MY CHILDREN'S FATHER
Chad and Misty's Story
April 25, 2007
Kaylee, I talked to Sharif today and he offered to help me look into the pain my husband and our family has suffered at the hands of the Dallas criminal justice, the jail and MHMR system.
Sharif also offered me the opportunity to share our story on MTWT's web site. My writing isn't very good but I will do my best. All of your help is greatly appreciated and needed because I am 8 months pregnant and I need my husband's support.
My husband's name is Chad Ray Bennett. He is a 32 year old white male. He is on the MHMR case load. He has been diagnosed with mild bipolar. He also has a brain mass that impairs his ability to make rational decisions at times.
Chad has had several life altering tragedies during the last 5 years. While in Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) he was confined to administrative segregation for 6 years. Prison officials confined him there for having a controversial tattoo. Now any time he goes to prison regardless of his mental illnesses he will be denied due process and unfairly segregated even though he has never done any thing to deserve this arbitrary punishment.
While confined alone in a cell the size of a bathroom, Chad had to hear the news that his little brother, who was also his best friend, had died at the age of 25. He never received any counseling or any other help to deal with his grief, and this is when his mental state started to slowly decline.
Two years later Chad had to hear more tragic news while still inside his segregation cell. This time he had to be told that his dad, the only man left in his life, had committed suicide as a result of not being able to handle his one son's death and his other son's incarceration. Chad was left to absorb this tragedy alone and was also denied the opportunity to attend his fathers funeral.
These two tragedies alone would be enough to drive any one person into a deep depression or worse. In addition to this Chad already had a history of mental illness from his childhood.
When Chad was finally released from prison, he came home to a wife and four kids to raise; a very broken family; a mom who was widowed and severely hurting herself; and a lifetime of responsibility that was thrust upon him overnight. TDCJ had offered him nothing in the form of basic life skills or societal re-entry programs to prepare Chad for what laid ahead.
Due to him being in segregation for 6 years, he learned no marketable job skills, thus creating a very difficult road ahead, almost impossible for he and I and our children. Needless to say after unsuccessfully making every attempt to support his family Chad became frustrated as many ex-offenders do and simply gave up and began doing the only thing he knew to do.
In January of this year Chad was arrested on a state jail felony for forgery of a financial instrument. We, his family, immediately started working on getting him an MHMR attorney and a full psychiatric evaluation so that he could get the help he so desperately needs in order to function in the world. We thought MHMR could help us get Chad the medication needed but this hasn't occurred.
I can't begin to tell you how disorganized and incompetent the jail's psych department at the Susan B. Kays building is. Calling to those officials at Parkland Memorial hospital who are responsible for the jail's health care system has proven futile as well. Someone claiming to be the psychiatrist's assistant did interview Chad and said the only thing wrong with him was he was 'a drug addict' and this assistant then flat out refused to let Chad see the real psychiatrist to explain his mental health history and get to the underlining problem. So to date there has been no medications prescribed nor any thorough evaluation done. Nothing but hostile attitudes, criticism, and getting the run-around.
I contacted the Dallas Metro Care Services MHMR/jail liaison, a lady named Amanda (ph. 214-761-1382) who deals with issues like this. After numerous calls to the psych department at the county jail another armature was sent to Chad's cell to speak to him.
According to Chad, this jail employee from the psych department stood in front of his cell for less than 10 minutes, asked him what his problem was as if he could explain a lifetime of trauma in 10 short disrespectful minutes. Then she just left, never indicating what she planned on doing, if anything, to ensure that he received adequate mental health care. She did put him on the med list to receive medicine for anxiety, which is just one of the many symptoms from which Chad suffers.
He still hasn't been given an opportunity to see a real psychiatrist nor has he received a real evaluation. So much for all the improvements the County Commissioners and Parkland Hospital officials promised.
Amanda reviewed his medical records which I faxed her after Chad was out of jail. She recommended Chad have an MHMR public defender that could work and better defend someone with Chad's problems. As his wife this meant a great deal to me and my family. I was certain the judge and district attorney would take Chad's mental state into mind before sentencing him to more time which will only worsen his mental state and his chances of ever becoming a productive citizen, not to mention the negative impact his incarceration will have on my ability to raise 4 kids alone.
I was hoping that they would at very least give him some kind of help and rehabilitation, but it's become obvious that the profits from incarcerating large numbers of this nations citizens is far more important than anything else to those in authority.
Now let me share the flip side of this record. The Indigent Defense System in Dallas makes a mockery of the *6th Amendment. The court appointed Chad a lawyer named Wayne Lacy. And since his appointment, our living hell just got worse, if such is possible.
It's always been my understanding that your lawyer, even if they are a court appointed lawyer, is supposed to be competent and capable of working to defend your best interest, but Attorney Lacy failed miserably to do his job. It actually seemed as though he was working for the state or perhaps merely trying to clear the court docket and move on to the next defendant assigned to his caseload. Forget Chad, myself and our children: As clients and as human beings, we are at the bottom of Mr. Lacy's list of priorities.
Since Chad had previously been convicted of state jail felonies, the state has the option of filing enhancements which would increase the range of punishment to two 10 year terms, if Chad is found guilty at trial. Originally he was only looking at 6 months to 2 years max, but the threat of enhancement is the state's big stick used to beat defendants into submission so they'll accept a plea, regardless of their guilt or innocence.
From day one, over and over we insisted that Attorney Lacy file for an examining trial which is Chad's legal right according to what I have read in the Texas criminal procedures book. Attorney Lacy flat out refused to honor this right that Chad has, saying the court was too busy and Chad would never be given a examining trial even if he filed for one. He also said besides that that it would be a waste of everyone time. We would have rather he filed for it, and we take our chances of the examining trail never occurring, instead of Attorney Lacy deciding the future of the court and depriving Chad of this hearing.
We also requested that Attorney Lacy file for a bond to be set for Chad but that request was also denied by this "court-appointed" @#$%$%. As a result of this non-representation by his attorney, Chad was forced to sit in jail illegally without a bond. Attorney Lacy also never filed any other pre-trial motions in order to prepare a defense for Chad. So Chad filed a motion to dismiss counsel. This really made Attorney Lacy mad and he became even more rude and hostile towards Chad and I, from there on out.
On the date that Chad was scheduled to go before Judge Don Adams for his motion to dismiss counsel to be heard, Amanda from MHMR was also present at the court to request Chad be appointed another attorney who was better equipped to deal with defendants who have mental illnesses.
Again according to the criminal procedures law, and information printed by Texas Appleseed, and the Fair Defense Act Task Force, this should have been a priority of both Judge Adams and Chad's attorney.
Attorney Lacy informed me that this was only a hearing for Chad's motion to dismiss counsel and nothing else, so my mother-in-law and I did not make the long trip to Dallas to be in the court room. Attorney Lacy said there was no need. Later we learned how bad that lie hurt us. According to the county clerk's office Chad was scheduled for court that day to dispose of his charges.
When Chad got to court he was greeted by Attorney Lacy and another man whom Attorney Lacy introduced as his personal detective. I have never heard of this being any kind of normal procedure.
Lacy told Chad they could go before Judge Adams to hear his motion to dismiss counsel or Chad could wait to hear what the state had to say. Chad agreed to hear Attorney Lacy out. Lacy proceeded to tell Chad that the state had made a terrible mistake on Chad's indictments and was not only supposed to enhance it once, but was going to enhance it twice which made the range of punishment even greater.
Attorney Lacy told Chad the state was offering eight (8) years if Chad would enter a plea right then. Chad told Lacy he was not going to be rushed into making a decision like that without first talking to his wife and his other family members. Attorney Lacy began to literally yell at Chad saying he wasn't going to argue with Chad, that he could care less what happened to Chad, and as far as he was concerned, the state could care less about Chad's mental illnesses and would never take that into consideration.
Chad said he didn't like the way his attorney was acting and insisted to be heard on his motion to dismiss. So they went before Judge Adams and Chad explained everything to him.
In the end, Attorney Lacy was right: Judge Adams didn't care and unfairly, and as far as I'm concerned, even unlawfully ruled that Chad had to keep this terrible man for a lawyer. Even though it was completely obvious that Attorney Lacy had not worked at all for Chad, only against him, in the end Judge Adams didn't care about Chad's legal, moral and constitutional right to competent and effective legal assistance.
As if Chad hadn't provided enough evidence of Attorney Lacy's ineffective assistance and conflicts of interest, after the judge made his ruling, Attorney Lacy stepped up and told Judge Adams that he wanted to bring it to the judge's attention that the state had made a terrible mistake and needed to re-file Chad's indictment charging him with a second degree felony. Unbelievable!!!
Not only was Chad defending himself against the state and the judge, but now his own lawyer had the same as admitted whom he was really working for. Chad was surrounded a team intent on taking him down and he had absolutely no way out.
Chad's own lawyer continued to try and intimidate Chad in front of the entire court. Attorney Lacy told Judge Adams that the state had offered Chad eight (8) years today and that Chad was requesting probation. He made Chad verify this in front of the judge and when Chad said, "Yes this is true", Attorney Lacy snidely asked, “and I told you you were living in a fantasy world, didn't I?"
This should have been enough for Judge Adams to stop this and appoint Chad a different attorney, but with a snicker the judge allowed this harassment and intimidation to continue as if it amused him. After all, it's just some loser inmate's life on the line, not a human being with a mental illness needing treatment and a wife and family who needs, loves and misses him.
After reviewing the mistakes Chad brought to Judge Adams' attention, the harassment shifted hands and this is when Judge Adams really got involved in this circus. He looked at Chad and said, "Yes, they did make a mistake as a matter of fact. If you really want to turn down the offer and go to trial, I can today, they can indict me again you and stack your sentences which you're looking at two 20 year sentences, a total of 40 years and I would be glad to assist you in getting a speedy trial."
Chad said he was terrified at this point and asked to be taken back to the holdover cell. While in the holdover cell Attorney Lacy's supposed “detective” told Chad he could get the state to agree to a 4 year prison sentence if Chad signed right then and there, but if not, then Chad wouldn't be pleased with the outcome.
So under duress Chad agreed, even though Judge Adams was fully aware there were questions as to Chad's mental state and the pressure that he helped apply on Chad to enter a plea. My understanding is the judge is not supposed to allow a plea bargain under these circumstances. There was nothing **Free or Voluntary about the results of this ill-gotten plea my husband is bound by.
So Chad now awaits transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) where he could spend the next four years of his life alone in a single-man segregation cell. Me? I'll be here waiting to deliver our daughter next month by myself.
Chad is still not receiving proper MHMR meds and has still not received an evaluation.
I guess this is the world we live in. Not very fair at times.!!!
Misty Bennett
*6th Amendment
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/s107.htm**Free or Voluntary Guilty Plea
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