Oh hey there everyone! Welcome back to Frida Fridays on my blog! As some of you may know, my project is officially coming to an end, and this past week was my last official week on-site at my internship.
For this week, I decided to go back to my regular routine and go to my internship twice a week for 8 hours each day.
Wednesday (4/12/2017)
Wednesday was mostly filled with revocation hearings in which many inmates had family support, however the board deemed their offenses to be too severe for another chance at parole...
Thursday (4/13/2017)
Upon arriving, I went in directly to the board room because I was told a day before that a very important phase II would take place in the morning, and when I entered the room it was the hearing that had just started moments earlier... This was an important case to observe because it was a phase II hearing which means that the inmate was seeking to shorten or alter his sentence since he saw it as excessive. But in order for this wish to be granted, the inmate must first got through an initial phase I hearing in which the board must decide to pass his case on to a phase II which is then where they decide whether they would send a letter to the governor and recommend his case for the governor's approval to shorten or alter his sentence. So for this particular inmate, he was already 1/3 of the way there as he had already moved forward from a phase I hearing. It is arguable that the reason why he was passed on to a phase two is because again he had a major support system in the Arizona Justice Project.
So this inmate was initially convicted for two counts of rape, and the young 11 year old girl he raped was his step-daughter. Thankfully, after the board heard from the Arizona Justice Project and a few of his family members, an attorney from the attorney general's office came to speak on behalf of the state to further show why this inmate should not have a shorter sentence. His argument definitely helped sway the board to deny the recommendation.
After this whole debacle went down, I had the opportunity to interview the head victim advocate to see her perspective on victim treatment and representation.
Thank you all for reading, see you next time
-Frida
Friday, April 14, 2017
Friday, April 7, 2017
Victim's Strength During Victims' Week
Hello there everyone. It's nice to you all back on Frida "Fridays" on my blog.
This past week has very hectic and busy, and as a result, I went in to my internship four times this week. (although one of the days wasn't the actual internship facility, I'll get more into that later...) Also, I'd like to mention that this week (April 3rd-8th) is National Victims' Rights Week, a week to recognize those who have dedicated their lives to advocating and fighting for victim rights as well as the expansion of victim rights.
Over the last weekend, my on-site mentor sent me an email about a parole hearing that would take place on that Monday. For this reason I decided to go and check out this specific hearing.
Monday
Upon arriving to my internship Monday morning, I was a little startled with the sight of two victims nervously awaiting and strategizing with the victim advocate in anticipation of the parole hearing. I did not get much time to ask about the case or anything because moments after I arrived, everyone rushed to the courtroom since the hearing was about to start. Now for some backstory, the two victims there were actually siblings to the actual murdered victim and were there to represent the will of their sister as well as represent the safety concerns of the community. Luckily for these victims, they were blessed with the unexpected opportunity of having a attorney from the attorney general's office there to advocate for the community's safety. Originally, the inmate and the victim were married since the victim was 14 and the inmate was 17 (because she got pregnant). To all it was unexpected what this rushed marriage would entail, but to the victim, it would turn into 15 years of physical and emotional abuse... Once the victim tried to seek help and move away from her abuser, the situation became deadly with the inmate coming to her house and shooting the victim, a random bystander, and then himself in attempts to take his own life. Two surgeries and one trial later, and he was only convicted for second degree murder and aggravated assault instead of first degree murder. After the board heard from both the victims and the attorney, they came to the conclusion to deny his chances at parole.
Tuesday
Tuesday was not an actual day spent at the office because it was actually the day in which a banquet/award ceremony type event would take place. At this event, there were a few keynote speakers like the governor, the attorney general, and other government officials who were there to acknowledge the efforts of different departments and present awards. The Victim Services (where my internship is) actually won an award for advocacy. It was definitely interesting, to say the least, to hear how far victims' rights have come overtime, and also to see how much farther victims' rights needs to grow... Anyways that pretty much sums up my Tuesday...
Wednesday
I don't know why this keeps on happening to me, but Wednesday was just another blur...
Thursday
My day was mostly spent watching a few revocation hearings before I had to leave early... I wish I didn't leave early because as soon as I left there was a hearing for a man who brutally murdered and raped two little girls (7 and 8 years old) along with cutting them up completely. Now this hearing was to see whether this man should be granted general parole since he had some how been let out for home arrest (to me that's actually insane!!). Apparently the board was appalled by the fact that he was on home arrest and were trying to figure out a way to reverse it . I don't know that is all I heard..
Well, that pretty much wraps up my week, I hope you enjoyed reading it and sorry for the delay
- Frida
This past week has very hectic and busy, and as a result, I went in to my internship four times this week. (although one of the days wasn't the actual internship facility, I'll get more into that later...) Also, I'd like to mention that this week (April 3rd-8th) is National Victims' Rights Week, a week to recognize those who have dedicated their lives to advocating and fighting for victim rights as well as the expansion of victim rights.
Over the last weekend, my on-site mentor sent me an email about a parole hearing that would take place on that Monday. For this reason I decided to go and check out this specific hearing.
Monday
Upon arriving to my internship Monday morning, I was a little startled with the sight of two victims nervously awaiting and strategizing with the victim advocate in anticipation of the parole hearing. I did not get much time to ask about the case or anything because moments after I arrived, everyone rushed to the courtroom since the hearing was about to start. Now for some backstory, the two victims there were actually siblings to the actual murdered victim and were there to represent the will of their sister as well as represent the safety concerns of the community. Luckily for these victims, they were blessed with the unexpected opportunity of having a attorney from the attorney general's office there to advocate for the community's safety. Originally, the inmate and the victim were married since the victim was 14 and the inmate was 17 (because she got pregnant). To all it was unexpected what this rushed marriage would entail, but to the victim, it would turn into 15 years of physical and emotional abuse... Once the victim tried to seek help and move away from her abuser, the situation became deadly with the inmate coming to her house and shooting the victim, a random bystander, and then himself in attempts to take his own life. Two surgeries and one trial later, and he was only convicted for second degree murder and aggravated assault instead of first degree murder. After the board heard from both the victims and the attorney, they came to the conclusion to deny his chances at parole.
Tuesday
Tuesday was not an actual day spent at the office because it was actually the day in which a banquet/award ceremony type event would take place. At this event, there were a few keynote speakers like the governor, the attorney general, and other government officials who were there to acknowledge the efforts of different departments and present awards. The Victim Services (where my internship is) actually won an award for advocacy. It was definitely interesting, to say the least, to hear how far victims' rights have come overtime, and also to see how much farther victims' rights needs to grow... Anyways that pretty much sums up my Tuesday...
Wednesday
I don't know why this keeps on happening to me, but Wednesday was just another blur...
Thursday
My day was mostly spent watching a few revocation hearings before I had to leave early... I wish I didn't leave early because as soon as I left there was a hearing for a man who brutally murdered and raped two little girls (7 and 8 years old) along with cutting them up completely. Now this hearing was to see whether this man should be granted general parole since he had some how been let out for home arrest (to me that's actually insane!!). Apparently the board was appalled by the fact that he was on home arrest and were trying to figure out a way to reverse it . I don't know that is all I heard..
Well, that pretty much wraps up my week, I hope you enjoyed reading it and sorry for the delay
- Frida
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