9 20 256 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/394a95359c0c99d3718f5c5a801aa9f8.jpg ef167b2c40f3ba031f766aa784b204d8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Article Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Webb, Daniel Text Any textual data included in the document Florida's capital sentencing statute provides for a three-step trial procedure in the administration of the death penalty. After a defendant is found guilty of a capital felony, a sentencing hearing is conducted before a jury which renders an advisory verdict; the judge, however, determines the actual sentence. The statute thus permits a trial court to impose a sentence of death despite the jury’s conclusion that the defendant deserves to live. That has happened 87 times in Florida. Legislation is presently pending before the House and Senate of the Florida Legislature providing that a jury recommendation of Life imprisonment in capital cases be binding on the court. The reasons for supporting this legislation are, I think, straightforward. First, the jury override degrades the jury on the very issue that has at its core an ethical and moral judgment of the community. The sentencer’s principal task in a capital case is to determine where that defendant and his crime are located on the scale of community outrage. Given that the purpose of a death sentence is to reflect community standards it follows that the representatives of the community should decide who dies. Second, the jury override wastes judicial and fiscal resources. The Florida Supreme Court reverses three-quarters of override cases. That alone is strong evidence that the system is not working. Third, the jury override increases the possibility of executing an innocent person. Jurors are instructed to determine the guilt of an accused beyond a reasonable doubt. There is, however, another type of doubt, often called “whimsical doubt,” i.e., doubt not rising to the level of reasonable doubt. If a juror entertains such a “whimsical doubt,” he or she would still be duty-bound to convict the defendant. But such a doubt is an important consideration in deciding whether to impose an irrevocable penalty. The judge, who does not take part in the jury’s deliberations, will not know if such whimsical doubt was a factor in the jury’s recommendation of a life sentence. Equally important is what this bill is not about. First, it is not about abolishing the death penalty. I recognize the right of the state to exact its ultimate penalty against the ultimate wrongdoers. But the issue here is not whether some will dies; the question is who is going to decide which of those wrongdoers are in fact the most heinous. Second, this legislation is not about commuting the death sentences of anyone presently on Death Row. The bill expressly provides that it would apply “only to offenses committed on or after Jan. 1, 1986” and that “persons who committed a capital felony prior to such date shall be sentenced in accordance with law in effect at the time” the offense was committed. The amendment would be prospective only. Third, it is sometimes argued that we should just leave the statute alone: We have something that works; let’s let it be and not risk creating any new issues for appeal. The problem with this position is that it insulates the statute from any progress or reform. The statute can be changed and in fact has been changed several times in the past. In 1979, for example, the Legislature added an aggravating circumstance and changed the language concerning mitigating circumstances. Finally, it has been argued that if a jury recommendation of life should be binding upon the trial court, then a jury recommendation of death should also be binding. This argument possesses a symmetry which is superficially attractive. The difficulty is that is would create more problems than it would solve. In essence, a “both ways binding” statute means a statute providing for jury sentencing. Thirty of the 37 American states with the the death penalty do have jury sentencing, but for Florida to adopt such a system would require several other changes to our statute: the jury’s verdict should be unanimous, and the jury should be required to give reasons for imposing the death sentence. Such changes could raise questions about the continued constitutional validity of the statute as a whole. And it would simply not be worth the effort, since judge overrides in favor of life seem to be relatively rare. During the 13-year tenure of Florida’s modern death statute, judges have imposed death, following jury verdicts of life, in 87 cases. The sort of asymmetry embodied in the present legislation is already fundamental to our system of criminal justice. At the guilt-innocence phase of a criminal trial, for example, a judge may enter a judgment of acquittal despite the jury’s rendition of a guilty verdict. But a jury’s rendition of a not guilty verdict is inviolate and not subject to judicial scrutiny, no matter how contrary to the weight of the evidence. The bill would do no more than extend this principle to the penalty phase of the trial. In sum, the system is not working. The system degrades the role of the jury, and this, in effect, that of the community in our criminal justice system. Three-quarters of the jury overrides are overturned on appeal anyway. The override places Florida in the company of only two other American states with the death penalty. The Legislature should change this situation. <ul> <li>Michael A. Mello is an assistant public defender for Palm Beach County. This article is adapted from his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee this spring.</li> </ul> Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource No One Should Die When the Jury Votes for Life Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mello, Michael A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Post Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-06-05 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 dpi Description An account of the resource Newspaper article written by Michael A. Mello, discussing Florida's capital sentencing statute in 1985. Subject The topic of the resource Florida Capital punishment Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Mello_91 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Florida 1985 death penalty Florida Florida capital sentencing statute Florida juries Michael A. Mello Michael Mello The Post https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/ac2882dae4c5796df647d4c016c37137.jpg 9fa906bba0d4ddcd1faf5052cb1b2b6b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 5 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Leonard, Gavin Text Any textual data included in the document [Publication info] Valley News Thursday, November 6, 1997 [Title] Not The Michael Mello I Know To The Editor: I read with displeasure the article “Evolution Of A Death Row Lawyer” (Sunday Valley News, Oct. 12). I have known Professor Michael Mello since I entered law school in 1995. I chose to enroll at Vermont Law School in large part because he is tenured here. Given his academic resume, his many professional and personal accomplishments, and the publicity he has received, I expected to meet an unapproachable professional with little patience for students who have so little to recommend us. Instead, I found a man eager to teach in and out of the classroom, a friendly professor who catches a student’s mere hint of self-deprecation and quickly counters it, one who eagerly lends books and invites critiques of every aspect of his life, including writings, from students and colleagues. He is an energetic and complex individual in the most Kierkegaardian sense. On the day my classmates and I stood on the banks of the White River while our professors and deans introduced themselves, a telephone message awaited Mello. It was a message that his client of 20 years was scheduled to be executed. That message ultimately led him to enlist the aid of his students in winning a stay of execution for “Crazy” Joe Spaziano (the fourth or fifth, a record in death cases) and to fly on a moment’s notice to Florida to argue another issue in the case before the Florida Supreme Court. This was done pro bono, as usual, and funded by his personal credit cards. That death case would be his last. He has turned to advocacy in public interest. Mello now writes. Instead of pouring all his ideas and work into briefs for one client, he writes law review articles, articles in The Nation, and books for academics, law students, lawyers and everyone else about the capital-punishment system and the toll it takes on our lives. Do a search on Westlaw, Lexis or just about any other data base, and you will see his works, his statements and his testimony before Congress quoted, borrowed or paraphrased too many times to count. Lawyers use those works in their cases, and enlist personal help as well. Mello happily stays behind the case, off brief, providing advice and research and emotional support One also sees his public-interest advocacy in the case in which he is presently involved as a plaintiff: He is trying to put some teeth into an informed-consent statute in Vermont that prevents most Vermonters from gaining access to the courts when they claim medical malpractice based on the lack of informed consent. Unfortunately, the lack of research done for the Valley News article and its lack of analysis would seem to belie his motive. I wish the Valley News would put as much energy into analyzing his case and his accomplishments as it trying to disparage him. [Author] Paul J. Perkins [Residence of Author] South Royalton [End of Page] Student Editor of the Digital Item Van Doren, Jamie Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Not The Michael Mello I Know Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Informed consent (Medical Law) -- United States Mello, Michael Description An account of the resource Paul J. Perkins writes a response letter to the Valley News editor describing his former law professor Michael Mello. Perkins writes about his pro bono work on the Spaziano case and general advocacy on capital punishment reform as well as the informed-consent statute in Vermont. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Perkins, Paul J. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997-11-06 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Perkins, Paul J. "Not The Michael Mello I Know." Valley News (Lebanon, NH), November 6, 1997, p. 1. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English law school Michael Mello Valley News https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/b3cb2200cf83c52203005a4a3558cd82.jpg 8301aef9f8b8a86a6f0715c4c0ef5863 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 1, 1976-1979 Text Text Any textual data included in the document In the October 31 issue of PROMETHEUS, my good friend Lisa Langebach argued that our governmental philosophy should be governed by the “simple principle” advanced by John Stewart Mill in his essay On Liberty: “that the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.” Thus the famous “harm principle”, which Ms. Langenbach feels “provides a solid foundation for all action” and should be the basis of the American legal code. I happen to agree with her, but for the sake of discussion I would like now to present the opposing viewpoint, and in so doing I should thank Dr. Fullinwider of the Philospohy Department for showing me that there was a strong, rational conter-argument of Mill. Mill’s “simple” principle is really not so simple at all. He writes that “if anyone does an act hurtful to others, there is a prima facia case for punishing him by law. Yet Mill never specifically defines “harm.” Does only physical harm count, or are embarrassment, frustration, and mental anguish also included within the harm principle; certainly they all constitute harm. Further, Mill never spedifies how much harm is necessary before legal punishment may ensure, what is the harm threshold, in other words? Mill’s failure to deal fully with these matters raises serious ambiguities about his tesis, especially since he offers many qualifications to his ‘simple” harm principle. First, he justifies state coercion aon matters of joint society interest; “there are many be compelled to perform, such as to give evidence in a court of justice and to bear his fair share in the common defense.” Mill does not stop there; “a person may cause evil to other not only by his actions but by his inaction and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.” Thus, a citizen may be punished for inaction as well as action, and both punishments are surely infringemints on freedom. We are “harmed,” but Mill justifies it. This point about omissions is crucial for it means that harm is not necessary a prerequisite for punishment. I now don’t have to actively harm someone in order to be punished. Further, hamr alone is note ven a suffiecent condition for punishment: if I invent a machine that makes it possible for me to put you out of business, I have certainly hurt you. Yet Mill holds that the State may not punish me for this harm. Now the harm must be of a certain nature before punishment may be justifiend: hamr alone is no longer the yardstick. These qualifications cut the heart out of the harm principle and render it useless as a standard for gouging the validity of laws or other social policy. Mill assumes that there exists isolated vacuums of private conduct over which the “individual in soverign” and the state may not interfere. But, as Joel Fienbeg wrote in Social Philosophy, “there are a thousand subtle and indirect ways in which every individual act, no matter how private and solitary, is the cause: if he did not smoke marijuana his mother would not have been harmed. Similary my mere knowledge of the fact that homosexual activity is taking place in the dorm room next to me may cause me tremendous mental and emotional harm – yet the gays next door may not be pusish for this harm: the fatal heart attack that affects others.” A mother may be so upset over her son’s private marijuana yse that she has a nervous breakdown. The mother has been harmed, and it seems that her son results from my consternation is only an “inconvenience which society must bear for the greater good of human freedom, unless the individual violats a specific duty to the public.” Thus, the “self-regarding/ other-regarding” distincition. But how can Mill just blithfull exempt this kind of harm from punishment without specifying precisely what the indivudals “duties” to his society are? Harm alone is not an adequate measure. Mill attempted to deal with this problem by specifying two different types of social response to “problem” citizens. While only direct harm may be punished by the criminal law, indirecdt harm (such as my gay neighbor) may be punished by a sort of “social law” we may avoid the offender, withhold gratuitus benefits from his and so forth. In dealing with such an offender, “we may express our distaste and we may stand aloof from a person as well as a thing which displeases us, but we shall not therefore feel called on to make his life merable.” But is this really sufficient? Mill assumes that “the greater good of human freedom” will always outweigh the “inconvenience” yet this may not be the case. Take, for example, a private billboard palced on private property, adjoining a public highway. Suppose the billboard contained a twelve foot caricature of former President Nixon performing sodomy with a Palimeno pony under the caption “Nixon Sucks.” I wonder if this is an “inconvenience” that the public would afford for the “greather good of human freedom.” Mill is a utilitarian, which means that he does not appeal to abstract principle to support his thesis. But Martin Golding has argued that “the utilitarian argument cuts both ways: why shouldn’t the individual’s greedom be limited if it promotes the general happiness and perhaps his own happiness in the end?” Mill also assumes that freedom is necessary for self-fulfillment, a presupposition which he never develops. If freedom is so valuable, then why do so many people surrender theirs to dictators so easily? For these reasons, the harm principle alone cannot be the basis of social policy. It is too nebulous and it is this very quality which makes it so seductive. But, as Socrates once said, “The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms.” Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Gallagher, Caleb S. Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Obeying The Law: Another Opinon Subject The topic of the resource Law Student newspapers and periodicals Description An account of the resource An article by Micheal Mello questioning the law and how the law should be followed. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mello, Micheal A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Mello, Michael A. "Obeying The Law: Another Opinion." Prometheus. Michael A. Mello Papers, 1957-2008, Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Fredericksburg, VA Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI harm Law practice of law https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/b59d847eca13727f615efbcff67a6258.jpg db1455a3b1a99bb6def418c74bc0ac03 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document For a few days last month, it looked as if Joe Spaziano had finally reached the high road to freedom. Potholes have developed. Let me update the story. On Aug. 21, 1973, police in Seminole County were led to a county dump. There they found the mutilated bodies of Laura Lynn Hartberts and another young woman. Two years passed. No leads. No suspects. No evidence. Then the authorities learned of a 16-year-old who wanted to talk. The kid had run away from a drug treatment center in a stolen car, and maybe he would strike a deal. This was Tony DiLisio. He had a bizarre story to tell. Indeed, he had several bizarre stories to tell, each of them contradicting details of the one before. The gist of it was that "Crazy Joe" Spaziano had taken him to the dump, pointed out the bodies, and claimed responsibility for the apparent murders. Young Tony's story was not all that convincing, but the cops were patient. They brought in a hypnotist. Tony obediently "remembered" all sorts of things. It was shaky evidence, but it was all the state had. Thus the Harberts' murder case went to trial in January 1976 before Judge Robert McGregor. At a pretrial hearing, the trial prosecutor made no bones about his case. "If we can't get in the testimony of Tony DiLisio, we'd absolutely have no case here whatsoever." Counsel repeated that admission in closing argument to the jury: "If you don't believe DiLIsio, then find the defendant not guilty in five minutes." As it later transpired, at least one juror had grave doubts about DiLisio, but the jury's verdict was guilty - with a recommendation for life imprisonment. Judge McGregor overruled the jury and sentenced Spaziano to death. Years passed. Appeals went up and down. Five times the governor set a date for execution. A lawyer who became obsessed with the case, Michael Mello, refused to give up. Six months ago the break came. DiLisio confessed that his testimony was a lie. He had fingered Spaziano to please his domineering father, who had reason to hate Crazy Joe. Florida's Supreme Court remanded the case for further proceedings on the newly discovered evidence. Now the good news: On Jan. 23, Judge O. H. Eaton Jr. vacated the verdict of guilty, vacated the death sentence, and ordered a new trial to begin in March. The bad news is that the state is appealing to Judge Eaton's order to the Florida Supreme Court. Before all appeals are exhausted, months or years could pass. Judge Eaton's opinion amounts to a complete vindication of Mello's selfless labor, Said the judge: "The crucial testimony at the trial of this case in 1976 came from the mouth of Anthony DiLisio. It was he who provided the only evidence of the cause of death of the decedent and it was he who supplied the jury with the evidence connecting this tragic event to the defendant. Without his testimony, there simply is no corroborating evidence in the trial record that is sufficient to sustain the verdict. . . ." Judge Eaton sketched a sordid picture. Tony's father, Ralph DiLiso, abused his six children. Tony grew up on the wild side. He got heavily into drugs. Meanwhile his father, who owned a boat dealership, was having an affair with one of his employees known as "Keppy." Judge Eaton's opinion continued: "Keppy seduced Tony DiLisio when he was 15 and with whom he had frequent sexual intercourse for about two and one-half years. His father and Keppy ultimately married. DiLisio had sex with her for the last time on their wedding day. . . . "The defendant (Spaziano) worked at the marina. . . . Not surprisingly, Keppy began to have a sexual relationship with the defendant. Ralph DiLisio found out and became angry. At some point Keppy accused the defendant of raping her. It was about that time that Ralph DiLisio asked his son if the defendant had told him he mutilated women. DiLisio testified that the defendant never said anything like that to him. But the idea was planted in his mind." A chain of events led to the two sessions of hypnosis. Judge Eaton said the hypnotist "does not give the listener confidence in his abilities." One defense expert graded the hypnotist a "double F"; the other rated his skill at zero. "In the United States," Judge Eaton concluded, "every person, no matter how unsavory, is entitled to due process of law and a fair trial. The defendant received neither. The validity of the verdict in this case rests upon the testimony of an admitted perjurer who had every reason to fabricate a story which he hoped he would be believed. The courts of this country should not tolerate the deprivation of life or liberty under such circumstances. . . . The judgment and sentence cannot stand." Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Snellings, Alyssa Student Editor of the Digital Item Dickinson, Terra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource One more detour on Spaziano's long road to freedom Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Spaziano, Joe Mello, Michael Florida. Supreme Court Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kilpatrick, James J. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Kilpatrick James J. "One more detour on Spaziano's long road to freedom." Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI Description An account of the resource Joe Spaziano was suspected and accused of the murder of two young women in 1973 as a result of the statement from Anthony DiLisio. https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/75eee5dbd0ee8b0ed3b7f0d8ade55f69.jpg da90aab2cdd72dd137294f1c93428526 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 3, 1995 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Welch, Miranda Text Any textual data included in the document TALLAHASSEE— A state lawyer says he can’t find anything wrong with the testimony of a man that proved vital in convicting a former motorcycle outlaw who tortured and murdered an 18-year-old woman 22 years ago. Gov. Lawton Chiles on Thursday stayed the execution of Joseph Spaziano, who was scheduled to die June 27, after media re-ports cast doubts on Tony Dilisio’s testimony. Dilisio was quoted as saying his testimony is false and had been manipulated by investigators. But Chiles’ chief legal advisors, Dexter Douglass, told The Orlando Sentinel that Dilisio hasn’t recanted his testimony and there’s nothing to show Spaziano was wrongly convicted in 1976. “The record to me is clear,” Douglass told the paper. “This man tortured and killed this young woman. Nothing I have seen or heard from Mr. Dilisio or anyone else changes that.” Spaziano, a former president of the Outlaws motorcycle club in Orlando, was convicted of the August 1973 torture-murder of Orlando hospital clerk Laura Lynn Harberts. During the trial, Dilisio testified that Spaziano boasted about mutilating women and took him to an Altamonte Springs dump, where Dilisio saw two bodies. One woman was never identified; the other was Harberts. After Spaziano’s execution was stayed, agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement questioned Dilisio again, Douglass said. “All he has told FDLE is that he can no longer remember” his testimony, Douglass said. “That, to me, does nothing to discredit the testimony of 1976.” But the FDLE is continuing to investigate the new twist in the case – next week, agents are scheduled to administer a polygraph test to Dilisio. Friday, Vermont law professor Michael Mello took over Spaziano’s case. Mello had represented Spaziano through 11 years worth of appeals, but quit in January for health reasons. Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Outlaw case testimony not flawed, lawyer says Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-06-18 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Tallahassee, FL Description An account of the resource Joseph Spaziano was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Laura Lynn Harberts in 1973. Prior to his execution a stay was granted due to media reports casting doubt on Tony Dilisio's testimony. While the FDLE is continuing to investigate the false statement allegations Michael Mello has agreed to return to the case. Subject The topic of the resource Capitol Punishment Witnesses Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI Capital punishment. https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/68e7d5dc940a7531c7bf8e06b1f6cc48.jpg 914d8c899b63c4fa8bd8251449268502 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document ORLANDO- Juries, not judges, should decide whether convicted killers are sentenced to death, the Florida Bar’s board of governors said in voting its support for a bill that would take away judges’ power to override juries. “Juries are better than judges as yardsticks of community outrage in deciding whom to execute,” said Michael Mello, an attorney who is paid by the state to defend Death Row inmates. The board voted 21 to 7 Thursday to urge Legislature to change a 1972 law that lets trial judges impose a death sentence for first-degree murder even if the jury recommends life in prison with no parole for 25 years. Since the law took effect, trial judges have ignored jury recommendations for life sentences and sentenced convicted murderers to death in 92 cases. The change would force judges to accept juries’ recommendations against the death penalty. The bill making the change has been proposed in the past two legislative sessions but was opposed by prosecutors and judges. Mello said juries seem to recommend life sentences when they have “a lingering doubt about the defendant’s guilt.” In a 1975 case, a circuit court jury convicted motorcycle gang member Joseph Spaziano of the murder and mutilation of a woman near Orlando, but only after twice telling the judge they couldn’t reach a verdict. The jury voted 9-3 for life imprisonment. But Circuit Judge Robert McGregor sentenced Spaziano to death, and reimposed the penalty after the state Supreme Court asked him to reconsider it. One of the jurors in the case said the panel favored the life sentence because of doubts about Spaziano’s guilt. The sentence was the upheld by state and U.S Supreme Court justices, but U.S. Justice John Paul Stevens said the law which lets judges override jury recommendations is defective. The board of governors consists of 39 attorneys elected by lawyers in the state’s 20 judicial circuits. The board’s vote Thursday was the first time it has taken a position on the bill. According to a bar study, most of the judges’ overrides of jury recommendations were later reversed by the state Supreme Court. In Florida, 221 murders have been sentenced to death and 13 have been executed since 1997. Only one Death Row inmate, Ernest Dobber, has been executed against a jury’s will. A jury recommended life in prison on a 10-2 vote, but Dobbert was electrocuted in 1984 for the slayings of his 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Article Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Scanlon, Heidi Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Panel: Jurors Should Decide the Fate of Killers Description An account of the resource An article in support of juries having the final say in death penalty cases. Says that judges should not have the ability to overrule a jury decision. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Tallahassee Democrat Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-01-11 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 jpg 300 dpi Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Jury--United States--Decision making. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Tallahassee, Florida death penalty Florida juries Michael A. Mello https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/868e6e7921bfbe21e64a30d83b7ea4a7.png 81bad64235b0f2dd65a903d3bb0cbd61 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 1, 1976-1979 Text Text Any textual data included in the document Dear Editor: The administration of this school does not keep records of extracurricular activities (political or otherwise) of its students, contrary to your October 4 editorial in which you wrote, "our student records contain...our extracurricular activities whether we belong to Young Americans for Freedom or NORML. Many students who intend to work with the government upon graduation or would like to attend professional or graduate school are afraid to join organizations ...Indeed their fears are justified" I defy you to present one shred of evidence, one scrap of substantiation to this charge which has done so much to fan the flames of paranoia on this campus and which has caused such grievous damage to MWC NORML. After reading your piece, I went down to GW and checked my own records there. After all, I informed Dean Clement of my intention to establish a chapter of NORML here on campus well over a month ago; I gave her a copy of our proposed club constitution and discussed the whole project with her at some length; I invited her to our first meeting- in short, of all the NORML members here at MWC, she knew all about me. So if NORML affiliation does in fact go into our records, my file would be bulging. But, my records contained nothing more than Photostats of my grades and an emergency information form which I myself completed upon application to MWC. There was not one word about my activities in NORML- not even a copy of the Constitution I gave to Dean Clement at the beginning of the semester. Four other members of the group also viewed their files and found exactly the same thing I did. I did not check to see if the Administration is any more interested in YAF than they are in NORML, but both Dean Clement and President Woodward have assured me that they are not. Clement summed it up when she said, "We have enough here to keep us busy without following students to their club meetings. We don't have the resources to do it even if we wanted to- which we don't." I do not know what possessed you to write such a damaging editorial, but in light of subsequent investigation, I respectfully suggest that you retract it. The students of this school should be encouraged to take an active part in the political system by joining such groups as Young Republicans, Young Democrats, YAF, or NORML depending on where their leanings lie. We have a Constitutional right to join whatever organizations we please. MWC does not keep the records of our extracurricular activities- and anyone who doubts this can easily find out for themselves by checking their own files. Mike Mello Editor's Notes: Indeed, I should have made my editorial more explicit. Student records contain information on extracurricular activities which the student submits to the Dean of Students. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Clay, Austin Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Paranoid Flames Description An account of the resource Mike Mello wrote to the Editor on November 1, 1976. He said that although the school claims to keep records of students' extracurricular activities, he has substantial evidence that shows otherwise. He believes that students should be able to join any college organizations. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mello, Michael A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Mello, Michael A. "Paranoid Flames." Mary Washington College Bullet, November 1, 1976, Michael A. Mello Papers, 1957 - 2008, Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1976-11-01 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Fredericksburg, VA Subject The topic of the resource Campus Life https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/927306cb3181277414fb3d5601f72744.jpg db01384ce48841a168d99de80e5aa034 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Lee, Tessa Text Any textual data included in the document [title] Parent-child privilege has little precedent By Mike Donoghue Free Press Staff Witter Arthur and Geneva Yandow faced an uphill battle when they asserted that as parents they should not be forced to testify against their son, a rape suspect. No state recognize the privilege, but a Vermont Law School professor said they should hold their ground and appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Professor Michael Mello knows the parent-child issue well. He helped defend a woman who refused to tell a Washington, D.C., court the whereabouts of her daughter. The mother suspected her divorce husband of molesting the child during court order visits. The mother went to jail in August 1987 for two years rather then have her 9-year-old daughter visit her father. Courts recognize that some people have special rights when it comes to certain communications. They include doctor-patient, priest-confessor, counselor-client, journalist-source, lawyer-client, and husband-wife. Some are based on common law, and others are based on state laws.  There appears to be little support in the courts to extend husband-wife privilege to parent-child, Burlington lawyer Noah Paley said. Paley, who also has an interest in medical-confidentiality issues, noted that in cases involving doctors, counselors or lawyers, the person is seeking a professional service. Dr. Arnold Golodetz pf the Vermont Ethics Network agreed. He noted that a husband-wife or parent-child privilege is not based on a commercial relationship. Jane Kirtley of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press said journalists have a constitutional protection under the First Amendment. "Journalism is the one business protected by the Constitution," the Arlington, Va., lawyer said. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Parent-child privilege has little precedent Subject The topic of the resource Parents should not have to testify against children committed crimes in court. Description An account of the resource No state recognize the child/parent privilege when it comes to testifying in court cases. Many argue they should appeal to the Supreme Court. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Donoghue, Mike Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Donoghue, Mike. "parent-child privilege has little precedence." The Burlington Free Press Newspaper, March 29, 1996. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997-03-29 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 jpg 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/dd4b7cecbcbe741e23da57cc64b9a276.jpg 4443a2c4be8e54f4b35250fc8bef3776 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/a874f6476e2df09098ccabc869c4e7f7.jpg 56833d5f9dcb4e3c1ac56cf397deb7ee https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/2e8ac087052af749d881073bac3c6c15.jpg 2556b1b940aeb62e264b522fe1250a09 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY [spacing] Page 19 Citation [spacing] Search Result [spacing] Rank 9 of 63 [spacing] Database 4/14/96 LATIMES 27 [spacing] ALLNEWS 4/14/96 L.A. Times 27 1996 WL 5259955 (Publication page references are not available for this document.) [centered] Los Angeles Times Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 1996 all rights reserved [centered] Sunday, April 14, 1996 [centered] PART-A; Advance Desk [centered] Parents Jailed for Refusing to Testify Against Son, 25; Courts: Vermont couple cite 'parent-child privilege' to justify silence at rape case inquest. [centered] WILSON RING [centered] ASSOCIATED PRESS Arthur and Geneva Yandow have gone to jail in hopes of keeping their son out of one. The couple refuse to testify at a prosecutor's inquest in a rape case in which the suspect is their 25-year-old son. The Yandows claim that "parent-child privilege" gives them the legal and moral authority to refuse. So far, the courts and the couple's church disagree. "My clients are absolutely adamant that they will not testify," lawyer Paul Volk said Wednesday. "They believe morally and based on their religious values they will not destroy their family and betray their son." Craig Yandow, who lives with his parents and works in his father's construction business, has not been charged in the Feb. 14 attack, in which a woman was raped, beaten and left in the cold, unconscious and half-naked. A jacket identical to the one the younger Yandow owns--blue, with "Saint John's Bay" on the back--was found at the scene. Also, Yandow had injuries "consistent with those a rapist would sustain from a struggling victim," prosecutors said in court papers. District Judge Edward Cashman jailed the Yandows on March 28 for contempt of court after the couple refused his order to testify. There is no limit to how long they can be held. The judge set a hearing for April 27. Once it becomes clear that jail won't change their minds, the [end page one] [begin page two] judge will have to release them, Volk said. Prosecutors have not said what they hope to learn from the couple. Craig Yandow's attorney, Andrew Mikell, refused to answer questions about the case of say where his client is now. "He is concerned about his parents' situation," Mikell said. "Until he is charged, it's tough for me to do or say anything." The state Supreme Court ruled 5 to 0 last month that, because Craig Yandow is a competent adult, his parents cannot claim parent-child privilege. Similarly, the Rev Walter Miller, a canon lawyer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, which includes all of Vermont, said no church doctrine would allow the Yandows to refuse to help prosecutors. If the couple were to ask their parish priest for advice, only one answer would be possible, he said: "you'd be telling them to cooperate. This son of theirs is not a child." But Volk said the Supreme Court ignored a number of legal precedents to the contrary. And he pointed out a section of the Catholic Church's catechism that lays out family responsibilities: "The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order." Volk said legal precedents in his favor include a 1979 case in which a court in New York state suppressed grand jury testimony of the father of a 23-year-old vehicular homicide suspect, citing parent-child privilege. But Vermont prosecutors said in court papers that it appeared that New York's highest court overruled that decision in a separate 1994 case. They said courts nationwide "have overwhelmingly rejected parent-child privilege." "Nearly all have concluded that the legal system's demand for truth, especially in a criminal proceeding, should not yield to a family's momentary desire for loyalty or harmony," prosecutors told Vermont's high court. Michael Mello, a constitutional law professor at the Vermont Law School, said parent-child privilege is an unusual argument. "It presents both dimensions of a fairly new, very interesting and extremely foundational question: the legitimacy of whether there is in fact parent-child privilege," Mello said. "Even if there is not, can a parent's refusal to become a police informant against her son [result in her being] incarcerated indefinitely? It's a family values issue." [centered] ---- INDEX REFERENCE S---- STORY ORIGIN: WILLISTON, VT. NEWS CATEGORY: WIRE REGION: United States (US) EDITION: BULLDOG EDITION Word Count: 605 4/14/96 LATIMES 27 END OF DOCUMENT Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Weinstein, Samuel Student Editor of the Digital Item Dickinson, Terra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Parents Jailed for Refusing to Testify Against Son Subject The topic of the resource Court Case Parent-Child Privilege Punishment Description An account of the resource A description of the consequences faced by the parents of a man on trial for rape. The parents refused to testify against their son citing parent-Child Privilege. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ring, Wilson Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Ring, Wilson. "Parents Jailed for Refusing to Testify Against Son, 25; Courts: Vermont couple cite 'parent-child privilege' to justify silence at rape case inquest." L.A. Times. April 14, 1996, 3. Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-04-14 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 3 JPGs 300 DPI Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Williston, VT court case Michael Mello Parent-Child Privilege rape https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/57d2021c5fc3f66f18bd96fda50be466.jpg 1c0501f5d843d6cd398d8cbdad45a81a https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/41b4f1a825dde81ea086493806645d39.jpg b690447292c8949178aff58412dbe686 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/ef6587ffa22d3ebc1a990a8143a8c8e9.jpg a0b8281ccf33e6ff5a708d9015646460 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [image - Anthony Dilisio] [image caption - Anthony Dilisio was 16 when he testified against Joseph 'Crazy Joe' Spaziano. His testimony helped send Spaziano to death row. Dilisio said he's no longer sure what he saw 20 years ago.] [end page] [start page] A Pensacola man who recanted 20-year-old testimony that put a man on death row said that he's been overwhelmed in the past week by media and criminal investigators intent on hearing his story. But Anthony Dilisio, an upholsterer and car restorer who's lived here for seven years, said he doesn't feel responsible for the conviction of Joseph Spaziano. Nor does he feel guilty because Spaziano spent two decades in prison waiting to be executed for the murder of an Orlando woman, Laura Lynn Harberts, 18. "I did what I felt was right, this was a life-and-death situation," said Dilisio, 37, a born-again Christian who was 16 when he testified against Spaziano. "I was a child, I've put my childish ways behind me." Gov. Lawton Chiles last week stayed Spaziano's execution, scheduled for Tuesday, after viewing a videotape of the recantation. Dilisio said Thursday: "I don't know if Joe Spaziano is guilty or innocent. One thing I do know is there was a young child manipulated." The case has captured national attention because Spaziano, 51, has been on death row longer than all but eight of Florida's more than 350 condemned. Also, Dilisio implicated Spaziano while under hypnosis -- a practice since out- See RECANTED, back of section [end page] [start page] lawed in Florida because experts believe it's too easy for police to suggest things to hypnotized witnesses. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in 1985 that hypnosis-induced testimony could no longer be used in court cases. Dilisio said that since authorities learned that he wasn't sure of what he saw in 1973, he's the one who's been under scrutiny. "It's almost like they're investigating me,” he said in an interview Thursday. He’s learned that investigators have interviewed his entire family since his claims were first made public June 11. When police approached Dilisio about the slaying, he was in a juvenile detention center. He had been friends with Spaziano, known as “Crazy Joe,” who headed the Orlando chapter of the Outlaws motorcycle gang, and told police that Spaziano bragged to him of the killing. After his court testimony, Dilisio fled to California. He moved to Pensacola in 1988 and has lived in a one-story brick bungalow at the dead-end of a street on the north side for at least four years Friendly handyman Neighbors describe Dilisio, who they call Tony, as the street’s friendly handyman. He fixes their cars, uses his riding mower to cut grass for those who need help and is always ready for small talk. No one had any idea he’d been mixed up in a murder case. “I can’t say anything negative about him,” said neighbor Brenda Qualls, who, like Dilisio, attends Brownsville Assembly of God. “He’s such a nice person, friendly, if you need help with something he’ll be glad to help you.” Most on the street like watching his progress as he restores classic cars, which line his well-tended front lawn. No bodies In his murder trial testimony in Orlando, Dilisio said Spaziano took him to a dump and showed him two bodies. One was identified as Harberts, a medical technician. The other was so decomposed it couldn’t be identified. Now, “Anthony can’t remember everything,” said Kelly McGraw, one of his Pensacola attorneys, “But he does remember he didn’t see the bodies.” Last week agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement videotaped an interview with a Miami Herald reporter. Local FDLE officials would not comment. Tallahassee officials could not be reached Thursday. Dilisio’s lawyers say they don’t know what will happen next, legally. Neither does Spaziano’s attorney, Michael Mello of White River Junction, Vt. Without Dilisio, “the state had no case against my client,” Mello said in a telephone interview. Dilisio, clearly a man feeling pressured, underwent a barrage of media interviews Thursday – including one with ABC News. During an interview in his lawyer’s office, his voice quavered and he deflected most personal questions. He wouldn’t sit down. “All I want to do is let justice prevail,” he said. “I’m taking one of these,” he said, picking up a pack of cigarettes from a desk in his lawyer’s office. He swears he’s quit smoking, but he took a few drags, then gave the cigarette away. Born again Dilisio, a born-again Christian for the past 15 years, said he first wrestled with guilt about his earlier testimony – “I thought I did something wrong.” But now he said, God is guiding him, and led a Miami Herald reporter to his doorstep. It was a while talking to the reporter, Lori Rozsa, three weeks ago that he realized he didn’t really remember seeing what he testified to decades before. “I just kept feeling like it was the Holy Spirit,” he said. Thursday he was afraid the media would mock him. “Here’s trash that waited 20 years to come forward,” he said, sneering. “It took a lot of courage to stand up.” Spaziano’s lawyer is bitter. “This is my last capital case. What kind of a lawyer am I?,” Mello said. “I’ve been defending this innocent man for 11 years and it took the Miami Herald to stay the execution.” ---------------------------------------------------------- News Journal reporter Winnie Hu contributed to this report. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Tolbert, Carson Student Editor of the Digital Item Dickinson, Terra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Pensacolian halts man's execution Subject The topic of the resource Pensacola (Fla.). Police Department Hypnotism Law and legislation Description An account of the resource Anthony Dilisio, a car upholsterer and restorer, recanted a twenty year old testimony made on May 13, 1975 that placed Joseph Spaziano on death row for the murders of two people in 1976. At the time of the testimony, Dilisio, then a sixteen year old, was under the influence of hypnotism administered by the Pensacola Police Department. Hypnotism has since been made illegal due to the chances of hypnotic suggestion by those in control of the process. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Barnes, Brad Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Pensacolian halts man's execution," News Journal, Brad Barnes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 3 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Pensacola, FL Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/33b6e6aed71ca4fe06d0146b121aa685.jpg 90ecb76dc483b4b7d97949279eba5764 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Polygraph exam is postponed in 22-year-old case Key witness faces new inquiry Subject The topic of the resource Spaziano, Joe Mello, Michael Description An account of the resource The polygraph examination of the key witness against Joe Spaziano in his rape and murder convictions is postponed. The rape victim's mother believes in Spaziano's guilt, but Spaziano's former lawyer is returning to his case because of his faith in Spaziano's innocence. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lori Rozsa Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Herald Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1994-06-17 Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Florida Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 jpeg Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document State investigators on Friday postponed a polygraph examination of the key witness in a 22-year-old murder case so they could more carefully review the case file. Next week, a lie-detection expert with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will examine Tony Dilisio, whose testimony led to the conviction of "Crazy Joe" Spaziano for the 1973 milder of Laura Lynn Harberts. Spaziano was scheduled to be executed June 27, but Gov. Lawton Chiles issued an indefinite stay this week after Dilisio recanted, saying his statements implication Spaziano two decades ago were not true. Also on Friday, Vermont La professor Michael Mello took over Spaziano's case. Mello represented Spaziano fir 11 years during a series of appeals, but quit in January for health reasons, Several newspapers two weeks ago ran Mello's impassioned plea on behalf of Spaziano. "The reason I'm getting back into it is the same reason I stayed in as long as I had," Mello said. "I'm absolutely convinced of Joe's innocence." Others were outraged about the stay. Spaziano was serving a life sentence for rape when he was convicted of the murder. Dilisio also testified in the rape trial. But the rape victim's mother said she has no doubts that Dilisio was telling the truth back then, and that Spaziano is dangerous man. "My daughter thought she wouldn't live," said the women who asked not to be identified, "He's then who stabbed her, who did the worst of it." The rape victim at the time could original identify Spaziano in lineup, and she said her main assailant had long red hair, though Spaziano's is black. "That man should be executed," the victim's mother said. Dilisio, the common denominator in both cases, said he's looking forward to the polygraph examination. Mello wonders if he's a good candidate for a polygraph because of his memory lapses and the hypnosis he underwent as a teenager. "It won't be hard for me; I'll just be telling the truth," Dilisio said. "It's easy when you tell the truth. It's as simple as that." Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Polygraph exam is postponed in 22-year-old case Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Spaziano, Joe Mello, Michael Description An account of the resource The polygraph examination of Tony Dilisio, the key witness in both the rape and the murder trials of Joe Spaziano, is postponed. The rape victim's mother believes that Spaziano is guilty. Michael Mello, Spaziano's former lawyer, has returned to the case because he believes in Spaziano's innocence. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rozsa, Lori Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Herald Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-06-17 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/7224b4885b2e6047022f1a1a3ad83975.jpg 25ff76420ffde2e5a5fd3cb37b07b6e1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Porno Ban is Assailed Condition Imposed On Alleged Rapist Called Improper Subject The topic of the resource Pornography--Law and legislation. Pornography--Law and legislation--Social aspects--United States. Constitutional rights Vermont. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 jpeg Language A language of the resource English Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sarah Strohnmeyer Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Porno Ban is Assailed Condition Imposed On Alleged Rapist Called Improper" West Lebanon (NH) Valley News, November 29, 1993. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Valley News Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Nov. 29, 1993 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/4b6f8b0ac644c54870c3c4d0168aa610.jpg d67fbcac278c7c8345c21eed65b64421 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document CHEALSEA – when Judge Mary Miles Teachout last month ordered alleged rapist David C. Green not to possessor view pornography as a requirement of his release from jail, she imposed a condition that some experts find troubling. Vermont American Civil Liberties Union lawyers and other legal experts say they have never seen such a condition before and they have problems with it. For one thing, teachout appears to be linking the alleged crime – sexual assault – with a medium Green viewed on the day he attacked his wife. “Take it out of the realm of sex,” suggested Vermont ACLU Executive Director Leslie Williams. “What if you rob a bank after watching a movie about robbing a bank? Its assuming a connection that I’m not sure is justified.” “It’s a first for me,” said Vermont Law School Professor Michael A. Mello, who teaches criminal law. He said judges have the right to impose a number of conditions of release that limit liberties as long as those conditions can be “rationally related to the offense” and do not directly violate the constitution. “I think it’s unconstitutional,” said Mello of Teachout’s order. “it feels to me unconstitutional.” The crime of which Green is accused, however, is a supremely violent one. According to records filed in Vermont District Court in Chelsea, Green, 22, allegedly repeatedly raped his wife, who had told him she wanted a divorce, on Oct. 21, after handcuffing her in his car. Supposedly armed with a gun that he did not show her, Green took her to a secluded area, sexually assaulted her, and then took her back to their apartment where he allegedly raped her again. “He told me that earlier in the day he had rented a movie and had masturbated while watching the movie,” his wife wrote in an affidavit submitted to police. Neither the affidavit or other police records indicate what kind of movie it was. Green, of Lebanon, was arrested by Vermont State Police and charged with five counts of aggravated sexual assault plus a count of kidnapping on Oct. 25. He is in the southeast Regional Correctional Facility in Woodstock, unable to make bail. David Putter, who chairs the Vermont ACLU’s legal panel, said that the problem with Teachout’s pornography condition is that it is essentially unenforceable because it’s so broad. He noted that Vermont has no legal definition of pornography – a concept usually defined by local mores. Most states that have defined pornography have kept the parameters vague. “The bottom line is that while it may very well be for the state to criminalize or prohibit certain types of speech content, which would fall under the rubrick of obscenity,” Putter said. “The state can’t prohibit speech unless it clearly defines the prohibited speech and that speech falls within a lawful definition of obscenity.” “one of the traditional problems with obscenity is having a clear definition,” he continued. “If (Teachout) has not specified what particular guidelines govern, then the order would be a violation not only of the First Amendment but of the Vermont Constitution as well.” But what about the fact that many everyday rights – such as drinking alcohol, soeaking and being free to associate with whomever one wants – are often yanked when someone is released on bail? Mello said the difference lies in the material nature of what Teachout is prohibiting. “it’s different from other kinds of conditions of parole and probation, maybe because it has to do with communication, with books and the modern information highway whose incarnation is movies,” Mello said. “What bothers me is it’s the suppression of ideas . . . it infringes on the marketplace of ideas. It has a potentially chilling effect.” Williams, who is not a lawyer, put Teachout’s order in lay terms. “This is unreasonable. To forbid someone to read something or look at something is going a little too far.” Teachout, who, until recently, was the judge in Windsor County Family Court, could not be reached for comment. However, she has declined to discuss her bench rulings with the press in the past. Green did not return messages left for him at the prison. His lawyer, Matthew Levine of White River Junction, could not be reached for comment this weekend. If Teachout did impose the condition because of what Green’s wife said in the affidavit, then she wouldn’t be the first legal authority to link pornography with a sex crime. Seven years ago then Attorney General Edwin Meese’s Commission on Pornography linked hard-core porn to sex crimes. The commission’s report concluded that “substantial exposure to sexually violent materials . . . bears causal relationship to antisocial acts of sexual violence and possibly to unlawful acts of sexual violence.” Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Article Vol. No./Issue No. Volume and issue number for the newspaper (if available) Volume 42: Number 161 Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Carter, Jacob Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Porno Ban Is Assailed: Condition Imposed on Alleged Rapist Called Improper Subject The topic of the resource Pornography--Law and legislation Pornography--Law and legislation--Social aspects--United States First amendment cases Description An account of the resource Newspaper article analyzing the legality of a judges ruling to ban an alleged rapist from owning or viewing pornography. Michael Mello and other legal professionals give insight into the case. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Strohnmeyer, Sarah Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Newspaper Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-11-29 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 jpgs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant NH ACLU court cases First Amendment Michael A. Mello New Hampshire pornography https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/c27f079ec679f973dcb5e76efb5469b3.jpg cea8aac56ade6d68632806af385a2f6a https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/79471df0b1d314cf6fb13e13b61ea286.jpg 7aef70ef80901ac8ef7ba9bd64ad3ac0 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Vol. No./Issue No. Volume and issue number for the newspaper (if available) vol. 46, issue 304 Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Hiznay, Max Text Any textual data included in the document MONTPELIER -- One man killed a feder-al prison guard in Atlanta. Another kidnapped a young girl in Texas and killed her in Arkansas. There are a handful of drug killers And then there is Timothy McVeigh, the man convicted of the Oklahoma City bombing. What all the cases have in common is the defendants have all been ordered executed by the federal government. The U.S. government hasn't put anyone to death in almost 35 years and no execution date has been set in any of the pending cases. And none of the 15 men now facing federal execution committed crimes in states that didn't have their own death penalties. Nevertheless, the case of Chris Dean, the Indiana man accused of sending a pipe bomb to Vermont last month that killed a Fair Haven teenager, could be added to that list. Vermont doesn't have a death penalty law and is unlikely to get one at any time soon. But, because Dean is accused of a capital crime under federal law, the state's opinion on the death penalty doesn't matter. The crime Dean is charged with, "trans-porting in interstate commerce an explosive device with intent that it would be used to kill or injure and death resulting," carries the possible death penalty. It's only the beginning, and a lot has to happen before Attorney General Janet Reno decides whether or not to seek the death penalty against Dean. But no one involved in the case can forget. "It changes everything. It absolutely changes everything," said Michael Mello, a professor at Vermont Law School who worked for years in Florida on death penalty cases and has written two books on the subject. "What it should bring is a sense of terror for defense attorneys, prosecutors and the judge." Those differences are already evident in the Dean case. Instead of having one court-appointed lawyer, he has two. The prosecu-tors used the possible death penalty to get 60 extra days to seek an indictment from a grand jury. {end page} [start page] And when Dean first appeared in court Friday, U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions III started at square one, reading the 35-year-old truck driver from Pierceton, Ind., his rights. Dean is charged with sending the pipe bomb to 17-year-old Christopher Marquis to avenge a CB radio deal gone bad after it was arranged via the Internet. Marquis' mother was seriously injured in the blast. Dean appeared in court yesterday and was ordered held without bail pending trial. Student Editor of the Digital Item Hiznay, Max Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Possible Death Penalty Affects Approaches to Bomb Trial Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ring, Wilson Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 299, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1998-04-09 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Valley News Subject The topic of the resource Mello, Michael ___________________________ Capital punishment--United States Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGs 300 DPI Description An account of the resource A recent bombing done by an Indiana man killed one and injured another Vermont resident. The perpetrator Chris Dean is being held without bond and is subject to Federal laws surrounding the death penalty. This has ignited a debate in Vermont as the state has no death penalty. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Ring, Wilson. “Possible Death Penalty Affects Approaches To Bomb Trial.” Valley News Vol 46 No. 304. (Montpelier, VT). April 9, 1998. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Fredericksburg, VA bombing court case death penalty https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/bf5c04b2967481a9b63660e3e417cedc.jpg ed8a86ed7d36f54e783683b41a73e31b https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/832c4218e7d076fd25dbe25fd5e73a94.jpg 16098156c4f003159c4a4aa362f42dc4 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/59ad42df3f07dc82b0fac14dcb1d88fc.jpg 590ecda1ac82265c747e6553bd071e35 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 5 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper article Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Phillips, Lauren Text Any textual data included in the document Professor aids Kaczynski’s defense Man consults on admissibility of diary in Unabomber case Michael Mello, a professor at Vermont Law School whose mentor and “professional father” was killed by a mail bomb, is advising the defense of Ted Kaczynski, the alleged Unabomber on trial for mailing a series of deadly bombs. Mello’s advice centers on the admissibility of Kaczynski’s journals, which the prosecution has said “are the backbone of the government’s case.” Mello, who keeps a diary, contends a person’s diary should be afforded the same constitutional protection against self-incrimination as his spoken words – protection that is guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. Since early May, Mello has had a half-dozen phone calls with Judy Clarke, Kaczynski’s lead lawyer. The prosecution in the trial in Sacramento, Calif., is seeking the death penalty. Although the prosecution won an early round on Kaczynski’s diary, Mello expects his argument to prevail. “My diary is an extension of my own mind and my own soul and my own heart,” Mello said. “And the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States says the government can’t extract information from my mind, my heart and my soul. That’s what the prohibition against compelled self-incrimination means.” [image- man in library] Michael Mello is a law professor at Vermont Law School in South Royalton. He is advising the defense of Ted Kaczynski, the alleged Unabomber on trial for mailing deadly bombs. Mello’s ‘nightmare’ For Mello, 40, who has taught at Vermont Law School since 1988, the case resonated personally and professionally for several reasons: He spent four years defending death row inmates in Florida, attempting 11th-hour appellate maneuverings to spare their lives. Mello continued to represent death row clients while teaching at Vermont Law School. He had kept a diary since 1982, when he clerked for his mentor, U.S. Appeals Court Judge Robert S. Vance, because he realized he was “living through the fundamental experience of my life.” The Birmingham, Ala., judge was killed in 1989 by a bomb sent to his home. “I have a real special place in my heart, a special fear and loathing, for people who commit murder by sending bombs through the U.S. mail,” Mello said. “I have no sympathy whatsoever for the Unabomber. . . . If he ends up winning in the appellate court based on the diary stuff, I will Mello file Name: Michael A. Mello Home: Wilder Age: 40 Profession: Professor of constitutional and criminal law at Vermont Law School Family: Wife, Deanna Recent Book: “Dead Wrong: A Death Row Lawyer Speaks Out Against Capital Punishment” (University of Wisconsin Press, $27.95) have very mixed feelings about that.” The man convicted of killing Vance, Walter Leroy Moody, was sentenced last year to death. He also kept a diary, and the very pieces of the Kaczynski defense that Mello is helping to design could be used to save this man who killed one of the most important persons in Mello’s life. Mello’s “nightmare” is that his diary argument will be used to win Moody a new trial, and that at the trial, he’ll be acquitted. But as a legal scholar whose professional practice centered on capital cases, he feels he must answer compelling constitutional questions in death-penalty cases. It is the reason he is consulting on the Kaczynski case, and the reason he and third-year law student Paul Perkins wrote a 74-page law review article on the Kaczynski diary. It will be published in the January issue of the Vermont Law Review. “It was a law review article waiting to be written, screaming to be written,” Mello said. “The Kaczynski case is a law professor’s classroom hypothetical gone mad.” The final pages of the article are Mello’s alone, an epilogue about his work in Vance’s courtroom and his admiration for the judge. “He was as close to a professional father as I’ve ever had,” Mello said. “I loved him.” Eight years after Vance’s murder, his death makes Mello cry. He thinks about Vance, an opponent of Gov. George Wallace and a civil rights activist, all the time. The cruel irony, Mello said, is that Vance survived the front lines of the civil rights battle, yet more than two decades later was violently killed in his own home. “By 1989, we all thought he was safe,” said Mello, who was so devastated by the killing he couldn’t go to the funeral. “I bought the ticket,” Mello said. “I couldn’t make myself get on the plane.” Mello clerked for Vance after graduating in 1982 from the University of Virginia Law School. He spent the bulk of his clerkship working on death-penalty cases on appeal from Alabama state courts. Though Vance was personally opposed to the death penalty, he was bound by law to uphold it. “We argued very bitterly and very loudly about death penalty cases,” Mello said. The experience led Mello to his work in Florida, where he spent five years as an advocate for death row inmates in the Public Defender’s Office. “I left there thinking I’ll pay penance for a year,” Mello said. “Once I got into doing the work full time, it was impossible to leave until I felt it was eating me up. It was consuming me.” Of about 70 cases Mello worked closely on in Florida, six ended in executions in an electric chair built in 1923. A defense lawyer was always in attendance at the executions, in part because a small percentage are botched. Though the front-line lawyers tended to know the inmates and their families best, it was decided an administrator would attend the executions. “We were afraid that if any of us witnessed an execution it would be so emotionally annihilating to us that we wouldn’t be able to function,” Mello said. “That was my rationale. As much as anything else, it was just simple cowardice.” Final talks Mello, who has written a book about his work in Florida, “Dead Wrong,” also believed he was not the appropriate person for final conversations with a man facing death. He was advocating on the inmate’s behalf until the very last moment. “What they need to be doing is preparing themselves to be killed," he said. In California, the diary argument has yet to yield the results Mello hoped for: U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell, who is trying the Kaczynski case, ruled in pretrial motions the journals are admissible. Mello claims he is not fazed by the decision. “It’s a winner in the 9th Circuit (Court of Appeals), and I believe it’s a winner in the Supreme Court as well,” Mello said. “What he’s (Burrell) done is handed the defense a nuclear bomb of an appellate issue. He has essentially issued Ted Kaczynski, accused Unabomber, an insurance policy.” Student Editor of the Digital Item Van Doren, Jamie Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Professor Aids Kaczynski's Defense Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Bombs Description An account of the resource This article discusses Michael Mello's opinion on using Kaczynski's personal diary as evidence against him in a court of law. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pollak, Sally Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Pollak, Sally. "Professor aids Kaczynski's defense". The Burlington Free Press. Monday, December 8, 1997. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997-12-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 3 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Burlington, VT https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/ecb3e4206a206ec6691686041f5d5c6d.jpg 93d57f16684fb90860baed8db58fb00d https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/a7048b74d1a27cea2070b3dae4c4be5e.jpg af89533815566d073a7e373eef47ab19 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/5768f5b9a65e75714244615ea798d467.jpg 6c66fe2d2cf8b763a271ab81d086ea2e https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/4e0c8af954f45da279ca1a311223dc95.jpg 99b513973fdaf033be0fd504624c4727 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Vol. No./Issue No. Volume and issue number for the newspaper (if available) 37/209 Text Any textual data included in the document Serial killer Ted Bundy learned late on the night before his execution last month that the U.S. Supreme Court had denied his last-minute appeal for a stay of execution. The phone message came from the Barnard home of Michael Mello, an assistant professor of law at Vermont Law School. Mello, a nationally recognized specialist in death-row cases, advised Bundy's lead counsel during a frantic effort to save the murderer's life in the days leading up to his execution. Mello has been either one of the main lawyers or advised other lawyers or advised other lawyers on some 125 capital punishment cases. He is arguing two death-row cases this month before a federal appeals court in Atlanta. He had been advising Bundy's attorneys in a peripheral manner for several years until the Friday before Bundy's death on Jan. 24. Then he became centrally involved. Mello never met Bundy. He did, however, pass messages to him. On the Sunday before Bundy's death, for example, the serial killer asked Mello through a paralegal what he should do about his confessions. Bundy had been meeting with detectives from four states and had so far told them he had murdered 23 young women since the mid-1970s. Mello's message to Bundy: "Shut the (expletive) up." Bundy's wife later told Mello that when she heard the message it was one of the few times she smiled during the final week of her husband's life. An interview with Mello in his law school office last week provided a glimpse into the 11th-hour legal maneuverings to stop Bundy's execution and into the world of death row. Mello's views on capital punishment have appeared everywhere from "The New York Times" to the "Washington Post" to "The Wall Street Journal". He also has appeared on the television program "Nightline". His attitude on the death penalty can be easily summed up: He absolutely and totally opposes it. Mello said that Bundy's question to him about confessions two days before he was electrocuted put him in a quandary. "On the one hand, if he wanted to make it right with God and confess, who am I to say, "Don't". And as a citizen I liked the fact that the confessions were closing investigations and giving the families a sense of closure, too, so they could move on with their lives. "On the other hand, I was also convinced that his confessions were devastating to his legal case, and were absolutely sabotaging his defense. They were offensive because it looked like he was trading on the bodies of his victims to save his own life. "That's what did it," he said, "Judges are human." Bundy would likely be alive today if it wasn't for those confessions, Mello believes. Regarding his blunt advice to Bundy that Sunday, he said: "I thought the time had passed for subtlety and sugar-coating. When you're passing messages to people of questionable mental capacity, you have to be clear and direct." Mello, who teaches criminal law and criminal procedure at Vermont Law School, first became involved in death-row cases while a law clerk with a federal appeals court judge in Birmingham, Ala., after graduating from law school. "I became my judge's 'death clerk.' I did all the death penalty cases that came through the office. That's where I became aware and then outraged about what was going on, particularly in Florida." What was going on, Mello says, was that there were minors on death row, along with mentally retarded and mentally ill people. These people are not just legally mentally incompetent, he said, "but crazy the way my mother thinks of as crazy - people who talk to spaceships." "I learned that there were a lot of innocent people on death row, and just in general that the legal system that decides who dies is lousy. It's class-based and racist. I learned that most people on death row are there because they had bad lawyers." There are nearly 2,200 people on death row nationwide. Florida alone has about 320 death-row inmates. And so Mello turned down an offer to work in the corporate law department at the prestigious national law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore and headed to Florida. His first job was as an assistant public defender representing death-row inmates. Then in the fall of 1985 the Florida Legislature created a state agency to represent all indigent inmates on Florida's death-row. The idea, Mello says bitterly, "was if we give them lawyers we can kill them faster." It had just the opposite effect, however. Mello, who joined the agency at its outset, said the agency attorneys "shot down executions left and right." When he started work for the state. Mello immediately encountered the Bundy case, but the agency decided to farm it out to a private law firm from another state. Among other reasons, the five lawyers were already tremendously overburdened, representing 150 death-row inmates. "You could have three lawyers working full-time on Bundy with an unlimited budget and still not do the complexity of that case and that man justice," Mello said. The Bundy case, which actually was two cases proceeding on two different appellate track in different courts, was taken over by the Washington law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. (Llyod Cutler was chief counsel for President Jimmy Carter.) Mello then left the Florida state agency to work as a litigation attorney to work as a litigation attorney for Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. Meanwhile, James Coleman, one of Wilmer's partners and an acquaintance of Mello's, had become Bundy's lead counsel. When Florida Gov. Bob Martinez signed a death warrant for Bundy on Jan. 17, scheduling his death by electric chair seven days later, Coleman headed down to Florida to get appeals started, and he and Mello began a series of telephone discussions. "On the Friday evening before the execution, Jim and I were on the phone together and he had the trail transcript in front of him, and we saw an issue that had gotten stays in half a dozen cases before Bundy, and, as it happened, two after him. "In the course of the conversation we realized for the first time that Bundy's case had this critical issue in it - an issue I had helped to develop in other Florida cases." Bundy had received death sentences for murdering 12-year-old Kimberly Leach in Florida 11 years ago and for the killings of two Florida State University sorority sisters just three weeks before that. The critical issue was this: In the Leach trial the jury had been told "that sentencing isn't on your shoulders - it's merely a recommendation - when in fact, a recommendation of life carries great weight in Florida," Mello said. Though a jury only advises a judge in capital cases on what it thinks is a proper sentence, the U.S. it is not on their shoulders, and so it goes to the judge. He then refers back to the jury - therefore neither judge nor jury has that awesome responsibility of deciding if an individual deserves to die. It's a very human emotion to not want to take on that responsibility. "This isn't a legal technicality. This is a real big deal. This is exactly why so many people end up on death row who shouldn't be. And why so many stays are granted on this very issue." Mello, working out of his office at the law school, dictated a short statement of the issue to be put in federal court papers that would be filed the next morning, which was a Saturday. The court papers filed that morning challenged the constitutionality of the death sentence. At noon the federal District Court denied the petition, and at 6 p.m. the federal Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta unanimously affirmed the District Court's denial. "I was thunderstruck that we were in and out of the Court of Appeals already," Mello said. On Sunday he and Coleman went through the Leach trial transcript and realized how powerful the issue was, stronger than those that had gotten stays in a half a dozen cases up until then. They gathered all the relevant information together and on Monday, the day before the scheduled execution, Coleman filed an application for a stay of execution at the U.S. Supreme Court. He also filed applications for stays at the trial court and the Florida Supreme Court. "On Monday we waited and waited. The day got later. The state court litigation wasn't concluded until 6 p.m., and we immediately took it up to the U.S. Supreme Court." Coleman and another lawyer went to the prison where Bundy was being held to visit with him for what might have been the last time. Mello was left to deal with the Supreme Court - which he did by telephone from his home in Barnard. It mainly involved checking in periodically that night to see if the justices had reached a decision and when the decision would be released. "While I was waiting for the court, I took a couple of calls from people who told me about the increasing the line and came back and told me we had lost by one vote. Five to four. And the four were on the issue that we had not identified until that Friday." Mello called the prison so Bundy could be told of the decision - and then he poured himself "a nice stiff glass of Wild Turkey." Mello, who was not paid for working on the Bundy case, asked how he felt when he heard of the court's decision. "Sick. Flattened. Guilty, because I hadn't identified the issue earlier. Real angry that somebody was going to be executed for what were mistakes by his lawyers." Mello says he goes back and forth on that way of thinking. "This has not been a great day," he said earlier last week. "So today I blame myself." He said he doesn't blame Coleman. If not the death penalty for a man like Bundy, who was a suspect in as many as 36 sex murders across the country, then what? What do you do with the Ted Bundys of the world, Mello was asked. Life imprisonment? "Yeah, life in prison. Incarceration," Mello said. "The important thing is to keep them away from us as long as they're still dangerous. "The question is: What do we get out of killing the Ted Bundys? What we got was a spectacle that should make all civilized people pause. What happened outside that prison made people cringe all over the world." The unfairness of how the death penalty is applied is so overwhelming, Mello said, that he has never had to confront the moral issue it presents. "But if push comes to shove, I'd probably have to say that I am opposed" on moral grounds. Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Conger, Jeffrey Notes Additional information regarding your item. This content will not be viewable in the Public View. Features one picture of Michael Mello. Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Professor worked on final Bundy appeals Description An account of the resource Michael Mello gave advice to Ted Bundy and his legal counsel. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Heil, Andrea Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Valley News Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989-02-13 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 4 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Connecticut Subject The topic of the resource Bundy, Ted Capital punishment Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Bob Martinez Coleman Death Row execution Florida Michael Mello Ted Bundy U.S. Supreme Court https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/4708df1256550dd83df579d30e6854ba.jpg e5dc7c196273fbefc15c680a79a73d56 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/f0718ff11fb7e08bb7d51d628bc12578.jpg ab08755285630ad5d91364b7fc175929 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 1, 1976-1979 Text Text Any textual data included in the document As I write these words, the fate of PROMETHEUS is still undetermined. The bi- weekly publication plans to print one more issue before the end of this academic year, but for my purposes their success or failure in this endeavor is irrelevant; even if PROMETHEUS is unable to print one last time, even if it does not publish in future years, PROMETHEUS has left its mark on MWC. My aim here is two- fold: 1) to briefly discuss what PROMETHEUS was to me and 2) to gauge the publications' accomplishments and judge its impact on the campus. PROMETHEUS never detailed its goals or objectives in print; the closest it came to making explicit its editorial policy was a brief note in the first issue. PROMETHEUS said its "purpose is to provide a forum for discussion of various topics of interest." But PROMETHEUS to some extent patterned itself after the national magazine SKEPTIC; the latter described itself as, a "a forum for contemporary history . . . Our intention is not to persuade you to believe in any one point of view. What we strive for is a complete spectrum of opinion. From the right. From the left. From the center. From Presidential candidates. And Marxist economists. From those in power. And those still seeking it. We truly believe that only this kind of open debate in- print can illuminate the issues that will be crucial to the destiny of our country over decades to come." This, to me, was the ultimate goal of PROMETHEUS: to serve as a vehicle for debate; a framework for the expression of diverse student views on the issues that affect their lives. The staff of PROMETHEUS put a tremendous amount of effort into each issue of their publication; schoolwork was neglected, friendships often became strained, and other relationships suffered. Was it worth it? In the final analysis, what PROMETHEUS accomplished? First, PROMETHEUS provided an outlet for student views an outlet for student which THE BULLET had in recent years ignored: day student complaints, homosexuality, student- professor affairs,student power (or the absence of it), the competency of dorm mothers, and civil disobedience. PROMETHEUS was also the first to publish an eyewitness account (and criticism) of an Honor trial. This year's BULLET staff probably would have dealt with these issues anyway, but the fact remains the PROMETHEUS did it first. Secondly, PROMETHEUS served as a watch- dog for the BULLET, forcing the latter to be ever alert and poised lest the ragtag "underground" press scoop the official MWC newspaper. Although the two papers ostensibly operated within seperate contexts (one being a full- fledged newspaper, the other a forum for the expression of opinions), a subtle sense of competition always existed between them. And this sense of competition kept each publication on it toes; one tends to be more careful when he knows that someone else is double- checking his work and looking over his shoulder for flaws in his facts or logic. The end result of this was two- fold: a better PROMETHEUS and a better BULLET. Thirdly, the creation-- (literally) from scratch-- of a new publication was an invaluable experience for the founders and later staff of PROMETHEUS. None of the founders had had any extensive previous exposure to all the myriad aspects of journalism at the beginning , but circumstances forced them to learn writing, editing, layout, advertising, and distribution quickly. It was a hell of an experience. And for a while it was even fun. PROMETHEUS failed, of course, in its primary stated object: it never became a forum for debate. For a debate must must have at least two opposing views and PROMETHEUS never did. In its seven months existence, PROMETHEUS only received one letter and one article in response to anything it ever printed: the letter was in reply to a cartoon ostensibly published "in fun" and the article was written by a member of the PROMETHEUS editorial board. Those who took interest in the issues raised in the "underground" paper chose to reply in the BULLET rather than PROMETHEUS, and for a good reason: if you have something to say, why say it in a publication which was not able to legally distribute on campus, and prints only 500 copies per issue when you say it in the "legitimate" paper which prints 2,800 copies per issue? Thus, ironically, PROMETHEUS itself never became one. But the "other paper" served a far more important function: it was a stimulus for debate. PROMETHEUS raised questions , which made people think, and in an academic community, that is a considerable contribution. MAM Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Wilson, Christany Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Prometheus Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mello, Michael A. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-04-18 Description An account of the resource A review of the small Mary Washington College newspaper, Prometheus, by Michael Mello. Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Student newspapers and periodicals Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Mello, Michael A. "Prometheus" Mary Washington College Bullet, April 18, 1978, Michael A. Mello Papers, 1957 - 2008, Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPG 300 dpi Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Fredericksburg, VA College Newspaper Mary Washington Bullet Mary Washington College Michael A. Mello Michael Mello https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/46ff4a2cd70db9fac5f78384c2f2da79.jpg 6b027397998f570031e4988fcab04e6f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Raid Raises Questions about Law Privileges Subject The topic of the resource Police Raids Criminal Defense Lawyer Description An account of the resource The article discusses the raid of a criminal defense lawyer named William A. Hunter. The raid secured his records and files. The raid was due to federal investigators suspecting Hunter of helping his client launder money. The article discusses the problems with assuming criminal defense lawyers know where their clients income comes from. It also discusses how these raids raise questions on client confidentiality. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anderson, Liz Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Anderson, Liz. "Raid Raises Questions about Law Privileges." Rutland Herald (Rutland, VT), Jun. 15, 1995. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-06-15 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG, 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Raid of criminal defense lawyer Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Rutland, Vermont https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/0b30dc1310043e9df1f04851728ef4cd.jpg 37b0cca63228ea6d6f25cc63810bbe5d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document The raid by federal investigators on Cavendish lawyer William A. Hunter’s home and office has raised troubling questions for many in the state’s legal community about the sanctity of their offices and how much they are expected to know about the clients they serve. Hunter, 41, is the subject of a federal investigation into whether he helped a client in Windsor launder money through a corporation set up to purchase and renovate real estate. Federal investigators raided Hunter’s home and basement office at 3 a.m. Friday, seizing files on three clients as well as Hunter’s computer equipment. Vermont Law School Professor Michael Mello, who teaches constitutional law and legal ethics, said he believed it was the first raid of its kind in Vermont. The emergency raid was authorized by the U.S. Magistrate Jerome J. Niedermeier after an investigator expressed concerns that Hunter might destroy evidence of criminal activity if alerted to the arrests on Thursday of Hunter’s client and the client’s sister. Hunter has said that equipment seized contains electronic files on many other clients as well as on those subject to the investigation. He said his office was “crippled” without it. Hunter has not been charged in the case and denies any knowledge of any illegal activities on the part Of his client, Frank H. Sargent Jr. Sargent, 26, has pleaded innocent to a federal indictment charging him with cocaine distribution. He is free on an unsecured bond. Hunter said Wednesday he had plans to meet with federal prosecutors some time in the next week and had hired Rutland lawyer Peter Hall to represent him. “As a lawyer I would never advise anyone to deal with an agency that has identified them as a suspect on their own,” he said. U.S. Attorney Charles Tetzlaff said he would not comment on any aspect of the case “as a matter of policy.” [new title: confidentiality concerns] Although lawyers claim a confidentiality when dealing with their clients, there are exceptions under which that confidentiality can be broken. One exception, used in the Hunter search, is if investigators can establish to a judge that they have cause to believe the lawyer’s files contain evidence of an ongoing planned crime. Many lawyers contacted objected to the timing and what they saw as the invasiveness of the raid. Several expressed concern that federal investigators made a claim that Hunter might destroy the files. Several lawyers consulted said a troubling issue in Hunter’s case is the seizure of his computer files and the issues that raises about the confidential relationship between lawyer and a client. A federal prosecutor unaffiliated with the Vermont office participated in the search to advise the investigators on matters concerning private attorney-client files and is charged with reviewing the seized files before delivering them to the Vermont federal prosecutors handling the case. Agents who searched Hunter’s home are under court orders not to disclose anything they saw in Hunter’s confidential files. The same orders will apply to FBI computer analysts charged with reviewing Hunter’s computer system. The search warrant executed at Hunter’s home provides extensive descriptions of how the computer files and equipment are to be handled by agents. It provides for its return within a “reasonable time,” but sets no deadline. David Putter, co-chair of the legal panel for state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said searches have become more complicated by the computer age because it may not be easy to immediately tell which files are pertinent to an investigation and which are not. He said in that vein, the search warrant for Hunter’s office didn’t satisfy him that enough steps were being taken to protect information on clients unrelated to the government’s investigation. Putter said the presence of another federal attorney reviewing the files from Hunter’s office did not provide enough of an independent review for his satisfaction. Vermont defender General Robert Appel said the Hunter case and the seizure of his files may “cause clients to pause before revealing confidences in the future, which in my mind undermines the attorney-client relationship.” Mello agreed. “If my client thinks the feds are going to be able to bust into my home and rifle through my files, then I think that reduces significantly the amount of confidence that my client will place in me when I tell her this is just between you and I,” he said. Mello said the Hunter case had already changed the way he dealt with records in his own home. “I now look at everything in my files and wonder how it will look if it is seized by federal agents,” he said. Putter said that he was also concerned about whether any files were seized pertaining to Vermont Law Week, a weekly review and summary of state supreme Court decisions published by Hunter’s first amendment rights by interfering with his right to publish, he said. Hunter said the files were on seized computers, but said he might be able to publish an issue by early next week if federal prosecutors would give him a copy of his mailing list. He declined to address any First Amendment concerns. [new title: Raids Increasing] Raids on law offices are increasing nationwide and are of growing concern to defense lawyers, according to Frank Jackson, a Dallas defense lawyer who serves as the co-chair of a lawyer assistance committee for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “All too often government entities target lawyers as being involved in criminal activities when the lawyer is actually just performing perfectly legal services and comporting themselves in the highest tradition of the bat,” Jackson said. He said clients often keep their lawyers in the dark about their criminal activities and a lawyer may take steps for a client “he deems rather innocuous that in hindsight can be considered criminal involvement by government authorities, and they raid these offices in hopes of confirming their suspicions.” Jackson said such raids threaten the public perception that lawyers’ offices are sanctuaries and have made lawyers frightened of talking on controversial cases. In particular, government prosecutors seem to focus in on lawyers who have been involved with drug cases, Jackson said. In some cases, he said, the government has succeeded in recovering payments made to lawyers by clients using drug money. Jackson said defense lawyers nationwide would likely “have to draw the line and test the power of government” in these situations. [new title: A ’Dicey Issue’] Lawyers also said the Hunter case raised the issue of how much a lawyer is expected to know about the sources of a client’s income. Putter noted that “attorneys don’t generally sit down and ask a client what their source of income is, where they got they money.” Mello said the question of how much a lawyer is expected to know about a client and the client’s finances is an “extremely dicey issue” that he debates with students in his ethics class. He theorized that in the present climate, lawyers are becoming more averse to risk and are more likely to raise such questions with their clients. Jackson maintained that lawyers shouldn’t feel responsible for investigating the finances of their clients. “I would day that if you’re a substantial criminal practitioner you have suspicions of everyone who walks through the door,” Jackson said. “If they walk through to hire you for a criminal citation, you assume they didn’t light a candle at vesper services last Sunday. If we were to assume the money came from criminal activity we would all have to lock our doors right now.” [end page] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Vol. No./Issue No. Volume and issue number for the newspaper (if available) Vol. 135/No. 143 Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Riley, Charles Student Editor of the Digital Item Dickinson, Terra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Raid raises questions about law privileges Subject The topic of the resource Police Raids Criminal Defense Lawyers Description An account of the resource The article discusses the raid of a criminal defense lawyer named William A. Hunter. The raid secured his records and files. The raid was due to federal investigators suspecting Hunter of helping his client launder money. The article discusses the problems with assuming criminal defense lawyers know where their clients income comes from. It also discusses how these raids raise questions on client confidentiality. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anderson, Liz Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Anderson, Liz. "Raid Raises Questions about Law Privileges." Rutland Herald (Rutland, VT), Jun. 15, 1995. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-06-15 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Rutland, VT https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/15a5beae899672357eff84bfdc1d42ec.jpg edf6ce0d1de07f28e0294175118e53aa https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/d8261acf4e62e5b93617cfeb14debcb2.jpg 4cad348a95feb90dd8362bc18649b785 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/4682a327b7ab2df4a1f2c7c437ee91f8.jpg 6ea48cf956d30f7f1466789be12c5fd4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 1, 1976-1979 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [Title] Rally Condemns Suspensions [Author] By Helen Marie McFalls "Innocent until proven guilty" and "due process of law" were the cries of a crowd of MWC students gathered on Westmoreland Green on Friday, March 30 to protest the suspensions of four Madison residents who were arrested in the Madison drug raid. President Prince B. Woodard suspended the four men the day after their arrests and scheduled administrative hearings for each on April 3. The purpose for the rally was to point out and protest the fact that these four students were barred from classes before any legal proof of their guilt was established; before the police lab reports determined whether the confiscated substances are illegal. According to Michael Mello, the first speaker at the rally and former president of the MWC chapter of NORML, "There are two problems with (the suspensions): these problems compose the essence of (this) protest. First, by suspending the students before the (civil court) hearing, Woodard is saying that they are guilty until proven innocent. They are being punished before a hearing has determined that they are even guilty of the offense . . . Second, there seems to be a problem with the College trying and punishing the students for the same offense that they will later be tried for in civil court. This smacks of double jeopardy . . ." After Mello outlined the reasons for the demonstration, Frederick Ford, a practicing attorney in Alexandria and a volunteer for the Virginia State chapter of NORML addressed the audience. Ford began by commending the gathered students for their efforts and stating "I hope the President (Woodard) is listening today." He then launched into an analysis of the issue being protested and the implications of the issue. He said, "It is a sad thing that this College's administration, by its actions, is trying to teach a very dangerous lesson. First they teach you in political science classes that people are innocent until proven guilty." He noted that we are taught that there are safeguards within the law to ensure that a person is treated as innocent until proven guilty and that no action can be taken until guilt is proved. "And now," he observed, "the administration is saying we don't care that a person is innocent until proven guilty. The administration only cares about raw, naked power and they have it and you (MWC students) are their slaves." Ford commented that the student protesters have "learned far better than the administration what our laws mean. You should be congratulated, they condemned." "I submit to the President of this college," Ford continued, "that this (possession of marijuana) [end page one] [start page two] is not a serious crime; not a serious problem. I cannot understand why the administration is taking such action for such a piddling offense." Finally Ford pledged the support of the state NORML saying, "With you, the state NORML chapter demands that these four students have the same rights that the members of the administration and every person have and deserve." Vice President of Custis dorm George Semples delivered the next address. "Who are we?" he began. "We are not a group of angry pot smokers, we are a group of concerned students." He noted that as students we can identify with the four Madison males who are losing "two precious and critical weeks of their education" for an offense that has yet to be proved. Semples said that he has seen the search warrant procured for the Madison drug raid. It was composed of three parts: first, the suspicion of paraphenalia. This, Semples noted, "is not illegal, and if there was substance inside that peraphenalia it is not yet proved. But these students are presently out of school." Second, the warrant stated suspicion of marijuana. The speaker said, "It might be obvious to us, it might be obvious to them but there is yet no proof (that the substance was indeed marijuana) and these students are still out of school." Third, the warrant contained a clause providing for the suspicion of distribution materials. A scale was confiscated during the raid. Semples noted simply, "It is not illegal to possess equipment to weigh things and yet these students are still out of school!" The last speaker of the day was MWC student John Schumacher. He noted that MWC is not and should not be a democracy. It is an oligopoly comprised of Woodard and the B.O.V. "But," he questioned, "is this oligopoly a just one?" Schumacher believes that the suspensions of the four Madison residents is an indication of the justice or lack thereof in MWC's administrative element. "It is obvious," he commented, "that the administration and the B.O.V. are more concerned with the reputation of the school than the justice of their policies." More than 100 people attended the rally. Press coverage included The Free Lance-Star, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, AVC-TV, WMWC and the Bullet. It should be noted that the rally was the result of a meeting of concerned students in Westmoreland on March 29. The four suspended Madison males were in no way involved in the protest and were not present at the rally. As Schumacher noted in the closing speech, "the concerns of this rally do not pertain to any individual case. It is a principle for which we fight." [end page two] [start page three] [Image - Frederick Ford stands at microphone, with a sign labeled "Westmoreland Hall" in front of him] [Image credit] Photograph by Houston Kempton [Image caption] Frederick Ford, an Alexandria attorney who serves as a NORML volunteer, speaks at the protest on Westmoreland Green as ex-MWC NORML president Mike Mello and Eric Wootten look on. [end page three] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Bales, Jack Vol. No./Issue No. Volume and issue number for the newspaper (if available) vol. 52, issue 18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rally Condemns Suspensions Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource McFalls, Helen Marie Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived McFalls, Helen Marie. "Rally Condemns Suspensions." The Bullet (Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, VA), April 3, 1979, p. 1. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 3 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Fredericksburg, VA Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1979-04-03 Description An account of the resource On March 30, 1979, MWC students hold a rally to protest the college suspensions of four male Mary Washington students charged with drug offenses. Subject The topic of the resource Marijuana--Law and legislation National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Frederick Ford George Semples Houston Kempton John Schumacher Marijuana Mary Washington College Michael Mello NORML Prince B. Woodward The Bullet https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/4c0565f4c3d6e96b230f1d3c4e595676.jpg cf87ca7503711adb41e07de7296c92e2 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/a76ea5cef3bfbebe7c7aa0a46c29a65c.jpg 00ded049128afc576508d9868c9f0691 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 1, 1976-1979 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Huffman, Suzanne Text Any textual data included in the document With the sounds of Woodstock playing softly in the background nearly 100 Mary Washington College students returned, if only briefly, to the days of meaningful protest yesterday. On the nicest day of the year so far the students took time out from sunbathing, frisbee-throwing and studying to protest the suspension of four male MWC students arrested for possession of marijuana last week. While an undercurrent of resentment about the arrests themselves was evident at the hour-long rally, the organizers emphasized the demonstration was held to protest the students' suspension without a hearing. By suspending the students before they appear in General District Court to face the misdemeanor marijuana charges, the MWC administration found them "guilty before being proven innocent," said speaker Mike Mello. Arrested in the raid on the Madison Hall dormitory were: William P. Crawford, 19, of Alexandria; Charles W. Houlgrace, 20, of Richmond; Randolph P. Hart, 19, of Morgantown, W. VA.; and a 17-year-old juvenile. A fifth student, Seth F. Schrager, 18, of Alexandria was also arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and possession of smoking equipment, was not suspended. MWC President Prince B. Woodard was asked to attend yesterday's rally but according to the organizers, declined. The students said they would present petitions to Woodard on Monday registering an official protest of the suspensions. None of the suspended students, who are barred from campus, could be present yesterday. Mello said the raid was "unprecedented" in MWC history. One of the students, he noted, was arrested for the possession of 12 marijuana. Mello challenged the action of the MWC police in conducting the raid on the students' rooms. "It was the first time they could act like real police, make a real search, appear before real judges, and make real arrests. It was a moment in the sun for our keystone cops," he told cheering protesters. The students' suspensions, coupled with possible court action "smacks of double jeopardy," Mello said. The protesting students lounged about in bikinis and listened to the speakers over the din of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young songs which provided the beat to many anti-war protests in the late 60s and early 70s. Many of the students wore black armbands with NORML (National Organization for the Repeal of Marijuana Laws) buttons attached. And while the suspensions were the focal point of protest the call for marijuana reform hung heavy over the event. Rich Ford, an Alexandria attorney who represented the Virginia NORML organization at the rally, questioned whether marijuana possession was the "serious crime: the MWC administration claimed it was in handing out the suspensions. Noting that 50 million Americans have smoked marijuana, Ford said, "If the administration suspends everyone here that has smoked marijuana, I would guess they'd have a preciously small student body. "This is a bit a serious crime, it is not. a serious problem, it is simply a choice of a recreational drug," Ford added. Eric Wooten, a member of the MWC student government who was among the protest's organizers, questioned some of the school's priorities and rules. Acknowledge that marijuana possession is illegal, Wooten said the MWC administration " condones these keg parties every Saturday night where everybody just gets smashed," yet suspends other students for finding different outlet. The four students, all freshmen, are expected to be reinstated two weeks after their suspensions took effect. Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rally Protests Suspensions Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Geigerich, Steve Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1979-03-31 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 dpi Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Fredericksburg, VA Subject The topic of the resource Protest movements--United States Description An account of the resource A newspaper article written by Steve Geigerich that discusses protests held by Mary Washington College students over marijuana-use suspensions. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Geigerich, Steve. "Rally Protests Suspensions". The Free-Lance Star (Fredericksburg, VA), March 31, 1979. Marijuana Michael A. Mello student activism Student Protest https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/b9fc78f92a58be3c2ae7a345438c4c2a.jpg 226ce3452cdaa3faabd35a8919d9660a https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/37e86978698d98446ad7f4abc759424c.jpg 8b481af85e64870e725ca63d8119b9a0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Letter Text Any textual data included in the document JAMES M. RUSS* TAD A. YATES *CERTIFIED CRIMINAL TRIAL AND CRIMINAL APPELLATE LAWYER BY THE FLORIDA BAR BOARD OF CERTIFICATION *CERTIFIED CRIMINAL TRIAL ADVOCATE BY THE NATIONAL BOARD OF TRIAL ADVOCACY LAW OFFICES OF JAMES M. RUSS PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION TINKER BUILDING 18 WEST PINE STREET ORLANDO, FLORIDA ZIP CODE 32801-2697 (407) 849 - 6050 FAX (407) 849 - 6059 LEGAL ASSISTANTS LORI A. LAKEMAN M. CHERIE HECKFORD January 19, 1996 PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL Michael Mello, Esquire Vermont Law School Chelsea Street South Royalton, Vermont Re: State of Florida v. Spaziano Case No. 75-430-CFA, Circuit Court, Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, Seminole County, Florida Dear Professor Mello: Enclosed is Mr. Spaziano’s January 18, 1996 memorandum to Circuit Judge Eaton, which essentially summarizes his evidentiary earring which was held between January 8 and January 15, 1996, in the Circuit Court, Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, Seminole County, Florida. But for your courage and fortitude, which were evidenced in your 1995 actions on behalf of Mr. Spaziano, there is no question but that he would be dead today. I write to thank you for the courageous efforts you made on his behalf, in the face of criticism by both the Florida Supreme Court and the legal profession. I also write to thank you for the excellent materials which you created during the Summer of 1995 which were filed in the Florida Supreme court, and which you shared with us. These materials were of immeasurable help to all of us in coming to an early understanding of this case under then-existing severe time pressure. As you can see from the enclosed legal memorandum, at the evidentiary hearing the points and the witnesses you previously developed were presented to Judge Eaton in support of the motion for new trial. Also enclosed is a copy of the State’s Memorandum of Law, which arrived at my office as i was dictating this letter. Michael Mello, Esquire January 19, 1996 Page 2 Judge Eaton will probably rule in this case shortly after you receive this letter and legal memorandum. Irrespective of Judge Eaton’s decision, I want to record in this letter my professional admiration for you and my appreciation for everything you have done. Very truly yours, James M Russ (signature) James M. Russ JMR:ch Enclosures Mr. Spaziano’s Memorandum of Law on Evidence of Newly Discovered Evidence and Recantation State’s Memorandum of Law Cc: Steven Hanlon, Esquire Holland & Knight 315 South Calhoun Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301 w/o enclosures Gregg Thomas, Esquire Holland & Knight 400 North Ashley Drive, Suit 2300 Post Office Box 1288 Tampa, Florida 33602 w/o enclosures Chesterfield H. Smith, Esquire Holland & Knight Post Office Box 015441 Miami, Florida 33101-5441 w/o enclosures Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Van Doren, Jamie Student Editor of the Digital Item Dickinson, Terra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Re: State of Florida v. Spaziano Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-01-19 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Description An account of the resource James M. Russ, an Orlando, Florida lawyer sends Mello his “professional admiration” for his work on the Spaziano case, as well as a memorandum by Spaziano to Judge Eaton and the State of Florida’s Memorandum of Law. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Florida Maine Subject The topic of the resource Spaziano, Joe Trials Litigation Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Russ, James M. James M Russ State of Florida v Spaziano