Huckabee defends his role in Ark. rapist's parole case

Boston Globe ^ | December 6, 2007 | Susan Milligan

[indcons]

Mike Huckabee - the former Arkansas governor under increasing scrutiny since his meteoric rise in the polls in Iowa - delivered a lengthy defense yesterday of his controversial role in advocating the early parole for a convicted rapist who killed a woman after he was released.

[indcons]

From the article: Huckabee did not say yesterday whether he had read those letters. But in 1996, he spoke to the victim of the 1984 rape, Ashley Stevens, who told the Globe in an October interview that Huckabee "seemed to have already made up his mind. He just thought that Dumond was innocent."

[arnoldpalmerfan]

Huckabee should state what facts caused him to believe Dumond was innocent.

http://tancredo4prez.blogspot.com/

[DoughtyOne]

As Conservatives most us hold a very dim view of inappropriate paroles meeted out to prison imates.  If those inmates go on to cause serious injury to subsequent victims we rail on those who have had sympathy for the prison inmate and have aided in their release.

Such an instance is being heralded these days concerning Mick Huckabee.  It's the old Willie Horton case all over again.  Or is it?

I would encourage forum paticipants to read the following article circa 1996, in which the case for Wayne Dumond is made.  Read this article for a description of what took place back in the day.  See if you could fault someone for thinking this guy got railroaded.

D1


NEW GOVERNOR REOPENS CASE EMBARRASSING TO CLINTON
Hope for Justice Rekindled
By Cathy Tapie, July 29, 1996
The Washington Weekly, (http://dolphin.gulf.net)

A spokesman for Arkansas' new Governor Huckabee has told the Washington Weekly that an old case of injustice in Arkansas will be re-opened. The case could turn out to be very embarrassing to Bill Clinton.

The story reads like a scenario right out of the movie "Deliverance" and is not recommended for the faint of heart. Reported on June 2, 1996 in the New York Post and chronicled in the book "Unequal Justice," it starts around 1984 and goes like this:

Forty nine year-old Wayne Dumond, father of six and Vietnam Veteran, had been telling his church congregation about suddenly disappearing automobiles in their community. It would later turn out that the local county sheriff, Coolidge Conlee, was the culprit. It seems he was running, among other things (a casino at the Sheriff's office and drug running), a handy little car- theft ring. The sheriff was corrupt. Which is not necessarily unusual for Arkansas.

Needless to say, Wayne Dumond's vocality about disappearing cars was a thorn in this sheriff's side.

Long about this same time frame, a 17 year old girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped. But the girl was Governor Bill Clinton's cousin, a little known fact and well kept secret at the time. Her father is also a millionaire and a big contributor to Bill Clinton's various election campaigns and her mother worked in Governor Clinton's "inner circle."

Guess which innocent man got fingered and ultimately convicted despite overwhelming (suppressed) evidence of his innocence? Wayne Dumond. But this is where the story turns even uglier.

While an innocent Wayne Dumond was awaiting sentencing (later meted out at life plus 20 years), it seems that two masked men, acting on orders of the corrupt county Sheriff Coolidge Conlee, burst into Wayne's home. They had guns and knives. They hog tied Wayne. They raped him. Then, as if that wasn't enough, with surgical scalpels, they castrated him.

If it hadn't been for Dumond's two sons coming home from school and calling for help, Dumond might well have bled to death.

But there's more.

After the Sheriff Conlee's sociopathic cretins had had their way with Wayne and finished their brutal amateur surgical procedure - even as he lay in a hospital bed, near death, after having lost 3/4 of his blood supply from his butchered groin, the good Sheriff went to the Dumond family's bloodied home and retrieved the body parts so that he could display them in a jar on his desk with a caption that read: "That's what happens to people who fool around in my county."

What did Bill Clinton do about it? Absolutely nothing. In fact, after 4-1/2 years in prison, the parole board decided to release Dumond. But did Bill Clinton sign the release?

As reported in the New York Post, according to the managing editor of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Bill Clinton had a "romping, stomping fit" about it. He refused to sign the release.

Even though their innocent father was doing time in prison after having his manhood mutilated, the Dumond family did have a modicum of relief when they were awarded $20,000 in a lawsuit of "outrage." But that money went to compensate for damages when someone (I wonder who?) burned down the family home while they were in hiding from vigilantes and no insurance was paid.

It is now 12 years later and where is this cast of characters?

- Wayne Dumond? Still in prison

- Governor Bill Clinton? President of the United States.

- Sheriff Coolidge Conlee? Died in prison after being sentenced to 160 years on extortion and drug-dealing charges. But he was never punished for his crimes against Wayne Dumond.

- The allegedly raped girl and her parents? Not yet identified and probably living happily ever after.

- The alleged rapist(s)? Of the two men the girl initially identified (before she was "talked to" by her father and Sheriff Conlee), it is alleged that she dated one of them. Neither has been charged.

- The "vigilantes" that burned down the Dumond home? Not caught.

- The deranged amateur surgeons? Not caught.

Will the guilty be caught and punished? Is there light at the end of the tunnel for Wayne Dumond? Even though Dumond will never have his manhood back, will the new governor of Arkansas sign his release and see that the guilty are punished?

"We are very aware of the case. The governor is awaiting Dumond's application for clemency to be submitted to the Arkansas Post Prison Transfer Board," says Huckabee spokesman Jim Harris, "State law requires that this be done before the governor can consider it, so we are just waiting for the application and the governor will then be able to review the whole thing and do what is right and fair." The new governor of Arkansas has his work cut out for him on this one.

This case is not just about Arkansas corruption. This case is not just about injustice in Arkansas under Governor Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton has taken his operation national and into the White House. There is mounting evidence that points to an equal level of corruption and egregious violation of civil rights at the highest levels of the White House. Perhaps Arkansas justice will finally be served under Governor Mike Huckabee, but will justice ever be served while or even after Bill Clinton and his kind have run the United States of America?

Time will tell.

[Printed in the July 29, 1996 issue of the Washington Weekly]

http://192.80.61.73/WebVAX/WWeekly/WW29Jul96Dumond.html

[HisKingdomWillAbolishSinDeath]

This is already getting old. The Huckster said he made a mistake. Another reason I am sure he is a Christian, he realizes he is a flawed human being. Now if he did this on a regular basis, I would say he has a serious problem.

I love his answer today about Mitt’s speech. Its this sense of humor that needs to be transplanted into some of Fred’s rabid followers. They take politics way too seriously, and will be totally disappointed with whoever the next President is, if he doesn’t at least walk on water.

I think I’ve probably been asked far more questions about my faith than Mitt Romney’s been asked about his,” Huckabee said. “Maybe I ought to be doing the ‘God speech’ out there. I might even include an altar call and an offering with mine.”

[lesser_satan]

A lot of people, including many on this forum, thought Dumond had been framed or railroaded by Klintoon. His interceding on Dumond's behalf doesn't bother me nearly as much as his lies about it, and the fact that he issued more pardons and commutations during his tenure than all the neighboring states combined.

Arkansas clemencies outpace other states (August 2004)
Garrick Feldman
The Arkansa Leader
08-11-04
(Excerpted)

If you're wondering how Gov. Huckabee's hundreds of clemencies compare with neighboring states, get ready for a shocker.

Huckabee leads the pack.

He has issued more commutations and pardons than all of the six neighboring states combined.

Governors seldom reduce sentences in other states – and almost never for murderers serving life without parole or for rapists or for habitual drunk drivers, while in Arkansas it's a regular habit with Huckabee.

Other governors use their clemency power only rarely, while Huckabee has made it routine. As we've told you before, he has issued more than 700 pardons and commutations during his eight years in office – more than 137 this year alone – and more than his three predecessors combined.

Here are the figures for neighboring states since 1996, when Huckabee took office (and keep in mind the population of these states is nearly 20 times ours):

-Louisiana – 213.
-Mississippi – 24.
-Missouri – 79.
-Oklahoma – 178.
-Tennessee – 32.
-Texas – 98 (in-cludes 36 inmates released because they were convicted on drug charges with planted evidence).

Total: 624 vs. Huckabee's 703.

Governors in neighboring states almost never grant killers clemency, while Huckabee has commuted the sentences of a dozen murderers.

(snip)

Governors in the states we studied grant clemencies only on special occasions, such as when they leave office. Last January, after Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, a Democrat, lost his re-election bid, he issued 16 clemencies, and there was a huge outcry. That's how many Huckabee averages per month.

By contrast, Haley Barbour, Mississippi's new Republican governor, has issued no clemencies all year, nor has Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, Louisiana's new governor, a Democrat.

In Tennessee, Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, has issued no clemencies since he took office in January 2003.

The REAL Mike Huckabee

[lesser_satan]

See #5. It’s not just Dumond.

[devere]

“The Huckster said he made a mistake.”

I haven’t read that at all. All Huckabee said was that it was a tragedy and “a system failed”. Apparently he thinks he was just an innocent bystander.

That’s why he’s now known as Dukabee, in honor of his political soul-mate Mike Dukakis.

I had thought that Mike Huckabee would ( unfortunately ) be the Vice Presidential nominee, but now I think that politically he’s toast. It’s just a matter of time until the polls catch up with the news.

[SoConPubbie]

This is already getting old. The Huckster said he made a mistake. Another reason I am sure he is a Christian, he realizes he is a flawed human being.

Too bad the Huckster will not be honest about his tax-hiking ways!

You know, the part where he talks all about the 90+ tax cuts he has made, but fails to mention the fact the 20+ tax hikes he signed into law actually cost the taxpayers of Arkansas 500+ million more dollars than his tax-cuts saved the taxpayers.

The real sign a man is a Christian, is being totally honest about his past and not pretending he is something he is not.

And the Huckster is not a fiscal conservative!

[HAL9000]

It turns out that New York Post columnist Steve Dunleavy was just making stuff up about the case. That is why so many people were misled about DuMond.

[kittymyrib]

As a general rule, no one from Arkansas should ever be President.

[John Valentine]

The experience so far has not been good.

[dano1]

[DoughtyOne]

That is true. I am no fan of Huckabee as it realtes to the Presidency I can assure you. I just don’t like the media bringing up a case where Clinton and Company were involved and that was so sordid, to dump on Huckabee unfairly.

Dump on him for all the rest and I have no problem with it whatsoever. In fact, I think he should be dumped on for them.

Thank you.

[DoughtyOne]

I believe that Ambrose Evans Pritchard also wrote about him, in some of the same terms. I looked for some record of that yesterday and didn’t come up with it. I appreciate you mentioning what you did.

[HAL9000]

Thanks, and I appreciate your posts too. You are the Thinking Man’s Freeper.

[DoughtyOne]

Thank you. I appreciate your kind comments. Together we generally figure it out. That’s what I like about this place, and the people here. You take care.

[Politicalmom]

I would consider granting more commutations/pardons than the total for the six surrounding states combined to be “doing it on a regular basis”.

[Mr Rogers]

1 - The article assumes innocence without demonstrating why. If that was ALL one knew (and with many Freepers it was), then one might well believe a wrong had been done.

2 - Huckabee wasn’t posting his thoughts on the internet. As Governor, he said he wanted to free this man. I would like to think he looked deeper into the case than the average Freeper, particularly since he had full access to the trial, witnesses, etc - and he still screwed it up.

3 - All indications are that Huckabee likes to overturn the Courts because he feels he is more compassionate and forgiving than they are - that he believes his Christianity allows him to turn aside from the law. That is a bad thing in a Governor, and it is worse in a President.

[DoughtyOne]

In the general case I can buy into a lot of what you said. Even in the Dumond case, I can to a point. What concerns me with that case is that there was clearly a problem sheriff. The guy was convicted and did get a very severe sentence. I stated on another thread that I am not sure what the exact facts are on this case, but I am also not sure that anyone could come up with a good set of facts as corrupt as that sheriff and his district seemed to be.

It doesn’t look good in the Dumond case, because Huckabee seemed to think he new better than anyone else and appointed himself the king of early release.

I don’t approve of that.