| April 7, 1999
Elizabeth Leaf
Re: Jerry Wayne Morgan, CDC No. K-88407 Dear Ms. Leaf: Thank you for your response to my letter to Cal Terhune, Director of the Department of California Corrections. There are some serious problems with the case against Mr. Morgan, and the Obstruction of Justice currently being practiced at the prison at High Desert. His Court appointed attorney did a Winde brief, which basically dumps all the court documents on the Appellate Court, and says she can't find an appealable issue. Mr. Morgan as a In Pro Per, is allowed 30 days to file a Supplemental Brief. I prepared on behalf of Mr. Morgan a request for time to prepare this brief, he signed it and returned to me and I attached the proof of service and mailed it to the Appellate Court in Sacramento. This request was granted by the Appellate Court on March 29, 1999, of an extension of time to prepare Supplemental Brief by April 28, 1999. The Obstruction that the Prison is engaged in, is that they are not forwarding legal documents that I prepare for Mr. Morgan's signature in a timely fashion and sometimes not at all. In the request for extension of time, the case of Johnson v. Avery, 393 U.S. 483 (1969), which states that, "We think of claims as grist for the mill of the lawyers. But it is becoming abundantly clear that more and more of the effort in ferreting out the basis of claims and the agencies responsible for them and in preparing the almost endless paperwork for their prosecution is work for laymen." It further states, ". . .That traditional, closed-shop attitude is utterly out of place in the modern world where claims pile high and much of the work of tracing and pursuing them requires the patience and wisdom of a layman rather than the legal skills of a member of the bar. I have offered to prepare this Brief for Mr. Morgan, I am a well qualified laymen in that I spent about 8 years as a Legal Secretary and know how to prepare legal documents. With Mr. Morgan's case things are not what they appear on the surface, and Mr. Morgan deserves his day in Court, that this Brief be allowed to proceed, and he be given the documents so he can sign and have it presented to the Court. Then they will have his side of the story, and the Court can make a better decision as to the issues. The Court appointed Attorney is only paid 3.5 hours, and there is no way for her to research and do the work that is required. The problem with Obstruction of Justice at the Prison, is that someone in the mail room—is practicing law, and making legal decisions when they make the decision not to give Mr. Morgan his legal documents, that were prepared for his signature. He can have the documents prepared by a laymen, but he still has to sign them himself. The Prison has no right to obstruct Mr. Morgan's only chance for his day in Court, to have his side of the story told for the first time. The Prison is not helping out the Prisoners with this kind of legal work, and probably does not have the staff or knowhow to do so. I have a Supplemental Brief just about ready to mail to Mr. Morgan for his signature. I would appreciate that you make sure that the Ombudsman at High Desert, facilitate this process of obtaining Mr. Morgan's signature. It needs to be returned to me, so I can attach a Proof of Service to all the parties, make the many copies, four to the Appeal Court. This has to be in the Court hands on April 28, 1999 or sooner. Please note, that United StatesCode, Title 18, §Sec. 1702. Obstruction of correspondence Whoever takes any letter, postal card, or package out of any post office or any authorized depository for mail matter, or from any letter or mail carrier, or which has been in any post office or authorized depository, or in the custody of any letter or mail carrier, before it has been delivered to the person to whom it was directed, with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another, or opens, secretes, embezzles, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. You said in your letter that Mr. Morgan signed a plea. I just got a letter from him today, that said, "if I signed anything that said 25 to life–I did not see that part." The Arkansas case there was a pardon as the sentence was commuted by the Governor of Arkansas, Dale Bumpers. The Prosecution, nor the Defense Attorney obtained records or material from Arkansas. There are serious problems here including venue, as current case happened in Tehama County, and he was tried in Shasta County. It is up to the Appeal Court to receive all the information, and they will make the decision.. That includes the decision on Johnson v. Avery, we only need to help Jerry be able to provide the needed information. I would appreciate your facilitating this matter, and that Mr. Morgan be allowed go get his Supplemental Brief in a timely manner, so it can be presented to the Appeal Court for their decision as to the disputed issues. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely yours, JDC
cc: C.A. Terhune, Director, Department of Corrections
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