Aloha!

Greetings from the 50th state in the Union. We have been here for about a week and a half and the weather and waves have been wonderful! I will try and include some pics.
As you know we missed our scheduled trip at the end of last summer due to Harriet's illness. So we are very thankful that we are able to come to Hawaii one more time. 
Harriet is doing pretty well. We continue to pray and look for a total healing.
This Sunday Pastor Ron Nadzam will be preaching and I know it will be excellent. We will be watching the live-streaming. I hope that you will take the time to be in the House of the Lord this Sunday.
God bless you and I thank you for your continued prayerful support for both Harriet and Daniel.
Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet

More Info about the hearing and Health update

Aloha! We are away for a few weeks. As you know we had to cancel our vacation at the end of summer last year. Harriet is feeling well enough and we are thankful to go to our favorite place.
I was going to tell you about the representative from the DA's office. Well I received an email back from the defense attorney to the question I asked, "Does the DA always cast a negative vote at the probation hearings?" Remember I said that I know its their job, but do they not examine the rehabilitation aspect. So I am going to give you her response to this questions:

"Yes - it is always a battle to Win. The DA opposes 99% of the time.

They are dictated by the DA 's office, DA can't even think for themslevs...they obey the DA office POLICY to DENY.

Sad but true.

Approx. 10-15 years ago... the win rate was around 3%. I use to get about 5% back then ...

Grant rates are still rare...they are at about  25%. There is still a Review unit perios of time. In addition the Governor can reverse the Grant decision.

The Reversal occurs about 20% of the time. This is also MUCH lower with Gov Brown then Gov Schw.... Previous Gov was reversing about 80%.

Let s hope for the best.

Thanks for your assistance. You did a great supportive closing statement."

I have contacted the right people and I am going to get an electronic copy of the hearing. Then I will see about posting the info including my closing statement. I have been giving this thought and I want to make sure that nothing I post, I will regret doing so in the future. You know what they say, once you put the info out on the net, it never goes away.

We are doing well. The weather is ideal. When we come at the end of summer it is probably about 10 degrees hotter. This has been great. Harriet is doing pretty good. It is just nice to relax and enjoy God's Creation.

Sunday Morning Pastor Mike is preaching and it is Pentecost Sunday. It will be excellent and we plan on watching the live streaming. With the three hour time difference that would make it 5:45AM our time. 

Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet

Daniels Parole Hearing Part 3

In the course of the hearing the next section was Daniel's closing statement. As I mentioned he was given 10 minutes. I will give you only a highlight of this closing statement because I can't remember everything he said.

I know that during his closing statement he did mention his remorse. He also made a statement that said if he would have had a parole hearing after he'd been in prison for 5 years he would've said that the sentence was too long and unjust! This got everybody's attention. The commissioners heads came up from their papers.

I talked to Daniel yesterday morning (Saturday). He told me that he talked to the attorney afterwards and she was trying to kick him under the table at this time to cool it. This statement that Daniel made was the worst thing that you could do. Because your saying that the sentence he received was unfair. Even though I felt that it was way longer than other people have received for even murdering someone, I'm just telling you this is how they look at it, he got what the courts deemed fair and just.

He immediately followed up his statement that after being in prison for this period 17 years he's come to realize that he should of gotten a life sentence and that that would've been a just sentence and he got off easy.

This shows his change in values as to the gravity of his crime. We all want mercy and grace from other people. And he felt that he'd received a sentence less than what he deserved. This was actually great statement to make and it was heartfelt.

When I talked to Daniel yesterday he said that the attorney Diane, spoke to them after the hearing. By the way I was not allowed to speak to Daniel either during or after the hearing. Daniel told me that his attorney asked him, did you tell your dad to say the things that he said and he answered no. I will tell you what I said when I cover my closing statement.



The other thing Daniel told me yesterday is that his attorney told him afterwards that in all the years she's been doing this and she's done over 3600 parole hearings, nobody has talked as fast as Daniel. Then she told him that you need to go out on the "Yard" and tell everybody else to do the same thing. I mentioned to you that he was very sharp in his memory and his delivery and I believe that this is what she was referring to. Daniel did not hesitate on his responses.

But since I have some more time this morning before I need to prepare for church I will tell you the closing statement from the district attorney. The main thrust of the district attorney representative was that Daniel has had 2 infractions in the last 7 years and that shows that he's not a changed person. Even though Daniel has explained those 2 situations the district attorney representative was adamant that Daniel should serve out the rest of his time.

When I got home from my adventure on Friday I emailed Daniel's attorney and asked her if this was normal? I realize that the attorney is just doing his job. But do they always take the side that the person must serve out all of his time? I've not heard back from her and when I do I will let you know what she said. Because it was obvious from the preponderance of the evidence that Daniel was a different person now that he was 17 years ago. You had to be blind, deaf and dumb not to understand that he's a changed man and not a snotty nosed juvenile rebellious stiffnecked Gentile.

I realize I gave you a capsule-ated view of these closing statements. When I get the actual transcripts I will try and post those so that you can get the straight scoop.

It really is interesting to see how the justice system works. This is my 1st and only experience. I do want to mention again that we are deeply appreciated of of the overwhelming love and support from so many people! It's very touching! I will give the next blog post this coming Saturday. I will tell you what the attorney for Daniel said and if I have time I will do my closing statement. We will be on vacation and I need to make sure I am Considerate to Harriet and not spend too much time on the computer, if you get my drift.

Today is the Lord's day! I hope that you will take the time to go to the house the Lord and give thanks for all that he's given to you. My message this morning is: Giving Thanks Is a Choice.

Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet

Daniels Parole Hearing Part 2

Well, to be totally frank with you and I always am, I was very surprised at how many people would like to know the details of the parole hearing. So, I'm going to give you more information today and then I will probably do one more installment on Sunday morning. Then we leave for Hawaii on Monday morning. Stay tuned for an update the following week and pictures.


If for some reason, you did not read yesterday's blog post, please go back and read that, so that you will understand where I'm going with this today.



I thought I would take it in the order that I described, the order of events. Yesterday I described the way the room was set up and the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner were the 1st ones that spoke. Really it was the deputy commissioner that took control and spoke most of the time.


He rehearsed why were there and also why Daniel was there. He went over all the information concerning his crime. I won't get into a lot of detail at this point. I will mention in more detail when our home was burglarized by Daniel, but that comes in a different section when I gave my testimony. Daniel did burglarize our home and take a 22 caliber pistol that we use for target practice. We didn't even realize it was gone until the police came knocking on our door at 2 o'clock in the morning and told us that he was arrested for armed robbery of a liquor store. That is the main charge against him. He robbed the liquor store and he used a gun. He also fired the gun. Each one of these points increases the seriousness of the charge against him. I will tell you right now that he was guilty on all counts and Daniel said so and more.


After the deputy commissioner went through a long list of charges and all the ramifications there of, then he turned to what Daniel has done in the last 17 years while in prison. Just for the record because the number of people have asked, he was 17 years old when he committed the crime and I know you can do the math. He spent half his life in prison. I guess I should back up and tell you a little bit more information because many of you did not know that when he was 1st arrested they had a 707 hearing. This is to determine whether to try him as an adult or as a juvenile. There are 5 points that make up the criteria in the 707 hearing to determine if a juvenile is to be tried as an adult. Here are the 5 points:

1. The degree of criminal sophistication exhibited by the minor.
2. Whether the minor can be rehabilitated prior to the expiration of the juvenile court's jurisdiction.
3. The minor's previous delinquent history.
4. Success of previous attempts by the juvenile court to rehabilitate the minor.
5. The circumstances and gravity of the offense alleged in the petition to have been committed by the minor.
   

They determined using these 5 points to try him as an adult. What I thought was unfair was that during the trial by judge and jury 3 of the 5 points were nullified. Which in my mind said that they should have struck down the 707 hearing and sentenced him as a juvenile. At the most he would've then been released at age 26. But, as they say that's water under the bridge and we don't look back but we look forward.

So we're back to the deputy commissioner talking to Daniel about his life in prison and his behavior. They have rules that if you break them you get written up in prison and he had to answer for each one of these offenses of being written up. Unfortunately I didn't write the date down for the 1st offense, but I believe it was around 2006. It seems like I'm always backing up and telling you more information because it's hard to understand what goes on in prison. We see movies and television programs but I must tell you that in real life it's a little bit different than what you see on the big screen. Daniel did not do any drugs or drink alcohol. But, I will tell you that those things are rampant in prison. The reason is because the guards can make a lot of money by smuggling in different things like drugs and even cell phones. While Daniel was in Mississippi, they had cell phones that were smuggled in by the guards and were sold at a premium. $600 for a dumb phone. $1000 for smart phone and I'm not talking about an iPhone or a Samsung galaxy 6. So they smuggle in a case of cell phones and they can make $10,000.

Because of the drug situation Daniel wanted to have a "cellie" that did not do drugs. So when he got a new cellie that wanted to make wine it was not that big of a deal yet it was breaking the law. I will just tell you that Daniel got in trouble also and he was written up. He explained the circumstances and that was that.

While in Mississippi in 2010 he was involved in a riot at the prison. He explained the circumstances it was all racial. By the way if you are not aware of this prisons are the most racially divided that I've ever heard of. It's divided up with the whites, the Blacks, the Mexicans and the Orientals. Each group has to take care of their own business. If one of the people in your ethnic group violates certain "standards against another group", a leader of the other group will come to leader of the perpetrator group and let him know what happened and said you need to take care of it. If that leader within the group that the perpetrator is in, if he does not take care of the problem and beat up the offender, then the other ethnic group will do it. I know it sounds kinda weird. But that's the way it is. So that's the type of situation that was brewing. They had 2 tiers of cells and in the middle there was a common area where there was a television. All the cell doors were open and they had access to the center area and Daniel said that when he heard that there was a commotion he went out to see what was going on and then of course he ended up getting caught up in the riot, defending himself against the people that were the aggressors. He said that what he should have done is to go back into his cell and closed the door.

I've learned early on and I mean from the very beginning when Daniel was taken to Lancaster and he got in trouble within the 1st month I called the prison and talk to a lady and she made it real clear that sometimes when people get in trouble they have to do it because they're protecting themselves or defending themselves. If you are not willing to defend yourself then you become a floormat and everybody wipes their feet on you. Just saying.........................

It's important for you to remember these 2 items that Daniel was written up about because later on when the representative of the district attorney had a turn to speak he brings these points up and uses them as a point of fact that Daniel has not reformed.

After the deputy commissioner grilled Daniel over all these points then he started on a more positive note and reviewed all his files as to his positive accomplishments during his imprisonment. I've written them down so that they are accurate. Daniel has 42 certificates. He sent me copies of each one of these and they are for completing different courses such as electric shop, upholstering shop, things that are building certain technical skills. Like typing classes and so on. Daniel also had 50 self-help classes that he has attended which would be like AAA, OS AP (which I can't remember what that stands for). The commissioner asked him if you don't have any problem with alcohol and you don't drink how can you went to the AAA class? Daniel told him that a friend of his that was in one of the classes that he was attending was the vice president of AAA and he asked if Daniel would come and join the class because Daniel knew how to type and they needed a secretary. Daniel did mention that he learned a lot from that class. Daniel most recently joined the Toastmasters club which is a organization that helps you to learn how to publicly speak. It is really helped him and I must say that he did very well in his presentation. He was very sharp and accurate in his responses and it was duly noted at the very end of the hearing because the deputy commissioner mentioned that. Daniel also has 7 associate degrees, one bachelor's degree and one Masters degree, plus he's completing his 8th associate degree in the next week.

All these things are very important. During the end of the hearing when the deputy commissioner was explaining why they gave Daniel a parole, they made these comments. Most prisoners have a parole hearing and they fall short of meeting the expectations for someone to be released. Usually they must tell them that if you get with the program, then maybe at the next parole hearing you'll be eligible. He called it "dangling a carrot" before the prisoner. But the deputy commissioner said that you didn't need that. You've obviously done a lot of work and the work that you've done is not only a huge volume of work but the depth of your work is notable.

But I digress because I've gone to the end of the story and I need to fill it in. Daniel also has done 20 book reports and the deputy commissioner questioned him about the books that he read and what he's learned and which one was his favorite. I've got to tell you that Daniel's memory is very sharp because he could draw on the books that is read and anyway I thought he did really well.

One of the things that was interesting is that they mentioned that he's learned to read and write and speak French while in prison. We purchased a series of CDs for Daniel and a course for him to study because he wanted to learn that language so he could read books in French and I'm referring to history books. He want to read them in the original language that they were written. So the deputy commissioner asked him about it and it was kind of funny because he said you probably don't get a whole lot a chance to speak to anybody in French while in prison and Daniel said that's true and he said I'm really looking forward to when I get out that I would like to buy the Rosetta Stone French program and really learn how did speak well in the French language. At this point Daniel's attorney who is Diane, turned to Daniel and said something in French (this was totally unrehearsed) and Daniel responded immediately in French and I was taken back because I've never heard him speak in that language. I was impressed and I assume that the commissioners were impressed also. I talked to Diane afterwards and she said that she grew up in Montréal Canada and she speaks French and as she said it's a little bit different than the French that they speak in France, but close enough.

Well, I guess that's enough for today. I will try and pick up tomorrow morning where Daniel gives a closing statement. One of the things that I find interesting is because I'm planning on getting a transcript of the hearing and then I will run it through the OCR (optical character recognition program) and then I will put it on the blog. And we'll see how my memory is in relationship to what really happened. This is a disclaimer all things are as I remember them and may have really happened or maybe not so much. I know that in the case of my testimony there are things that I had wanted to say but didn't say, but as you know sometimes, well good intentions.

God bless you and tomorrow is Sunday and you'll be in the house the Lord! Remember that every day is the Thanksgiving day!

Maranatha,

Frank and Harriet

Daniels Parole Hearing Results

First I wanted to tell you that overall Harriet continues to improve. Regardless of how small the improvements are they are real. I keep thinking that the doctors do not heal anybody, the healing comes from God.

If you recall the section of Scripture in the Gospel (John 9) And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
² And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
³ Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

We believe that God heals and that He is in control. So our faith and trust is in Him not in doctors.

The last 3 days have been quite a whirl wind. By the way, today is Friday. On Tuesday I received a call from The Victim's Association and they said they received a call from the commissioners who are hearing the parole hearing, and they asked if I could be there at 10:30 AM instead of 12:30 PM? This meeting was set for Thursday. I said that I would be there.

Originally we talked about Harriet traveling with me and then she would stay at the hotel while I did the hearing and then came back there and we traveled back the following day which will be Friday to San Diego. But, we changed our minds and I thought it wise that she stay home where she has better facilities and more comfortable home than a hotel, no matter how nice they are. So, Wednesday afternoon I drove to Blythe which is 230 miles from our home. It is east and north of San Diego in case you're not aware of this. It takes about 3 1/2 hours, traveling at sub- light speeds.

I'm just going to give you an overview of what happened and then Harriet thought that maybe some people might be interested in more of the details which I will give later on in blogs that I will post. I got to the prison and checked in at the visitors center at 10:22 AM. They had me wait there until a young lady by the name of Rebecca came and escorted me to a waiting area. She was very nice and we talked quite a bit. She has 5 children, 4 boys and a little girl it's 4 years old. She was very gracious.

They called us in to the hearing at a few minutes after 11 o'clock and after we were all seated they convened the hearing at 11:11 AM. The reason I know the exact time because I took notes. I was told originally that the meeting could last 5 to 6 hours.

I guess I should jump to the end of the story now and tell you that Daniel did receive his parole. The question that everybody asks, so when does he come home? Here's the thing there's a protocol. I'm going to tell you everything I know (which is not very much). They have a review the can last 120 days and then the recommendation goes to the governor and he has 30 days to review the recommendation. This is a total of 5 months. But I will get to the rest of the story later on.

We were seated in a average size room with tables that are arranged in the center of the room so that people could sit around the perimeter. There was a commissioner and Deputy Commissioner on one side of the table. On the far end from where I was sitting, Daniel sat at the right hand side of the table and he was facing the commissioners and behind him sat a guard. To Daniel's left was his attorney Diane and then I was sitting at her left. Behind me sat Rebecca and she was there for the entire hearing which was her normal protocol. I asked her about that specifically before hand. There was one other person who was not in attendance but was there via teleconferencing and that was a man who represented the district attorney. He could hear everything that was going on and each of us had a boom microphone so that we could speak into it and everything was being recorded. They made it clear at the onset that all responses had to be verbal because it was being recorded and by way of instruction, we know that there will be transcripts of this hearing, which I plan on getting a copy.

The order of the procedure was as follows. Each person was required to identify themselves, stating their name and spelling their last name and then saying what their position was in relationship to the hearing. When it got to me, I told him I was a victim, a community leader being the pastor at our church and also Daniel's father. I was there in 3 capacities and this is important because when I gave my testimony at the very end, I gave it from 3 different perspectives.

I wanted to share with you something that is how I prepare for my messages on Sunday morning and how I prepared for this testimony. I think about things quite a bit and mulling them over in my mind. I organize them, go over them, reorganize them and I do this over and over again. I was allowed to bring in a book (which was a copy of the New Testament in the JB Phillips translation) a piece of paper and a writing implement. It wasn't until the hearing started and as I was taking notes I outlined my presentation to the commissioners. During the initial presentation by the Deputy Commissioner (who was extremely sharp) he went over the facts of the case against Daniel. There is a process that they all must do and he followed it. I was already aware of what the procedure was because Daniel had told me what they were going to do. He has interrogated all the people that had already gone before him into a parole hearing so that he was totally aware of the protocol. So, I outlined my presentation and filled in the outline as different points were made by both the deputy commissioner and Daniel so that I could comment on them and there was a continuity to my presentation.

The way the overall proceedings went was a presentation by the deputy commissioner which was the longest, he asked Daniel many questions along the way. This segment was probably the longest. Then Daniel was able to give a closing statement which was to be 10 minutes or less. Diane his defense attorney was given 10 minutes to close and then the representative of the district attorney got to speak his closing statement and then I had my closing statement which was a unlimited time because I was a victim. But I knew that it should be no longer than 15 minutes.

This gives you an overview of what happened and I guess I'm going to wait and give you more specifics because I know that some people are interested in, possibly others are only interested in the results. We are very thankful that the results came out positive for Daniel. You know that I thank each and every one of you who prayed for him. Many of you have never met Daniel and yet you, so very lovingly  have remember to pray for him every day. I got a text from my good friend Phil Marsh while I was on the way home yesterday. He asked for the outcome of the trial and he reminded me that he has been praying for Daniel every day and for Harriet also. It's people like this and I can go on and on an name so many of you that have been faithful for not just weeks or months but for years!

I will close with this one point that I made at the very end of my closing statement. This will be as accurate as I can and I will condense it so you get the drift, I was addressing the commissioners. "I have a boon to ask you. This is not on behalf of Daniel, but on behalf of his mother and myself. If on the preponderance of the evidence before you, you find that Daniel is mature young man and is a good candidate for parole, I would ask that you expedite his release". And then I went on to explain how Harriet was diagnosed with lymphoma last August and how she's gone through the 8 chemotherapies which is the maximum that she can do and the results. So, I pleaded if they would please put it on a fast track if at all possible, if they chose to let him be paroled.

After the deliberation and we were all called back into the room, they announced that they came to the conclusion that they will release Daniel on parole. This took quite some time because they have to list all the reasons of why they came to that conclusion and I will fill you in on those reasons at a future blog. But the important part was that they mentioned the 120 days and then the 30 days that the governor has. But the most important point was that he said he doesn't have any problem requesting to expedite the parole. What does this mean? It means that it will be less than 150 days but only God knows exactly how long. It could be 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, we just don't know. But we will be thankful for whatever we get. Which is a great segue for this Sunday's message I'm preaching at church, "Being Thankful Is a Choice". I hope that you'll be able to be there and rejoice with us. The messages that I have shared with you in the last 9 months, many of them are because of the trials and tribulations we been going through. God continues to work in our lives and our lives are an epistle written to all men.

By the way, I used my voice recognition program and it is not 100% accurate. So please be gentle in consideration of any errors.

Thank you again.

Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet

Big Week Coming Up

Harriet continues to improve.  I remember Dr. Chen saying that improvements will come slowly and they do.  It's hard to gauge them day by day, but we can deftly tell that she's doing better then let's just say two weeks ago.

If you did not read last Saturday's blog, then it would be great if you would do so.  Because this coming Thursday will be our son Daniel's parole hearing.  I will drive there To apply for California and testify on Thursday afternoon.  More than likely I will put out the blog post next Friday morning early and let you know the outcome.

We appreciate your continued prayerful support for Harriet and of course remembering Daniel during this crucial junction in this life.

I would like to wish all the mothers out there a "Happy Mother's Day!"

Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet

Prayer Request

Harriet is doing better each week. Thank you for your prayers and support. I have an additional prayer request.

Most of you know of or know our son Daniel. Third son and at age of 17 he went terminally stupid. He used a gun and robbed a liquor store. This June he will have been in prison for 17 years. Because of the Bill # SB260 that was past last year they are reviewing all the people that were juvenile when they committed a crime and sentenced as adults. They must have served a min. of 15 years. He falls into this category.
His Parole hearing is this month on the 14th. I will go to the prison to testify on his behalf. I am a big proponent against crime and my prayer from the beginning has been,  "Lord keep him in there as long as need be, so he will never have to go back." 
After he had been in prison for a few years he repented. I would not support him in any manner as long as he was in a "rebellious mode". After he got right with the Lord, he got right with us. Read the story of the Prodigal Son in the Gospel of Luke 15. It was not until the Prodigal son repented, was he able to restore his relationship with his father.
He has done really well while in prison accruing 7 associate degrees, 1 bachelor and 1 masters degree. He reads, writes and speaks French. I realize some of you already know this, but there are others that this is new information. No Smoking, no drugs or tattoos.
So as you can see he just didn't sit around and do his time. I would ask that you keep Daniel and his Parole Hearing in your prayers. It will take about 5-6 hours.
I will give you an update on the results of the Parole Hearing as soon as we get them.
Thank you so much!

Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet