When in Prison, Don't be Honest!

This video made me laugh a lot!. However. It is nothing like life in Prison. Derik has been in prison now for 18 years. What for? for knowing the wrong person. Not that there was anything wrong with his friend other than a psychosis which he was getting treatment for. But when his friend's mother and grandmother were murdered, his friend was the type of person who falls under suspicion right away. Not because he was a violent person, but because he was super polite and had an attitude of superiority.

The long and the short of it is that since Derik and two friends were together for at least part of the evening in question, they were targeted as likely suspects and subsequently convicted of the crime with no physical evidence to back up the verdict.

I had an eye-opening experience with police investigations gone wrong. I know who commissioned the killings, but I cannot prove it. The hitman is in China. There is no extradition treaty with Chine, so as soon as an investigation heads that way it is usually dropped. I have seen the police use lies, force, coersion, and many other not so legal methods to get witnesses to change their testimony. I did not believe one could be convicted on hearsay evidence alone. But now I know better. It happens from time to time. It happened to Derik.



He was sentenced to life 10, along with another boy about the same age. The other boy fell for the coersion in prison. Guards, Parole officers, other officers, all tell prisoners that they have to confess to get out of prison. Legally, they do not have to do that. Derik went against the crowd. He said he would refuse to confess to a crime he did not commit. Especially, he would not confess to such a terrible one. Lots of prisoners say they did not do it, but they stay in prison for much longer times because of that denial. The other boy admitted and confessed to the crime. We do not know what he said to the prison staff, but by the time the 10 years was up, he was out of prison and on parole for the rest of his life. Derik still refuses to confess to this terrible crime. So he is still in prison.

The system has tried many ways to coerce him into making a false confession. Just to get out of prison. He still maintains his innocence and refuses to make that lie. So there he sits.

It is not like he has done nothing while in there. He has worked hard to improve himself. Since he was not allowed to complete high school, he obtained his equivalency certificate. He took the pilot course in peer counselling in prison. He became a peer counsellor for the other prisoners, helping them with sucidal tendencies, depression, marital issues, parenting issues and whatever else he could help them work through. He is well respected for that job. He has done every program the parole board wanted him to do except the ones where he has to confess. He has had passes outside of the prison. One for his grandmother's funeral, several for LINC meetings. LINC is lifers in the community who counsel others who have been in prison for a long time on how to survive on the outside.

He has tried to get passes for education, but since the class times are long and no guards want to sit on the classes, he was not able to get those. About 2 years ago he transferred to another prison to obtain a carpentry course. The first year of an appenticeship program in building construction. At first, the staff at this new place would not allow him into the course although he transferred there just to take that course. Finally, by going above the staff and appealing to th administration, he got the course. He has completed that successfully and is now certified as a framer for construciton.

But. Now the worst blow of all. With this training and having obtained the best overall score in the course, he is trying to get a transfer to another prison where they are rebuilding the entire place. They want prisoner workers to do the work. His parole officer will not support him for that as she said that she wants him to stay there for at least another two years just to do time. So, here we go again. This time he will once again have to go to administration for results. Why can they not help guys get out to support themselves?

Taxpayers are blind to the fact that it costs in the neighbourhood of $100 000.00 to keep a man in prison for one year. More if health issues are present. these guys should be out, earning their own keep. Paying taxes like the rest of us. Learning how to live with other people without resorting to crime. Some, in fact, many, would never go back to crime if they had job skills.

Now, Derik has served nearly twice what the other boy served. He will not confess because he is innocent. I used to tell my kids to always be honest. Now I suspect that is a mistake. No one else is honest.

Canadian injustice

Elouise
skype: coach_elouise
email: rascal60@shaw.ca