This is a shot in the dark - but any little bit will help. Please excuse length but there is no other way for me to communicate this need. In 2005 a missionary couple from my church was helping a woman (who we'll call V) find a place to live. She had moved from TN to MI because of "family legal issues", though she had just enough money to get to MI & no where to go, besides having a small scholarship to cover tuition at the local University. I so happened to have a spare room & was praying about what to do with it. When the missionary couple told me about V, she seemed like an immediate answer to prayer. I was shocked when I first met her. She is a beautiful & her demeanor radiated that of a woman with a great deal of intelligence& self respect. Though she would be too humble to admit it, V looks like superwoman with her tiny little ankles; wrists & super thick pitch black hair. She is older than me by a few years, very eloquent in her speech, professional & beautiful. Hardly someone you would picture to be in such a predicament. When I met her she had just returned from a job interview & was in a business suit.
After a few conversations in person we agreed to be roommates, became close (like sisters) & to this day are in regular correspondence. Confused at her situation, when I finally felt comfortable, I asked why such a smart, talented & beautiful lady like her was in such a rut & how she got there. As we sat together for two hours talking, tears ran down her face & she described what she had been through since 1995.

In 1995 she married a man we'll call Mr. M. He had been divorced (for reasons of infidelity on his ex-wife's part) for 4 years before marrying V. They had known each other for almost a year when they made the decision to wed. Mr. M had 3 children from his previous marriage who he had sole custody of. The children hadn't seen nor heard from their mother the entire span of four years. When V & Mr. M married, V wanted to move to Florida to be with some of her family members, which required Mr. M to move from Washington. He agreed to move, but his children were not happy about being "uprooted" because of his "new wife"...understandably. The oldest girl was living on her own already, but the second youngest girl wanted to stay in Washington because she didn't want to transfer away from friends. As soon as the ex-wife learned about the wedding, she went to Mr.M's family & began saying she never cheated. Mr.M's family, (being staunchly religious) decided then that it was wrong for Mr. M to divorce her, so they disowned him & began taking the ex-wife's side. This is unfortunate as, one (of the various) people she openly had a sexual relationship with was Mr. M's own brother! She then began demanding custody of the two remaining children. The youngest stayed with the father but the 2nd oldest was willing to go with her mother because it would mean she could stay in the same school. After a while, accusations were made against Mr. M by his daughter & this began the "legal issues". She claimed that her dad molested her. During the trial the daughter of Mr. M's brother wrote Mr. M's son various emails saying "uncle. M would NEVER do something like that". As the accusations were being put together, the daughter began to get careless with her words. Believing all pastor's must keep conversations "confidential" she bragged to one pastor about how it was all a lie. This pastor, knowing the truth, was willing to give up his position as pastor to testify to what this girl had told him & all 5 counts of CSC on this man were dropped.

Ironically, less than 7 months later, Mr. M's niece (the daughter of the brother whom had been sleeping with Mr. M's ex-wife during & after his marriage) came forward & said that he had done the same thing to her. She claimed that these things happened when she was 7 years old (at the time of accusations she was in her early to mid-teens). V, never having been in this situation, chose a lawyer to represent Mr. M out of the yellow pages (we'll call him X). At the initial trial the judge said that nothing could be said about the previous case (in which Mr. M was found not guilty), yet one of the very first questions the prosecutor posed in front of the jury to a witness was: "Are you aware of the previous charges held against Mr. M ?" X did not object to the question, until Mr. M asked "Are you going to object to that?" This usually would have resulted in a "mis-trial" because the jury would have been made prejudice at such a remark...yet the trial continued on after the judge simply told the jury to "disregard the question". Carrying on - X asked the girl (when she testified obviously) if she was in contact with former Ms.M & she responded "No" - though phone records indicated she spent sometimes up to three hours on the phone with former Ms.M - but X did not feel it necessary to present the phone logs as evidence. When Mr. M 's son presented the emails to X - where this same girl wrote the son stating, "Uncle M would NEVER do such a thing..." still X responded ("if I submit that as evidence I'll be laughed out of the courtroom!") So he did not present the email as evidence, though it was practically a confession to perjury. X did not get medical records. This niece was in & out of institutions where counseling took place weekly between the girls early teens & the times she made the accusations as a result of the trauma a broken relationship caused her when she found her boyfriend had impregnated another girl. During the time she received counseling, (she never indeed was molested) the counseling records would have shown that there was never any mention of Mr. M or any supposed molestation. How could she mention such things if they never happened, & she hadn't planned to fabricate till years later? It would make sense if she never mentioned Mr. M & such things it would be because they never took place! Yet the records were not "necessary" either to X to show that she had never mentioned such abuse. X never bothered to get such records.

At the end of this "circus" Mr. M was found GUILTY & was given a life sentence. Churches & those Mr. M had known all pulled together in excess of 23,000.00 to get Mr. M a new lawyer. This new lawyer, who we'll call Y, took an immediate interest in this case though V hardly had any money what so ever initially. Y came up with 36 points to prove that X was incompetent!

Upon questioning at a later hearing, X could not answer simple questions that would be difficult not to know for a civil attorney. He was not even familiar with well known cases that are often carried around with civil attorneys to court - because they are used so often. The appeals court unanymously found that Mr. M did NOT receive a fair trial. The story doesn't end there...

The appeal's court decision & a letter requesting a new trial was submitted to the judge. The judge refused providing Mr. M a new trial, writing (what should have been a 3 page response) a 12 page response, simply re-stating what the prosecutor had claimed from the beginning. This judge was publicly reprimanded by the appeals court for refusing Mr. M a new trial...but none the less without this judges agreement, the judges decision would have to be appealed.

After 5 years of being incarcerated Mr. M finally reached the appeals court again on January 6th 2009. Y presented the 36 points to this new panel in brief format & was able to mention 10 at the hearing. But now this panel decided unanimously that Mr. M DID receive a fair trial - writing a letter of explanation to Mr. M & Y stating that X indeed did have a "trial strategy" - when in fact it's quite clear he was incompetent. Only 7 points of 36 were in the letter of explanation, though even 10 were verbalized at the Jan, 6th hearing.

Now - after over 23,000.00 Mr. M still sits in a jail cell 5 years later, after giving up his house, everything they own & pleading with as many people as they can to help. STILL further actions needs to be taken.

In a phone conference today Mr. Y explained to both V & Mr. M that there are only two options left....The brief with the 36 points can be circulated to all the judicial members in the appeals court (instead of just 3 random) OR it can go to the Supreme Court.

Whatever is decided tomorrow at 2:30p.m. by V, Mr. M& Y... will have to be funded by mid-March.

I have taken the time to read through most every transcript V has kept. I have read the letter of explanation from the appeals court & though I'm no law scholar - it's plain to me & all those who support Mr. M that he is innocent.

Had Mr. M just plead no contest - he would have been released by now (most likely). The only way he can get out in 20 years is if he "shows remorse". How can a man who has not committed this crime show remorse? X tried to convince Mr. M to lie saying "you'll get two or three years & this will all be over with" . Mr. M’s response: “I didn’t do this… it’s all or nothing” Mr. M refused to lie & has maintained his innocence to this day.

Mr. M has his Masters of divinity & is an ordained Pastor. He was working on getting his second Masters in Business Management when such accusations arose. He was once a very wealthy man who owned & operated a Christian Radio Station & Christian Printing press out of his own home with a small fleet of staff. Many of his previous employees still are in touch with him today & some have invested thousands of dollars into helping him. Some have even been willing to testify to the fact that his house was always open & the type of work that went on there would never have allowed the house to be unoccupied. Even all the bedroom doors were always kept open.

Though he was placed in a level 5 (which is maximum security) Mr. M is now at a level 2. He has never once had any infractions, despite having his life threatened multiple times by numerous people, both by gangs & individuals. Mr. M has been "sliced" more than once with razor blades & other "home-made" weapons - as CSC's are looked at as worse than murderers in prison.

Mr. M recently accepted a job as a clerk at the Cor. Fac. & was elected inmate representative by all the inmates at his current facility. As a result of wanting to learn more about the law so he can understand what needs to be done for him to be fairly represented, he has helped many inmates with legal documentation, free of charge & as a result, some have gained new trials, have had their convictions changed & some have been released.

Mr. M also has lead many to Christ while in prison & now receives letters from inmates & past inmates from the various Corr. Fac. he's been in. The truth of the matter is... Mr. M needs prayers & support. The more people who know about his situation the better. If you want to look up Mr. M 's appeals history, I will be more than happy to provide you the necessary information to see his history. If you have any questions, I would be more than happy to answer them.

V herself has stuck with Mr. M the entire time, despite that Mr. M has been locked up the majority of their marriage. Just last week she traveled over 6 hours to visit Mr. M when he found out about the Appeal's decision to offer him comfort & words of encouragement.

Your prayers are desperately needed. If you would like to learn more ways regarding how you can support Mr. M 's cause, please send me an email. Thank you for enduring this long entry. Your prayers & support are greatly appreciated. Rhonda