Declarations from a former Jury Member of Shawna Forde's trial....

SF Brady issues for AZSC as filed 2/18

Updates from Shawna

I will be uploading the new appeal which will be sent to me over the next few days.  Juror declaration will be included, sans any identifying info.  

On the recent suicide.  SF states the woman was in her cell 56min, guards had not done their walk thru.  The woman's body was left on the run uncovered, which is totally disrespectful and gives much insight on how the staff feels about the women housed there.  On the way out, her body was bumped repeatedly on the stairs.   I am left wondering how the staff would like their loved one treated in this manner??    

Special units have left.  Soon after, same day a very bloody fight broke out.  Good job whipping the women into shape.  

A proposal for a closed unit on each yard is being talked about by staff.  (In hopes of stopping all the fights.  Here's my hint for the staff, maybe try treating the ladies like human beings! And not animals~Rae).  

3 women on D yard were caught with dummies in their beds, so they could sneak off elsewhere.  Good thing it was not a SSR move.  

Updates are given by phone today.  The last comment on each update is from Rae, not Shawna.  

Shocking Suicides Rock Perryville!! What's going on there? Read on!

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/southwest-valley/2018/06/20/arizona-department-corrections-second-inmate-reportedly-kills-self/711865002/

Investigation is going on at Perryville.  Lumley has special units with dogs because officers are afraid for their lives (and inmates).  Prison doors are rigged and basic lack of control is on the yards per SF.  The special police unit is there all day til 8pm, shaking down cells and inmates, trying to gain some control.  SF states, sad thing is...when they leave, the prison will go back to "normal'.  She states no one cares that inmates get assaulted and jumped.  But now that officers fear for safety and lives action happens.  

Arizona news from LifeLines

A very warm welcome to new writers on both sides of the pond and I hope everyone’s friendships, both new and old, are going well. Thank you to everyone for your letters, emails and cards; it is always good to hear from you.

I am very sorry to say that we have lost three more friends in Arizona since my last Statelines went to press. Robert Smith died on 5th February at Chandler Medical Center, two years after his death sentence was overturned. Sadly, Robert was still waiting to move off the row and so did not get a chance to enjoy the comparative freedoms of general population, which his penfriend says he was looking forward to. On 9th February Graham Henry died of cancer aged 71; his penfriend’s moving farewell letter to him is printed in this issue. My thoughts are with their penfriends, James and Stephen, and their friends at Browning and Central units. Brian Dann also died on 1^st March; he did not have a LifeLines penfriend, but my thoughts are with his friends on the row. (Source: AZDOC)

I sense it may be a difficult time on the row at the moment, particularly in Central Unit perhaps, where several of our friends have passed away in recent months. You are all in my thoughts. I also often hear from people on the row about long waits for medical assistance or tests and I cannot imagine how stressful this must be for you, your friends and family. It will therefore perhaps not come as a surprise to you that Arizona’s prison healthcare has recently been in the news again. Dr. Rodney Stewart is the medical director at ASPC Eyman and works for Corizon, the healthcare company used in Arizona prisons. In March he testified in a U.S. District Court hearing about Arizona prison healthcare, stating that up to 80% of inmates at ASPC Eyman had Hepatitis C. Arizona Department of Corrections reports paint a very different picture, claiming only 15% of prisoners in the entire AZDOC population have the virus.

While Hepatitis C can now be effectively treated with antiviral medication, it is expensive - $43,000 to $94,500 for a 12-week course of treatment according to a 2016 study by Yale and Harvard universities. If left untreated, it can have serious consequences. An AZ Central article reports that, since executions were put on hold in 2014, five people on the row have died from Hepatitis C related infections, according to their attorneys and relatives. Brian Dann had to sue the director of the AZDOC last year in order to get the drugs. He was successful, but, due to the liver damage already caused by the virus, he needed an operation and sadly died during the procedure. A spokesman for AZDOC said, "The department treats Hepatitis C inmates pursuant to, and consistent with, Federal Bureau of Prisons guidelines." Those federal guidelines include an "opt-out" provision, meaning prisoners can voluntarily refuse testing. Then treatment depends on the level of cirrhosis. (Source: AZ Central). I wish you all good health and strength of spirit in the coming months.

There is more bad news I’m afraid as the Supreme Court has decided not to hear either part of Hidalgo v. Arizona – the case reported in the winter Wing – which challenged the constitutionality of both Arizona’s death penalty and of the death penalty nationwide. However, Justice Breyer did issue a statement, joined by Justices Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan, inviting a further challenge with more evidence. Using public records requests, Mr. Hidalgo’s lawyers had obtained information about 860 first-degree murder cases in one Arizona county that showed essentially every defendant was eligible for the death penalty under the state’s sentencing laws. “That evidence is unrebutted,” Breyer wrote. “It points to a possible constitutional problem … Evidence of this kind warrants careful attention and evaluation.” But Breyer said the case lacked enough expert evidence or studies to properly review the constitutionality of the death penalty. (Sources: New York Times and Reuters)

To end on good news – in March the death penalty was taken off the table for Darrell Ketchner, who had his conviction overturned in 2014 and is still awaiting a new trial. (Source: Mohave daily news) The Las Vegas Review Journal reported the prosecutors cited the cost of pursuing a death sentence as the reason for their decision. They have also withdrawn the death penalty as an option for another high profile case saying, "There is no reasonable likelihood of the death penalty actually being imposed in a realistic and efficient timeframe given the current state of affairs surrounding persons sentenced to death." Maricopa County Prosecutor Bill Montgomery said, "I can tell you we have fewer capital cases pending than at any time in the last 20 years”. Death penalty cases are down in both Maricopa and Pima counties. Given Maricopa was one of three counties in 2017 that accounted for more than 30% of death sentences across the US, hopefully this downturn is a sign of things to come. (Source: ABC15 Arizona)

Lindesay Mace