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UNCENSORED FROM TEXAS DEATH
ROW
by Paul Colella
week of Jan. 13 – 20
I am losing my mind, 1-12
I shit down Lt. Roach and Warden Chance. It
was a once in a lifetime opportunity
because wardens just do not come
around when there are problems,
which totally blows my mind.
This is the first of what
I will hope will be a weekly forum in which I
will try my best to give readers
some uncensored insight into daily life
on Death Row. I will not candy
coat it in any form or fashion. I will
change the names of inmates who
do not want their names used but other
than that it will be as real
as I can possibly present it. I don’t want
to offend anyone or make anyone
mad but I honestly feel people are blind
as to the every day goings on.
Most of us keep our every day life a
secret because it’s not always
nice and we don’t always like for our
families to know because sometimes
it’s embarrassing, sometimes it’s
humiliating, but always, it’s
real and by them not knowing they cannot
begin to understand the horrors
of life on DR. It isn’t a nice place and
not everyone hereis nice. 90
% of us put up our facade before a visit
and it’s very easy to write a
letter home and omit the reality of our
existence. So the whole porpose
of this forum is to show it as real as
possible.
I AM losing my mind. I must
be to have shit down anyone let alone a warden.
This has brought some changes
that most of us don’t bar. They are only a
minor hinderance to our goings
on, we still can get what we want with
either friendly or unfriendly
persuasion. After the warden got shit down
the powers that be decided to
put steel/plexiglass boxes over the food
tray slot on certain cells on
F Pod D, E and F section. 6 cells out of
14 on each section have these
boxes. – They done this thinking it would
prevent us from shitting down
or chunking on laws or jacking the bean
slot or cuffs.
By the way, F Pod is for all
Level II and III inmates, A, B and C
section is now Level II, D,
E and F is Level III (since the changes). F
section is full of us bad actors:
71 cell Bobby Hopkins, 72 –
Brian Davis, 73 – Leon Dorsey, 74 – Paul
Colella, 75 – (--------name
deleted at request of prisoner), 76 – Rick Rhoades, 77 – Derrick Jackson,
78
– Allan Ripkowski, 79 – Derryl
Wheatfall, 80 – Hank Skinner, 81 –
Richard Cartwright, 82 – Eddie
Johnson, 83 – Douglas Feldman, 84 – Kenny
Parr.
We are supposed the worst of
the worst. Why ? Because we have a desire
to make things better for not
only ourselfs but all of Death Row and we
don’t care about the material
things (what little they are) that the
administration use as incentive
for good behavior.
As Level III inmates there
is NOTHING left for them to take or use for
punishment except our food and
water which they limit sometimes trying
to starve us into submission.
Don’t work. Why ? Because there
is a purpose behind our actions and we
will not give in just because,
we will stand up for what we believe in
and fight for the betterment
of conditions and treatment of all DR.
Our families and friends don’t
understand why we choose to saerifice the
so called luxuries of Level I
but what most don’t understand can be
summed up by my favorite saying.
„Sometimes what seems like sacrifice
isn’t sacrifice at all. It’s about
what’s going on in our hearts.
About seeing clearly the way life is and
doing what is taken, being true
to it regardless of the pain and
torment, because not being true
to it is a pain far greater.“
It’s a saying I read in a book
once and changed a bit. It says it all,
about why we do what we do.
Along with this article I
put a letter I sent the warden 1-20. Warden
Zeller is the head warden here
on Polunsky but it’s rare, extremly rare
to see him let alone get him
to handle a problem. I have written to him
about ALL our problems and complains
which you will all read about in
the weeks to come. My last communication
to him he passed down to a C+
who told me snidely that he
had my letter.
So instead of addressing problems
he like so many others just passes the
buck. What’s the point of having
a warden if he can’t actualy take part
of the daily problems of his
prison ?
--------- In the last week -----------
from 1-12 until 1-19 I was
on an every 4 hour shakedown. This was a
EVERY 4 hour deal, including
nighttime, so damn the law that says we get
8 hours uninterupted sleep.
Lt. Roach also had me on paper
gown, paper mask, property restriction,
food load, container restriction
– he said I not only shit him and
Warden Chance down (TRUE) but
that I also spit and made a weapon out of
my bed sheet (LIES). The last
was sad to justify stealing my property
and putting me on paper gown/mask.
I didn’t spit nor make a „weapon“ out
of my bed sheet, but he was
a bit upset gabbing and choking with shit
running down his face, hair and
clothes. Yes it’s nasty, but see my
article titled "Animal Instincts
" for the story.
Seams like sitting down is
one of the only things these folks bar. If it
would have been up to some. The
choice wouldn’t have been shit. It would
have been blood for blood –
As Rambo said, "They drew first blood.“
Today 1-20-02 I planned on
getting up and writting some letters,
answering my mail and writting
this article, which was the plan.
But it was as all the best laid
plans, it went haywire, instead I got
woke up for breakfast later than
usual 3-4 AM it was 5:45. The officer
handed me my container restriction
try which has a milk which comes in a
carton – no containers for me
J, 2 waffles, 4 poar kuarters, 1 piece of
pan sausage, no syrup. I take
a bite – it’s ICE cold. Meals are by law
supposed to be a certain tempeture.
„Hey officer this is cold, call some
rank,“ he replies „yea ok“ and
leaves, his shift over. So I bang and
yell for rank – none come. I
lit a fire – none come, I cut myself – none
come. I buttnaked – none come.
Finally exhausted and hungry I eat the
cold food. Buttnaked again finally
two sergeants come, „What’s the
problem ?“ I explain, „Ok, we’ll
look into it.“
Pascification at it’s finest.
They haven’t been back and I’m tired. It’s
nap time.
Tune in next week. Thanks for
reading.
Respectfully
In struggle
Paul Colella
Jan 25
Tonight I received a letter from
my mother that made my heart soar with
joy. I'd expected a letter full
of worry and and words of be good, don't
buck the system. Instead it
was full of encouragement and pride. She was
actually proud of my fighting
for and standing for what I believe is a
just cause.
These people are in trouble now
cause with moms support I can overcome
any obstacle – Today was quiet.
Jan 26 6am
Today I contemplated suicide.
It was a rare fleeting thought but the
effect was very profound, because
even through my existence is at
bestanimalistic my will to live
and be free nullifies all such thoughts
assoon as they jump up.
I have lived for nine years
in this hell. The last two years have been
worse than any of the others
because of the isolation and lack of means
to express myself creatively.
I have so many ideas for making beautiful
things, yet I can't because they
don't allow us crafts, which we had for
20 years on Ellis.
Sometimes, though not often
the suicidal thought sneakes in but as long
as I don't let it take root it
don't have a chance. We all have these
days. I should be happy about
the letter from mom last night. If it
weren't for that my blue feelings
today would probably be much worse.
But it wont last long, it never
does in me and when everyone else wakes
up and starts talking and carrying
on, my mood will lift.
9:30pm
I cannot believe how many officers
have laughed and congratulated me on
shitting down the warden. They
all say the same thing, now he knows how
it feels. Cos (Correctional Officers)
have been fading the shit for
years and never were any major
precautions taken and now a warden gets
it and everything changes. What
a sissy. The officers and convicts are
all calling him Warden Shitty.
„Oh whats that smell". Of course the
officers won't call him that
to his face, but we will!
F Pod has a reputation especially
Level III which is now kept separate
from Level II. Very few women
work down here because of their fear of
shit and gunslingers (guys who
masturbate constantly when a woman comes
by their cells). I can relate
and have even attempted it myself but
there is no thrill to me to
see a fully dressed woman. Yes I am a man
and the urge is there. Then again
some women who do work down here are
total freaks and don't mind when
one of us kill (to masturbate) on her,
talking dirty and such but that's
all over the system not just Level II
or III death row. I'm really
surprised sexual frustration/tensions on
Death Row even higher. Normally
in the prison setting some guys will
take advantage of the homosexuals,
it's a common thing in prison. But
here it's not even an option
because of the isolation. I know the
homosexuals are mad about that.
But because of the sexual
frustration/tension men masturbate.
It's a fact of life, but it is also
(get this!) against the rules.
What a crack of shit. If a female officer
walks up to your door and your
masturbating, she can give you a
disciplinary case, which can
result in up to 6 months on the level
system AND punishment by the
disciplinary officer who ALWAYS finds the
inmate guilty.
Being that most of us grew
up believing it was „bad" to masturbate alot
of us still keep it as private
as possible but some who don't have these
in habitions don't mind being
caught and of course there are skanks like
Officer -------- who will try
to use a case to humiliate an inmate not
realizing that's the thrill of
it to some guys.
Today was fairly quiet. Rick's
cell sprung a leak. He told the officers
who called rank. Time went on,
Rick got aggravated cause it was sewer
water coming in his cell.
BD was getting ready to come out for shower
so he was going to jack the
cuffs to get rank down here. Just as he was
getting ready, rank comes through
the door, saved the day. Tomorrow is
my last day of food loaf, it
will be good to eat a hot meal, but the
loafs have improved so they are
tolerable. All the food has improved
somewhat. Thank you Captain Bacon!
Give credit where credit is due. Yes
that's his real name (smile).
Jan 28
Last night 3rd shift told BD
to pack his property he was going on bench
warrant. He didn't know why.
They finally came to get him about 10 this
morning. Been quiet all yesterday
and today. They brought the railroad
killer back from wherever he
was. He has been gone awhile, has a full
beard, looking crazy as he is.
He is known to cut on himself and it may
be sadistic but some guys will
give him razor blades to cut himself
with. Yes, there are some sadistic
people here on death row, but not all
of us are innocent.
Someone somewhere must be
looking down upon us. They just brought supper
trays and I couldn't believe
the amount of food on them. We had
chilimac, seemed like 2 times
as much as usual. Red beans, corn, green
beans, carrots and a piece of
corn bread. One hell of a meal. I'm full
for the first time on Level II
or III. So someone has changed something.
I'm listening to all around me
talking about it. Comments like „someone
special must be touring the
prison" or „it must be poisoned". It's
definitely a first and I want
to personally say thank you to whoever was
responsible. I got my first comment
from an officer about my article
„Animal Instincts". He agreed
with me and said it was well written and
to the point. I'm sure all the
top rank has seen it by now. Let's talk
for a minute about sponges. Those
who read the rewards of others blood
sweat and tears, we had a discussion
about it recently. When I say
sponges I'm talking about those
who whine and cry like lil' babies about
the situation they are in yet
will not do anything to try and change
things. I see them as several
others doe, weak willed, no backbone,
materialistic inmates who care
more about a pint of icecream and radio
than their living conditions.
There have always been people
like me and those around me who will fight
for what we believe in and then
these who will sit back and call us
idiots and troublemakers yet
still benefit from our struggles. It upsets
us that these people won't even
do something as simple as go to rec
everyday or file grievances on
things. Oh well they can sponge all they
want, I know I'm true to myself
and stand up for what I believe in. I
guess not everyone has the heart
for it.
I bet they enjoyed this suppermeal
as much as I did and don't even know
who was responsible for the
changes. Enjoy Death Row, it's on Level Il's
and III's.
Jan. 29
I woke up in the morning and
I listen to Ripkowski going off cursing and
screaming, talking about gas
coming through the cracks in the wall.
Several of the fellas are of
course joining the chaos to let off a
little steam. I've written several
requests to get someone to come spray
the mold and fungus crowing in
the corners, soap and water just ain't
getting it. They have also not
arranged for anyone to clean and
disinfect the food boxes. We
are forced to put our dirty clothes and
socks and underwear in the same
box as our food is served in. So now
I've told all the rank about
it. What's the next step?
Chi Town is going over the
edge, Birdman constantly whistles the same
tones over and over and over
and whistling drives Chi crazier everyday.
I feel sorry for him. It's like
the quiet before the storm, I know next
week will be getting radical
again. I'm interested to see what's going
to happen, I know once things
heat up, lockdown won't be far away. Chi
Town cut his hair into a mohawk,
looks pretty wild. I might do mine
after my visit Friday (smile).
Jan 30 3:30 am
Been up all night talking to
Soulja and Chi Town through the hole in our
wall. Breakfast finally came
and as always they start on a section so we
are last. 2 Row is served first,
1 row last. When they hand me my try I
notice a biscuit is missing,
so I ask Soulja how many he got. „2". I got
one. The regular trays had eggs
grits, a spoon of peanut butter, 4
pearquarters, 2 biscuits, a
carton of milk and a small bowl of cereal.
Since I am on container restriction
for shitting down the warden and Lt.
Roach, my milk is substituted
with 1 slice of bread with cheese. Cereal
is substituted with an extra
portion of grits. I am supposed to get
everything everyone else gets
except milk and cereal. So when I only get
1 biscuit I told Sgt. Seppenon
and he tells me the grits substitute milk
and the cheese substituted cereal.
I know better cause I've been on
container restriction quite a
few times, so I tell him that isn't right
but he just turned his back on
me and walked away. „Ok Punk, suit your
team up to get this tray."
About 10 minutes goes by –
here they come to pick up trays. Chi Town
tells them he isn't giving his
up either. They get to me open the inside
slot. I act like I'm going to
put the tray in, but I only put it in half
way and tell the sgt. to get
his team. I'm hyped up, got my jumpsuit on,
towel to cover my face with when
they gas. My mattress hanging ½ over
the side of the bed. Pillow covering
the toilet seat and blanket folded
up layed over the edge of the
table. I'm ready, corners and sharp edges
covered. I talk a little shit
to the Sgt. he is a real asshole anyway.
He used to be a regular officer
on Ellis always poking at people. Real
asshole, so he leaves and comes
back with 3rd shift Lt. Tucker, another
fair ranking supervisor. So
I explain it all to him, he ASKS me to push
the tray on out. Key word ASKS.
I do and he goes to check to see if I'm
right. About 5 minutes
go by, here he comes with my biscuit – I thank
him and tell him that the Sgt.
Could have done the same. He agrees,
shakes his head and walks off.
I yell up to Chi Town to go ahead and
give them his tray. I got what
I had coming to me.
This is another instance of
a Sgt. who could have easily solved the
problem yet chose to be an asshole
instead. I was ready to go all the
way because I knew I was right.
Chi Town was ready to go all the way
just because he's my brother
and knows I was in the right. Rick was
going to but changed his mind,
he wants to wait a few days. When they
pass out trays they tell you
„sit on your bunk", just like ordering a
dog. DW protested that this morning
and was ready to go all the way.
These situations could easily
be avoided yet because of an asshole Sgt.
and a rule made to degrade a
problem arose that could have escalated,
luckily it didn't go that far,
but if it had I would have know I was
right!
10.30pm
I received 2 letters tonight,
all of them spoke about my article Animal
Instincts. I am overwhelmed by
the response. So far everyone has been
supportive and understanding.
I guess being real is the way to go. I
hope this forum helps. Today
has been real quiet. It's time for bed,
been going straight for 22 hours.
Jan. 31
Well the month is at an end,
I wake up this morning, listening to Soulja
talking. It seems an officer
told him they (the guards) were expecting
us to raise hell Saturday (smile).
Such numb asses, shows their snitches
aren't very reliable. 1 person
is going to raise a bit of hell, but not
everyone. I bet they have extra
manpower here that day (smile). This
morning at breakfast, 3:49 am,
they again came through making us sit
just to eat. All it is is a
power trip for them, because they know we're
hungry and will go ahead and
sit down. It's bullshit and we have all
talked about going ahead and
sit but when they pick up trays tell them
No come get them. They put security
boxes on our doors to keep us from
chunking. There's no reason other
than cause. They can tell us to sit,
if we don't they refuse to feed
us AND write a disciplinary case for
refusing orders.
Like dogs, sit boy sit,
GRRRR! SNAP!
„Owwww. Why did he bite me?"
Why can't they just leave
us be, poke poke poke, petty petty issues that
are only used to provoke us.
We are supposed to be the worst of the
worst, yet they try and treat
us like kids. No respect whatsoever, I
just don't understand it.
We have a situation. Rick
had a milk carton and refused to give it up so
Sgt. Griggs told him that
Warden Massey said Do not feed him. This is
against the law. They cannot
under any circumstances refuse to feed us.
Let's see what happens. I expect
this to have serious repercussions.
Sgt. Griggs looked like he was
between a rock and hard place, cause he
knows this is totally against
the law. Warden Massey is responsible for
the order yet as in war, if
an officer follows through with the order,
he is just as responsible. Because
he knows it is wrong yet follows
through with it anyway. So not
only is Warden Massey fault it will be
Sgt. Griggs and Officers Camb
and Martinez. They will say it is a
security issue but that is bullshit.
They put these boxes on the cells
to stop us from chunking. There
is no way we can chunk with the boxes.
So that takes away their security
excuse. Chi Town is going to the
shower, when he comes back he
is going to jack the cuffs and get run in
on so that we can document on
tape that they are not feeding Rick. Chi
Town got the cuffs and the key,
told them why. Sgt. Gribbs came to talk
to him, no informal resolution
was made, a 5 man team was suited up.
Sgt. Griggs gave Chi 2 orders.
No! 5 second spray of gas, 5 minutes
wait. Procedure calls for 2
more orders. Sgt. Griggs gave one, Chi
refused. Sgt. Griggs sprayed
gas into his eyes. Rich said he would come
out.
Now let's analyze where
the violation of procedure occurred.
# 1 Refusing to feed Rick
# 2 Not giving the second order
# 3 Nurse King was not washing
out his eyes or checking his vital
statistics.
After he was brought out of
his cell the officers on the team calling
him weak and Bitch of course
low enough not to be caught on camera. The
only one on the team I recognized
was Officer Baker. As he walked by my
cell he asked when I would give
him some meaning taking a team he is
lead man on. It won't be long.
Rich's eyes are on fire now.
The gas used first main ingredient is
Cheyenne Pepper and he caught
a direct shot. If they continue to refuse
to feed Rick I'll go for it
tomorrow after my visit.
7:15
They decided to suit up on Rick,
2 orders, 1 spray, 2 orders, spray ....
Feb. 1
It's now the next day. I'm sitting
in Ricks old cell. They moved him and
me, here is why:
As I said they decided to
suit up a team to get him out of his cell to
search it. 2 order, gas, 2 orders,
gas. They try to roll the door but he
has it barricaded so they can't
open it. More gas. I was shocked at the
aggression the team and Sgt.
Griggs show trying to open the door. 5 men
kicking and pushing, grunting
trying to get the door open. Finally Rick
said ok, I'm open the door, so
he starts to remove the blockade and they
rush him. They only 2 people
recognizable on the team is Officer Baker
and Officer Rains. We don't know
the rest. Sounds of tussling, yelling
and screams of pain. When they
got Rick out of his house his face is
busted up badly. It's on camera and polaroids
are taken.*
* (The CCADP received this
photograph taken of Rick Rhodes through abolitionists via Paul Colellas
mom. She received this picture
Rick Rhodes dad took when he visited the Polunsky Unit. It
shows both eyes and the side
of his face bruised up. http://ccadp.org/rickrhodes-abuse2002.htm
)
This sight really pisses me
off and I lose it. I start throwing water
out of the top of my door, yelling
and screaming, cursing, telling them
„here come get this container".
Rick is led to the shower to mix the gas
with water. Blood pouring from
his face. They strip his cell, 76 cell
and take him to the infirmary
where Nurse King ministers to his wounds.
When they bring him back, they
move him to E section 67 cell. I was
chunking water at all officers
passing my cell. I'm wired, getting my
cell ready for them. It's time
to draw blood. I sharpen 2 pencils, set
them by the door. Sgt. Thompson
comes to my door. I show him my illegal
container, tell him to come get
it. He leaves and comes back, tells me
if I come out Capt. Monroe will
come and talk to us. I think about it
for a minute, Capt. Monroe is
no longer Death Row but he has always been
straight up, so I decide at
that moment to come out, kicking instead of
letting them come it. I bend
down to get handcuffed. Sgt. Thompson is to
my right, Officer Lamb directly
in front of me and Officer Martinez on
my left. The door opens, I start
kicking Lamps the most direct shot,
kicking for his privates, I
kick 4 or 5 times before Sgt. Thompson
grabbed me at which time I tried
to bite him. They finally slam me on my
back, coming down on my cuffed
hands, my left getting smashed. It's all
screwed up. Officer Lamb was
part of not feeding Rick so I didn't mind
picking him. They got me to
my feet. Nurse King comes and gives a look
over.
They take me back to my cell.
They take one cuff off. I pull the other
but they have a firm hold.
I can't get it so I give it up but when they
take it off I put my hand out
of the box. Sgt. Thompson and Officer
Baker are wrestling it back in.
I grab a razor blad taped to my door and
swing it, cutting Sgt. Thompson
on his hand and pull mine in. I jell and
scream about them drawing first
blood, first with Chi Town, then with
Rick. About 30 minutes later
Captain Monroe comes to talk to me. They
will move me to 76 cell (don't
make sense!), take all my property, leave
only mattress and pillow. It's
Jan 31. Cold! He asks me if I'm going to
cause any more trouble and tells
me the next step is lockdown. Now
remember only 3 people have caused
a problem, yet they will punish all
Level III. This is an underhanded
tactic to turn us against each other.
What they don't realize is we
know this and it won't work.
So I tell him no I wont. The
team comes and Captain Monroe lives he his
word. They won't hurt me. So
I come out quietly. Captain Monroe's word
is as good as ours as always.
So I'm now in 76 cell, cold with not even
toilet paper to wipe my butt
with. They have all my property including
the weeks uncensored so this
one will be posted a little late (this
paper is illegal. I shouldn't
have it!)
This morning at breakfast
they were taken everyones milk containers. Chi
had one because he doesn't have
a cup. When I shit down warden Chance he
had everyones cups taken but
given back a few days later. Chi Towns
wasn't returned so he'd
been using a milk carton to get his beverages,
he isn't on container restriction.
So here's what happens: He puts his
milk carton out to get coffee,
Officer Brainsetter snatches it and
throws it away. Tells Chi it's
contraband. Then gives him another with
milk in it. How stupid does this
sound?
But after breakfast they come
around and pick up all the milk cartons,
of course Chi Town refuses. „Bring
me a cup you can have the milk
carton," Lt. Tucker comes, says
he will try and get Chi his cup. Chi
gives him his milk carton, but
now here at lunch he is put on food loaf.
Again against policy, nowhere
in the food loaf criteria is it given for
refusing to relinquish a milk
carton. The struggles go on. Our means may
seem crazy, yes it is violent,
but this is reality. This is our life.
Violence shouldn't be met with
violence, yet is seems to be
the only thing left for us.
The grievance system is a joke, letters to
the warden aren't working. Think
about your world for a minute, every
little thing. Then think about
mine, where a guard will spit in your
food, knowing you will eat it
because your hungry. Where a guard will
take family photos throw them
on the floor, step on them, dump water on
them, take a drawing you have
put your heart and soul in and drop it in
the toilet.
Where ranking supervisors
condone an officer punching you in the face or
slamming you to the ground cause
your speaking your mind. Where pleas
for help go unheard, where a
milk carton can get you gassed and beaten.
Then ask yourself what would
you do, especially if you were subjected to
this and more being innocent
of the crime you are here for. Think about
it!
A Dirty Tactic utilized by the Team:
When the 5 man extraction
is used to remove someone from their cell or
other area, the team is only
suppose to use the least amount of force in
order to subdue restrain and
remove the inmate. When the 5 man team runs
in they start yelling „quit resisting
inmate, quit resisting." This even
though the inmate is overwhelmed
by force 10-15 seconds after the team
enters. Even though he stops
resisting the use this term to continue
beating on the inmate and since
there is so many on the inmate and the
video camera is kept outside
the cell it's hard to catch acertain guard
throwing a punch or kick.
Last night officer Plown and
another officer were the ones to hurt Rick
Rhoades, yet they won't be punished.
Even though Ricks face clearly
shows where a ring or other implement
was used when punching him, his
arm is dislocated, face bruised
and swollen!
6:10 pm
Had a good visit with momma today.
Good visit! As always! She made me
promise not to protest in the
visiting room. Of course not. I would
never jeopardize our visits.
I got to speak with my sister
who visited with Town. I also spoke with
Bob Fratta. He told me his files
grievances weekly which is good. That's
what we need from our Level I
compatriots. I know I get upset about them
not doing much, but really everyone
has to do his own thing. It's just
frustrating at times to think
there are only a handful of us who care
about how we life. On the way
back from my visit, Captain Bacon
kidnapped me into his office.
He wanted to feel me out and see what we
have been going off about. So
I layed it all out to him. I know I didn't
cover everything but I think
he understands a little better yet he gives
no quarter on any of the issues.
He did explain the reasoning behind
limiting our property and it
was exactly what we thought. Less work for
them on shakedowns. I concede
some guys do keep a lot of unnecessary
property, old newspapers, books
they have read etc. but still if it is
stored in the spaces provided
it shouldn't be a problem. I'll send him a
copy of the things we'd like
to see changed and a copy of my article
Animal Instincts!
This is it for this week.
By Paul Colella
http://www.deathrow.at/paul
Recreation Day: of course
a cool officer and a pretty female worked the
pod today. In order to be out
together Rick and Chi Town both leave
their word for no trouble. The
same with Soulja and his homeboy "T" who
just got Level III for threating
the DHO (Disciplinary Hearing Officer).
Well all went nice and smooth
till it was my turn. I got cuffed, go out
my cell and tell the officer
I need to see some rank. He asks me not to
jack the run so I say cool: Tell
them I need to see them about the
property I didn't get back, my
tshirts, socks, pens, pencils, tattoo
magazines, toothbrush, toothpaste,
spoon, post list. I don't know why I
didn't get this stuff back, none
of it is contraband, yet it's missing.
So after my rec. I come back
to my cell. The officer says he talked to
Sgt. Ludwig who said I can't
have my tshirts or socks, but he'll check
on the rest. Tshirts and
socks are allowed, anyway I let it go. I've
attempted to talk and do the
right thing. We'll see what happens Monday.
The rest of the day has been
quiet.
Okay, lets talk about the knuckleheads on 2 row:
78 cell, Allen Ripkowski.
He was some kind of accountant or something in
the world. He is slowly losing
his mind in this isolated environment, no
intellectual stimuli. He yells
and screams about someone gassing him
through the cracks in his walls,
and some eerie reason punishment such
as recreation restriction and
food loaf keep popping up on him, yet he
isn't getting any cases.
79 cell – Daryl Wheatfall,
DW, here is a man who has continually
protested conditions and treatment
for the longest, he has more
disciplinary cases than anyone
I know, and the officers fear him because
he doesn't mind resorting to
their own tactics of violence. 80 cell –
the infamous Hank Skinner. Alot
of you know Hank by his writings and
lawsuit about conditions and
treatment. He has suffered for his
troubles. They screw him over
every chance they get.
81 cell – Richard Michael
Cartwright, my best friend and brother whom I
would gladly give my life for.
A friendship so solid as ours is hard to
come by and rare even in these
conditions. Not many do I call my friend
in this hell but he is one. He
is slowly losing his mind also. He has
requested help over and over
to no avail. The Psych. Department will not
even call him down there for
an interview. Cursory 5 min. conversations
at his door.
82 cell – Eddie Johnson, EJ.
I don't know alot about EJ only that we
share the privilege of writing
the same wonderful woman, Sabine. My
mother and his mother met through
Sabine and now talk on the phone. Two
woman, both ill, both with the
same painful situation brought together
by a mutual understanding.
83 cell – Douglas Feldman,
Birdman, an obsessive – compulsive whistler
which just drives alot of people
crazy especially Chi Town who wants to
cut his lips off. Birdman is
totally antisocial, will not talk to
anyone, he jacks peoples fishing
lines if it goes in front of his cell
and has made many enemies like
this.
84 cell – Kenny Paar, K-Loc,
I don't know him at all but he seems fairly
quiet.
Feb. 3
Let me give you a brief glimpse
into our cages. This cell I'm in has a 2
inch crack in the ceiling where
if it rains water pours in down on my
bunk. My toilet leaks. There
is cracks in the walls from cell to cell on
the back wall, so if your neighbor
snores or farts your right there – my
bunk is on the back outside wall
which freezes in winter and burns in
the summer. The ventilation just
barely works, blowing warm air. The
paint peeled off the walls, sweat
stains where people have leaned
against it for 10 years. The
building is literally falling apart around
us. When a light goes out it
takes up to a month of sitting in the dark
before someone comes to put
a new one in. If a toilet backs up and
spills sewage into your cell
it akes up to 3 or 4 days to get i fixed.
It's 7:50 pm. SoulJa has decided
to chunk on a Sgt. tonight only with
water but it will still get
him moved to a cell with a box. He is going
to protest the cold food at
breakfast and overall conditions. So we
shall see what the night brings.
I made a mistake about the officers
names who hurt Rick, one was
Officer Brown who came from general
population.
Ricks injuries also included
a dislocated elbow which had to be popped
back into place by medical 2
days later. I got a good look at Rick
yesterday. His face is swollen
and bruised, his ear looks horrible where
he was punched. All over a paper
milk carton. The other officer was
Officer Fontenoy.
Both of these officers are new
to Death Row and untrained as all Death
Row guards.
Feb. 4
Monday, no word on my property.
That figures. SoulJA didn't get down
last night seems to be a habit
of his (smile). The guards have been
acting real friendly the last
couple of days, but there are still those
assholes who just have to start
trouble. 4 pm. They just called Bronco
Bobby on the intercom. He made
his Level II but is going into a worse
cell than he is in now. So he
wants to see rank. They just brought
Rainbow in, Raymond Martinez,
put him in 74 cell. He threw hot water on
Officer Atkinson because she
refused to give him his shower. The last
time she worked on his pod, she
messed him out of his chow, recreation
and shower, so he burned her
up this time, because she wouldn't call
Rank after she messed him over.
He has been here for a long time, ex
gang member who tries to educate
younger mexicans about not getting into
gangs and stuff. I just got
my classification paper. They say I have
recent aggressive disciplinary
violations. Yet I haven't even been to
court or found guilty of anything.
Which again is some rhetorical
bullcrap they spout.
Feb. 5
I'm still waiting on the counsel
substitute to come and help me with
appealing my last case where
they stole my money. By policy they are
supposed to help if requested.
Since I wasn't at the hearing I need to
hear the tape recording but
they haven't responded to my requests. They
just don't want to give my money
back. The counsel substitutes are ex
guards and don't really care
anyway. Just another part of a corrupt good
ol' boy system.
I called for the Sgt. Sgt.
Poole came, he hasn't been around so he has
no idea whats up. So he said
he'll tell Lt. Price. Lt. Pierce comes
again the run around, he'll send
the property officer. Pass the buck.
Got my new Thesaurus in this
morning from Sabine. Thanks my friend
(smile). Now I can use big educated
words. Not! That's the purpose now
with alot of people they want
to appear to be more than they are and
usually are misunderstood. I
definitely want to be understood so I'll
stay me.
Feb. 6 5:20 pm
Woke to the sounds of SoulJA
refusing to come out of his house, he
refused so Sgt. Hotea suited
2 officers up, came and gassed him once.
After 5 minutes another order,
gas. 3 more officers were suited up by
this time. They went in subdued
him. Here's where the messed him over.
They stripped him naked, rolled
him around in the gas all over his
floor, naked, so now gas is
all over him (his privates he says are on
FIRE).
They pull him out of his house,
he refuse to get into the shower because
naked the water and gas will
have covered more area. At this time they
are supposed to decontaminate
his cell. They did not, so they put him
back in his cell, make him lay
down again in the gas, naked, to take the
restraints off. Against just
putting more burning gas on his body. We
have been chilling out so they
had a couple assholes work the wing to
wire shit up.
They shook down EJ also. Took
his mirror and Tshirts. They expect us to
shave yet keep taking our mirrors.
It's cold, heat barely works, they
give us NO winter clothes and
the clothes we have bought with our own
money they take. Why don't they
leave us alone? Why stir a hornets nest?
I just don't understand their
logic.
The counsel substitute woke
me up about 10 am to serve me 2 assault
cases. I found out through him
that they ran my case for getting the
warden on Jan. 16. I wasn't notified,
I wasn't given any paperwork as
per policy to notify me it had
even been run. They didn't allow me to
know because they didn't want
me to be able to give reasons why on
record.
Policy states ANY decision
made against an inmate he is to be notified
of the outcome. So much for
their policy and procedure. They don't
follow it unless it suits up
their purposes. It's 6:13 pm. SoulJA says
his skin and privates are on
fire – It's cold!! They took all his
clothes and bedding. Police also
states if an inmate is gassed in his
cell clean bedding is supposed
to be given to the inmate. Let's see if
they do? Y or N.
Just got the correct information
according to Administrative Directive
(AD) 3.46 standard concerning
use of force and chemical agents. When gas
is used the inmate is to be
restrained, taken to the shower,
unrestrained so he can wash the
gas off, given clean boxer and jumpsuit,
restrained, placed back in his
cell – clearly this procedure was not
followed.
Feb. 7
Went to court today for the
2 assault cases. A new DHO named Captain
Currie. He pulled me out into
the hallway and wanted to know why we have
been raising hell. Goes to show
their lines of communication are messed
up, so I get the ol' violence
will get you nowhere speech. He seems fair
minded, but he is a population
captain and really has no say so or
control over what goes on on
Death Row. So I got a verbal reprimand and
10 day cell restriction on both
cases. Whoopee, Yahoo. I'm maxed out on
cell restriction 3 months, so
they can't give me no more of that for a
little while (smile).
3:47 pm: The drains started
backing up. Sewer water all over the place.
It started at 3:20, it took us
10 minutes to get the officers attention,
it's now 4:04 pm. So well, see
how long we have to smell this stuff.
My friend Sabine asked me
about the dog leashes. Yes they use them but
not often. What they do is put
the handcuffs on the leash whenever they
are putting them on an inmate
and taking them off. Also they sometimes
only put the handcuff key on
them. So if a person jacks the cuffs they
can't get the key. Most officers
are to lazy to do it because it's a few
more seconds. The dog leashes
are called retrieval straps. Can't call
them dog leashes it would be
to degrading – yeah like that really
matters to these people. The
same people who spit tobacco juice in the
corners all over the building.
Of course stuff chewing tobacco easy to
hide. Even the ranking officials
use it. Even though it is illegal. But
as in all things policy rules
and procedure out the window as long as
it's against them.
They just called my neighbor
Lil Somo in 77 and told him to pack he made
Level II. Last week they denied
my friend Billy Galloway his Level II
even though he hasn't had a
case in over 3 months. The reason they gave:
recent disciplinary. Bullshit.
He hasn't had a case in 3 months, well
over the 30 days review they
are supposed to bring him up. Warden
Massey, Major Lester, the Lts
and Sgts all abuse the level system and
even though it wasn't even designed
for us in the first place they can't
even follow the guidelines set
forth in the Death Row plan.
5:41 – The plumber just came
– now the porter (clean up population
inmate) is pushing all the sewer
water up and down the walkway. He is
kinda slow. This dumbass goes
home in 25 days, yet he had some baked
chicken from lunch that he was
trying to sell. Got caught! Luckily the
officer on duty just took the
chicken and didn't give him a case. Idiot
would jeopardize his release
for 10 stamps worth of chicken. Stamps are
used as currency in the Texas
prison system. Up North in the Indiana
system we used cigarettes and
bags of coffee. I'm sure it's different in
every state.
Here we can't even smoke.
I mean it's illegal. The guards make so many
$$$ off the blackmarket, it's
crazy. Quite expensive. They can make just
as much with cigarettes as they
can Marijuana, with less risk. But than
a female guard got arrested for
bringing in Marijuana, so for the time
being everything is fairly tight.
Wine is usually easy to make when we
have access to commissary but
now that population has been moved we
can't get it. I'm sure we will
figure out a way, we always do.
Feb. 8
8 am – Someone yelling I wake
up, go to my door, it's unusually cold. I
reach up to feel the vent, no
heat coming out. As I look out the door
several officers are coming in
the section in the background I see the
drug dog. No drugs around here,
the only ones they searches is the black
dudes, SoulJA, EJ, DW on this
section. Damn, it's cold. I yell at the
officer and ask him to get me
a jumpsuit, mine was used to stop the
sewer water from entering my
cell. Damn, Porter didn't clean up last
night so it still smells nasty
in here. We have 2 decent officers
working in here today. One of
them gets me a jumpsuit. Thank you man,
I'm freezing.
Rainbow got a letter from
Joan Civoci from the ACLU. She asked him if
what i'd been writing had any
truth to it (smile). In a way I'm a bit
offended but hell I cant blame
her. That's the problem now, enough
people don't believe us. They
think this system is all straight as an
arrow.
Well they just took Rick out
for Xrays. Again! This is the 3rd time.
That's how straight this system
is, where 5 men can cause serious
injuries and still be working
here. Injuries that require resetting
bones and Xrays. Injuries that
leave bruises for days. Well surprise,
surprise, Rick had a visit with
his family Monday and they got photos.
I just wist some of you be
a fly on the wall around here, you would be
shocked at what you see and
hear. There's no way I could capture it all
on paper like the smell in here
right now or the lack of heat. I'm
seriously thinking about starting
a fire just to get warm. Know if I do
they will take everything out
of my cell and leave me to freeze. Is it
worth it? I'll let you know later
if I do choose to light one.
7:30pm – The heat is back
on finally. It got fairly cold in here today.
Still no word about my property,
looks like I'll have to do something
stupid. I've put I-60 (request
forms) in, I've talked to all the ranking
supervisors with the same response.
Okay, we'll see what we can do! Same
old BS, different day.
Why can't they just solve the problem. If my
property is lost reimburse me,
when I screw up I pay. Policy and
procedure out of the window as
always.
See ya next week. Your questions and comments are welcome and encouraged.
Snail mail:
Paul Colella
# 999045
Polunsky Unit
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston, Texas 77351
USA
Email: paul@deathrow.at
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