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| San Quentin by Stephen Worrell |
One of the people we've helped recently with financial assistance to hire an attorney is a 33-year-old developmentally disabled man named Malcolm.
Malcolm was diagnosed as mentally retarded and autistic when he was 3 years old and has been in special education and special work projects all through his life. Until his recent troubles, he has been able to live with his mother.
Malcolm has had a few jobs during his life, although with the aptitudes of a 9-year-old, his opportunities and abilities are necessarily limited. His feelings are easily hurt so he has often walked off jobs.
Malcolm's legal problems began when he got into an altercation with his boss on one of the jobs and wrote threatening letters, which he stuck on the man's door with bubble gum. The boss called the police and Malcolm got arrested. Another bad letter to someone resulted in a parole violation and he got sent back to jail. He has now been 18 months in Santa Rita jail, and there are plans to send him to San Quentin. According to the attorney who is now working on Malcolm's case, there is no exception in the law for people who are mentally retarded.
Throughout this chain of events, Disability Rights and the assigned Regional Center representative have never participated on Malcolm's behalf.
Malcolm has been described by people who know him as "a very kind and gentle autistic soul, very obedient and compliant, certainly not a 'behavioral' in any sense. While Malcolm has some histories with little prankish things, Malcolm has absolutely no history whatsoever of any violence of any sort. This isn't his nature, never has been."
Unfortunately, Malcolm's situation is not an isolated incident. As is too often the case, the actions and needs of developmentally disabled individuals are misinterpreted or simply not recognized by people who have little experience with them. Incidents land them in the legal system when a referral to care or supervision that is most appropriate would be more effective.
Below is the latest update from Malcolm's mother:
Hello All,
I just had a call from Malcolm. He was a bit upset because another inmate asked him to call a family member to get an address for him to write a letter. The person said they were being transferred on June 27. Malcolm said he tried to make the call but got confused about what to do. He wants to help but doesn't have the skills to know how and he feels bad. I feel proud to be his mother.
I think you all know that about 6 weeks ago Malcolm entered a plea of guilty in a plea bargain. He will be sentenced to 3 years and 4 months in the State prison. He is to be sentenced on June 22 and at sometime after that he will be transferred to San Quentin.
We accepted the plea bargain because again we really had no other choice. Malcolm could have fallen under the 3-Strikes law and been sent to prison for 30 years to life. He would have to serve 25 years before he was eligible for parole. The judge made it clear that the DA and the court had gone a long way to give Malcolm one last chance. I think he also said they doubted it would do any good, but Malcolm would end up in trouble again anyway. But it was because of all the support from family, friends, advocates, and church family that they were giving him that chance. I think that means prayers were heard and answered. With credit for time served and good behavior, I think Malcolm will be released after the beginning of 2012. As a side note, he will have served more time in jail than the BART policeman who shot and killed Oscar Grant.
While I am grateful for the mercy that has been shown Malcolm, I am still praying that he is able to remain at Santa Rita jail in Dublin rather than be transferred to San Quentin. The prison system we all know is overcrowded and has issues properly housing inmates with DD. Malcolm is terrified of going there and all doctor reports say it is unproductive to send him. Attorneys I have spoken with do not think the overcrowded problem and release of 33,000 inmates will have any effect on Malcolm's transfer despite Santa Rita is one of the county jails that will house California Department of Corrections inmates.
I have been blessed to find empathy from the Parent Hospital Association who is helping to pay for a private attorney to review Malcolm's case and meet with him. Hopefully Malcolm will decide that he wants this person, Christopher Shea, to be his new attorney. If that happens, Mr. Shea will ask for a continuance to review the files and the transcripts and to make sure the deal is in Malcolm's best interest. We hope Mr. Shea will be substituted in as Malcolm's attorney prior to sentencing on June 22.
The added benefit is that we assume Malcolm will not be sentenced on June 22. Until he is sentenced he cannot be transferred. It is reasonable that if he has about 3 months or less remaining on his sentence he would not be transferred to San Quentin but will on paper have served a State prison sentence. Right now I think he has about 7 and 1/2 months remaining. So the longer it takes to finish the process the better chance he will serve most or all of his sentence at Santa Rita jail in Dublin.
When I saw him last Wednesday morning he was excited to tell me "Its June". He said he knows because when he saw the paper on Monday it said it was May 31st. He said "one more month gone, six more to go." He is just counting the days and praying for the end to come soon. He got a visit from my mom and one of my sisters last week. Our home teacher visited again recently and does so regularly. Others also go and some have plans to go soon.
As always I thank you for your continued prayers and support. Your outreach to us has been so appreciated. We know we are closer to the end than the beginning. We know at least that there is an end date now, although it is impossible to say exactly when that will be. We hope to keep moving forward just putting one foot in front of the other, not really knowing how we do it. But I guess we really do know.
We receive confirmation after confirmation that we are not alone. I feel your prayers and the power in them. Soon everything will be okay and Malcolm will be home. I hear the word TRUST repeated, whispered from deep within. My testimony grows with Malcolm's.
We love you all.
Debora
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