|
Prisoner releases shock victims
CONCERNS: State corrections, private contractor often fail to notify in
a timely fashion.
By LISA DEMER
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: December 17, 2004)
Joshua Wade, seen at his sentencing in September 2003 on a tampering
with evidence conviction in the death of Della Brown, will be released
from state custody Saturday. (Photo by Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily
News)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daisy Piggott holds the notice she received from the Alaska Department
of Corrections that notified her of Joshua's Wade's release from
prison. Wade was found not guilty of murdering Piggott's daughter,
Della Brown, but was convicted and sentenced for evidence tampering.
(Photo by Jim Lavrakas / Anchorage Daily News)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click on photo to enlarge
Joshua Wade, acquitted of murder and rape last year in a notorious
case, will walk out of prison Saturday. He has done his time on a
tampering with evidence conviction.
The mother of the victim said she learned only last week that he is
being released. That brings her anger and grief back to the surface,
Daisy Piggott said. She wishes she had more notice.
"It's been like a merry-go-round that won't let me off," said Piggott,
who moved to Anchorage from her home in New Mexico after her daughter,
Della Brown, was killed in 2000. She faithfully attended the 11-week
murder trial in 2003, was devastated by the verdict of not guilty, and
learned of Wade's pending release by calling and getting the
information herself.
Victims, their relatives and their friends often want to know when
defendants are released. Two systems set up by the Alaska Department of
Corrections usually get word to them, said victim advocates and
prosecutors.
But those systems aren't foolproof. Victims must ask to be notified,
their contact information must be current, and one of the systems only
alerts them once the person is released. Piggott's concerns illuminate
the weaknesses.
"The last thing a victim would need would be to run into that person
and not even know they are out," said Dolores Martinez, a victim
advocate with Victims for Justice. "Families still feel very
vulnerable. If they are notified, they can prepare."
Some need time to brace themselves emotionally. Others may feel
threatened by the offender and want to take extra precautions, Martinez
said.
While the case is still in court, a probation officer provides victims
and victims' families with packets that explain how to keep up with the
defendant's custody status through either or both of the systems
operated by the Corrections Department, said Portia Parker, deputy
Corrections commissioner. Police, prosecutors and victim advocates may
do that as well.
A private contractor based in Louisville, Ky., runs one service
well-used in Alaska called Victim Information & Notification Everyday,
or VINE. Anyone can call VINE at 1-800-247-9763 to find out where an
inmate is being held and whether there is a scheduled release date.
People also can register with VINE to receive automatic telephone
notification if an offender is released, is transferred, escapes or
dies.
About 3,200 callers a month check the system for information on Alaska
inmates, and the system sends out another 1,700 notifications, Parker
said. The contract costs Alaska $36,000 a year, she said.
Just this week, the Alaska VINE service added a Web feature that people
can use to register or check where an inmate is. It doesn't yet provide
scheduled release dates but the Corrections Department is looking into
adding that, Parker said.
Four people, including Piggott, had registered with VINE to find out
when Wade would get out. On a premonition, Piggott called the VINE
1-800 number last week and learned he was due for release Saturday.
She's upset the system didn't let her know. In Alaska, VINE begins
calling people once someone is released, not before, said Rick Jones,
spokesman for Appriss Inc., the company that runs VINE.
In some states, the service notifies victims and others 30 days before
the release. Parker now is looking into whether Alaska can add advance
notification.
"Is it one or the other?" Parker asked. "I'd be more interested in,
'Can we do both?' "
The Corrections Department also runs its own mail-based notification
system. Victims or family members send in a form on which they indicate
events they want to know about, including escapes, applications for
clemency, releases and death. They also can get a current photograph of
the offender.
Thirty days before an inmate is released, the department sends a
certified letter. Piggott said she signed up for that notification by
telephone with the help of the Alaska Native Justice Center but only
got the letter Tuesday, after she had already learned by calling that
Wade was getting out.
Corrections officials said they aren't sure what happened. The
notification is normally triggered by a written request form, and they
haven't been able to find one for Piggott. When officials realized she
hadn't received a letter about Wade's release, they sent one, Parker
said.
It's important for victims who want to stay informed to be able to,
Piggott said. "They have other worries. They don't need to worry about
whether they are going to be notified."
Usually, the system works fairly well, said advocates and others.
"Part of the cathartic experience is knowing the offender is in jail
and for a lot of people it is knowing when they get out, too," said
Tamara de Lucia, an advocate in the Alaska Office of Victims' Rights.
Adding a Web element can only be a plus, she said.
"The automated system is a great system that gets information to
people," said John Novak, chief assistant district attorney in
Anchorage.
As for Wade, he has been in custody since Sept. 30, 2000, and had a
good record in prison, Parker said. He served a standard two-thirds of
a 61/2-year sentence: five years for tampering with the crime scene and
18 months on an old gun conviction for which he was on parole at the
time.
He did his time in various places and will be released from the Cook
Inlet jail in Anchorage, Parker said.
( This asshole was caught on tape bragging about doing the murder. At
trial his attorneys argued that his confession was false, and that he
only claimed to have done the crime to impress his friends who were a
bunch of thugs.)
|
| |
| |
ienjball@yahoo.com wrote:
Prisoner releases shock victims
CONCERNS: State corrections, private contractor often fail to notify in
a timely fashion.
At first I thought the guy had been tried and CONVICTED of murder as your
subject line suggests.
However, when reporting the facts, get the facts right.
Acquitted does not mean alleged.
You also suggest his time in prison was for murder, which it was not.
When a person serves his time, they are released.
That's the way it works.
Do you, or any one else have more evidence to present that would clinch his
guilty verdict on the murder charge?
If not, then the prosecution can not try the case over again.
So why are people so upset over his release?
Ignorance.
|
| |
| |
This is why. Note the most pertinent sections which I put in
parentheses.
Judged not guilty, Wade to be released soon
Wednesday, December 15, 2004 - by Warren Williamson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anchorage, Alaska - He was arrested for the rape and murder of
33-year-old Della Brown. Now, more than four years after his arrest and
later his acquittal on that murder charge, Joshua Wade will walk out of
jail a free man on Saturday.
(But his release has Brown's family members and the district
attorney's office concerned for their safety.)
They were so concerned that law enforcement agencies contacted the
district attorney's office two days ago to let the prosecuting
attorneys know that Wade is indeed being released this weekend. Even
though Wade has spent more than four years in jail for a crime that a
jury says he didn't commit, the victim's mother says it wasn't
nearly enough.
Daisy Piggot spends her days now making and selling seasonal flower
arrangements.
"If you're creating something beautiful, you're not going to have
those ugly thoughts, and I had plenty of those ugly thoughts for a long
time."
Those ugly thoughts began in April of last year when an Anchorage jury
acquitted Wade, then 20, of the rape and murder of Piggot's daughter,
Della Brown, in September 2000.
"We know it because Joshua Wade told at least seven people," said
prosecutor Kari Brady as she tried to convince the jury that Wade was
guilty.
Piggot still believes he was. "I am 100 percent confident he did
it," she said, and she's angry that the man she holds responsible
for her daughter's death will walk out of jail. She's also angry
that she wasn't notified sooner.
"I just got a certified letter yesterday verifying what I already
knew, what I had found out about a week ago," Piggot said.
John Novak, the assistant district attorney, says he was notified by
Alaska State Troopers two days ago about Wade's upcoming release.
(Sources inside the district attorney's office say Wade made numerous
threats against the two attorneys who prosecuted the case.)
"As supervisor for two of the trial lawyers, I assured him that I
would get those people information so that they would know about the
release," said Novak (right).
Police arrested Wade in September 2000 after they say he bragged to his
friends that he raped and killed Brown. In his three-month trial, the
defense said there was no physical evidence to connect Wade to the
killing. The jury agreed.
Now with Wade's pending release from custody, Piggot believes he
could kill again. ("I think he's very capable of doing it again,)"
she said. "And they had him in custody but they couldn't hold onto
him. If this happens again, they better be very careful about their
investigation."
|
| |
| |
In article <cpvg7r0kss@news1.newsguy.com>, "Richard" <Anonymous@127.001> wrote:
ienjball@yahoo.com wrote:
At first I thought the guy had been tried and CONVICTED of murder as your
subject line suggests.
Why did you think that?!?!?! The subject lines says ACQUITTED.
However, when reporting the facts, get the facts right.
Acquitted does not mean alleged.
Right, but they are both accurate. It was alleged that he committed
murder, but he was acquitted by a jury. Those are both accurate
statements.
You also suggest his time in prison was for murder, which it was not.
When a person serves his time, they are released.
That's the way it works.
Right. And members of the public, especially prosecutors and victims and
victim's families, are often scared when they are freed.
Do you, or any one else have more evidence to present that would clinch his
guilty verdict on the murder charge?
If not, then the prosecution can not try the case over again.
Even if there was more evidence he can't be retried for murder. Double
jeopardy.
So why are people so upset over his release?
Ignorance.
Ummm, no. Read the article and see who is upset. The prosecutors, *whom
he has allegedly threatened,* and the victim's family, who believes he is
guilty. Seems like perfectly rational fears.= to me.
|
| |
| |
Wade begins life away from bars
Saturday, December 18, 2004 -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anchorage, Alaska - A man once charged with murder walked out of jail
today. Four years after the murder of Della Brown, Joshua Wade is a
free man. Although Wade was convicted of tampering with evidence, the
Anchorage jury found him not guilty of raping and murdering Della
Brown.
In September 2000, Della Brown's life ended in a dark and dirty Spenard
shed. Today, at exactly 7 a.m., the man accused but never convicted of
her murder and rape, began life again. Joshua Wade began a life without
bars, as he walked away from the Cook Inlet Pre-Trial Facility.
Wade spent over 52 months in jail, after being convicted for tampering
with evidence by showing Brown's body to friends. He was charged with
her murder as well, but on that charge, the jury was not convinced.
Wade's attorney at the time claimed his client was a scapegoat.
"He was an easy suspect because he'd been claiming credit. They
could arrest him quickly and make great accusations against him, which
when finally they were examined by a fair and impartial jury, turned to
be without matter," Wade's lawyer Jim McComas said, in April 2003.
But many were convinced he did it, including Brown's mother, Daisy
Piggot. "I am a 100 percent confident he did it," Piggot said.
In April 2003, the police were also confident that Wade committed the
act. "At this point, we think we have found the person who committed
this murder . . . and that's Joshua Wade," Anchorage Police
Department spokesman Ron McGee said.
And Kari Brady, who prosecuted Wade, says, "We know it because Joshua
Wade told at least seven people."
And many in the community also believe Wade is a killer. Della Brown's
murder and Wade's acquittal enraged the Native community, who are still
reeling from five other murders of young Native women in the Anchorage
area. It sparked protests and one hunger strike.
Anchorage police spent today patrolling the streets around the jail, as
Wade exited his home of just over four years. But there were no sign of
protestors.
Wade has maintained that he didn't kill Della Brown. He says he bragged
about it after finding her body to impress friends.
In total, Wade served two-thirds of his five-year tampering sentence.
The extra 11 months were for violating his probations on an earlier
weapons conviction.
Since Wade served flat time, it means he will not have to undergo any
court ordered counseling. However, when he reports to probation
officers Monday, they have some latitude as to what they can require of
him.
|
| |
| |
|
