Independence Day?

On July 4th, America celebrated the 248th year since she declared independence from Great Britain in 1776.

Americans celebrated almost 2 and a half centuries of national freedom and the joy of living in a free country. Despite the fact I’ve been incarcerated for the last 25 independence day celebrations, I can appreciate the historical significance of national freedom and the great cost others before me have paid for this freedom.However, I have longed to celebrate my own individual independence from the Virginia Department of Corrections and the broken criminal justice system here in Virginia that has kept me incarcerated since 1999.

Independence day in America is often a day of reflection on the greatness of our founders, their vision, the many battles for liberty that have been lost and won and of course the Declaration of Independence. I find it difficult to believe our founders ever envisioned a nation of free people that would lead the world in the incarceration of its citizens.Yes, of course, we have an epidemic crime problem in this country. There is a need for jails and prisons to punish violent offenders, predators, and criminals for their crimes and to prevent the victimization of innocent people. But is mass incarceration working?

A few years ago I met people from other countries who got to know my story as they became my friends. They were appalled to discover I had been in prison for 22 years at that time. This length of incarceration is unheard of in other countries where they live. My circumstances were a tragedy to them and  my wife has since launched this website and made a tremendous effort to help me by bringing attention to my circumstances.I think America and Americans would do well to look to our European big “sisters and brothers” when it comes to looking for answers to our crime problem and many other social issues. Norway, Spain, France, Iceland and Germany for example don’t incarcerate their citizens at the rate or for the length of time America does and they don’t have anywhere near the crime rates we see here in this country. People aren’t incarcerated for decades there as I have been. What are they doing differently or dare I say better than us? Where in Europe has someone like me been imprisoned for the last 25 years? Even murderers and pedophiles have served less time than me in any prison in the world. Do Europeans value the individual human life more than Americans do? Or have they figured out how to do criminal justice better than America?

I read an editorial from a businessman who lived and worked in San Francisco for 20 years before moving to Madrid, Spain. He noted that despite the fact Madrid is a very large European city, it’s not plagued with many of the social issues San Francisco or many other U.S. cities are plagued with. He wrote how shocked he was to notice there was very little homelessness, no open air drug markets, very little violent crime, and or other criminal problems in Madrid. Of course, Europe has jails and prisons and a criminal justice system but it’s not proportional to the United State’s. Great effort is made in Europe to reform and release people who have been incarcerated for breaking their laws. Contrast this philosophy and practice to that of the U.S. who’s mass incarceration philosophy and practice has led to it being the world’s largest incarcerator. America has just 6% of the world’s population and yet holds 25% of the world’s inmates. Clearly we aren’t seeing something or understanding something our friends and allies across the pond do. America is falling behind the rest of the democratic world in this human rights issue.

I have previously shared in this space how I was incarcerated in 1999 on 4 bank robbery conspiracy related charges. ALL relating to a conversation about how ONE bank could hypothetically be robbed.

I was ultimately convicted and sentenced to 26 years in prison for talking about and planning to rob a bank. I have always denied I had any intention to actually carry out any personal involvement in this “crime”.

At the beginning of this article I talk about how I can appreciate the “cost” of freedom…allow me to share with you what it’s cost my family to just pursue my freedom over these last 25 years in America, the greatest and most free country in the world.

After my arrest in 1999, many prominent attorneys were consulted for their services. For the most part, we were told that for somewhere between $25,000 and $40.000 dollars I could hire one of these lawyers who “assured” us I would be found not guilty of the charges against me. Unfortunately, neither I nor my family had that kind of money. They eventually were able to scrape together $8,000 to hire a not so prominent attorney who made great promises and assurances before he was paid. Unfortunately he kept NONE of them after he received his money. He literally provided no defense for me at trial. He did no pretrial investigation. He called no witnesses. He made no meaningful objections. At one point he literally was seen nodding off in court as my trial was underway. Needless to say I was convicted. Even more tragically, I was sentenced more than 2 DECADES over the guidelines due to the fact he failed to notice mistaken criteria being used to calculate my sentencing guidelines. Had these “enhancements” that didn’t apply to my circumstances not been used to calculate my sentence, my sentencing guidelines called for probation or up to 1.5 years in prison. Instead I was sentenced to 26 years.

With no money and nowhere else to turn, my family submitted my case to a prominent University in Virginia that had a pro bono criminal assistance law program. This collection of law students and their Law Professor with limited time and resources could only accept a fraction of a percent of all the thousands upon thousands of applications they received for legal assistance. They were forced to evaluate each case on its merits. After 10 months of evaluating my case they eventually decided to  help me. This was a tremendous win for my family and I who were without any other options. This small group of law students and their professor from The University of Virginia would eventually produce and submit a motion for habeas corpus for my release that outlined 16 separate precedent legal issues. Issues that included prosecutorial misconduct, ineffective assistance of counsel, due process and other constitutional and procedural violations and errors. By all accounts this document was a legal masterpiece and we were told it should win my release or at the very least a new trial. (this habeas corpus motion can be found on this website)

However, because these students were not yet lawyers, the professor who headed this effort IMPLORED my family to hire an attorney to navigate this motion through the courts. Based on his encouragement and my family’s willingness to see justice served for me, they found an attorney who agreed to take me case and they charged his $16,000 fee on one of their major credit cards. To make a long story short, this attorney inexplicably failed to file a critical notice with the court in a timely manner and my entire motion was dismissed due to time and procedural error made by this attorney. We were of course devastated. All my hope for relief was riding on that document that would now never even be considered on it’s merits because of a deadline mistake made by a well respected and prominent attorney. This attorney would of course apologize and refund the money that he was paid. He even swore out an affidavit admitting his error. A copy of that affidavit, along with an affidavit from the law professor from the University of Virginia who was involved in preparing the habeas corpus can be found on this website.

However, the damage was done…I was 33 years old. I had been wrongfully convicted and grossly over sentenced for a crime I didn’t commit serving a 26 year prison sentence. I sunk into a deep depression. A year or two later I was able to pull myself back up onto my feet after discovering a Virginia Supreme Court Rule that stated the Judge who presided over my trial lacked the judicial authority to do so and should have recused himself. Because of an earlier ruling he had made before my trial he could not be an impartial trier of the facts.

This of course gave me great hope and I filed a Motion to Vacate my sentence and conviction on my own without any legal assistance. Amazingly, my motion was granted a hearing and I was eventually transported from the prison I was housed to the jail in the jurisdiction this motion would be heard. I stood before the judge in prison blues with my small folder full of notes and legal arguments. However, I was opposed by the 2 highest attorneys for that city/county. They erroneously confused the issue at hand before the judge by telling him the motion was an attempt by me to submit a second or subsequent habeas corpus. In fact, it was not a second or subsequent habeas corpus petition but I lacked the confidence and the ability to effectively defend and argue my case before this judge. He ultimately denied my motion to vacate my condition and sentence and I was sent back to the prison without any relief. I was in my mid 30’s with almost 20 years left to serve for talking about how to rob a bank that was NEVER robbed. I was without any options that I could see and I slipped into another very deep and dark depression.

Shortly after this I would make the worst mistake of my life…while outside the prison for a medical treatment, I would assault a corrections employee and flee custody in a desperate plea for help. For this action and the 15-20 mins I ran from custody, I would receive an additional 58.5 years of time added to my original 26 year prison sentence.

I’m now 56 years old serving an 84.5 year term of incarceration. I’ve been in prison now for the last 25 years. Evey Independence Day I can’t help but think about my own independence day one day. It is so hard for me to “give up” and to essentially accept this lot in my life. There is no general parole for everyone in Virginia. We are required to serve 85% of our time. I have more time than many murderers, child molesters, sex offenders, robbers and other violent offenders.

I’m grateful to my European friends who was so appalled and outraged by my circumstances that my wife launched this website and my other social media sites to get my story out there in hopes of finding help for me.

I’m asking all who have visited my website and who read my blogs to PLEASE help. You can help by signing my change.org

If you are an attorney or know of an attorney or a firm willing to take on my case, I’d gladly accept your time instead of your money.

I’m appealing to everyone who is reading this. I know this space is crowded with many similar stories of “injustice” and pleas for help and God only knows money as well. I’m asking you to consider my life and what I’ve already lost. Please say with me and my family “enough is enough” and help us to undo this miscarriage of justice. I can’t do it without your help.

Thank you

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Shortal