Richard Detrich’s Boquete, Panama Weblog

Brandon Hein’s plight - being sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for a crime nobody says he committed - has drawn outrage for twelve years and still, nothing has been done.  The courts play their game: judges and lawyers and a criminal justice system who all hang out together, belong to the same clubs, contribute to each others campaigns, and generally make a good living off doing a kabuki dance designed to create the illusion that the US is a country that believes in justice.  Twelve years of appeals, of tossing the case from one court to another while everyone along the way profits, except Brandon Hein who sits in prison.  A Governor who talks about being an action-man and a Terminator of injustice, but is such a “girlie man” that he won’t take action and do the right thing.

So now, after twelve years in the “system”, Brandon’s case goes to the US Circuit Court of Appeals 9th District. 

You want a sense of public outrage?  Go to the Brandon Hein Online Petition to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Unfortunately it doesn’t mean much, since the Governor doesn’t see the comments, but it does give a good idea of how “typical” citizens feel about this gross miscarriage of justice. [The only way to communicate with the Governor is to write a letter -see  "How To Write A Letter to The Governor"]

“This is a tragedy! Our form of punishment was not meant to be abused this way! Our founders would be ashamed.” Lauren Treiman-Varn

“Justice at it’s very worse…just disgusting! I moved here from Australia and am truly appalled with the judicial system in California. Very very sad for all, not only are there now victims of a crime but also victims of an incompetent judicial system.”  Erin Louise Rea

“How dare we, as Americans, politicians and citizens allow such an injustice to occur for such a long period of time without resolution or justice that is equally given by born right as an American. Is is not out government, Do we not elect the politicians, Do we not have a say so, and I say to you we never will until we let our voices be heard, Until we fight for our rights, For our neighbor, for ourselves, our country and our for God given rights, We must tell them ‘This is our country and this atrocity has gone on long enough, Free Brandon Hein’ and we must sign it ’sincerely America’”.  Ralph L Ray

“Please, someone with the power to fix this travesty of justice needs to man up and do it. I’m begging that you be a hero to a young man whose life has been unjustly taken by an unfair system, and to every American, and anyone on Earth for that matter, who still burns with a distant hope that we may one day truly embrace a system ‘with liberty and justice for all.’” Nicholas W. Sowards

“I turned down a job transfer to Los Angeles with this case in mind, I have a teenage son, suppose he makes a mistake and gets in trouble and has to go to prison where gangs rule and the justice system will allow a bystander to do life without parole. Is this the land of opportunity that you have made such a wonderful life from?”  Jeff O

“The sentencing that these boys received is CRIMINAL! There should be exceptions to the felony/murder rule, or it should be abolished, one or the other. It originated in England, and even they abolished it. Shame shame on the prosecutors and Jimmy’s parents for being so vengeful toward these young men. It was a tragedy, not a murder.” Dan Townsend

“A sad commentary on LAPD/prosecutor/DA misconduct and further evidence of how trumped up charges to illicit a wrong verdict. I have personally been involved in 1000’s of trials as a graphics and trial consultant and this case reminds me why I walked away from it. Governor Schwarzenegger please remedy this miscarriage of justice. Thank you.” Shelley English

“Why hasn’t this conviction been overturned yet?? The sentences of these 4 boys is a travesty of justice!” Ariel Wapnir

Read over 3500 other comments from citizens like you who are outraged at this injustice.

Today Brandon Hein’s case is submitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

It has only taken 4,700 days to get to this point!

For over 12 years Brandon Hein has been sitting in prison for a crime that nobody says he committed.

This amazing story of injustice has been told on 60 Minutes, in several documentaries including William Gazecki’s “RECKLESS INDIFFERENCE”, and in articles in ROLLING STONE ["Lynching in Malibu"] and it has gained the attention of national political leaders and celebrities alike . . . and still Brandon remains in prison.

You can read about the case on Brandon’s Website, most of which I wrote 12 years ago when I first got to know Brandon, and actually watch an interview with Brandon when he testified for then Senator Tom Hayden’s California Senate Committee on the injustices of the felony murder rule. 

In a nutshell: Brandon was at the wrong place at the wrong time.  He happened to be involved in a teen fist fight when another kid stabbed and killed the son of an LAPD officer.

Thousands have petitioned the Governor both online and by letter.  If you haven’t joined them, you should!  This could have happened to you (or still could!), or to your child or grandchild!  With the Olympics coming in China there is going to be a lot of press about China’s record on human rights.  The US likes to criticize the rest of the world for human rights violations: Brandon Hein’s case is the United State’s dirty secret.  Here is an incredible violation of  human rights . . . in California!  We need to clean up our own act before we criticize the rest of the world!

Here is the link to an extended interview with Brandon Hein that director William Gazecki conducted. The interview discuss a wide range of topics and updates to the film “Reckless Indifference”.

Watch the Interview with Senator Tom Hayden and Brandon Hein.

Brandon is now a 31-year-old man who has matured into an amazing individual.  He is able to live closely with some individuals who deserve to be in maximum security, and he can calmly sit down with Dan Rather and do a 60 Minutes interview.  In spite of it all, he manages to continue to believe that justice will triumph.  He is an amazing artist and continues to grow as a person in spite of this gross injustice.

“The Box”.  The incredible thing about this is that the Internet has emerged and developed since Brandon went into prison [imagine that!] and Brandon has never seen the Internet as we know it and has never had Internet access, yet in his mind he conceived the idea of “The Box” and the presentation and worked by letter with friends who were Web designers to develop “The Box.”

Alan Dershowitz, Harvard Law School Professor says, “This is a case that violates the Bible, that violates the Constitution, that violates the law, that violates common sense, and that violates common decency.”

Dr. Jeffrey Fagan, Criminologist, Professor Columbia University, Director, Columbia University Center for Violence Research and Prevention:  “This was a modern-day lynching. It shows the power of a legal system where there are no effective checks and balances against prosecutorial power, and the conspiracy among cops and prosecutors to stifle basic freedom such as the presumption of innocence.”

Marta Moczo-Santiago, Commissioner of Juvenile Justice, City of New York:  “There’s law and there’s justice, and in this particular case there has been an injustice . . . [These kids] need to be held responsible, but I think in this case the severity by which they are being held responsible, truly, is nonsensical.”

Tom Hayden, Activist, Politician, Former State Senator: “Why should people unequally involved in crime be equally punished? Brandon is on solid ground asking if everyone (involved in the murder) is equally guilty.”

William Gazecki, Academy Award Nominated Director, Director of “Reckless Indifference”, says, “These kids were stupid and they were reckless, but they were kids, and the system was equally as reckless.”

Al Martinez, Columnist Los Angeles Times: “Brandon Hein’s radiant smile may conceal the sins of suburbia, but his sins, at least, aren’t damning enough to cost him the rest of his life.”

Geraldo Rivera: “What about justice? . . . This sentence is cruel and vindictive.”

Editorial, The Acorn, Local Agoura Hills Weekly: “To lock the door and throw away the key on a pair of boys who spent a single afternoon on the fringe of the law is an affront to the concept of rehabilitative justice . . . Life cannot be returned to Jimmy Farris, but it shouldn’t be taken away from Hein and Miliotti.”

Gene Hein, Brandon’s Dad: “My son didn’t kill anybody. He didn’t have a knife. He didn’t know anybody had a knife. He is not a threat to society.”

Vickie McGowen, Writing in a “Letter to the Editor” VENTURA COUNTY STAR: “My heart breaks for the Farris family because their son was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Perhaps they find some small comfort in knowing their son’s killer is in prison. They also know that several other young men who didn’t kill their son are in prison. How could that make us, or a society, feel better?”

Steve Young, Agoura Resident: “The whole case stinks to high heaven of judicial and prosecutorial abuse and misconduct. How the judge and prosecutor can sleep at night when they know that these kids are rotting in jail for the rest of their lives is beyond me.”

Kreig Vens, Police Officer: “If we, as individuals, or collectively as a nation, allow such disproportionate and grossly abusive sentences [as this] to be invoked without challenge, we become as barbaric as the crime itself . . . The sentencing in this case can only be labeled ‘judicial brutality’.”

Mrs. Chloe Swann, From a town near Leicester in the middle of England: “I feel so sad that Brandon has been the victim of a barbaric law [based on English common law] that we in England abolished in 1957, but I suppose what he is the real victim of merciless people who exploit these outdated laws which obviously predate modern values and common sense.”

Stephen Blackwell, Melbourne, Australia: “For a world leader, this injustice is a continuing blot on the international reputation of the USA. The work of the United States Government in high lighting the injustices found in other countries is commendable but it is time to set an example by seeing that justice and mercy are given in this case.”

Plons, Belgium: “As a Belgian law student this story is very shocking and disturbing to me. Apparently the Dark Ages of criminal justice are not over yet in California. All the best to Brandon.”

Arjan, Netherlands: “I accidentally came across BrandonHein.com and I was shocked! Is this the justice system in the USA???????? How can I country like the USA do things like this? Aren’t they supposed to be an example to the world? I knew the US had the death-penalty, but to lock up people forever is a shame. This may sound anti-American but it’s not supposed to. Brandon might have been at the wrong place at the wrong time, but he doesn’t deserve this. I know that ‘Dutch courage’ is a negative expression, but I wish him an enormous amount of courage from Holland.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made this quote famous.  And I believe it . . . just as the Old Testament writers of Psalms believed it, but often I wonder . . . how long?

You would like Brandon Hein.  His warm, engaging smile and personality.  He’s articulate, talented, and although I can’t see him much, especially now that I live in Panama, he has been a good friend for 12 years and an inspiration.

Brandon currently lives at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, California.  He is a “close custody, level four” inmate, which means because of his “life in prison without the possibility of parole” he is considered to be one of the most dangerous prisoners, and is housed with others who are “property of the State of California” and are considered to be the most dangerous.  It costs about $100,000 a year to keep Brandon in prison, not counting lost revenue which the state would have if he were working.

I got to know Brandon when I received a simple prayer request, placed in the offering plate of the United Methodist Church in Westlake Village, California, where I was serving as an Associate Pastor.  The prayer request read, “Please pray for our son, Brandon Hein, who is sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.”

I first visited Brandon when he was in that “no-man’s zone” between being held for trial at Los Angeles Central Jail and being “state property” (That’s what they call it!  Brandon is K24820.)  Not even his parents could visit, but I was able to “pull rank” as clergy and get to see him in the attorney visiting area.  They brought this kid who had just turned 18 into the room wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, legs and hands shackled, and shackled him to the floor.  I was very skeptical.  But after getting to know Brandon, spending countless hours researching the case, developing www.BrandonHein.com, and speaking on Brandon’s behalf at every opportunity, I am convinced that this is one of the worst miscarriages of justice in the US. 

Brandon’s crime?  Being at the wrong place at the wrong time.  And drinking underage, and smoking pot, and maybe hanging out with some questionable friends and defending himself in a fight.  Pretty much like 80% of 18-year-olds in the US.  Brandon went with some teenage friends to buypot at the local high school drug dealer’s back yard hang out.  The drug dealers best friend and self-proclaimed “bodyguard” was the son of an LAPD officer.  A skuffle broke out.  One of the boys, age 15 at the time, who went with Brandon to buy pot, got into a fight with the drug dealer and his “bodyguard.”  All hell broke loose with punches flying everywhere.  Unbeknown to Brandon, the 15-year-old’s brother, pulled out a 2″ pocket knife and stabbed the son of the LAPD officer.  Tragically that random knife wound landed precisely in one of the few spots it could do damage, and ended up killing the LAPD officer’s son.  The boy who stabbed the LAPD officer’s son always admitted his action.  But the District Attorney chose to rely on the verbal assertion of the drug dealer, high at the time and high in court, that the boys had come with the intention to steal not buy pot.  Based on that flimsy “evidence” all the boys, even if they had no connection to the killing, were charged with “felony murder” and sentenced to life without possibility of parole. 

At the time of the trial the Los Angeles DA’s office was reeling from failures: the Menendez brothers took two trials, OJ got off scott free, and they blew trying to get Michael Jackson on child molestation.  So the DA was out to win this high profile trial at any cost.  LAPD pulled out all the stops in pressuring the judge.  [Makes one wonder how much pressure LAPD might have been able to exert on a judge who had a drinking problem.]

So where are we TWELVE years later.  One agreed to a deal and is out of prison.  The drug dealer graduated from college and is an artist.  The Assistant DA has been named a judge.  The judge who heard the case, who himself had just gotten off probation for drunk driving, Lawrence J. Mira, is still on the bench in Malibu hearing celebrity trials.  And Brandon still sits in prison.

You would think that if enough people raised an outrage something would be done.  I thought so.  That’s why I convinced Brandon to go public on the Internet, and on 60 Minutes, and Rolling Stone ["Lynching in Malibu"], even at great cost to him.  The guards and other inmates have access to television and see articles. [No prisoner has access to the Internet.  Brandon has never seen his www.BrandonHein.com Website and the Web was in its infancy when he went to prison.  Yet if you check out his Web site and click at the bottom on "The Box" you'll not only see his amazing art work, but you'll be amazed at this Web application that was conceived by Brandon, even although he's never seen the contemporary Web.]

We’ve been through 12 years of appeal, and are now at the 9th US District Circuit Court of Appeals.   Still Brandon sits in prison.  If you’d like to find out more there are lots of resources.

http://www.brandonhein.com/

 http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?FBH

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/29/60II/main538407.shtml

http://www.recklessindifference.com/ - “Reckless Indifference” is a feature length documentary by Academy Award Nominee William Gazecki.

If you find this an outrage, write to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger  HOW TO WRITE TO THE GOVERNOR  Schwarzenegger CAN pardon Brandon.

What’s this have to do with Panama?  Years ago Brandon and I planned to sit on the beach when this is all over, drink rum, and watch the sun set.  I now have the beach at Boca Chica, and lots of rum . . . the only thing missing is Brandon.  I’d like to live to see this, and I’d like Brandon to be young enough to enjoy it!

Through all these 12 years Brandon has been amazing!  He manages to relate to some of the toughest people on the planet . . . everyone from stone cold killers to Dan Rather!  He has an amazing circle of friends who have brought his case to the attention of everyone from ex-Presidents to rock stars.  He has become a skilled artist working under great difficulty and many times without supplies.  He has an amazing confidence that somehow all of this is going to work out for his good.  He has put up with the attention in an effort to help his case, but if you check out “The Box” and his painting entitled “Limelight” you will see that the attention has not always been easy.