There is a man, by the name of Willie Hines. He is a Christian man, sitting in prison at this very moment. He has been incarcerated for the past thirty-three (33) years. He is there because he was convicted of the crime of date rape. He has remained behind bars so long, because he steadfastly refuses to acknowledge guilt, before the parole board, for a crime, he maintains he did not commit.
HIS STORY & WHY IT IS OF INTEREST: He went out on a Friday night to a club with his girlfriend, typically as young people do. Returning home, he allowed his friend to borrow his car, since he was going to entertain his girlfriend. His friend returned with this lady from Hollywood. They went into a back bedroom, where shortly a disturbance occurred. Willie went in to see what was going on, and the woman was screaming, acting wild and throwing things about. In the hysteria she broke Willies mirror. Willie slapped her to get her under control and demanded that his friend take her out for disrespecting his home. For reasons still unknown to this day, the next day after this encounter, the young woman went to the police and claimed she had been raped by Willie Hines. The police came to his home and arrested him. Although he protested his innocence, he was convicted and sent to prison.
We are not questioning his guilt or innocence in this matter! What we are questioning is the “fairness of the sentence”, in light of the time he has served and in comparison to sentencing for other more heinous crimes. The parole boards are releasing murderers, child sex offenders, drug dealers, and career criminals back into our communities. Many of these parolees have shown no remorse or any evidence of rehabilitation. They pick right back up, repeating their crimes against us and our children.
This man has been a “model” prisoner for almost 33 years! He went to prison as a young man of 25 and gave his life to Christ 32 years ago while locked up. He has kept to himself and has had no violations of prison rules against his record. He has acquired an education; earning numerous certifications in various vocational fields, and earned a Doctor of Divinity Degree while in prison. By his conduct and dedication to Christian living, he has earned the respect and admiration of fellow inmates, who seek him out for counsel and sharing the Word.
His Present dilemma: He has attempted numerous times to get a retrial without success. The police now claim they have lost all of the DNA evidence in his case. He came up for parole hearing recently, where he should have been granted parole. Two weeks before his hearing date, he was physically attacked in his cell by his cell mate, who was mentally unstable. He defended himself against the attack, however, the prison system holds him equally responsible. This was a fist fight within his cell and his second in 32 years. He was put in solitary confinement for 30 days. While in solitary confinement, all of his personal belongings, allowed and accumulated over the years, were stolen from him. Because of this fight incident, he was denied parole and given another 5 years to serve, before being eligible for another parole hearing.
On its face, this is obviously UNFAIR AND UNJUSTIFIABLE!
our PURPOSE FOR CONTACTING YOU! our OBJECTIVE: We propose to bring this man’s plight to nationwide attention! We believe he has been sentenced unjustly by the parole board’s decision to punish him further for an unprovoked attack upon his person. We believe by bringing his case to community, government and media attention, those who have the power to correct this injustice, will be encouraged to do so. This man has suffered enough for his personal conviction!
We believe we can achieve fairness and justice for him and his ultimate release from prison by:
1. Calling attention to his case nationwide, using all forms of media. (Print, Television, Radio, Internet and word of mouth)
2. Soliciting help from the public, city, state and federal legislators and lawmakers, civic and social organizations, churches, television and motion picture personalities, sport personalities and professional athletes, influential leaders and business persons locally and nationally.
3. Launching a targeted e-mail, phone and letter writing campaign to bring awareness of his plight and ask for immediate reconsideration of his parole case from the State Parole Board.
4. Appealing to our Governor and President to commute his sentence in light of the time he has already served and the current add-on of 5 years.
5. If necessary, have an organized demonstration, highlighting his dilemma, protesting the injustice and supporting his immediate release from prison
People united and organized for common causes have changed the world as we know it today! This man’s freedom is worthy of our support and efforts!
WHAT WE ASK OF YOU: We are not asking you to donate large amounts of money or a lot of your valuable time, to this cause. We firmly believe, if you will volunteer to assist us, with your help, we can achieve success with:
a. The cost of 10 postage stamps, ($4.40) per person (To mail 10 letters to targeted recipients, at a later date.)
b. The use of 10 sheets of paper & envelopes per person (All of us have printing paper and envelopes)
c. Use of our own home computers and printers (Each of us has a computer and printer to print letters, envelopes and flyers)
d. Using our own e-mail and contacts list (You already know people and they know additional people, so our reach is unlimited)
e. Devoting approximately, 2 hour of your valuable time. (To mail letters, e-mail and make phone calls, when notified)
This is nominal expense and major effort at a grass roots level. If each person who volunteers, is willing to print, stamp and mail just 10 targeted letters, send e-mails to your contacts and make 10 targeted phone calls, we can make a significant impact in obtaining his release.
OUR IMMEDIATE NEED: Your commitment to join us in this effort!
1. Simply e-mail me back your commitment to assist us by working in this endeavor as mentioned above. (We need to know how many people are willing to help, so we can organize and utilize our resources in this endeavor.) Remember: Many hands make light the work!
2. Purchase your 10 postage stamps and envelopes. Set them aside for a future mailing when instructed.
3. Compile your list of e-mail contact’s addresses; insure they are current and correct; have them ready to use from your computer, when instructed.
4. If you know people that you feel would be helpful to us in this endeavor, and are willing to work with us, share their contact information with us or make contact yourself and bring them on board.
5. E-mail me any of your thoughts, ideas and suggestions, that you feel will be of help to us in this endeavor.
6. We need a Criminal Attorney or Law Advocate Group to represent Rev. Hines appeals and hearings.
7. PRAYER! We believe in the power of prayer! God hears and responds to the righteous petitions of His people! Pray with us daily, that God will grant us His favor as we work in our brother’s behalf! We will give God all the Praise and Glory due Him!
Once we have the information, and know who we can count on for help, we can proceed to organize our volunteers, discuss and plan our courses of action and launch this effort. We are trusting God that He will touch your heart and mind and you will be moved enough to assist us in achieving Rev. Willie Hines freedom.
Please make all replies to: (freewilliehines@gmail.com)
Our tentative organization name is: The Free Willie Hines Group
We would greatly appreciate you forwarding this blog site to your contacts; however, please forward using the BCC (blind carbon copy) Option. We don’t want to burden recipients with having to scroll through a long list of Forwards.
On behalf of Rev. Willie Hines, I thank you for your kind assistance in any way you can help us in this matter. God Bless you!
Your brother, In His Service
Douglas Daniels
Douglas Daniels
