Clemency/Parole Support Letter for PFC Corey Clagett

Clemency/Parole Support Letter for PFC Corey Clagett
Writing a clemency or parole support letter can seem to be a daunting task if one has no idea of how to
go about doing it. The following information is a compilation of the various articles of advice on the subject
and supplies a sample of what might be included.
It is not necessary, or even desirable, to follow a specific format. The parole board is looking for sincerity
and personal involvement, which is not the impression provided by a form letter. Such a letter will carry
no weight with the parole board.
A former board member offered the following advice on what constitutes an effective clemency letter:
•
The key thing is to remember that the goal of your letter is to request a reduction of sentence. This
letter is not the time to rail against the inequalities and injustices of this system --doing so will
render your letter less effective. Do NOT write about the facts of the case. The Clemency Board
will feel these have already been weighed. Avoid personal attacks on the people who have been
involved in the case. The members of the Board are going to be inclined to believe in the integrity
of the process and the people who are a part of the process
•
All of the members of the Parole Board will invariably believe that the Military Judicial System is
essentially fair and just. Therefore, they will believe that the soldier has received a fair trial and is
guilty. It does not matter whether you agree with them on this or not. This is what the Board
members believe, and it is the context in which they will make their decision.
•
Emphasize the soldier’s humanity. If the Clemency Board members are going to consider
clemency, they need to be able to see the person as a human being and NOT as a criminal. They
want evidence that he has changed for the better. It would be good to note any courses taken
while incarcerated, any spiritual groups with Spiritual Advisors or any work programs in which he
has participated.
•
Try to be respectful of their time by keeping the letter reasonable in length, at approximately 60
lines or less.
The following basic information should be provided in your letter; however, it is NOT necessary to follow
this format. I have provided demographic information for Corey on the third (last) page of this document.
(You do not have to prepare a separate copy for Corey or his attorney. We will make copies here in
our office and see that they get them.)
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From: [Your name and address]
Date:
[Insert]
To:
President, Army Clemency and Parole Board
Crystal Mall 4
Room 109A
1901 South Bell Street
Arlington, VA 22202-4508
Re:
Clemency Hearing for Corey Clagett, 82477
Copy To:
Colby Vokey, Lt.Col USMC (Ret.)
Law firm of Colby Vokey PC
Copy to:
Corey Clagett, 82477
Salutation:
Dear President of the Army Clemency and Parole Board,
First Paragraph:
Provide a brief explanation of who you are, how you know the soldier and/or why
you are interested in his case. If you have military experience, include that
information. It is not necessary that you know the soldier. Your interest in his case
is sufficient.
Second Paragraph:
State your opinion regarding why the soldier should be released, avoiding any
negative statements regarding the trial, the system, or others involved. It is okay
to say that you feel that the amount of time served is sufficient, and to compare
it to the sentence and/or the amount of time by any others involved in the same
incident if it is a favorable comparison.
You may argue that the soldier is not now, nor has he ever been a threat to
society, and point out that this incident took place in a war theater, not in civilian
life.
Third Paragraph:
Point out that this person would even be of benefit to society, stating any special
skills he may have to contribute. You may also mention any children, elderly or
disabled, or other family who would benefit from his release.
If the soldier has completed any courses, been involved in any spiritual
endeavors, or participated in any work programs, be sure to mention these
accomplishments.
Final Paragraph:
While keeping your remarks positive, say what is in your heart, and for each of
us, this will be different.
Close with a polite statement of thanks.
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Demographic Information
Name:
Inmate number:
Location:
Corey Clagett
82477
United States Disciplinary Barracks, 1300 North Warehouse Road, Ft. Leavenworth, KS
66027-2304
Current Age:
30
Age at the time of incarceration: 21
DOB:
7/13/1984
Hometown:
Charleston, SC
A Letter from Corey’s mother, Melanie Dianiska:
My Plea to the American Public
Let me introduce myself. My name is Melanie Dianiska and I am the mother of Corey
Clagett. I want to tell you how our life changed eight years ago in May of 2006. Before I
do so let me tell you about my son before this tragedy hit our family.
Corey is my middle child with blonde hair and baby blue eyes. He always had girls chasing
him in his teens. He cared about how he looked and liked his room clean. Corey was
always fixing something or making something new. He would always come in the room
to John (my husband) or me and ask us what we thought about what he had fixed or
created. He needed that pat on the back, so to speak. He was amazingly funny. He could
say something right out of the blue and make you laugh. He would help anyone who
needed help and would give the shirt off his back if you needed it. He volunteered John
and I to do things, just to help someone out. We tried to do many things as a family
while the boys was growing up. We did many things and Corey enjoyed them all, like
camping, fishing, crabbing, bowling, going to the lake or beach. We had many family
cookouts. Corey wasn't in many sports like his brothers, but he did help with Camp Happy
Days and helped tutor handicapped children after school.
Corey is very smart and school was too slow for him. I wouldn't allow him to quit so he
went to Job-Corps. There, he received his diploma and got a welding certificate although
that isn't what he wanted. He wanted certification in heating and air, but the class was
full. By the age of sixteen, Corey was in a program where he could go to school part of
the day and gain career experience during the other half. He loved it! He was a hard
worker and showed John and I that he was responsible and because of that he earned a
cell phone that he had to pay on and he never was late. We were going to sell a car and
Corey asked us if he could buy it. John and I decided we would teach him some
responsibility so we drew up a contract. We were the seller and Corey the buyer. Corey
was never was late and paid in full. During this time he wasn't even allowed to drive it.
He had to wait until it was paid off and he could afford his own insurance. But as always,
Corey had a goal and he was willing to work for it.
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Corey grew up in the fields picking tomatoes. He also shelled peas and butters beans and
shucked many bushels of corn. He helped canned veggies too. When Corey was a toddler
he would hang onto my leg. He did not want me to leave a room without him. He was a
colic baby until about four month of age. Thank God for my parents and family for help
until it passed. Corey was on the A-B honor roll all through elementary school. Corey was
very protective of his family and would stand up for his brothers when they needed him.
He was there when I needed him. At the age of eight he saved my life. I was running a
produce stand on the side of the road and I was being assaulted, but Corey saw what
was happening and he ran and jumped on the back of one of my attackers. This made
them stop and take off. I was unconscious and bleeding, but by the grace of God my
three boys packed up that 8X10 trailer and drove a 5 speed pick up 5 miles down a four
lane highway to our home. Corey than ran to a neighbors to call police.
I could go on and on about Corey. It saddens me as I write this and think back to his
childhood years. Corey joined the Army three months after turning twenty. He was living
at home and he and his older brother joined together. Corey went off to Fort Benning,
GA where he was there from October 2004 - February 2005. During that time he had a
Christmas break for two weeks. John and I drove from SC to GA and picked him and his
brother up. During that break, Corey wore his Army uniform every day. I asked him to
change, but he was so proud of that uniform and what it stood for. One day he stopped
to fill up gas in his truck and someone paid for it. Folks were shaking his hand and saying
“thank you for your service” and this made Corey feel so good. He would say “they respect
me, mom” and he said it with such pride.
Corey got his orders to go overseas before he even finished training. My husband told
Corey that there was no way he would go overseas this soon. Sure enough, Corey had
his orders. He was sent to Fort Campbell, KY for his first duty station. In August 2005,
Corey was off to Iraq. Eight months later in May of 2006 Corey was charged with two
counts of murder & conspiracy to commit murder of two Iraqi detainees, although the
R.O.E (rules of engagement) were to kill all military age males. There are too many details
to go into here so please visit: (http://www.unitedpatriots.org).
Corey was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and under bad command. We
did not have the money for a civilian attorney. We did not have a lot of support. The
military went to trial so fast - seven months. Corey's attorney at the time came into some
trouble and had to withdraw from the case, therefore, Corey could not proceed with a
trial and was backed into a corner. Corey was forced into a plea deal. That plea deal was
eighteen years with a chance of parole. At the age of twenty-two, Corey was going to
prison. If that wasn't bad enough, he was being sent to Ft. Leavenworth, KS. That is
twelve hundred miles from us here in Charleston, SC. It took us three years until we were
finally able to see Corey. We don't have the money to travel that far on a regular basis.
When we are able to go, it is because of generous donations. It was not easy trying to
raise the funds. It was another two years before another visit come around. We are on
our fourth attorney now. Our recent visits and legal defense would not be possible if not
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for United American Patriots (UAP). Corey's appeals are all exhausted. All that is left for
Corey is a chance at parole. A parole hearing comes up once a year now. We feel Corey's
chance at parole is better with our current attorney. UAP has helped with travel, but
because of the great expense, funds are only available once per year. Without UAP,
soldier's in a situation like Corey's has no chance. The cost is high and the average person
doesn't have that kind of money.
Corey was in a War he didn't start and now he is a prisoner of our own government.
Corey was not forced to join. He did it willingly. Joining the Army was Corey first time he
was on his own. He was looking forward to getting back to Ft. Campbell and getting an
apartment with a friend. He had asked us to buy things for the apartment and asked if
we would come and set it up for him. Corey had a job and he loved it, he felt he was
making it on his own and loved being independent. He has so much to look forward to.
Do you know what our life has been like since the day Corey was charged and
incarcerated eight years ago? Hell on Earth! Sure, my son had his life, but what kind of
life? From the very start, Corey’s treatment was unspeakable. We tried protesting all that
was happening to Corey. Early on, the Army gave Corey ten months off his sentence to
keep thing quiet but the ill treatment has continued over the years. Corey was in
solitary confinement for the first six years straight. Corey was never given the
chance to be in general population. Do you know what solitary confinement does to a
person, let alone six years of it? Corey was limited to phone calls and wasn't allowed any
visitors while in maximum custody. That lasted almost three years. Corey was on and off
medications and received no counseling or treatment of any kind. He was isolated from
the outside and from his family. When someone would write Corey it was returned most
the time. So he wasn't getting much mail.
He was inside living with a devil on one shoulder saying to him, “No one cares about, you
are alone, you will die in here” and that is only just a few thoughts he had. Then he had
an Angel on the other shoulder telling him, “Hang on and have faith! People are fighting
for you. You are loved, your family will come see, you” etc. I do not know how my son
has lasted so long. Understandably, he has been on an emotional roller-coaster over the
years. At one point, Corey stopped believing in justice; he didn't trust anyone. He felt
betrayed by his country. He felt no one had his back in his time of need. Corey was giving
up, he couldn't adjust to being in prison. He felt he didn't deserve what happened to him.
I will never forget a phone call I received from Corey at 2:00am. I picked up the phone
and heard Corey's voice on the other end. I knew the minute the phone rang it was him.
He was crying and was inconsolable. In Corey’s adult life, I have only heard him cry twice,
the first time was at his sentencing and this was the second. I began to cry, too. I had
no control. We were both crying so hard. When I could catch my breath, I asked him
what was wrong. I was so scared. Then I stared cry again. Here I am twelve hundred
miles away, my son need me and I can hold him or look him in the face and tell him it
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will be okay. When he calmed down he said, “Mom, I can't do this. I can't last in here.”
and he just kept repeating this for several minutes. I was so scared my son would try
and take his life. He was felt so much despair. Because Corey was so upset, a guard let
Corey make the call at that time. I kept telling Corey to hang on and that I would do
whatever I could to get him out. I cried for days after that phone call. It was so hard
hanging up when I know Corey was so sad. I never knew when I would get a call from
him. It tore at my heart knowing what my son was going through and how he was being
treated.
My world came to a complete stop. I stopped living. I was mourning my child who was
still alive. I lost a part of my life. I will never be the same again. For me, I could no longer
enjoy life knowing my son was in misery. I stopped celebrating the holidays, stopped
going to other family member’s homes. I didn't cook, I couldn’t eat. I couldn't do
anything. I started therapy, but I got to where I couldn't leave the house so they came
and did home visits for me. I feel into a deep depression. But I was able to write letters,
make phone calls and anything else to help advocate for Corey. I had two worlds: I was
a fighter for Corey but “Melanie” was gone. My family needed me but I couldn't be there
for them. They had their freedom, they could work, wear what they wanted, eat what
they wanted, shower, go to friends, whatever. They were okay in my eyes. Corey on the
other hand had nothing. He was stripped of everything. Everything he bought while in
the army was gone. I lived by drinking cola. Stress has destroyed my health. I lived by
the computer because I had to reach anyone who would listen. I had to make it known
what happened to Corey. I had to find someone who would help Corey. My family was
falling apart. My husband needed his wife, my boys needed their mother, my parents
needed their daughter, my sister needed her sister, but I couldn't give them what they
needed. I cried so much over the years, I was afraid to sleep because I never knew when
a call would come from Corey. My home was my cave. I had to suffer alone with Corey.
Everyone copes differently and my way, I couldn't live and be happy. I was eaten up with
guilt.
On the day Corey was sentenced January 25th 2007 (my birthday was the 24th) we were
seated across from each other at a banquet table. We had our arms stretched out towards
each other and held hands. My baby looked at me with such sadness and a frightened
look and asked, “Mom, what do I do?” We were told that there were only two options for
Corey, he would be found guilty and get life with NO chance of Parole and he would
spend his natural life in prison or he could take the plea deal and get eighteen years with
a chance of parole after serving a third of his sentence. These were the only two options
Corey had, because he had no attorney to fight for him and have a fair trial. So,with that
I looked at Corey and said with tears, “Corey I want you to come home.” What YOU
would say under those circumstances?
I could write a book about everything I would like to say, but I think I better stop or you
will tire from reading. Corey needs you and your support, I beg and plead with you to
help.
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We have had the door slammed in our face so many times. People promise to help and
don't come through. I found folks are willing to go to any means to save an animal before
helping an American Soldier who could have died and come back in a coffin to make this
country a little safer. This is not the kind of story you hoped to hear about, but things
happen in war and Corey needed and still needs your help. We can't do this alone as a
family, UAP can't do this alone and Corey certainly can't do this on his own. We have to
rely on the American public to help. It is hard to ask others to help, but we don't have
the means to do it on our own.
P.S. My son has grown up in prison, he was 21 and now Corey's “30th Birthday” is July
13th 2014
I appreciate your time in reading this,
A Soldier's Mother,
Melanie Dianiska
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