Another Dead Child, Another Death Penalty

July 3, 2008 – 4:31 pm

A twelve-year-old girl’s lifeless body is found in a picturesque Vermont town of about 5,000. She’s been missing for a week. Federal prosecutors soon file kidnapping charges against the child’s uncle, who could face the death penalty.

What are we left to think? The news is as gruesome and horrific as you’d ever care to hear, especially if you’re a parent, or an uncle of a beautiful niece.

You take a deep breath, and you wonder. And then you read on about authorities alleging how Michael Jacques, 42, had carefully orchestrated events to look like his niece had gone off to see someone she had met online. A parents’ worst nightmare. But another teenage girl then changes her story and claims that Jacques had, on the night in question, violated the trust of his niece by talking her into thinking she was going to a party. Instead, he took her to his home to initiate her into a child sex ring. The same child sex ring the 14-year-old witness claims to have been a part of since the age of nine.

Now Jacques is charged under a federal law that provides for the death penalty in a kidnapping resulting in a child’s death. To make matters worse for the accused, and one’s conscience, Jacques has prior convictions for kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault.

Police unearthed Brooke Bennett’s body Wednesday from a makeshift grave about a mile from her uncle’s house. With autopsy results still pending, prosecutors said they could not say whether the twelve-year-old had been murdered.

But the press sure made it appear as though she had. And reading about it makes one immediately jump to the conclusion that this beautiful child’s uncle killed her. That the man is a horrible monster-predator who preys on children and deserves to be put out of everyone’s misery.

The words, “The death penalty is too good for this creep,” slip to the edge of my tongue. They are followed by an inspiration, a desire, a want to pull the switch myself. Or is it the syringe? I forget. How are we killing them off these days? And who needs a trial anyway, right? “Hang him from the highest bridge.”

But after the anger subsides – and the sick feeling in my stomach dissolves into acid – I begin to remember my compassion for the child’s family. A feeling of understating absorbs me, the same kind of feeling I shared in other matters involving the killing of other children such as Nicholas Markowitz and Larry King. I send warmth and prayers to the victim’s parents for having to endure something that may lack closure for a very long time.

And then I think again about the mother of Brooke Bennett, and what she must be thinking about her brother who’s still in jail without bail, facing the very real prospect of a death sentence.

In what form will justice be found for this woman? Will it be discovered through the ultimate conviction and state-sanctioned murder of Michael Jacques? And if so, how should I feel about that? Should I really want to see another human being put to death? Should I care? Or should I be feeling something else? Maybe a sort of compassion for this wretched human being. Some type of forgiveness and hope that this man, who could be a murderous pedophile, gets his day in court. And if found guilty, that he would be sentenced to prison for a very long time, to keep him away from society and to punish him for his sins. But then again, I think, maybe we should just kill him. Wouldn’t that really make me feel better? After all, two deaths are better than one, right?

By Stolen Boy | Posted in Stolen Boy, children, criminal, death penalty | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Good News for Jesse James Hollywood, Death Row Inmate Ryan Hoyt

July 1, 2008 – 10:54 am

Ryan HoytAll you death penalty junkies out there just might find the news disheartening. But there it is in today’s black and white: California’s death penalty machinery is a failed system, deemed “close to collapse.”

The report, by the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, concluded that California’s administration of the death penalty would require massive new state spending or changes in sentencing laws to end decades of delay and dysfunction.

The commission’s findings grew out of the first comprehensive look at the state’s death penalty in the 30 years since capital punishment was restored in California.

Created by the state Senate to recommend improvements in the criminal justice system, the commission included defense lawyers, victims’ advocates, prosecutors and police.

The commission unanimously concluded that nearly $100 million in additional spending is needed for reform. Not surprisingly, however, there were also disagreements.

Five law enforcement commissioners complained that the majority was “seeking to undermine public confidence” in the death penalty and that the report “unmistakenly reveals a personal bias” against capital punishment.

Which says one very important thing. These five police commissioners stand alone in their opposition to the majority. The public sentiment against allowing the state to kill convicted felons is sweltering. People want to see change within the governing body when it comes to how they dictate what will happen to those of us who are convicted of homicide-related felonies.

This indeed is good news for the families of young men like Ryan Hoyt who’s on California’s death row. And also for the likes of Jesse James Hollywood, who is battling to stay away from the death penalty.

The best news yet is that eight of the commissioners signed off on their own separate report, which called for abolition of capital punishment all together. The system does not work. It is a drain on our tax dollars. It is a drain on our human psyches. It is a drain on our spiritual connection to the grace that lies within each and every living cell on this planet.

Four of the wiser commissioners signed a statement saying “the time may be right” for a ballot measure to end the death penalty and alternately proposed limiting capital offenses to less than 10% of first-degree murders.

Yet, if you believe in polls, Californians have supported death by government by a margin of 2 to 1 and have repeatedly voted to toughen sentencing laws. Laws that are being used by the state to tighten the noose around our civil necks. Measures of social control that we are scared into passing by vote. Due to our fears. Unfounded fears manifested and irritated by the media and those who would want to control us.

Justice for all can be found without killing again. And we can change the world in which we live in the process. These two ideas are not mutually exclusive. When we collectively learn how precious all life is, we will respect all others, convicted or not, with greater sincerity. This respect will come back to us in the form of a mutual appreciation for our true natures as compassionate human beings and shepherds for those who need our help. This will make life much safer and happier for everyone in return.

 

By Stolen Boy | Posted in Jesse James Hollywood, Stolen Boy, criminal, death penalty, life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Michael Mehas Talks About Jesse James Hollywood On Podcast

June 30, 2008 – 8:10 am

 

iUniverse is featuring author Michael Mehas and his Star title, Stolen Boy, on its Web site through the middle of the summer. Mehas discusses his book and Jesse James Hollywood, one of the youngest men to ever appear on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, in his first “Author Talk” interview, available at iUniverse.com. As an attorney, Mehas became interested in one of California’s most sensational criminal cases, involving drugs, partying, revenge, murder, and an unfathomable society of teenage debauchery. Mehas delved into the information on the case and soon discovered that his research would place him in the midst of this teenager’s real-life criminal trial.

“I knew the story. I knew the story from the research,” said Mehas. “I became the world’s greatest authority on this and I couldn’t be quiet while that man was looking to die.”

Mehas’ Stolen Boy focuses on the real humanity behind this tragic situation and the unnecessary death of a young man. Mehas relates his book to everyone, not just people whose lives are spiraling out of control.

“It’s a story for anybody who has been a teen, anybody who has known a teen, anybody who has had trouble in their life or knows someone who has had trouble will want to read this book,” said Mehas.

 

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Jesse James Hollywood Moves Closer To Trial Date

June 28, 2008 – 8:33 pm

We’re getting’ closer. Jesse James Hollywood  whose murder case was dramatized in the 2006 movie “Alpha Dog” and the 2008 award-winning novel “Stolen Boy,” goes to trial in February.

Jesse James HollywoodOn Thursday, Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Brian Hill set a February 19th, 2009 trial date for Hollywood, who could face the death penalty if convicted of killing 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz, on August 9th, 2000.

This will provide Hollywood with the opportunity for the first time in court to tell his version of events, which promises to differ from the demonization he faced through law enforcement officials and the mass media upon his disappearance. This gap in factuality, which was depicted in “Stolen Boy,” could be the difference between life and death for the youngest man ever to appear on the FBI’s Most Wanted List.

 

 

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United States Supreme Court Hands Patrick Kennedy His Reprieve

June 25, 2008 – 12:00 pm

 

There has not been an execution in the United States for a crime that did not also involve the death of the victim in 44 years. And the United States Supreme Court has indicated there won’t be another under its watch.

 

Which is good news to Patrick Kennedy, the 43-year-old man who was sentenced to death for the rape of his 8-year-old stepdaughter in Louisiana. He is one of two people in the United States, both in Louisiana, who have been condemned to death for a rape that was not accompanied by a killing.

 

Which is why the Supremes were called into action in the first place. And which is why they struck down the Louisiana law that allows the execution of people convicted of raping a child.

In a 5-4 vote, the court ruled that the law allowing the death penalty to be imposed in cases of child rape violates the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The majority opinion couldn’t have been more dead on, as Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: “The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child.”

What the majority didn’t say, though, is what’s really important here: That the death penalty is not the appropriate punishment to any crime.

What’s out of proportion is the court’s ruling earlier this year that ruled death penalty by lethal injection to be humane. This has opened the door to the resumption of executions in the United States, which is bad news to guys like Ryan Hoyt and Jesse James Hollywood.

Hoyt, the admitted shooter in the murder of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz in August of 2000, is on California’s death row. Hollywood, accused of orchestrating the murder, faces the death penalty through trial with the Santa Barbara County Superior Court.

States will soon begin executing condemned prisoners throughout the country. In California, however, executions have been on hold for more than two years and cannot resume until a federal judge reauthorizes the state to use its lethal injection chamber at San Quentin.

But this will end. The federal judge will eventually rule, and the moratorium will lift. Executions will resume in this state. Men like Hoyt will be prodded down the Green Mile for the last walk of their young lives. If Hollywood is convicted, and given the death sentence, he will soon follow Hoyt’s lead.

Which makes no sense. No justice will be served by state-supported murder. Nicholas Markowitz’s family will be no better off. Two more dead young men will do nothing to protect us. We will still need to live lives that are conducive to safety for our children and ourselves.

Which is why I wrote Stolen Boy. To show the human side to young troubled kids like Ryan Hoyt and Jesse James Hollywood. To show that these guys made tragic mistakes—that were human mistakes. Mistakes that were shared by their parents. Mistakes that were contributed to by the victim’s family. Mistakes that we all make in our own painful existences. Mistakes that do not become remedied by killing off the young, troubled personalities in our society who commit them.

 

By Stolen Boy | Posted in Stolen Boy, children, death penalty | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Universal Alternatives to the Death Penalty

June 24, 2008 – 11:38 am

 

There are alternatives to the death penalty. From a universal perspective, we don’t have to commit to killing those accused of unacceptable crimes. Here’s another excerpt of alternatives as provided by healer Ron J. Oberon.

The following writing is captured from pages 293/294 in Book I “Our Earth And Beyond”. The Governor will not stop it, as he feels it’s correct.

The Universe’s point of view of the execution of this Soul is that this Soul is bad and is ready to leave, but this is not to say it is Right.

We use this as a tool to remove the Soul from Earth.

However, those who choose to play a role in that execution are affected. There is a mark on their Souls. We do not like Lives taken.

But on the other hand, if it’s a Soul’s time to leave, and they are going to be executed, we allow it. If it’s not their time to leave, there will be a stay of execution.

What is an alternative to Capital Punishment?

A good alternative for Capital Punishment is to follow Universal Law - let the Soul Punish itself for its Sins or Mistakes.

Capital Punishment only releases the Soul from Paying its Dues, but they will have paid some back by Loosing their Life.

They will then have less to pay back, but still all must account for their Mistakes.

These people, if given a Longer Chance on Earth, could do more Constructive things. But in the long run they have to Account to the Universe for their Mistakes.

These Souls do not go through the Tunnel; they go to the Darkness unless they pull back to Earth and become Earthbound.

In the Darkness they have to wait for help from a Teacher to work off their Mistakes. At this time we do not have enough Teachers to help these Souls in Darkness, so they just sit alone and that could be a very long time.

Thank you, Gandi. Submitted by Ron Oberon -Author www.ronsgiftofhealing.com

 

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Higher Sources on Capital Punishment

June 20, 2008 – 3:12 pm

Very strange indeed. As I battle the inner and outer demons of life in trying to bring awareness of the need to change our collective consciousness and desire for revenge against people like Jesse James Hollywood, I meet the most amazing people. One of them was in the form of a healer by the name of Ron J. Oberon who has his own amazing take on Capital Punishment that I’d like to share with you. Everything he says seems to support the position we espouse. Tell me if you agree with him….

Capital Punishment

This information is coming from High Teachers of the Universe and is their view on this subject of capital punishment. The following is captured from Book II “Many Planes Above” pages 215/216 and the answer to my questions. Ron Oberon - Author.

Jennifer, “Mary Todd Lincoln” if a murderer is put to death through capital punishment, would we on Earth really be free from his or her crimes?

No! This is No Good because he would come back to Earth and possess another weak Soul and murder more people through that Soul.

No Soul or government has the right to use capital punishment and determine that another Soul should be sent out of his or her physical body, regardless what that Soul did.

Capital punishment is an Earth creation, and it is wrong.

Just because it has followed mankind down through the Ages does not make it right. It’s terrible, in our view.

In fact, continuing to practice capital punishment creates more murders. That’s because the Souls of executed murderers that cling to Earth attach themselves to the first weak Earth Soul they can find and kill again.

That said, we do sometimes capitalize on capital punishment to serve our needs, but we’d rather the Earth stop practicing it.

We use it sometimes when a Soul needs to leave Earth. We put those Souls in a capital punishment situation, knowing that the death penalty will return them to us.

Then we try to catch those entities possessing the murderer to place them into Darkness and hope we can do the same with the murderer if he or she comes through the Tunnel and does not cling to Earth.

What happens to the innocent victim?

Remember, we said that there are only two ways a Soul leaves the Earth Plane: either their Lessons are finished, or they are not listening or making any Progress. Rather, they are making more, not fewer, mistakes.

The murderer’s victims were ready to leave. This is why there are no such things as accidents or coincidences; everything happens for a reason.

This viewpoint is accepted in some places on Earth because it allows people to free themselves of blame for something painful or terrible that has happened.

They also accept it because it frees them of the notion that they are in control. People would rather someone else be responsible.

All murderers are possessed by lower entities. However, the Victim is okay, because it is their time to return to Our Dimension. We select them here, for we know who is leaving the Earth Plane at all times.

However, we still do not believe in the death penalty.

Note: There’s more on capital punishment in the chapter, Lost Earthbound Souls in “Our Earth And Beyond” - Book I.

 

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Let’s Not Destroy Brandon McInerney

June 16, 2008 – 3:31 pm

The kid had just barely turned fourteen before committing the worst of crimes-the murder of another child. We don’t really know for sure why Brandon McInerney did what he’s accused of doing, but we do know this: fifteen-year-old, Larry King, who was Brandon’s classmate, is dead. And he’s never going to come back, no matter what we do to his youthful killer.

The Ventura County District Attorney wants to charge Brandon McInerney as an adult. And what will that do? “He won’t be eligible for parole until he is 65 years old,” defense attorney William Quest said of his client this past week. “No chance for rehabilitation.”

And isn’t that what this is really about? Taking a kid who had barely turned fourteen before committing a horrific act and seeing if we can’t teach him some of the same values we’d want our own children to have. Giving him another chance at life. Taking this damaged child, placing him in a kind of safe, loving, compassionate environment and teaching him to understand the severe repercussions for what he’s accused of doing?

This kind of compassionate application doesn’t happen in adult prisons. There is no rehab for adults in America. It’s a punitive system, designed to degrade the convict, and strip him of every aspect of humanity, while allowing him to develop zero skills that might actually allow him to one day function in the real world. So how can any of us reasonably expect this to have any positive bearing whatsoever on Brandon McInerney, his family, or our community? We can’t.

That’s why the Ventura County District Attorney must do everything in his power to keep this child alive, to not destroy him by assigning him to our dismal adult prison system. It’s possible. The DA controls all the cards. They’re the decision-makers here. And there is some sign that they may come around.

The big cheese himself, Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten, has invited public feedback regarding what we believe his office should do with this child. And we need to respond. We need to display the kind of compassion that we want to see maintained in our community. We must send him letters and send letters to the papers and get people talking of the need to have a more compassionate approach toward troubled children who are charged with doing bad things. They are our futures. They were raised by us. And now we must take responsibility for changing this mess we’ve created for ourselves.

And it seems to be working to some extent. Just this past week the prosecutor handling the case, Maeve Fox, indicated that prosecutors might decide later to transfer the case back to the juvenile justice system. But I say, Why wait? Let’s just do it now, and bring the road to rehabilitation and compassion a little closer to home. Before it’s too late.

 

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Striking Gold at City Club

June 9, 2008 – 9:13 am

IPPY Awards 2008

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Success at Book Expo America

June 5, 2008 – 10:20 am

Terrific article this week in the Dallas Morning News regarding Book Expo America, the book event of the year that took place this past weekend. Thousands of authors, and editing and publishing experts, and book fans filled the Los Angeles Convention Center with the latest in books and publishing technology. I got to talk to thousands who showed tremendous support for Stolen Boy and what I’m up to.

Michael Mehas at BEA with Feng Shui author Anna Maria Prezio

We discussed Ryan Hoyt, Nicholas Markowitz, Ron Zonen, James Blatt, my involvement with both Alpha Dog and the Jesse James Hollywood death penalty case, and the road to California’s death row. I received many kudos for my position against Capital Punishment, and my battle to bring awareness to the unfairness behind the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s effort to bring death to two of the people Stolen Boy is about.

        Michael Mehas receives his IPPY Gold Medal from Independent Publisher

Many were so interested that they wanted to buy my book right there on the spot. Overall, it was not only a great weekend to be a part of the book publishing industry, but I believe the awareness toward life is expanding. People really do want to witness change in the world in which they live, and they are trying to become part of that change. This is a tremendously positive sign for any of us who want to witness our world become a more beautiful and positive place.

 

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