Status of Appeal 2/8/09
Hello Everyone,
The only word we have on Brandon's appeal is that we should know in a couple of months whether or not the request for oral arguments will be granted. As soon as we hear anything, we'll let you know.
Brandon's birthday is on February 17th. He will be 32 years old. It doesn't seem possible that this much time has passed. In May, he will have been incarcerated for 14 years.
There is a link on this website to a letter from Brandon. We've had the one he wrote in 2005 posted there for a long time. He's wanted to update it but finds it hard to know what to say when nothing changes. However, if you check the link today, you'll see that there is a new letter from him. The message isn't cheery - it isn't meant to be - but it's real.
None of us, in our lives, are always upbeat but we do have resources to lift ourselves up by our bootstraps (family, hobbies, exercise, counseling, medicine, change of scene). These resources don't exist in day-to-day prison life. Still Brandon has managed so many times to pull himself up and start again with renewed hope and focus. He'll do that again this time too. The one message, he wants to send loud and clear is that even though he has worked very hard to be strong in the face of an unjust sentence, he hates living in a prison. As much as you want him to be free, he wants it a thousand times more.
Please keep that strength and hope coming as we head into this final stretch.
Regards,
Gene and Janice Hein
The only word we have on Brandon's appeal is that we should know in a couple of months whether or not the request for oral arguments will be granted. As soon as we hear anything, we'll let you know.
Brandon's birthday is on February 17th. He will be 32 years old. It doesn't seem possible that this much time has passed. In May, he will have been incarcerated for 14 years.
There is a link on this website to a letter from Brandon. We've had the one he wrote in 2005 posted there for a long time. He's wanted to update it but finds it hard to know what to say when nothing changes. However, if you check the link today, you'll see that there is a new letter from him. The message isn't cheery - it isn't meant to be - but it's real.
None of us, in our lives, are always upbeat but we do have resources to lift ourselves up by our bootstraps (family, hobbies, exercise, counseling, medicine, change of scene). These resources don't exist in day-to-day prison life. Still Brandon has managed so many times to pull himself up and start again with renewed hope and focus. He'll do that again this time too. The one message, he wants to send loud and clear is that even though he has worked very hard to be strong in the face of an unjust sentence, he hates living in a prison. As much as you want him to be free, he wants it a thousand times more.
Please keep that strength and hope coming as we head into this final stretch.
Regards,
Gene and Janice Hein
posted by Gene and Janice Hein at 3:30 PM
9 Comments:
I think Brandon would do well to not act so much as a innocent in this case. His culpability is obvious. He really needs to own up to his part in the crime, which he has not - which sentence may have already been been served under law - but this notion that he's not culpable does not hold water based on the facts and the law.
Wake up.
I found your site through Time Again, a local band from your area. I am going to pay attention, and will read what Brandon said today. God Bless, I am patient, pretty sure He is too.
Ross
New Mexico
In my law class we watched Reckless Indifference, and my heart went out to Brandon. I'm a teenager and I know very well fights break out among us all the time, but we don't plan to be in a brawl where a knife is involved. I hope Brandon receives the justice he deserves and that he can someday live a life of a normal man.
God bless.
Enough is enough.Let the guy out already. Let him out on the condition that he makes some public appearances at schools. He isn't doing anybody any good in prison. He has paid the price, let the guy lead his life in as normal a way as he can now.
I just watched the documentary Reckless Indifference and I am astounded. I always say that nothing could shock me about the justice system, but this case is so obviously backassward I had to Google it to find an update. I cannot believe that Brandon is still in prison, and that the courts have fumbled around again and again. The prosecutors' office should be ashamed of themselves, but so should a lot of people in this tragic story.
I was born and raised in L.A. and am familiar with Agoura Hills/Calabasas/Westlake Village. It boggles the mind. If the case had been tried in L.A., I'm sure the verdict would have been different. Your son Brandon is so articulate and seemingly honest. Honestly? Kids in Agoura Hills smoke a lot of pot, partly because there isn't much to do. Brandon was pretty much acting like a 15 year old from any suburban area. The Gumbys? Gimme a break. I really am just disgusted.
The good news is that there does seem to be more of an effort to recognize corruption these days. Just since Obama became president, a few of the big shot power brokers are getting busted. In a perfect world, our next governor will direct his/her attention to travesties like this one.
I would be happy to write my opinions (for what they're worth) to anyone you think might be helpful. I haven't looked over this site very well, but I'd also like to write to Brandon. I'm sure everyone who sees this documentary has the thought of expressing their frustration to Brandon, and encouraging him in any way that they can. My e-mail is sheena@writersaid.com
I'm so sorry for what you've had to go through.
I wonder why your attorneys decided to go straight from the California Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court, and are now seeking redress in the 9th Circuit. As liberal as the 9th Circuit is--one may wonder if you are likely to get relief, but it might be denied on procedural grounds... who knows: i'm musing.
might this case come out differently if micah had testified as to what happened when he entered "the fort" before everyone else did? probably not... but hey-- i'm not a lawyer, and i wasn't at the trial.
Otherwise, the law is behind the conviction of felony-murder and complicity. A knife is always a deadly weapon: the special circumstance.
felony-murder under cal penal code 189 = first degree murder
first degree murder + special circumstance = LWOP
I fell upon this story just searching through the internet and re-visting a book I read in college called the Murder of Jacob. I was hooked from the gate and after I read four hours of articles and any research I could find on this story, I was pissed, saddend, mad, and understanding on all levels and can see both sides as an outsider. Though one thing is for sure I do not believe this boy turned man deserves to be in prison for the rest of his life! I cannot believe this law in California...I'm a girl from Nebraska...yes Nebraska and it made me reflect on the past and the people I hung around and the things we did and how easy it could have been for this to happen to me or any one of my friends. I even have a great friend who got into a fight with a guy, hit him once and killed him. You don't expect that to happen when you go head on in a fight. At least I never did. Of course this friend did his time and is now out and doing great things, but still has too live with that moment every day. I am a college graduate, successfull, and one heck of a good person. At any moment this can happen to anyone and you can be sure it happens to good people. I just really hope that he gets out one day and has the chance to be the man he has grown to be. I am not saying that Brandon should not go unpunished for the part he contributed that day but damn...life? REALLLLLY?
I just watched a very interesting documentary called "Recklest Indifference".
At one point in the story it does seem like Jason was defending his brother but Jason willing to take responsiblity for the loss of life. No one has mentioned the drug screen results performed on the deceased victim. Though it is tragic that Farris died, he doesn't seem like an angel if he hung out with his best friend, the drug dealer. Perhaps he'd still be alive if he'd not been hanging with the neighborhood dealer. It also seems to me that there should have been a change of venue. And it seems incomprehensible that the 15 yr old Micah, the youth who stood outside the fort and the driver of the vehicle should be charged so severely. Makes one really think hard about our children. I supposed I need to show this documentary to my 14 yr old son as I believe that the state of Georgia has the same law. Perhaps this documentary should be shown in schools, especially in states where this Felony Murder law applies.
I'm just a mom who watches documentaries to engage my mind. The outcome of this one troubles me greatly.
I think it's easy for a person to say, he's guilty. Since it’s not their family member it doesn’t make a difference. The mentality of a teenager is not the same as an adult. If a person saw their friend getting beat up would you think about the consequences or would you help your friend? I think the trial was unfair from the beginning. The only thing we could do now, is pray and have faith the Brandon will be released.
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