Need your help!

I have had a suggestion as well as request for contact info for Judge Volland. I think it is a great idea that we fax letters to him requesting a fair and lenient bail for Mechele. It is vital to our case that she be free on bond. From what I understand the hearing will be next week. Here is his contact info: Judge Philip R. Volland, phone 907-264-0406 and fax 907-265-0121. For all of you who will take the time to fax a quick note to him, our gratitude and thanks go out to all of you. As ususal, I will post as soon as I hear news! Hugs to everyone!
Sandy

A quick note!

Thanks as always for your blogs, and your personal emails!!! I will try to answer a few questions that have been raised. First, it is an automatic thing in Alaska that when a new trial is granted, it goes before the original judge, unless he excuses himself from the case. We have heard no word on that. We are preparing for the bail hearing and I don't know the exact date. I understand that the ADN website has a huge comment section and that many residents of Alaska are outraged. I don't always read those as you can understand that some are negative and they usually don't have their facts straight, but it still upsets me. I have not heard anything about asking for a change of venue. Personally, I don't know that would help our case since most of the world has heard about it! I promise to keep this blog updated and to answer all your personal emails. I did talk to Mechele early this evening and she is very excited about getting out on bond and being able to personally write on the blog. I encourage any of you that want to express your opinions to write to the DA and Atty Gen. (their numbers and fax are in my previous post) Also, post your comments on the ADN website.Some of you have written to the various politicians and believe me, they are appreciated. We have to do our best to make sure we get the media on our side and we are working with a PR person to help us with that. I will update as soon as I know more. Hugs out to all of you and thanks for your support!!!
Sandy

Thanks!!

People's response to the State of Alaska's decision to re-try Mechele has been overwelming! Many people, especially taxpayers of the state are outraged. For those of you who have expressed your opinion I encourage you to speak out to the politicians, prosecutors and media!! Let them know how you feel. Although our attorney has agreed to take the case on a pro bono basis, there will still be expenses incurred. Witnesses will have to be flown in, accomodations provided, etc. From what we hear, a bail hearings will be schueduled within the next week. As always I will keep you informed as I find details out. We still stand strong in our belief that our Mechele will be home permantly! We hope that the media will give our case fair exposure this time around. We know that we have a tremendous support system in place and rely heavily on them to get us throuh this next trial. My thanks again to each and every one of you for your kindness, support and the wonderful emails, calls, prayers,letters and blogposts. Perhaps our battle has just begun but we have complete faith and confidence that we will prevail and that Mechele and Colin and our family will be able to put this behind us and resume our lives. With much love and affection to all of you!
Sandy

update

Just a quick update....State of Alaska has deceided to re-try Mechele. Do not have any details as yet,but will post as soon as I know more. This, of course is not the decision we would have preferred, but it is better than taking it to the Supreme Court which would have prolonged things forever!!! Thanks to all of you and has soon as I know details, Iwill let everyone know!
Much love!
Sandy

Hi to all!

Just a quick update...the State of Alaska has until Feb. 23 to declare their attentions to the Appeals Court. So, we are waiting for that. In the meantime, I have faxed all your letters to both the District Atty as well as the Atty General's office. In the meantime, since some of your letters were written before the Appeals decision, if you want to write another letter, or if you didn't write one before, or if you just have comments you want to relay to them, I am publishing both offices and their phone and fax numbers: Daniel S. Sulllivan, Attorney General, fax 907-465-2075 phone 907-465-2133. Adrienne P. Bachman, District Attorney, fax 907-269-6321, phone 907-269-6300. I want to also thank Laouida M.Dunn for her generous offer to help us with bail. There really are angels walking the earth and she is one!!!! With our prayers and positive thinking we will have our Mechele home soon!!! As always, thanks to everyone!!

Sandy

Thanks from Mechele

Good morning all!!! I talked to Mechele last night and she asked me to post this for her. She wants to thank all of you for the gifts and letters and most of all the support you have sent!! She is out of envelopes and won't get any until 10 days!! She has letters to you but can't mail them until she gets the envelopes. Of course we can't send them to her, she has to buy them. Crazy, I know. But she did want me to let you know she is writing...so be patient, she will mail them soon. Thanks to all...and will keep you updated on our progress!! Happy Valentines Day to all our wonderful followers!! You are in my heart!
Sandy

Thanks

Louida, I got your recent post and will call you Tuesday. I didn't post it to the blogsite because it had your home phone number and I wasn't sure if you wanted that made public. After I talk to you if you want me to post the entire post, I will. And God Bless You!!!!

update

Thanks for all your emails!!! Don't have much to update but here is the latest. Mechele is not home! We are waiting for the DA's office to decide how they are going to handle the decision of the Appeal Court. Should they decide not to prosecute further, Mechele will be released. If they decide on either of their other options (1. To challenge the decision to the Supreme Court or 2. To re-try the case) then a bail hearing will be held. They do have a time limit on when they have to respond. I am not sure exactly when that is, but have heard it is Feb. 23. I am frantically copying all your letters and putting them in a packet to send to the DA, Atty, General and anyone else, including the media that we feel would be effective. We are working on a plan for her bond, should that be necessary. I want to thank all of you who have offered suggestions as well as offered donations. I hope this won't be necessary, but we have to be prepared. We do not know what to expect from the bail hearing, so we can't really proceed until we know what happens next. For anyone that still wants to send letters, please do so!! Email them to me. Anyone who wants to assist in our efforts to post bail, please email me personally as well. It is hard for us to ask for this help, but unfortunately our families funds are pretty tapped out. We will provide a trustee and documentation of all funds received. If you have any questions, please email me. For all our Alaska friends, you are extremely important to this cause. You are the taxpayers that pay these peoples salaries!! If there is a new trial, or an appeal to the Supreme Court, you will foot the bill. So please feel free to contact your local politicians, the Atty. Gen. office and/or the DA's office. We are at a critical time now and your help is not only needed but so very vital in bringing Mechele home. This decision from the Appeal Court is the first good news we have had in four years, and we are very grateful but it is still not over. I know I sound repetitive, but you will never know how much joy each and every one of you has brought into Mechele and all our family's hearts. You have been the beacon at the end of a very long tunnel. My love and gratitude cannot be put into words.

Sandy
Mechele's mom

forgot to appeal to bail bonds people!!

Just in case any of you are reading this...we welcome your help!!! Hopefully, there are some bail bonds people out there that might heed out call!! Hopefully there are some of you out there that believe in our case to help us out. Recently, a bail bondsman paid the entire bond for a woman accused of murdering her child in south Florida...it would be nice to see someone in this profession to help out just to prove someone's innocence!

she's not home yet!

Hi to all!! Ok, this is what I know. We are still waiting for the prosecution to decide what they are going to do. Letters are being sent now, yes the ones you sent: to the prosectution..just to put every body on alert...we may have to do a major "bail bond" fund raiser to get her out while we wait.. if that is necessary, we will appoint a trustee, that willl not be a family member nor friend, but more than likely an attorney that will be held accountable for these funds. This may be the only way we can get her out on bail while awiting a new trial. I will be able to elaborate on this at a later date..but I do want everyone that has supported us or may choose to participate in her bail bond that these funds can be a donation or A LOAN to be repaid when the trial begins.Just trying to be realistic about where we are with this. Amazing that an appeal court has overturned her verdict and there is even a question of bail!!! Just gotta love Alaska's judicial system!! Your comments as always are so greatly appreciated...but feel free to share them with your local congressmen or representatives.'
Sandy
Mechele's Mom

First Impression

I appreciate the appellate decision today. It supports my belief that the trial of Mechele was fraught with error.

First, this decision would never have been possible without the defense conducted by Kevin Fitzgerald and Wayne Fricke. You might pause and say that there wouldn’t need to be an appellate decision if the defense was conducted different. “Mechele would have been found ‘not guilty’ from the start if a different defense was employed”. I think you would be wrong. This jury convicted Mechele before the case was over.

Mr. Fitzgerald and Mr. Fricke called foul many times and created an appellate record. We had many appellate points that were valid and documented by counsel. It is my belief that there were many more errors in this trial. However, out of the dozens of points illustrated by Mr. Fitzgerald, our appellate attorneys had to narrow it down to three. And that is where Miss Orlansky, Mr. Feldman, and Mr. Bryner come in.

The firm of Feldman, Orlansky & Sanders navigated the potential appellate points and chose the course that would best combat the errors of the trial court. They are brilliant and a tribute to the American justice system.

You see, it was not a fair trial. We played by one set of rules and the Prosecution chose to play by another. They played to the media while we played by the rules. The judge erred (more on this later after sleep) and was called on it by a higher court. No dispute.

I am grateful that the American justice system checked and balanced. And as I stated, there were more errors in this trial than the errors we challenged. However, the errors in trial presented by Mr. Feldman were stark.

A new trial will be forthcoming. An astute defense will follow. More witnesses have come forward and we will challenge the Prosecution narrative more aggressively. But… we will NOT try this case through the media. Therefore, we apologize if that is what you are looking for. You will not see me or Mechele on the 11:00 (2300) news. Sorry.

Thank you for your support.

Verdict has been made!

Quick update...just heard from Colin....appeal court has ruled....They have overturned her conviction!!!!! Do not have any details...but will update everyone as soon as I know!! Thanks, to all of you..we could not have done this without your support, concern, prayers and everything that each and every one of you have contributed!!!

With much love and gratitude!
Sandy

Hi to all!!!

I have had a few request for updates so I will comply! We have no news from the appeal court. But, we didn't expect anything quite this early. I certainly hope they give us an answer before they take off for the summer!! Don't quite understand if they are so backlogged how they can retire for the entire summer. We are still extremely optomistic and will continue to be!! If any of you are interested in reading "The Secret" it is a great book. I find it helpful in dealing with all aspects of one's life. We are still collecting letters of support. Thank all of you who have written, and for those that haven't, please write!!! I will keep everyone updated as soon as I know anything. Mechele is very excited that our home town team is on their way to the Super Bowl this Sunday. So join us in cheering our beloved Saints to victory!! Thanks, guys, for your calls, emails, letters and everything you do to make it easier to deal with this horrible misjustice!!

Geaux Saints!!
Sandy