date, the notice shall advise the inmate of the designated review and allow for a minimum of 30 days for the offender to submit information he wishes the parole panel to consider ; any information submitted by the offender must be submitted in writing and received by the parole division by the 45^th day prior to the offender’s projected release date. There is some interesting language contained in this opinion which indicates if this is not done correctly, the inmate must be released whether he has received a vote are not. This wording in the opinion is affecting those individuals who have been retained in the county for a time in excess of the discretionary mandatory review date.

When Should an Inmate Consider Hiring an Attorney for Parole:

Ray Hill asked me when should an inmate consider hiring an attorney? In the 11 years I have been representing inmates before the Parole Board, I have discovered that inmates and their families creating their own parole packages do not include evidence which could convince the Parole Board why they ought to release a particular individual from prison; or, they totally disregard the evidence and insist on arguing a position which is not backed up by facts.

The Parole Board does not retry an inmate’s case. That is not to say that certain evidence could show the inmate was not an active participant of the crime, or the crime was not as heinous as it appears to be. Most individuals are not familiar with the Parole Board and attempt to make the evidence fit their theory of the case instead of allowing the evidence to lead them to a conclusion. If an inmate or the family members are not capable of objectively following the evidence to its logical conclusion and arguing from that evidence, then I believe representation by an attorney would be preferable.

Another problem with an inmate representing himself/herself or a family member representing an inmate, is the inability of the inmate or the family member to openly communicate and truthfully discuss the negative aspects of the inmate’s file. On many occasions I have seen the inmate or his/her family members argue that the inmate was not an active participant in the crime, but instead was merely an observer who happened to be caught at the scene. Quite often, this can fly in the face of numerous witness statements, police reports, or trial testimony. When this occurs, the inmate or his/her family members lose all credibility, and the Parole Board generally denies parole. Obviously, a good parole attorney, who has maintained his/her credibility with the Parole Board will have an advantage when presenting documented information and/or arguing in the inmate’s behalf to the Board. A good attorney will research every aspect of the case, the client’s life, both in and out of prison, and based upon the evidence he/she has accumulated be able to present a strong, persuasive argument as to why his/her client should be released to parole. If he/she has followed the trail of evidence and has tailored his/her argument to conform to the evidence as to why the inmate should to be released to parole, the chances of the inmate receiving a favorable vote are greatly increased because of the attorney’s credibility with the Parole Board Members and Commissioners.

Most family members do not understand that the Parole Board is made up of human beings and they, like anyone else, perceive certain information in a certain way. The easiest way to explain this is to understand the following: the Parole Board is the only entity available to release an inmate to parole. If the board believes an inmate has a particular problem and that particular problem has not been addressed, there is a strong probability the Parole Board will not release the inmate to parole. I often recommend that inmates take certain courses or follow certain courses of action even though there may not be any material facts contained within the file to cause the Parole Board to believe these actions are necessary. The cumulative evidence in an inmate’s file might cause the Board to perceive the inmate has a need for a particular course of rehabilitation. For example, an inmate might need to participate in drug treatment/counseling, although he/she has never been arrested for any drug offense or even used drugs.

I also recommend that an attorney be hired if the family is incapable of writing a short story about the inmate which will grab the Parole Board Members attention and cause them to want to read further about the inmate’s life and aspirations. On average, the Parole Board votes on a file in less than four minutes. It is important to grab the Parole Board Members attention and cause them to desire to read further into the file. When I represent an inmate, I submit a parole assistance package to the Parole Board, they read it and then I am almost always granted about 30 to 45 minutes of the first voting member’s time to argue in my client’s behalf.

An inmate and his/her family should expect an attorney to diligently investigate every fact situation and follow the facts to a logical conclusion. The attorney should gather all the necessary facts, organize and design a parole package, and submit same to the Parole Board in a timely manner. Doing so will help the Parole Board understand the inmate’s prior life, present prison life, the overall situation, and future goals. The package should be a means by which the inmate can communicate to the Parole Board. The attorney should request an appearance before the first voting board member. The inmate and his family should receive a copy of the parole package submitted to the parole panel. Finally, the inmate should be informed of the decision by the Parole Board whether it is favorable or not. If an attorney, or someone assisting the family, is not willing to do these things, then I would strongly recommend seeking assistance elsewhere.

Parole Approval Rates:

Presently, I am unable to give you a complete breakdown of the parole release rates as I have done in the past. The Criminal Justice Policy Council which was the agency that compiled the statistical analysis of the Parole Board Members votes, has been dissolved. This information is now being compiled by the Legislative Budget Board. The following are the release rates for August 2004. The percentage is the year to date percentage:

I have discussed these numbers with various Board Members. While they do agree the release rate has gone up, they have insisted the Parole Board has not changed its philosophy on releasing inmates. They did indicate there have been a large number of individuals who have served a substantial amount of their sentence, some in excess of 80%, which is why they were released to parole. Since September 1, 1996, there has been no mandatory release. Consequently, there are now a large number of inmates who have served a substantial portion of 10, 15 and 20 year sentences.

Retaining An Attorney:

One of the first things that an inmate or his/her family should know is that all documentation contained within an inmate’s file is negative. Part of what I do, is present a person to the Board, instead of just another TDCJ number that represents one more convicted felon who is eligible for parole. The Parole Board generally spends approximately 2 - 3 minutes deciding whether to release and inmate to parole or not. I must get the board’s attention, hold their attention and present a human being to them, who although convicted of a crime or crimes is a good candidate for release to parole and why.

Why should an inmate hire an attorney to represent him before the Parole Board? Although I do not have any facts about the tasks performed by other attorneys when representing an inmate, I can explain to you some of the tasks I perform which may be part of why my fees are sometimes higher than others. I conduct a thorough investigation of the inmate’s life and gather any and all documented facts, among other things. Initially, a questionnaire exceeding 100 questions is sent out to each client, the trial attorney is contacted if possible, court documents are gathered, medical records and psychological reports are gathered, TDCJ records such as minute sheets, time sheets, disciplinary records, etc. are gathered, trial transcripts are purchased, appellate briefs and any and all other such documentation is gathered, read and analyzed. Upon completion of the investigative stage, a personalized package for each client is then prepared and submitted to the Board along with a request to appear before the Board to argue in my client’s behalf. Also, when I am hired well in advance, I am able to work with the inmate to assist him/her in preparing himself/herself to be as favorably viewed as possible. As you can see, there is an extraordinary amount of work involved to meet the standards and requirements I have set for myself in thoroughly representing an inmate and it is a very time consuming and work intensive job. Time is always of the essence and the more time I have to perform the tasks at hand by being hired well in advance of the inmate’s eligibility date, the better for my client. Every inmate is eventually going to be reviewed by the Board. If I am hired well in advance of an inmate’s eligibility date, I will have the needed time frame within which to help prepare an inmate to be a good candidate for release to parole, to gather the needed information and prepare the written documentation to be submitted to the Board, and to argue in behalf of my client before the Board if granted an appearance.

If you decide to hire me and do so well in advance of your eligibility date, I can design a time payment plan for your family or loved ones, but I must be paid in full before I submit the parole package or request an appearance before the Parole Board to argue for the inmate’s release to parole. If you wait until the last minute, the entire fee is going to be due immediately. The time payment plan has been very helpful to many of my clients who have limited financial resources and thereby allowed them to hire me without causing them financial distress because they have hired me many months or even years in advance. (Example: I was able to help such a family convince the Parole Board to release an inmate to a FI-1 parole on a SB-45 on first parole case this year because the family hired me well in advance and I was able to work with the inmate for many years prior to his first review.)

Therefore, should you wish to hire me to assist you with parole or any parole related issues, time is of the essence. There is no time to waste. A competent parole attorney must have a minimum of 3 months prior to the 6 month review stage of an inmate’s file by the Board to investigate, gather documentation and produce a worthwhile parole assistance package. The investigative stage conducted by this office is a very time consuming and expensive matter and requires a considerable amount of dedication and work to complete. Do not wait until your file is almost in review status or in review status to hire an attorney. Documenting every aspect of my client’s life, his/her accomplishments, his/her rehabilitation, as well as many other factors, along with the credibility I have built with the Board Members, are some of the reasons I have been able to maintain an 80% release rate for my clients over the many years I have represented inmates before the Board.

Parole Assistance:

Many inmates and their families contact me regarding parole assistance. Unfortunately, a great deal of the time, I am unable to offer my assistance due to the fact they have waited too late to contact me and there is just simply nothing I can do. Parole assistance is a time-consuming task and much of our work is done far in advance of the parole eligibility date. The packages prepared by this office are not some type of a form which simply requires us to “fill in the blanks.” Each package is individualized and therefore there is a lot of work that must be done well in advance of an inmate’s parole eligibility date. My packages will meet my very high standards as well as the Board’s expectations from me. I will not lower or compromise these standards or expectations for any reason. Should you decide to obtain my services to prepare a parole assistance package, do so well in advance of your parole eligibility date. Some Parole Boards are presently voting on some files 4 months prior to the first review date. Once a set-off is received, there is no appeal from the Parole Board’s decision and a special review is very difficult to obtain.

Parole Revocation:

Should you receive the privilege of parole, dutifully abide by the stipulations and regulations placed upon you. However, if you find yourself in the revocation process, please do not hesitate to contact me immediately. A parole revocation hearing occurs within 30-days of being incarcerated unless there is a preliminary hearing.

Time is of the essence to prepare you and your file for your potential release to parole or defend you at a parole revocation hearing. Although there is no guarantee of the results from my representation and assistance to you regarding your legal issues, I assure you I will do so in a professional and diligent manner.

Representation of Inmates:

I would like to state there are some individuals who are preying upon inmates and their families offering parole assistance who are not licensed attorneys. For your protection as well as your family members or loved one(s) please be informed, if you are considering hiring anyone other than a licensed attorney to assist you, take heed that the law requires under Govt. Code § 508.083 (a) A person who represents inmates for compensation must: (1) be a licensed attorney licensed in this state; and (2) register with the division.

Please do not send any of your documentation to me prior to retaining me. On numerous occasions, inmates who have not retained my services have sent documentation to me requesting that I review it. I am sorry to say that I cannot perform that type of free service. I am contractually obligated to spend my time working on the files of paying clients. Also, I cannot and will not be responsible for such documentation nor can I afford to pay postage cost to return it, therefore it must be destroyed. So please, unless I am your retained attorney, do not send any of your documentation to this office.

Again, thank you for writing to me. I hope I have answered some of your questions and also updated you on some of the current parole related issues. Whatever your decision may be, I wish you the very best of luck. Remember, now is the time to prepare for your possible release to parole.