Post by lace on Oct 23, 2006 9:34:59 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]OAKLAND
Domestic violence victims celebrate prison releases
Elizabeth Fernandez, Chronicle Staff Writer [/glow]
Sunday, October 22, 2006
[glow=red,2,300]Each woman was a "lifer,'' condemned to spend the rest of her years behind bars.
Each woman had been battered by her domestic partner, and went to prison for murder or crimes related to the death of her abuser. [/glow]
But these women have won their freedom -- either through parole or a unique state law that allows redress for some found guilty of murdering their abusers before 1992, when the state began allowing battered woman syndrome to be used as a defense.
On Saturday, in a singular reunion in Oakland, a dozen of the formerly incarcerated women gathered to celebrate and to summon support for other battered women behind bars.
"I thank God for allowing me a second chance to be a part of society,'' said Ollie Johnson, 49, an East Palo Alto resident who was paroled last year after serving 18 years in prison for the second-degree murder of her boyfriend.
"Sometimes it feels overwhelming,'' she said. "I was 28 when I went to prison. But I got through it.''
In the last nine years, 26 battered women who were given life sentences have been released from state prison, according to Free Battered Women, a San Francisco nonprofit that advocates statewide.
"It feels like this day is a miracle,'' said Dr. Linda Barnard, a marriage and family therapist who served as an expert witness in the cases of several of the women. "The world, even now, doesn't have a lot of sympathy for women who feel they have to use lethal force. These are women who never would have gotten out. Some of them are the most courageous women I've ever encountered.''
A handful of the women were granted parole, said Andrea Bible, coordinator of Free Battered Women. Others were freed due to a law -- the only one of its kind in the nation -- that allows battered women to petition for a new trial if their original trial did not involve expert testimony on domestic abuse.
Cheryl Orange-Jones, 53, of Modesto, was granted a new trial in May through the efforts of the California Habeas Project, which works to secure freedom for battered inmates.
Jones went to prison 21 years ago, convicted of second-degree murder in the 1985 death of her husband, Frank.
Jones said her husband hurt her physically and mentally throughout their seven-year marriage, breaking her front tooth, shattering her eardrum, locking her in the trunk of his car. She said he trained his pit bull to guard her. "If I tried to move, the dog would attack me,'' she said.
Jones said she shot her husband one night when he pulled a knife on her and tried to rape her.
During her original trial, "they never raised the fact that I'd been battered, they just said he was the victim and I was the criminal,'' she said. "The lawyer talked me into taking a deal of pleading guilty to second-degree murder. I was dumb and took it.''
She was sentenced to 17 years to life. In prison, she became a surrogate mother to fellow inmates, acquiring a nickname: Granny.
After a new, three-week trial in May, Jones was acquitted.
Stanislaus County public defender Greg Spiering and Kellee Malone-Westbrook represented Jones. "Things are now night and day in terms of how we look at these cases," Spiering said. "Back then, things were very different.''
When she was freed, Jones went straight to the store -- and bought a Coke.
"It had been a long time since I had one,'' she said. Then she and her friends and relatives went to her parents' home -- where she now lives -- to hold a victory party.
Jones is rebuilding her life. She recently bought her first car -- a lime green 1985 Thunderbird with 141,000 miles for $560. And she just acquired certification as a forklift operator.
"I always wanted to drive a forklift, even in prison,'' she said.
Saturday's event, attended by more than 200 people, included a silent auction. Donated artworks included scarves and garments made by Linda Field, who was convicted in Alameda County of first-degree murder in the death of her husband, Elwin. Field, who said her husband beat her and their three children, was released in January on a habeas petition. She pled no contest to voluntary manslaughter and was given credit for time served -- 19 years in prison.
Field is now living in a small town east of Stockton and enjoying every minute she spends with her five grandchildren.
"I'm like a kid in a candy store now,'' she said. "In the first days, it was so amazing to see how things had changed. I had never seen a remote control or a cell phone. My health is not all that good, but I'm free.
"I'm finally Free
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/22/BAG83LTTPM1.DTL
Domestic violence victims celebrate prison releases
Elizabeth Fernandez, Chronicle Staff Writer [/glow]
Sunday, October 22, 2006
[glow=red,2,300]Each woman was a "lifer,'' condemned to spend the rest of her years behind bars.
Each woman had been battered by her domestic partner, and went to prison for murder or crimes related to the death of her abuser. [/glow]
But these women have won their freedom -- either through parole or a unique state law that allows redress for some found guilty of murdering their abusers before 1992, when the state began allowing battered woman syndrome to be used as a defense.
On Saturday, in a singular reunion in Oakland, a dozen of the formerly incarcerated women gathered to celebrate and to summon support for other battered women behind bars.
"I thank God for allowing me a second chance to be a part of society,'' said Ollie Johnson, 49, an East Palo Alto resident who was paroled last year after serving 18 years in prison for the second-degree murder of her boyfriend.
"Sometimes it feels overwhelming,'' she said. "I was 28 when I went to prison. But I got through it.''
In the last nine years, 26 battered women who were given life sentences have been released from state prison, according to Free Battered Women, a San Francisco nonprofit that advocates statewide.
"It feels like this day is a miracle,'' said Dr. Linda Barnard, a marriage and family therapist who served as an expert witness in the cases of several of the women. "The world, even now, doesn't have a lot of sympathy for women who feel they have to use lethal force. These are women who never would have gotten out. Some of them are the most courageous women I've ever encountered.''
A handful of the women were granted parole, said Andrea Bible, coordinator of Free Battered Women. Others were freed due to a law -- the only one of its kind in the nation -- that allows battered women to petition for a new trial if their original trial did not involve expert testimony on domestic abuse.
Cheryl Orange-Jones, 53, of Modesto, was granted a new trial in May through the efforts of the California Habeas Project, which works to secure freedom for battered inmates.
Jones went to prison 21 years ago, convicted of second-degree murder in the 1985 death of her husband, Frank.
Jones said her husband hurt her physically and mentally throughout their seven-year marriage, breaking her front tooth, shattering her eardrum, locking her in the trunk of his car. She said he trained his pit bull to guard her. "If I tried to move, the dog would attack me,'' she said.
Jones said she shot her husband one night when he pulled a knife on her and tried to rape her.
During her original trial, "they never raised the fact that I'd been battered, they just said he was the victim and I was the criminal,'' she said. "The lawyer talked me into taking a deal of pleading guilty to second-degree murder. I was dumb and took it.''
She was sentenced to 17 years to life. In prison, she became a surrogate mother to fellow inmates, acquiring a nickname: Granny.
After a new, three-week trial in May, Jones was acquitted.
Stanislaus County public defender Greg Spiering and Kellee Malone-Westbrook represented Jones. "Things are now night and day in terms of how we look at these cases," Spiering said. "Back then, things were very different.''
When she was freed, Jones went straight to the store -- and bought a Coke.
"It had been a long time since I had one,'' she said. Then she and her friends and relatives went to her parents' home -- where she now lives -- to hold a victory party.
Jones is rebuilding her life. She recently bought her first car -- a lime green 1985 Thunderbird with 141,000 miles for $560. And she just acquired certification as a forklift operator.
"I always wanted to drive a forklift, even in prison,'' she said.
Saturday's event, attended by more than 200 people, included a silent auction. Donated artworks included scarves and garments made by Linda Field, who was convicted in Alameda County of first-degree murder in the death of her husband, Elwin. Field, who said her husband beat her and their three children, was released in January on a habeas petition. She pled no contest to voluntary manslaughter and was given credit for time served -- 19 years in prison.
Field is now living in a small town east of Stockton and enjoying every minute she spends with her five grandchildren.
"I'm like a kid in a candy store now,'' she said. "In the first days, it was so amazing to see how things had changed. I had never seen a remote control or a cell phone. My health is not all that good, but I'm free.
"I'm finally Free
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/22/BAG83LTTPM1.DTL