"What happened next shocked and disappointed me. So much I almost cursed out loud."
15 Facing Life Chapter 6 Part 3
This memoir is a collection of memories, stories, and experiences that have shaped my transformation from a 15 year old boy navigating life and death in the streets of my hometown, to finding hope in a maximum security adult prison with a life without parole sentence, and building a life of freedom beyond prison walls. My sincerest hope and intention is that you will connect with the shared human experience of overcoming your circumstances and worst mistakes to become the person you were always meant to be.
Chapter 6 part 3
On the status date, my attorneys and I appear in front of the judge. My judge noticed that I was wearing a red jumpsuit - instead of usual blue which signified that I was in segregation. He may even have asked my attorney why I was in segregation. I just looked at the ground. He did not seem happy about it. What happened next shocked and disappointed me so much I almost cursed out loud. The prosecution was seeking a continuance and now a new trial date. The reason for doing so was because the jail had given them a CD with all of my phone calls on them. There were several hours worth of calls they had to listen to and needed more time. My judge wasn’t happy. He asked them if they were aware of any sort of admission of guilt by me and any of the calls. They weren’t. Yet they wanted to make sure my judge allowed them the continuance. My trial was pushed back to late May.
From what I could tell, that was going to be the last continuance. The prosecutors gave that impression to my judge. My judge made it clear that he wouldn’t be okay, with any more requests for continuances moving forward. I was cool with the new trial date. I knew it was coming. I was more concerned about the phone calls. I knew better than to make any sort of confession on the recorded calls. My attorney told me as soon as I got to the jail, do not talk about your case on that phone. They were serious about it and I remembered their advice every time I used the phone.
I personally didn’t think the prosecutors were actively listening to my calls. There were too many hours of calls. I also knew that the jail wouldn’t just call the prosecution and offer them a CD with all of my calls on it. I had reason to believe that the prosecution needed some extra time because they were having trouble securing a very important witness. It was just one of the factors you’d have if you’d have asked me. There are a lot of tactics that are used to delay a trial. There are also tactics used to try and get a confession out of someone on a recorded device. When you use a jail or prison phone it tells you immediately that the calls are being recorded and potentially monitored, but there are situations where your conversations could be recorded without your knowledge. An example would be someone in the jail wearing a wire or a microphone recording device connected to it.