Hey All,
First off… Thanks for everyone’s support and encouragement. This post touches on the character issue and my gratitude to you all. The following post will deal with the appeal. Mechele especially appreciates all the support. She is in a very hard place. For those who know and love her, it touches us as well.
That is the point, of course…“those who know and love her”. There are so many who know Mechele and realize the “narrative” that the prosecution used was incongruent with who she is. Remember, we, as a legal team, decided to not make “character an issue” and never brought it up. Therefore we never had anyone, but me, testify for her. And I didn’t testify to her character. I mainly testified to rebut some of the State’s irrefutable smears. This part of our legal strategy assumed a Jury adherence to the specific instruction by the Judge to not take character into their assessment of guilt based on the evidence presented. The burden of proof lied with the State and not Mechele. She was innocent until proved guilty. This didn’t happen, per the jurors themselves, by their own words.
The evidence that was presented is another story. The forced circumstance to meet the prosecution’s narrative is something I would love to get into. That is really the “meat” of the issue. I, unfortunately, can’t. I have audio, documents, and affidavits that are quite damaging to the State’s narrative. Why not post them? When, by the grace of God, a new trial comes, our legal team will deliver. I have been “advised” that now is not the time. Roger Wilco.
The several dozen letters that were sent to the Judge for character support for sentencing purposes were dismissed by the Judge. He stated we were all “charmed” by Mechele. Dang... what a bunch of suckers we are. I would love to get into more of Judge Volland’s sentencing soliloquy. The “charmed” comment was one of many very strange proclamations by Judge Volland. I can’t get into that as I will explain in the “Appeal” post.
The truth of the matter is I am not a dupe or ignorant. I have heard Mechele’s history of events that transpired in the spring of 1996 when we first met. Funny thing is, it has never changed. Not once. The other thing is that her statements have always been consistent with me and the police. There is no contradiction. The issue here is that everyone who testified against Mechele had their inconsistent statements read back to them. Brett Riddell and Miss Aspiotis had their testimony shredded by Mr. Fitzgerald. It was interesting to watch Mr. Riddell contradict an audio interview he gave to the police. It was also enlightening to listen to Miss Aspiotis’s confusion when she was read her previous statements to police that contradicted her current testimony.
These people didn’t know Mechele per their own admission. Well what about Mechele’s sister? She is a piece of work. Her police interview in 1996, which she sought after, was completely different than her testimony that she gave at the Carlin trial and to the Grand Jury. Folks, this was to the point that she would have been destroyed by our attorneys and other witnesses. In case you didn’t know, Melissa didn’t testify in Mechele’s trial to save Mechele. She did it to save herself from humiliation and her skeletons in her closet.
Bottom line: I know Mechele as do her friends and family. We are appalled by the abuse of ethics from the prosecution and their disingenuous use of their power. I will give an email from the acting Attorney General of the State of Alaska that sums up our disgust in the next post. But, for now, thanks to the hundreds of people who have offered support and hope.
God Bless You
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3 comments:
It seems a little strange for the judge to instruct the jury not to take character into account instead of presented evidence when the heart of the prosecutor's case is character assassination to make Mechele into a monster who could be assumed to have done what she was accused of.
As for being "charmed" by Mechele. Both my husband and I wrote to the judge on Mechele's behalf and neither one of us had ever met her, never talked to her, never wrote to her, nor knew anyone who knew her.
We did so because we live in Anchorage, followed both trials, and were frightened and horrified by such a glaring abuse of our justice system!
Further, we were angry with the local media for the sexist, misogynist coverage that ensured this woman, whom we had never met, could not get a fair trial in Alaska. Although we were strangers, so could not have been charmed by Mechele, as citizens we were alarmed by the gross injustice. All citizens should worry about such!
I can tell you from my own experience in the courtroom that judges sometimes don't even read defense statements (those coming from the defendant). I remember in 1996 how I was there in the courtroom and the judge hadn't received my defense statements in prior days. I gave a copy right then and there, but they did not stop to read it before making a decision. I have a feeling they are burdened with too much to read everything, but I felt I was slighted tremendously. In 1996, I had five people supporting me in court and two letters of support outside of court. It was unclear whether those support systems helped me or not. In any case, I was innocent in 1996, 2001, and 2004, but we would be here all day if I elaborated. If anyone wants me to tell a bit more, I will. So my point is the legal system is broken, but I'm sure most of you knew that already. - Collin.
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