Posted on 08/26/2005 1:50:39 PM PDT by neverdem
Ask any guy in prison blues, and he'll probably insist he is innocent.
But when Michael A. Neal says it, he's telling the truth.
For three months now, Neal has been sitting behind bars in a West Tennessee prison even though a Knox County judge has deemed him innocent of double murder charges.
That's because the state Board of Probation and Parole had accused Neal of violating his parole by possessing for a matter of minutes a gun he wrested from two intruders who broke into his East Knoxville home.
"It was politics," defense attorney Mike Whalen said Wednesday. "Two guys were dead."
Two bad guys, as it turned out.
Terry Dodson, 32, and Benjamin Pollard, 24, were linked to a Memphis gang and had a history of violence. On May 17, the pair stormed into Neal's apartment, threatened to shoot him and began looting his home, testimony has shown.
Neal didn't know either man. He tried to run but wound up in a struggle with the men. He disarmed one of the intruders, shot him and tried to flee again when the second intruder began to attack him. Neal shot him, dropped the gun and ran.
The first person he called was his parole officer, phoning her within hours to explain what happened. He then contacted Whalen to arrange his surrender to police.
His parole officer filed a warrant against him. Whalen said Neal had expected as much. After all, he was by then charged with two counts of murder.
But when Knox County General Sessions Court Judge Bob R. McGee ruled at a hearing in July that Neal had acted in self-defense and dropped both charges, Whalen said he expected Neal to go free.
He didn't.
His parole officer refused to dismiss the parole violation charge, which was based entirely on the double shooting of which Neal had been acquitted, Whalen said.
Whalen lost the first round of hearings on the issue. On Wednesday, he drove to the Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex for a second hearing.
"The parole hearing officer looks at the parole officer and said, 'What's the state's position?' " Whalen said.
The officer responded that supervisors in Nashville had decided to free Neal, who was on parole for a cocaine possession charge, Whalen said. Neal still isn't free, though. First, he must be returned to the West Tennessee prison where he has been housed and then processed for release.
"They've promised to expedite his release," Whalen said with a cynical chuckle.
The entire affair has Whalen wondering just how wisely his tax dollars are being spent.
"It would be of real interest to find out how much money was spent on this whole case," Whalen said. "It's ridiculous."
Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308. satterfield@knews.com
please tell me that this is made up
please tell me that this is made up
No free man shall ever be de-barred the use of arms.
Jawdrop.
Ping.
Other than that, I'm left speechless only because I dare not type what this story makes me want to say.
"The officer responded that supervisors in Nashville had decided to free Neal, who was on parole for a cocaine possession charge,"
Life in prison! So will say the usual FR jack-boot-lickers.
Except convicted felons on parole.
To be fair, self-defense ought to be an adequate defense even for a felon.
I guess he should have just let the bad guys rob and kill him, rather than risk a parole violation.
He's just starting to wonder?
Rather typical, I am afraid.
The defense to the gun possession charge is "necessity" and is recognized in all 50 states.
("Necessity" means just what you think; you admit committing a crime, but there is an overarching reason you did so --- such as stealing a car to get away from a murderer, for example.)
Moral: Stay out of the system.
Justice is supposed to be blind, not stupid.
I'm a law and order kind of guy, but that parole officer is a knucklehead. What was Neal supposed to do, let himself get killed?
I guess most of you have already noticed how government and police are very quick to slam the ordinary victim/citizen who defends himself, while cutting all kinds of slack for the blatent violent perpetrater. Has anyone ever wondered why? To the casual observer, it seems like government and police don't want citizens defending themselves and don't want citizens to stand up to lawbreakers. It also seems that government and police are quick to slam the lid down on those ordinary citizens, while cutting extraordinary slack to the real criminals in our midst. What is really up with that? Why is law enforcement so determined to prosecute the homeowner who defends his home against intruders, while taking extraordinary time to indict that very intruder?
What crime was he parolled for?
What was his original sentence?
How much time did he do before parole?
Memo to self: Never travel to that Third World country otherwise known as Tennessee.
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