Quick Note

I spent six and a half hours with Michael today. He mentioned that some of the folks from the Kairos of Ohio Prison Ministry had visited the blog, but hadn't been able to leave comments. I have now enacted the comments feature. They will require moderation, but will be posted shortly after I receive a message that a comment has been left.

I hope to soon have the time to post an update about work on Michael's case. Thanks for visiting!

Ohio

Ohio Enacts Historic Reforms
"A bill signed into law today by Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland will enact sweeping criminal justice reforms to help free the innocent from prison, prevent wrongful convictions and apprehend the real perpetrators of crime."

More From Ohio: "A Wonderful Day for Justice."
"As we reported here, Ohio yesterday enacted one of the most sweeping packages of reforms to address wrongful convictions in the nation. In the video above, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland says the plight of the wrongfully convicted was a driving force behind the legislation. 'Being in prison – year after year after year – knowing you are an innocent person, is one of the worst things I can imagine.'"

For the full article from the Innocence Blog, click on the links, above.

So, Ohio did something pretty great. My question is this: What are they going to do about those cases in which the evidence was destroyed? Reminder: According to the affidavit of the Lucas County investigator sent looking for the evidence by the court, pursuant to Michael's request for post-conviction DNA testing, the evidence was destroyed in January 1979 - under the order of the prosecutor. And, yes, this was within days of his direct appeal.

I'm glad to see these changes, but are we just going let folks languish in prison because the state didn't see fit to act reasonably in times past?

February 2010

I just received a letter from Michael. It's a bit more introspective than some. I thought I'd post a few lines here, as written..

You know, after assessing my life over a spann of about forty some odd years, I came to the conclusion that when I came to prison I was actually a mess. 18 years of age, fresh out of the Ohio Youth Commission for about the 6th time, not very eduacated, litterally grew up through an imprisoned envirnment - all of my younger life as a child and a youngster and my teenage life. Never having grew up in a stable life or in a home where there is a happy mother and father with brothers and sisters all around, I lacked everything... It literally took my coming to prison to grow up and mature! I had stopped blaming everyone for my problems and accepted the responsibility of where I failed. I began to forgive those who I had felt had abandoned me...

I just didn't want to be the person that incarceration was trying to mold me into being. Some of the people I know who have got sucked into the system are on death row right this very moment, and others have fallen over dead by the use of drugs, and others have gotten so bitter on the inside because they wouldn't change, will probably never get out of prison until they are carried out on their deathbeds! I see and hear of them everyday, and that makes me think way back into my life, and it helps me to be able to be grateful for how I turned out in life. I am able to sit back and count all my blessings and thank God for talking to me way back when he did when I was in that 6 by 8 cell.

As I see it now, there is always more room for improvement, but when it comes to further incarceration, I can only come to the conclusion that enough is enough. They are getting too carried away with it! I have been truthful every step of the way, even to the parole board, but they too will not accpt what I say is truth, they want to give me a parole if I confess to a crime I am innocent of!

I sit in my cell and I weep to an invisible God to please help me! Sometimes it seems He is gonna help, and the I have to wait. I see this, that and the other people keep getting cleared of their crimes through DNA, and I cry out to God, "When is it gonna be my turn Father?" I somehow feel encouraged to keep believing and trusting in faith the He will somehow help me! Other times the devil tell me to just hang it up and hang myself because I am never getting out! I certainly do not want to hang myself, I want to live. And why should I kill myself when I didn't do anything. Hell, I want to be free, and if I kill myself I won't be able to be free. I am afraid that if I kill myself the truth will finally come out about my innocence, but I won't be able to be free to enjoy being found not guilty. And, I have to much to live for, and that my life is more useful than being dead. I often have read about many lives who have been torn apart, never to recover fully, and some have been mended back together! I just know that my life can probably inspire somebody elses! I just don't believe that my being put on this earth was meant for me to be in prison all of my life, I know there is more to this life than being locked up...

There are times like right now when I just want to get away from everyone and yell out, smash my fists against the wall and just cry myself to sleep in order to feel some relief in my heart and my soul! The pain is so real inside, and there is an emptiness, even though I feel I have accomplished alot in my own personal life, it feels hopeless alot of times!

Can you imagine going to prison at 18 and turning 50 behind bars? That would be bad enough if you were guilty. But, what if you were innocent of the crime for which you were convicted?

The Paths We Take...

Turns out that one of the prosecutors in Michael's case left the practice of law over twenty years ago.

Check this out. I am not kidding.

Trial Transcript

From the end of the trial transcript, 21 December 1977.

After the jury was excused, Judge Ayers said, “Michael Ustaszewski, do you have anything to say why sentence of the Court should not be pronounced against you, or do you have anything to offer in mitigation of punishment?” Michael replied, “Yes, Your Honor.”

Ayers responded, “Anything that you wish to say the Court will listen to.” Michael said simply, “I’m innocent. I wasn’t there. I don’t know what happened, and that’s it.”

The judge said, “All right. Anything else you wish to say?” Michael responded, “I believe there is some people missing, Calvin Ellis, and several other people. I don’t understand, man.” The judge said, “Thank you.”

Judge Ayers then sentenced Michael to be committed to the Ohio State Penitentiary for the rest of his natural life and told him that he was also to pay the costs of the prosecution. He told Michael to be seated and Michael asked, “Can I say another thing?” The judge said, “Certainly you may.”

Michael said, “I ain’t never in my life killed nobody or had anything to do with it.”

The judge advised Michael of his right to appeal and asked Kuhnle to file the notice of appeal on Michael’s behalf. Ayers stated that the recognizance bond was cancelled and directed that Michael be taken into custody. Again, Michael spoke. “So that means I got to go to prison for the rest of my life for something I ain’t did?” The judge: “Michael, you will be eligible for a parole hearing at the end of fifteen years.” Michael: “Fifteen years? I’m innocent.”

Michael was eighteen years, six months, and twenty days of age.

Court was adjourned at 5:00 pm.

Note: Having retired in 1982, Judge Charles W. Ayers died on 29 December 2006. I have a feeling that if he were alive to know how this played out he would be appalled.

2010

Although the year is starting off as an incredibly busy one, I'm going to try to post relevant information, links, etc. now and again.

First, I know that I always prefer to put a face to a name, so here's a photo of Michael. Unfortunately, it's from January 1983, just a little more than five years after he was incarcerated.


You might also be interested in knowing that information for the 2010 Innocence Network Conference is now available online.

I'm planning to attend the conference in Atlanta and then drive up to Ohio to visit Michael. It's hard to plan ahead like that as there are so many things that can change, but if you don't plan, it doesn't happen.

That's about it for now. If you have happened upon this blog because of your interest in wrongful convictions, please consider sharing it with others. Thanks!

Childhood

I asked Michael to write a little bit about his childhood, his youth. Understandably, he doesn't want to be critical of his birth parents so what I can share is limited. Although his father is deceased, his mother is alive and now visits him periodically.

He writes, I forgave my Mom and Dad years ago for what I went through as a child, as a youngster and as a teenager. What he is comfortable sharing, I think, says a lot about why he ended up as and where he did.

The following is from Michael, with the full names of his siblings removed and indicated by initials only.

I was born June first at 5:50 p.m. in 1959, and I was the 3rd boy born. I have an older brother named A, and then a brother named R, and then I was born. I have a sister that is a year younger than me, her name is K, and then I have another sister named T that is a year younger than K. Us 5 kids are all a year a part. My Mother and Father divorced while we were all young children. I had learned that my mother took all 5 of us, but then my dad came and got us 3 boys and he put us in orphanage homes. I ended up staying in an orphanage home the longest, and I never had that much contact with my Mom and Dad for many many years, yet, inside I knew I wasn't where I was supposed to be, I was supposed to be home with my family. I wasn't aware what was going on between my Mom and Dad. I was in the custody of Catholic Charities and was bounced around from the Villa (Saint Anthony's Villa Orphanage Home in Toledo, Ohio) to many Foster care homes. I was even thrown in Dayton Psychiatric Hospital, and then thrown into Maumee Youth Camp (Maumee, Ohio). Excuse me, the real name is Dayton's Children's Psychiatric Hospital in Dayton, Ohio.

When I was at the Villa I remember waking up in a baby crib yelling, screaming and crying because there was a Monster outside the window trying to get in the room at me, the Nun would come and turn on the light and picking me out of the baby crib and putting me in her bosom and trying to calm me down! I only remember bits and pieces of that place, and I only remember bits and pieces of the 2nd time I was in the Villa (at a new location). I remember parts of the Children's Psychiatric Hospital in Dayton, where I ended up running away, and I remember bits and pieces of Maumee Youth Camp, I ended up running from that place too. I was in a few foster homes and a few group homes in between. I remember my first stealing offense when I ran away from Maumee, I stole a candy bar out of a drug store and ate it on the steps outside. I was hungry. I also remember going in some people's homes to find something to eat when I ran away from Dayton. I had become a member of the Boys Club several years later in the 70's. However, my first Juvenile sentence occurred in 1970 for possession of marijuana and discharging a firearm downtown on July 4th, I ended up going to the Ohio Youth Commission about 5 or 6 times. . .

Between the summer of 1970, when Michael turned eleven years old, and April of 1977, Michael was, as he writes, in and out of the Ohio Youth Commission. On 1 June 1977, Michael turned 18. In August, because of conflicts with his father, he was living in the YMCA on Jefferson Avenue in Toledo, working the streets and odd jobs, and receiving a $4.oo per diem from the state for meals.