NEW HELL HOLE NEWS
OCTOBER 26, 2009
NEW HELL HOLE NEWS #18 Step 1 Grievance filed 10-26-09 Hey! Here it is! STATE GRIEVANCE: I am actually innocent of the capital murder of my girlfriend and her sons, Twila Busby, Scooter Caler and Randy Busby on December 31, 1993 or, at any time before or after that date. Like my friend Todd Willingham before me, "I am an innocent man convicted of a crime I did not commit and for the last 13 years I have been persecuted for something I did not do". The state of Texas is in possession of material evidence in this case which will prove my innocence but which it has steadfastly refused to allow me to test. Since May of 1994 I have publicly proclaimed my innocence and, in letters to trial counsel, I've demanded testing of anyone who would listen. I have consistently filed litigation seeking testing in every state and federal court that would hear it. This evidence consists of a knife wrapped in a bloody cup towel found at the scene inside a black plastic trash bag bearing someone else's fingerprints; a bloody knife allegedly found on the front porch; blood and skin under the nails of my girlfriend's hands; a rape kit; hairs, sweat stains and blood from a man's X-LG 44-46 windbreaker found beside my girlfriend's body. The U. S. Supreme Court has ruled that I have a liberty interest in proving my innocence. The Texas Attorney General's office, through its spokesperson, has recently conceded that it would violate the Constitution to execute (murder) an innocent person. I AM THAT PERSON. In 2000 the district attorney promised my advocates in a public statement that he would test all the evidence, but he lied. The Court of Criminal Appeals invoked an inquisitory style of address in this matter where it applauded the D. A. for unilaterally and selectively testing only evidence he thought would implicate me and, withholding evidence from my expert that was exculpatory, while chastising my expert for being forced to work from incomplete data. This action has resulted in a violation of due process and denial of fundamental fairness, caused a miscarriage of justice and violated my rights under the 1st, 5th, 6th, 8th and 14th amendments to the Constitution. The current D. A. admits of this evidence that chain of custody has been maintained; that the evidence exists in a condition making viable testing possible; that the evidence is capable of providing probative results; that identity was/ is an issue in my case and that the request is not made for purposes of delay. Despite all this, the state still refuses to allow me to test this evidence and prove my innocence at my own expense. The state has also actively covered up and suppressed evidence of my innocence. Action requested to resolve your complaint: That I be given access to test this evidence, to prove my innocence, so that I am not executed/murdered for a crime I did not commit. /s/ Henry W. Skinner #999143 H. W. Hank Skinner October 26, 2009 Now that I got that straight I want to let y'all see this guy Allan Turner of the Houston Chronicle like he really is. I first met Turner in early March of 2007 in relation to a story he wrote about Roy Pippin and conditions on death row titled "Inmate fighting to bitter end" "refuses food" in the Chronicle March 18th, 2007. That story is recounted here for your perusal. Unfortunately Roy was executed March 29th, 2007 proclaiming his innocence "to the bitter end" as well. RIP, Pip. INMATE FIGHTING TO 'BITTER END', REFUSES FOOD By Allan Turner, Houston Chronicle, March 18, 2007 Livingston - Life on death row, says Roy Lee Pippin - condemned for killing two men in a Harris County narcotics murder - a living hell. And unless courts spare his life, Pippin says, he plans to go to his March 29 execution on an empty stomach. He's trying to draw attention to what he considers horrendous conditions at Texas' massive ultra-maximumsecurity death row. 1
A one-time air conditioner repairman, Pippin has spent almost 12 years on death row, roughly half of them at the forbidding, electric - and barbed-wire encircled Allan B. Polunsky Unit just west of Livingston. Pippin 51, the latest in a series of inmates who have stopped eating to protest prison conditions, started his hunger strike on February 19 and had lost more than 20 pounds. Pippin, who consumes only water, undergoes daily medical evaluation. If his condition seriously deteriorates, doctors could order that he be fed intravenously. "I'm going to carry on this hunger strike to the bitter end," Pippin said. Pippin's protest came weeks after a January Amnesty International letter to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice alleged that death row conditions violate international human rights agreements. Specifically, the London-based group took issue with policies that keep killers isolated in small cells for as long as 23 hours a day and with bans on television viewing, work programs, group recreation and religious services. Such "inherently inhumane" treatment, Amnesty's Susan Lee complained to TDCJ director Brad Livingston, can cause severe physical and mental harm. Given the enormity of its death row - 377 men are held at Polunsky and 10 women at Gatesville - Texas long has been a lightning rod for such complaints. Texas has executed 387 inmates since the death penalty was restored in 1976, more than the other 49 states combined. Though hunger strikes erupted at Polunsky in October and January and the prison has been blasted by groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, TDCJ has remained unmoved. Public safety considered TDCJ officials canceled an interview with death row warden Billy Hirsch, scheduled for this report. "All of our decisions regarding death row are based on public safety and security," said prison spokeswoman Michelle Lyons.. "Our job is to incarcerate these individuals. We provide them with medical care. We give them three square meals a day." Prison is not a "country club," said Cathy Hill, whose husband, Harris County sheriff's deputy Barrett Hill, was murdered as he chased a suspect in December 2000. "For people who think it is inhumane, I'd say what was inhumane was what was done to the victim and the victim's family." "One thing people must remember: These are criminals," said Les Baquer, whose daughter, Farah Fratta, was killed in a 1994 murder-for-hire scheme plotted by her ex-policeman husband. "I personally have sat in their cells. Obviously they are locked up for 23 hours, but they put themselves there. I didn't. As far as I'm concerned, they need to be punished." Baquer's daughter was murdered by Howard Guidry, one of seven condemned killers who tried to break out of the Ellis Unit's death row on Thanksgiving night nine years ago. Guidry and five others surrendered when guards opened fire. The seventh inmate, Martin Gurule, escaped. His body later was recovered from a nearby creek. The episode marked a sea change in Texas prison policy. By early 2000, Ellis' aging death row was closed, its population relocated to what is now called the Polunsky Unit. In their new home, inmates were confined to 60-square-foot cells - 20 square feet smaller than the enclosure recommended by the American Correctional Association - and subjected to a reduction in privileges. No longer 2
were they allowed to engage in group recreation sessions or attend group religious services. Officials eliminated work programs, contending that Gurule and others used their time in Ellis' garment factory to plan their escape. At Polunsky, inmates no longer could watch television, although a Dallas state representative has introduced a bill this session that would restore that privilege. Pippin, condemned for murdering two men he thought had stolen $1.6 million from his Colombian drug bosses, yearns for the Ellis days. "We could go without handcuffs," he said. "We could work in the garment factory or go down the hall to talk to friends." Now, Pippin's primary chance to talk to other inmates comes during solitary recreation sessions in a day room near the other cells. Theoretically, he could yell to - but not see - inmates in neighboring cells. But at death row, which is noisy 24 hours a day, Pippin can't hear. "Too much rock 'n' roll," he said of his damaged hearing. He complains, too of the fluorescent lighting in his cell, which he claims has damaged his vision, and of the "child-sized" portions of food. (A typical day's menu consists of three pancakes for breakfast, a 4-ounce pork cutlet for lunch and a 4-ounce hamburger patty for dinner, all accompanied by vegetables, fruit and bread.) Guards always watching Most galling, though, Pippin said, is the lack of privacy prisoners experience in the camera-mounted death watch cells in which they spend their final days and caprice of guards. "A guard will be standing at your door with a tray of food in his hand and you'll have to play sit and fetch and beg for him to pass it in," he said. "This has nothing to do with security and everything to do with control." "He's given you the specific problems," said death row inmate Henry Skinner, after eavesdropping on a death row interview with Pippin. "The overall problem is that this place is designed to break people down, to make them easier to manage. Death row is designed to whup your (butt)." Skinner, who once filed a lawsuit against TDCJ over death row conditions, said problems with prison staff dramatically have improved. But isolation remains a critical problem. "That's especially a problem with inmates who can't read or write," he said. "They end up just sitting in their cells...A lot of times, when stimuli are reduced, you start to focus minutely on every little thing. You start to lose association. Have you ever known someone you'd call "scatterbrained"? Well, that's what it is like. You're in a fog. You start to think the walls are closing in on you." Leslie Dupuy, a mental health official with the University of Texas Medical Branch's inmate-care section, said mental health workers have 250 "clinical encounters" with death row inmates each month. Currently 65 male death row prisoners receive ongoing mental health services. RESOURCES POLICIES OF LEADING EXECUTION STATES Texas . Number executed since 1976: 387 . Death row population: 387 . Work program: No . Contact visits: No 3
. Group recreation: No . Group religious services: No .Television: No Virginia . Number executed since 1976: 98 . Death row population: 19 . Work program: No . Contact visits: Yes . Group recreation: No . Group religious services: No . Television: Yes Oklahoma . Number executed since 1976: 84 . Death row population: 84 . Work program: No . Contact visits: No . Group recreation: Yes . Group religious services: Yes, but inmates not released from cells. . Television: Yes Missouri . Number executed since 1976: 66 . Death row population: 48 . Work program: Yes . Contact visits: No . Group recreation: Yes 4
. Group religious services: No . Television: Yes Before I get into Allan Turner himself (in a previous NHHN I called him a 'futz') let me comment briefly on the story itself. In the 04-01 NHHN '09 I dealt with the long term effects of solitary confinement and presented Dr. Stuart Grassian's affidavit on it. So there's no question these conditions drive men mad and violate our constitutional rights. Michelle Lyons (of TDCJ's PIO) statement that "all of our decisions regarding death row are based on public safety" is both misleading and deceptive. There is a 144,000 volt lethal stun fence all the way around 12 building, which houses death row. That's inside of and in addition to the double rowed, razor wire topped perimeter fences and gun towers. There's no escape from here and conditions inside this building have nothing to do with "public safety or security." "Our job is to incarcerate these individuals. We provide them with medical care. We give them three square meals a day." I can tell you, "incarceration" does not require the onerous conditions here in order to maintain safety or security. It's very debatable whether we're fed "three square meals" a day or, at any interval. The USDA food guidelines for a semi-sedentary man 30-50 are 2400 - 2600 calories per day, and for younger, active men 2600 - 2800 calories per day. The current rations TDCJ serves are 1200-1600 calories per day, maybe. Medical care has become even more sketchy ever since UTMB announced that CMHC was losing dollars on its 10 million dollar annual contract with TDCJ and could not continue providing adequate care under that situation. Yes, "child sized portions of food," too, as PIP said. When you read this story and see what I said about the isolation, compare that to the NHHN #16, which is an affidavit about what was done to me recently, which mistreatment is continuing. Another thing Turner's story failed to address is that every death row (D.R.) in the United States has television and telephones except Texas and, the telephone access even Texas population prisoners have is 10 times more restrictive than anywhere else. So believe me when I tell you, death row prisoners are psychologically (if not physically) tortured in Texas on a daily basis. Let me also make clear, that is not the warden's fault, it's not the major's fault. It's how the place is designed and built, the model upon which it is run by the administration in Huntsville. The warden didn't build it, he just manages it. They hand it to him "as is" and say "here's how we made this, work with it." He's got some leeway in how he runs, it, but not with the major issues addressed by Turner. O.k., so Mr. Turner interviews me after he accuses me of "eavesdropping" on his and Pippin's interview. Pip and I were old friends. He told me when I got out there, "Listen to what I say and when you talk to Turner, if I missed anything, you hit it and, put it all in constitutional dimension for him, o.k?" I'm "cool, gotcha." Pip had me called out there just to back him up, which I did, to a fault. You wouldn't know that by Turner's story tho', huh? He took one tiny part of what I said and made it seem as if I were saying Pip was crazy. What I was actually talking about was what an SHU is, what it does to people's minds and more importantly, how that's been known by prison administrators and system directors for over 100 years. What happened here? Well, Allan Turner wanted dirty laundry. He wanted to me talk bad about Warden Hirsch and, his plan was to relate my comments to Hirsch in a subsequent interview with Hirsch himself. He was gonna juice Hirsch up, inflame him. I viewed that as very unnecessary and counterproductive to the cause at large. Warden Hirsch is pretty transparent and forthright in what he thinks, kinda gruff, not very diplomatic. I wasn't gonna be cannon fodder for Turner and let him wreck Warden Hirsch like that. Fortunately I didn't have to worry about that; Michelle Lyon's cancelled Hirsch's interview. PIO is touchy. They do public information and 5
make statements; they don't want others jumping out there. Turner asked me who would vouch for my interpretations of conditions law etc. I told him it was not my interpretations at all, but 37 years of U. S Supreme Court and Federal courts of Appeals and Federal District Courts decisions on constitutional issues in a prison setting. I gave him the names and addresses of law professors who do conditions law, prestigious law school and prison projects, the ACLU National Prison Project's David Fahti (then) now of Human Rights Watch and Margaret Winter, the Lewisburg Prison Project, Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center, David Dow of the University of Houston, SHU expert Dr. Terry Kupers, Craig Haney, Steve Martin and Stuart Grassian. The best there are. Instead of contacting any of those people and doing a professional piece, Turner instead went "rabid tabloid" like a National Enquirer reporter and went to a bunch of haters and so-called "victim's rights and advocates" like those quoted in the story - Cathy Hill, Les Baquer, etc. I'm sorry for those people's losses but they do not determine what constitutes constitutional or humane treatment in a prison setting. So their opinions are irrelevant. "As far as I'm concerned they need to be punished." Yes, maybe so. But we are not here to be punished. Our punishment is assessed at death. We get our punishment when the state takes our lives. In the meanwhile we are to be only "safely and securely held" by TDCJ; the state is prohibited from punishing us in any form outside our sentences except pursuant to a valid disciplinary conviction, period. Yet they find all manner of means to punish us further anyway, all in the name of "security" and, that's exactly what Roy Pippin was complaining about. I explained all of this to Turner but he totally ignored it in favor of hate baiting and inflammatory agitprop. This run me hot! I wrote Turner and let him know it. Turner had also questioned me about my case. I told him I was innocent and I sent him all the evidentiary documentation I had which was exculpatory. I have some pretty powerful evidence of my actual innocence, PCR – STR DNA & MT DNA, police reports, forensic reports, affidavits of experts, photographic evidence etc. In any other state besides Texas I'd already been home drinking a cold beer 10 years ago. But no, not in Texas.... NOT IN TEXAS! Turner went Prima Donna on me and threw a fit. Read this e-mail he wrote my wife October 23rd 2007. "Dear Sandrine, Mr. Skinner has sent me extensive material on his case. He is most aggressive in seeking publicity. (1) I terminated my previous interview with Skinner at the point he suggested reporters for the "mainstream media" lacked integrity. I'm sorry, I'm not prepared to have my integrity, my judgment, my anything questioned by a capital killer. (2) From what I've seen of the records, it seems pretty clear that Skinner is guilty of his crime, despite his wheedling, disingenuous claims to the contrary. (3) Altho' decent people can disagree on the morality of capital punishment, I think I behooves everyone involved in the debate NEVER to forget the nature of the people on death row. (4) I have looked into conditions on death row and they are severe. Prisoners are severely isolated in small un-air conditioned cells, exercise periods are limited, etc. (5) But given the seriousness of the crimes committed by these individuals and the record of past escapes. I'm not convinced heavy security is unwarranted. (6) While I am eager to here (sic) of alleged cases of brutality by guards (7) those of Mr. Skinner excepted. (8) I must confess I have not yet seen credible evidence of problems. (9) Thank you for your e-mail. I trust that you are well...." I've numbered his statements at the end of each relevant sentence or train of thought. By the numbers, are my responses, then: (1) If you were sitting here about to die for a crime you did not commit and, which the evidence shows you did not commit and, they were killing people all around you about one a week, would you not want the public at large to know about it and, to help you? So, would you not be "most aggressive" in "seeking publicity"? If it were not for strong public opinion on executing the innocent Troy Davis would already be dead today. 6
(2) If Allan Turner is not open to "having his...anything" questioned by an alleged "capital killer" or anyone else maybe he has a lot to hide, yeah? Turner didn't terminate any interview with me, TDCJ did when our hour was up. I questioned this miserable little man's integrity because of the sorry way he intended to waylay Warden Hirsch. As I've said plenty of times before, I don't like Hirsch very much. But that aside, Turner's intended method of ensnaring him was no way for a supposedly fair, objective reporter to go about it; i.e. Turner is not fair or objective. As to his "capital killer" bit, guess I struck a nerve, eh? See (3) below. (3) The "records" Turner refers to are documentary evidence of my innocence referenced above. If you'd like to see them, go to www.hankskinner.org. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I don't do "wheedling" or "disingenuous", I do evidence and facts. It's odd Turner would say it's "pretty clear" I'm supposedly "guilty" when every reporter who's even written about my case for the Associated Press and Houston Chronicle has questioned my "guilt". Apparently Allan Turner didn't bother to research prior stories of his own newspaper, eh. But more than that, in a recent e-mail, February 12, 2009, to a friend of mine, Professor David Protess of the prestigious Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism who has exonerated 13 innocent prisoners in 2 years time and many more since, who investigated my case in 2000 and turned up much of the evidence of my innocence we have today, said that, "I still believe Hank Skinner is innocent and I wish him every success in his fight for justice." Professor Protess, besides teaching journalism, is also the director of the Medill Innocence project. Al Jazeera English News, the most highly respected news organization in the world, last year did an hour long expose on my case and several others: www.youtube.com/watch?v=95Ppsn9Q&feature=channel on "American Justice: Fatal Flaws." In light of all this, who is Allan Turner? A nobody. Obviously. (4) "Never forget the nature of people on death row" ? ! And uh, this guy is objective? I'm going to tell you all something that shocked me when I came here. Based on the snarling, evil looking characters I'd seen in the papers and fully expected to be fighting for my life amongst them every day. What I found instead were just ordinary people, some of whom had made terrible, tragic mistakes in their lives and killed someone. I'm not the only innocent one here. It's true, there are a few who are truly twisted but they have mental illness; they're not the "evil monsters" D. A.'s and media hypers like Turner make them out to be. Apparently little Allan Turner believes his own hype. That's sad. (5) That's all true. It's much worse than just that, but that's certainly some of the problems here. (6) Past escapes? Before the escape attempt 11 years ago, there's been no escape from death row since the mid 1930's! And, the escape attempt in 1998 was the direct result of mismanagement and mistreatment by a torturous, petty tyrant assistant warden who liked to abuse minorities. After innumerable Gestapo style, "seek and destroy" type "shakedowns", unwarranted gassings and beatings, being kicked, while cuffed behind their backs, down metal cleated stairs and otherwise brutalized beyond imagination, they just decided "hey, if we're gonna be mistreated like this and they're gonna kill us anyway, let's just try to go." Who could blame them? Everyone seems to forget why Tabler called Senator Whitmire: He was desperately seeking help over death row conditions! Even for an idiot like him, you got to know, things must be really bad for him to take a risk like that You know the real reason people like Whitmire so badly fear our having direct communication with you all out there and why they retaliate against me for writing this column? They fear the TRUTH! They fear you will see what I know: that there are only human beings in here, like you out there, that they're killing in here; it could be your brother, cousin, dad or friend or you. Not all of them are guilty and, of those that are guilty they're not the murderous demonic beings the state and the papers make them out to be. You know who needs these false images, to hate and despise? You do! Ha/ha. All politicians know the "us and them" mentality garners votes. They spoon feed it to you and rabble rouse your hatred in order to stay at the public trough and keep sloppin' that hog they sold you! "Vote for me" I'm tough on crime!" Ha/ha who's the real demon? You should know, you voted for him! Ha/ha ha ha. (7) He's "eager to here (sic) of alleged cases of brutality by guards"? Sure. That'll sell newspapers. There is no outright brutality by guards here; in one or two isolated incidents there's been excessive force used but it's rare. What's brutalizing death row these days are these cell configurations, sensory deprivation and isolation - not just from each other but from the outside world at large. Read the New Yorker article by Atul Gawande, Annals of 7
Human Rights March 30th 2009 titled "Hellhole" after my "Hell Hole News" which I've written for years and which is available at www.hankskinner.org. It'll speak for itself. (8) That's rather callous, eh. Again, Turner's objective? Ha/ha! (9) Non saper verdere, i.e. Turner is blind because he wishes to be. I told Turner truthfully what are the problems here, I gave him credible, concrete evidence to back it up: empirical, statistical, actual, documentary and expert opinion evidence from the nation's leading experts on SHU, positive-negative reward reinforced behavior modification, sensory deprivation, sleep deprivation, purposely induced stress and anxiety, semistarvation of prolonged durations, excessive disciplinary case writing and prolonged periods of extreme and severe disciplinary case conviction restriction, conviction of spurious cases as retaliation, intentional destruction of prisoner's meager property and possessions, removal and confiscation of treasured objects like family photos, religious items like Bibles, scapulars, funeral notices of deceased loved ones, anything they know means something to you, that's what they take. Eventually you become a broken hull. There's nothing left. They took it all. Anything to rob you of your identity, your heritage, your beliefs, or your physical needs, right down to your hair grease and dental flossers, your soap, comb, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush and medications, your pens, envelopes, stamps and paper, your boxer shorts, t-shirts and thermals, in the dead of winter. This place is made of concrete and steel. You think it's cold out there? Ha/ha. Try this cell and this bunk in winter, which is on an outside wall, 6" away from it. That wall radiates ice-cold air. Psychological torture "mind f**k by Mattel" we call it. I think this form of torture is more insidious and evil than if they just jerked me out of my cell and beat me senseless. The beating is acute and rough, but in minutes it's over. So you spit out your broken teeth, lick your wounds and go on. But this psych torture, it goes on forever. It seeps into your pores and eats you alive one bite at a time. I've watched a lot of guys go nuts here and this I'm describing is how it happened. Fortunately for me, like that Ace comb they stole from me, I'm "unbreakable." Respects to you all, Hank 999143 Polunsky Unit H W Hank Skinner 3872 FM 350 South Livingston TX 77351-8580 http://www.hankskinner.org h.w.skinner@gmail.com hwskinner@yahoo.com P. S. Something I forgot. You'll notice Turner equates unconstitutional conditions and torture with only "heavy security". That is an intentional gaffe of a person who is punitive minded. In another Supreme Court decision the justices held that prison officials can subject us to certain actions that would otherwise violate our constitutional rights, if it is absolutely necessary in the exercise or pursuance of one of three legitimate governmental goals or objectives: security, order or discipline. So TDCJ has literally made a mantra out of "security" as its excuse for every onerous and oppressive, draconian and inhumane action visited upon us. They run around here squawking "security! security! security!" like parrots without feathers. Well, there's a way to have security in a real sense and have humane conditions, too. You see, Turner gives himself up, if you just carefully follow and understand what he is saying. The "security" excuse was so abused that the justices, reinterpreting it in a later case, made it an affirmative defense that prison official respondents have to plead as a defense and prove by a preponderance of the evidence. So now, they're merely claiming "oh, that's a security issue" is not enough; they have to plead it and prove it up, otherwise the courts won't accept it as an excuse for 8
mistreatment or, onerous, oppressive conditions. 9/10ths of the abuse prison officials subject us to is done under the guise of being necessary in furtherance of "security". I fully explained all these concepts to Turner; I gave him the short course in Conditions Law 101. As I've quoted Goethe and Nietzche 10,000 times "Beware all those in whom the urge to punish is very strong". That's it! Whew! Finally. Slainthe'! Hank aka sthanakvasi
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