Category Archives: falsely accused

“this system don’t support us students”

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Dear G______ W_______

I’m doing good right now, how about you?  Thanks for everything you doing, we need support in here & don’t worry you can share anything I say b/c the world need to know what is going on up in jail.  I’m with the L.O.D. group because my lawyer ain’t helping out at all, he just brought me a plea, for 4 years of prison time.  So I can sign but I didn’t sign it he told me if I don’t sign it then we will take it to trial, if you lose the trial you are going 18 to 20 years & is better to sign the plea he told me, but didn’t tell me anything about how could he help me.  My record is clean my first time been in jail.  I said this ain’t fighting for my rights, the lawyers & DAs working together to throw us in prison unjustly & I’m a student – I got the right to a fair trial.  No BS they saying to me I know that this system don’t support us students.  They saying I’m dangerous to society.  They are dangerous to society, b/c any student can fall victim in this sytem.  They will charge you with anything that fits your description & claim you guilty.  That’s sad that we live in a messed up world.  I think the video visitation is absurd they just trying to not let no one come & see us, the system is messed up I have been waiting for court & news about my case but all they give me is straight BS.  But thank you or being our voice out there.

Sincerely,

_____

 

‘Now I’m going through the same thing in Hillsborough’

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Hello, how are you? Not sure who I’m writing by name, but I’m familiar with your work and organization. Y’all used to send me newsletters and stuff during my 22 and a half month stay in Durham County Jail from May 2012 to March 2014. I sat in there through lockbacks and all for a charge that was dismissed that I did not have anything to do with which I believe the police knew from the start. Continue reading →

‘I’m a black male–that’s why I’m still here.’

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Hello feedback world,

I have been housed here in the Durham County Jail since April 8, 2016. After checking my house on the night in question, the Durham police left with nothing. But they came back a week later cause the word of a white woman. Yes, I’m a black male, that’s why I’m still here. Thanking God for the change in my life. I’ve been out the system for eight long years. Continue reading →

‘What’s wrong with that picture?’

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I’m doing good, thanks for asking. I’m really glad you all have reached out to me. To tell you a little about myself. My name is Niajel Slad, 24, and I been in the Durham Co. Jail since Aug. 26, 2015. Mind you, when I found out I was a suspect, I turned myself in. Even though the lack of evidence, my bond is 3 million. The media and police said a lot of inaccurate things about me. They treat me like a monster. Continue reading →

‘We get to the point it makes us give up on a lot of things…’

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Hope that we’re being heard!!!

Sorry I wrote back so late. To answer your question, yes I did hear about some of the protests outside of the jail and I do wanna thank you for being an ear to hear some of these voices that needed to be heard, ya feel me…Things for me are going ok, just a little bit, just ready to hit the yard and get this shit over with. As a 16 year old I’m not really going through that much, just made that they’re holding me for something I didn’t do…A lot of us are being held for something they can’t prove at all. And a guy just shot the police down in the intake area about a month ago and was released on pre-trial release…Me personally don’t think that’s fair at all, and feel something needs to be done ASAP #100. How do you get 18 yrs for one robbery you can’t prove, but get out on pre-trial release or 5 or 6 years for shooting an officer. Shit really doesn’t make any sense at all, but it’s fine, the judge and  the DA really don’t give 2 shits about us. Just another black man off the streets is all that matters to them!!! A lot of us get so cold-hearted and stressed out to the point where it makes us give up on a lot of things and so much anger and stress gets built up and makes us do something we would regret.

They also need to give us our 9:00 walk back, or at least give us 15-minute phone calls because 10 minutes aren’t enough when talking to family about something important…It’s so much in here that needs to be changed as quick as possible and I really hope that something will be done.

I just wanna add something that I’ve learned since I been in here…

Attitude—The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what people think, say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill…It will make or break a company, a church, a home…the remarkable thing is we make a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one thing we have and this is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And it is with you J We are in charge of our attitude.

Free the guys:

Tazz, Blueeyes, OB, J-rocc, Shy, Sosa, ShoNuff, Myself, RugaBlue, Loca, O-dogg, Messiah, Starrboy, Silk

As y’all know I took my time see yall on the outside world. I’ll be home in 30 months.

God Bless the Strong!!!

-HF

‘The outcome would have been different’

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I hope that upon receiving this letter you guys at Inside-Outside Alliance are in good health and spirits. I myself am doing o.k., trying to stay strong.

I was recently sentenced for a crime that I did not commit due to the corrupt system of Durham County. My attorney knew months before I was sentenced that I was innocent, but due to the nature of the crime, she had already found me guilty before even looking at the actual evidence. Even after she got the evidence needed to prove my innocence, she did nothing to help me, she filed no motions for dismissal or for anything else that could help my case. Continue reading →

‘Something gotta give’

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Thursday 6/9/16

Hey —

What’s going on? How are you doing? Fine I hope and all is good and well with you and IOA family and supporters. As for myself, I’m okay, I guess being that I’m still breathing. I want to apologize for not responding to your letters sooner, but I’ve been going through some things. Things that probably 95%, if not 100% of us Durham County Jail Detainees are going through that involves the court system. Things like:

  1. Being held under outrageous bonds (ransoms).
  2.  Not hearing/seeing attorneys for months at a time.
  3. Being held for bogus charges (He say/she say/word of mouth).

Continue reading →

‘That’s not my son.’

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I’m upset because that is not my son in there. Who I saw is not my son. He’s in there for something he didn’t do. The cops took down a description after a shooting for two guys, dark skinned, 6 foot 2 and 6 foot 3, and they arrest my son, who is about 5′ 7″, and his cousin, who is smaller than me (5’5″). It says so in the discovery. He didn’t do what they’re pinning on him, but he’s been in there since January. I visit him, and it’s not him anymore. He is just torn up by all this. He says he doesn’t have anything to live for, that nothing matters. People are trying to fight him in there, he’s not eating. He doesn’t want to live. That’s not like him. It’s not how he was before all this happened to him. And I worry what more time in this place will do to him.

–Tonya