THE VIRGINIA MITIGATION PROJECT
P.O Box 5467
Charlottesville, VA 22905
Phone/FAX: (434)971-1261
Marie Deans
Executive Director
Dear Joe Giarratano Supporter,
Joe will become eligible for parole on February 6, 2004. Barry Weinstein
and I will be allowed to speak on Joe’s behalf before Herbert Coulton,
one of the members of the parole board, on March 17th.
I am writing to ask you to send a letter to the pardon and parole board
and urge them to grant Joe parole. Although the board says it does not consider
evidence of innocence, please remind them that the only evidence of guilt
were the five, materially different confessions Joe made attempting to explain
elements of the crime - for which he needed to rely on information given
him by the police as he had no memory of the crime. According to the state
serologist no forensic evidence, of which there was a great deal, tied Joe
to the rape or murders.
Joe was incarcerated on death row in 1979 after he was convicted of the
rape and murder of Michelle Kline and the murder of Barbara Kline. Had he
not gotten the death sentence, he would have been eligible for parole in
1992. Even though he failed to provide the new trial we needed to prove
Joe’s innocence, we are all grateful that Governor Wilder spared his
life and removed the death sentence just eighteen hours before Joe’s
scheduled execution
On death row and in prison, Joe has been a good citizen and a positive
influence. True to his own morals and ethics, Joe lives in prison as an
active pacifist. The story of Joe’s determination to save Earl Washington
is becoming well known, thanks to Margaret Edd’s book about Earl “An
Expendable Man,” and just as he did on death row, Joe continues to
help his fellow prisoners.
For those of you who have not been able to keep up with Joe’s “prison
career,” here is a brief history of his life in prison following the
February, 1991 commutation.
Joe was moved from the death house, to the receiving center in Powhatan,
where he was robbed. In the robbery, he lost his treasured gold cross given
to him by the Rev. Joe Ingle. The cross was a replica of Rev. Ingle’s
own cross and its loss saddened both Joes greatly.
After a few weeks at Powhatan, Joe was moved to Augusta Correctional
Center, where he began a Peace Studies program with materials and support
from Colman McCarthy’s Center for Teaching Peace. The program was closely
watched and carefully evaluated by the Augusta Administration and came to
be fully supported by them. When Ronald Angelone took over the VA Department
of Corrections and closed all programs, the Augusta Administration spoke
out for Peace Studies’ continuation, arguing that it had significantly
reduced the level of violence in the prison. Nonetheless, on Mr. Angelone’s
orders, it was closed.
Joe was then moved to Buckingham Correctional Center where rumor was
circulated that he was a “snitch,” and Joe was attacked and stabbed.
He was taken by ambulance to a community hospital where he underwent treatment
for several days.
In 1996, Mr. Angelone. called the Utah Department of Corrections, asking
them to take a “prisoner who is a political hot potato”, which
they did. Coincidentally, I was working in Utah on a number of capital cases
at the time. I had conniption fits seeing my clients chained to the wall
with shackles, cuffs and a waist chain for legal visits, so I knew the system
was deplorable.
To demonstrate how much of a “political hot potato” Joe was
thought to be, Angelone had him flown to Utah in the governor’s plane,
a unique method of transportation for prisoners. Utah placed him in isolation
in their Uinta 1 facility, where my clients also were being held. Refusing
to cooperate until they gave him a legal call, Joe finally was able to call
me. I got word to his attorneys and to Mike Farrell, who contacted the Utah
ACLU.
Joe protested the horrendous conditions at Uinta 1 by going on a hunger
strike and when his health deteriorated, he was moved to the prison infirmary
where he witnessed a prisoner being subjected to the “Devil’s
Chair.” People are tightly strapped into the Devil’s Chair in
order to prevent any movement. Keeping them in the chair for hours can cause
blood clots and, potentially, death. As always Joe responded to the plight
of others by taking action. He began accepting fruit juice in order to gain
back some strength, then went on a campaign to get word out about the “Devil’s
Chair” and other conditions at the prison.
Within six months, Joe had brought so much heat on the Utah Dept. of
Corrections that Utah legislators, Human Rights Watch and the Justice Department
became involved. The “Devil’s Chair” was removed (not, unfortunately,
before one prisoner had died as a result of its use), and the Utah Department
of Corrections was demanding that Virginia take Joe back.
Instead, Virginia arranged for Joe to be shipped to Joliet Prison outside
of Chicago, and Joe was barely there before the director of the prison system
in Utah was replaced. In the last word from Utah, the new director spoke
fondly of Joe and his legacy of having left the Utah prisons much more humane
in their treatment of inmates.
Joe made an effort to deal with being in Joliet, where he had no real
complaints against the system, but continuing to believe he had to be in
Virginia to have a chance for a new trial, he again went on a hunger strike
and in 1997 was moved back to Virginia.
Angelone’s response to losing this battle was to place Joe in segregation
at Red Onion, one of Virginia’s infamous supermax prisons. Red Onion
and Wallens Ridge, the other supermax, have come under scrutiny from many
sources, including being sued by other states whose prisoners were being
housed in them and being investigated by the Justice Dept., FBI and Human
Rights Watch. These are prisons where the use of rubber bullets and stun
guns are far too common, though some changes have been made since the prisons
have lost suits and since Governor Warner has replaced Angelone.
If you correspond with Joe, you know he continues to read theology, philosophy,
sociology and other books to keep his mind active and stays in touch with
many abolitionists, encouraging us when we feel disheartened and discussing
various strategies with us.
I think Joe is a far better citizen than most Americans. His community
is prison, and he is valued by prisoners and guards alike - not an easy
achievement, especially in a prison system like Virginia’s. He also
extends his community outward into the free world.
I hope we can work together effectively so that Joe can actually walk
in the free world. Even if we have to write these letters year after year
after year, I believe Joe more than deserves that loyalty from us.
In the meantime, Joe is presently represented by Skadden Arps and Barry
Weinstein, assisted by The Innocence Project of the National Capitol Region,
in an effort to locate and test any physical evidence that may remain in
his case, or to learn if the evidence was destroyed, when and by whose authority.
Failing that, Barry and I will be seeking lawyers to represent Joe in other
actions. If you are interested in helping in these efforts, please let me
know.
Barry and I would be grateful if you would send us copies of your letters
to the parole board, so we can have them with us when we meet with Mr. Coulton.
Virginia Parole Board Members and address:
Helen Fahey, Chair
David Harker, Vice Chair
Carol Ann Sievers, Victims’ representative
Herbert Coulton
Michael Hawes
Virginia Parole Board
6900 Atmore Drive
Richmond, VA 23225
You can reach me at P.O. Box 5467, Charlottesville, VA 22905, (434)971-1261,
or Barry Weinstein at P.O. Box 1287, Blairsville, GA 30514, (706)745-1693.
Thank you. I know Joe will deeply appreciate your efforts on his behalf.
Sincerely, Marie Deans | 
