The latest news is that Melvyn Toomberg and I have retained Dr. Wendell Pegnapper to perform the psychiatric evaluation we discussed. He should be coming out to visit you in the next few days and I will inform you as soon as possible of what he says.
In the meantime the brief that Melvyn and I will file on your behalf is slowly taking shape and should be completed relatively soon. I will give you a copy of it when it is finished.
Lastly, as you may have heard, the United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case to decide whether it is legal to execute people who are impaired in the manner we think you’re impaired. This decision could have a great impact on your case and Mr. Toomberg, who knows a lot about that court, is optimistic that the news will be good. I’ll let you know what happens.
Stay good Jalen. We’re doing everything we can and there’s reason to believe that things will work out for the best in the end. Write me with any questions or anything else you want to talk about.
Your friend,
Mr. Casi—Atturney at Law
2330 Broadway
Floor number nine
New York, new York
Dear sir(s);
Thank you for you’re fine letters to me which i have saved all of them even though i chose not to response to the first ones And I will now anser ALL oF THEM iN THE FUTURE TiME.
Thank you also agin for the news of the Supreme Court Hearing my case and I too am sure that they will see the case in you’re favors as your the best lawyer i know and everyone hear agrees.
P.S. “CAN YoU TELL ME MoRE ABoUT WHERE i WILL Go WHEN i GET oUT BECAUSE i HAVE NoT ToLD ANYoNE PER YoUR WiSHES BUT i THiNK oF GoiNG THERE ALL THE TiME AND i HAVE MULTiPLY QUESTioNS BUT FoRGoT To ASK THEM Too YoU WHEN YoU WERE HERE?”
LEGAL CORRESPONDENCE: CONFIDENTIAL
Mr. Jalen Kingg
#Z311
Cell 9C-03
Holman Unit
3700 Holman
Atmore, Alabama 36503
Dear Jalen:
I hope you are doing well. I apologize since it appears that my last letter to you was confusing.
The Supreme Court has not agreed to hear your case. They have, however, agreed to hear a case called Atkins v. Virginia. and their ruling on that case could have a major effect on your case because the defendant on that case is similar to you (or so Melvyn and I would argue) meaning that if the court eventually rules that it is unconstitutional to execute him we would be in a great position to argue that you cannot be executed either since all courts in the U.S. have to agree with the Supreme Court.
Of course even if we get the ruling we want on that case we would still have to show that you meet the criteria of people who cannot be executed. Based on the report from Dr. Pegnapper we feel reasonably confident that we would be able to do that.
I hope that clears up the situation. First we need a good ruling from the court on that case, then we would rely on the doctor to show that you are like Atkins. Do you understand?
Write me with any other questions you might have and I’ll keep you posted on any further developments in your case.
Your friend,
Mr. Casi—Atturney at Law
2330 Broadway
Floor number nine
New York, new York
Dear Mr Casi,
i must advice you that i have been moved too a diferrent unit because of an incidence that happend in deth row generel pop and now in this unit I do not get resess and i am not allowed to recieve visits or letters accept from you because of the constipation of the U S and your my lawyer.
So please right me as many letters as you many as you can because the guy who bringes me the letters is nice and talks to me with jokes but he’s only aloud to come if he has a letter from you to bring and if he doesn’t come then i dont see anyboidy the hole day.
P.S. “i UNDERSTAND NoW ABoUT THE SC BECAUSE BEFoUR i WAS PUT HERE MR HENK EXPLAiNED iT To ME AND HE NoSE A LoT ABoUT THE LAW BEiNG THAT HE iS oN “7 CoNSECKUTiVE LiFE BiDS”
LEGAL CORRESPONDENCE: CONFIDENTIAL
Mr. Jalen Kingg
#Z311
Punitive Isolation Cell #17
Holman Unit
3700 Holman
Atmore, Alabama 36503
Dear Jalen:
Please write me as soon as possible explaining the events that led to you being placed in the unit you’re in. I have not been given, despite repeated attempts, any explanation for why you have been placed in isolation from Holman Prison nor any information as to how we can appeal or seek to amend that decision.
I would like to do everything I can to get you placed back in the cell you were in before, with the recreational breaks you had and the contact with people.
What happened? Write me soon and include as much as possible.
As for your brief, everything is proceeding well and we should be done soon. Also the Supreme Court will soon hear argument from the lawyers on that case we spoke of then they’ll make a decision a couple months later. Depending on the court’s decision we will then file any necessary further papers on your case.
Stay positive despite this negative development because everything can certainly still come out in your favor.
Your friend,
Mr. Casi—Atturney at Law
2330 Broadway
Floor number nine
New York, new York
Dear Sir;
i do not think i am aloud to discuss what happened in a letter to you but i dont now for sure because theres no one i can ask here. i don’t know what you could do to get me back to my other cell but please do it if you can because there i had pictures of people {like my mo}m and i had a notebook that i could right in and look at to drawe pikchurs of things.
Here I do not see anyboidy all day. This is tru every day and it is dark as well. If the superior court rules in my favor can i get back to my cell and my things? Can I get resess?
p.s. “iF YoU Do NoT NoW THE ANSERS PLEASE RiGHT ANYWAY BECAUSE THEN SUMoNE HAS To BRiNG ME THE LETTERS iN PoERSoN”
LEGAL CORRESPONDENCE: CONFIDENTIAL
Mr. Jalen Kingg
#Z311
Punitive Isolation Cell #17
Holman Unit
3700 Holman
Atmore, Alabama 36503
Dear Jalen:
I checked and you can of course write me a letter with an account of what happened that resulted in you being placed in isolation by prison officials. Please do so as soon as possible so I can try to help you.
In several days, the Supreme Court will hear argument on Atkins v. Virginia. The brief in your case is basically completed as well, with just some final editing left to do.
Hang in there, I know this is a difficult time. Everything can still work out, both with this disciplinary thing and with your case in general.
Your good friend,
Mister. Casi /
Pleese rite me sum more letters fast please. You
don’t have to tell me about the case because i just want
thje letters four the reason i stated before.
P.S. i am only aloud to get leterrs from you.
LEGAL CORRESPONDENCE: CONFIDENTIAL
Mr. Jalen Kingg
#Z311
Punitive Isolation Cell #17
Holman Unit
3700 Holman
Atmore, Alabama 36503
Dear Jalen:
I am sending you ten different copies of this letter in ten different envelopes for the reasons you stated. I will send you multiple copies of every letter from here on out as well.
I have tried everything possible to get you transferred back to your old cell but it appears I will not be successful. I am assured, however, that at the end of this month you will be transferred out of isolation.
In my next letter to you I will include a copy of the brief that we will be filing on your behalf. I will also update you with any news we might have regarding the Supreme Court case we’ve discussed. In sum, we have reason for optimi
sm at this point and I want you to remember that at all times.
But no matter what happens on your case you will soon be going back to your old cell. So stay strong until then and things will get better Jalen.
Your friend,
casi i have to get out of here because it is dark and there is no one else accept me and i have not seen the pictures that i have in my old room and thosae are’ my pictures by rite right?
i want for you to come and get me and take me to maple’s house. Please comeas oon as possible becuase i want to get out really bad and i am sorry for allthe rong that i have done and the chaplan befour says that if one is sorry then one hath be forgiven so please come get me.
P.S. “please come get me”
P.P.S.S. “i am goin to write othur letters and put them in this same enveloap when I rite them the next days”
casi you do not have to send all those many leters any more because they changed the procedures when i got a lot of leters last time and now they just put it thru the hole with my food and the guy with jokes doesn’t bring me personly the letters anymore
i want to get out now more than before! when are you coming? The guy who pushes the food thru the hole says I am not going back to my cell when this month is over and that you are lying
When you come please bring me frute like you promised and please bring me the rainbow candee that they sell in stores too and when I go to live in Maple’s big house I am going to help ebryone who lives in a smaller house then me.
P.S. “no matter what anywon says i WILL NoT BELIVE THAT YoU ARE LYING To ME”
i do Not care any more if i get out of hear realy
i now i am not going back to my cell when the munth ends and they said my picktures are gone too any way
i knowe you cannot come and get me You cant come now and you cant come never no matter what the virginya court says and i know i will never get to see the house you said
becase the candy in the stores isn’t the same as my mother made becuas it comes in a plastic bag and mines was in a bowl with flowers and my moms made it hesself and she says to thank you because you was the only person whoever visitied me here
if i cant get out i don’t care what happens in here or anywhere else AND YoU Cannot TELL ME WHY i SHOULD
i’m not sorry anymoar neether and i think noone else is sorry neither probly
LEGAL CORRESPONDENCE: CONFIDENTIAL
Jalen Kingg
#Z311
Punitive Isolation Cell #17
Holman Unit
3700 Holman
Atmore, Alabama 36503
Dear Jalen:
Enclosed with this letter is a copy of the brief we will soon file on your behalf. Also I just received your last three letters and you are wrong. At the end of this month you will be transferred to your old cell and your pictures will be there just as they were before you left.
I cannot just come and get you out, that’s true. But we can, and will, make it so you cannot be executed. You will get a life sentence instead. You have by now probably received a letter from Melvyn explaining why we are so optimistic that this is what will ultimately happen.
This would be a major legal victory and something very good that would have happened to you, there’s no denying that. It will be proof that good things can happen to you too, that someone or something is protecting you. That Melvyn and I are truly your friends. Do you understand?
I guess you have to care what happens, even in there, just because no one is allowed to quit, no matter where they are or what happens to them.
When I finish this letter I am going to make a phone call to your facility. Do not be offended but as a result of that phone call you will probably be receiving psychiatric attention and will be watched even more closely. Good news is coming you just have to wait a little longer for it and then it will be hard to remember the bad or if you do remember it the memory will almost make you feel good if that makes any sense. I’m going to arrange for Melvyn and I to come out for another legal visit so be on the lookout for that Jalen. Be good kid.
Your very good friend,
P.S. Why no postscript (P.S.) on your last letter? I look forward to them.
Central Administrative Unit Department Section
Death Row: Holman Unit
3700 Holman
Atmore, Alabama 36503
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
This letter should serve to inform you as the:
mother / father / next of kin / friend / domestic partner / significant other / of:
/ Ms. / Mrs. Jalen Kingg
that the aforementioned individual: Has been duly executed according to the bylaws and strictures of the great State of Alabama and of the United States of America of which it is a part / Has had his death sentence altered to one of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole / Has absconded from the facility and is currently at large;
Other: (explain) Inmate has taken his own life thereby avoiding the judicial justice previously meted out by the People of the State of Alabama.
Consequently, said inmate’s residency at Holman Prison is considered terminated effective immediately. You have the right to appeal this decision but to do so you must notify the above office within fifteen business days of your intention to do so.
Yours, etc.
William T. Grennan
President and Principal Stockholder
chapter 31
In od We rust
Making me feel like even more of a client was the fact I kept swiveling my head back to eye the faded-black doors to Cymbeline’s courtroom whenever they would part to permit an intruder. I was hoping for Toomberg but every time I looked it was someone else, someone not there to help me. And this was the same day Raul Soldera’s case was on for sentencing so they brought him out crying from behind a walker and he would periodically wipe his tears with his bare palms but then his skeletal wet hands would keep slipping off the handles so that he almost fell several times before finally reaching the defense table. Where he sat down next to me and in front of Cymbeline and I told him to take it easy because it’ll be all right. Which it sort of was for a change because Cymbeline was soon saying that no updated probation report had been completed meaning Soldera could not yet be sentenced. The case would have to be adjourned.
“To the first of next month,” said Cymbeline. “By which date I assume your office will have assigned Mr. Soldera a different attorney.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well let me place on the record the following. This same attorney who currently represents Mr. Soldera will, immediately following the calendar call in this case, be the subject of an extensive hearing regarding multiple charges of contempt of court. Moreover, this court will not only preside over said hearing but is one of the principal complainants, so to speak, against this attorney. I should add as well, by the way, that Mr. Soldera himself is expected to be a witness in this hearing and it is anticipated that he will provide rather damaging testimony to the effect that this attorney improperly counseled him to attempt the crime of bail jumping.”
As Cymbeline said this Soldera was vigorously shaking his head no right next to me as Cymbeline’s law secretary went up to the bench and whispered in her ear.
“Well I’m now informed,” she continued, “that Mr. Soldera has recanted that testimony and therefore will not be called as a witness against this attorney. And I will not now place on the record my personal views about the legitimacy of that recantation but suffice it to say that Mr. Soldera will be dealt with in the appropriate manner at the appropriate time. Notwithstanding this latest development, however, the fact remains that a substantial conflict of interest exists in this situation that can only be remedied by the assignment of a different attorney to Mr. Soldera’s case.”
“Or by this court recusing itself.”
“Excuse me counselor?”
“This court should recuse itself thereby eliminating any potential conflict of interest. And since it�
��s obvious that you have some type of personal animosity towards me that could unfairly prejudice my client I am making that request at this time.”
“Application denied. I believe the more appropriate remedy is for your office to assign a different attorney.”
“How is interfering with my client’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel preferable to a different judge sentencing my client, which happens all the time in this building?”
“Because I took the plea and I will do the sentencing.”
“You did not take the plea,” I said, and Cymbeline’s law secretary did some more whispering into his boss’s ear.
“Application for this court to recuse itself is denied. Case is adjourned to the first of next month for an updated probation report and sentencing. Put him back in. Now, counsel, are you ready to proceed with the hearing?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m still waiting for my attorney to appear.”
“Is that the only reason?”
“Yes.”
“Good, because he just walked in. I’ll give you a minute and forty-five seconds to consult with him then we’ll get started.”
I turned around, this crazy-looking character with a green bow tie and a silver briefcase was coming into the well and extending his hand toward me. “Devin Quackmire,” he said. “But you can call me Mr. Quackmire, I’m not a big believer in formality.” Now Quackmire looked about fifteen so the chances of me calling him mister were not great. But more importantly who the fuck was this fuck?
“I’ll be representing you at this here proceeding,” he said.
“What are you talking about? Where’s Toomberg?”
“I’m not familiar.”
“Toomberg! Melvyn Toomberg. That’s who’s supposed to represent me today, not you. I’ve never met you before, you look like my paperboy. No offense kid but what kind of lawyer are you? How old are you?”
A Naked Singularity: A Novel Page 77
