07/28/2023
Hey Everyone! Josh has asked of me to publish the following letter. This truly comes from his heart, and I ask that you read this letter and truly take to heart the suggestions and idea that Joshua is expressing! Remember, hope is not dead, and Josh is extremely thankful for each and every one of you! So, without further delay...
July 11, 2023
May It Be Known,
“Despite a long history of exalted appeals to man’s inherent right of resistance, there has seldom been agreement on how to relate in practice to unjust, immoral laws and the oppressive social order from which they emanate.” “In the heat of our fundamental human rights, Black people have been continually cautioned to be patient. We are advised that as long as we remain faithful to the existing democratic order, the glorious moment will eventually arrive when we will come into our own as full-fledged human beings.”
-Angela Y. Davis
I write this from Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, CA where I am being held on a trumped-up charge of homicide, where the state appointed counsel has failed me and paved the way for the trampling of my constitutional rights to a public and speedy trial via a competency evaluation process that has suspended my proceedings. I am innocent of the State’s allegation of homicide and have elected to self-representation. A right that has been circumscribed by the setting in motion of a competency evaluation initiated in response to me drawing concerns about the lack of aggressiveness and effectiveness of state appointed counsel to successfully litigate my case. From this point on, it should be understood that I am being held as a political prisoner. But I have not given up total hope. No! I assure you, not all hope is lost.
The current system for pre-trial detainees is largely broken. If we desire a system that is accountable and that effectively balances the interests of justice with protecting Constitutional rights, we must have a right-sized system that efficiently handles and deposes cases while meeting and not violating or circumventing the public and speedy trial standard. Additionally, if any system is to be measured by how it treats those most vulnerable to its power and coercive authority, then we must also include violent offenders in our visions of abolition and new justice systems, for these offenders are often most deserted and believed to be expendable.
Very few detainees are truly expendable and/or without redeeming quality. Here are my following suggestions for reforms for handling homicide or violence related offenses- remembering, that these are allegations and that defendants are innocent until proven guilty.
1. Pre-Trial Detention should not last more than three months before constitutional guarantee to public and speedy trial (60 days) kicks back in, which may mean the following:
1. Limiting continuances; discovery must be compiled/turned over within 60 days.
2. Greater resources for coroner offices conducting autopsies & stricter report back time limits in competency and other related investigations.
3. Relating to Defender’s offices, defendants must be advised that waiving time could lead to an infinite amount of continuances which increases unnecessary detained for indigent people and those unlikely to make bail (i.e., persons of color who face bias, discrimination, and high bails.)
2. However much time a defendant spends in County jail pretrial, should automatically count toward plea deal sentencing.
3. Consider reforms for voluntary and involuntary manslaughter categories that shift approach from a criminal law to a tort approach. Employ, where possible, conflict resolution, restorative and reparative justice as opposed to retributive justice practices, policies, procedures, beginning plea negotiations on the lower end sentencing categories for defendants without prior strikes.
4. Please discourage prosecutors from defaulting to first- and second-degree murder charges given the impact on defendants who may be, most often, guilty of a lesser manslaughter charge.
5. Please, end the practice of indeterminate sentences!
Here are some contacts:
Attorney Alexia Mayorkas
Alameda County Public Defenders
East County Branch Office
5149 Gleason Drive
Dublin, CA 94568
(925) 551- 6863
Vy Ly (Vee Lee)
Alameda County Public Defenders
East County Branch Office
5149 Gleason Drive
Dublin, CA 94568
(925) 551- 6863
-Joshua Stroman
