I'm not sure how to write about what happned at the corte, because i don't understand it myself. I have asked the judge and the lawyer who have both explained it to me in english, and still it is not clear.
It seems there are 2 forces at work here: one is the correctional legislation, which determines how long someone remains in jail. which we were supposed to attend yesterday. The other is the the rehabilition process. these twon establishments do not seem to communicate much.
Anyway we arrived at the Corte yesterday as planned, and went to look around where we should be. we ended up in this tiny room where 13 women were working (Maarten counted them), and they explained to us... it wasn´t going to happen here in Alajuela, but in San Jose. They went to get a nice gentleman to explain it to us. he spoke english, and it turns out he is the judge. He explained the rehabilitation has chosen to send Brad to a halfway house which is in San Jose, so my father doesn´t fall under his juridiction anymore, he will send the whole file to San Jose next week and they will contact my father for a new hearing. End of story. End of story?
we spent the wqhole day with Brad at the hotel, he is out all day everyday 5 days a week, and sleeps at the halfway house 2 days.
It was amazing sitting in our kitchen here, with the music and the people, Brad was fascinated by the digital cameras (where do you put the film?) by the laptops, everything. He is sitting with me now as i write this.
Just wanted to tell everyone what is going on, Qui sait?
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
Holly's story
He is out, he is out he is OUT!!!!!!!
he is in a halfway house, which seems to be a place where they go to get used to their freedom. Yesterday everyone was telling us this will be the LAST night there for him, and we said... no, the trial is tuesday. This surprising country, he is there today and he loves it! no prison regime, no guards around, it is... just a house. he is really happy, he can leave on wednesday morning at 5. which means i guess he can come say goodbye at the airport...
But maybe the judge will let him go altogether.
Maarten has spoken with the dutch consul who assured us if (and this is a big if) IF he can leave the country, we shouldn't expect any problems at Schiphol in Amsterdam, or anywhere. he is an american citizen visiting his grandchildren. But that would be too good to be true, we will know more tomorrow.
Anyway, whatever happens he will be able to come and go from wednesday on, we'll see what happens. He sounded 20 years younger when i spoke to him. the anxiety is over, the waiting is nearly over.
please leave a comment if you read this, words of encouragement, anything. i will show him this blog on wednesday, before getting on the plane back home.
he is in a halfway house, which seems to be a place where they go to get used to their freedom. Yesterday everyone was telling us this will be the LAST night there for him, and we said... no, the trial is tuesday. This surprising country, he is there today and he loves it! no prison regime, no guards around, it is... just a house. he is really happy, he can leave on wednesday morning at 5. which means i guess he can come say goodbye at the airport...
But maybe the judge will let him go altogether.
Maarten has spoken with the dutch consul who assured us if (and this is a big if) IF he can leave the country, we shouldn't expect any problems at Schiphol in Amsterdam, or anywhere. he is an american citizen visiting his grandchildren. But that would be too good to be true, we will know more tomorrow.
Anyway, whatever happens he will be able to come and go from wednesday on, we'll see what happens. He sounded 20 years younger when i spoke to him. the anxiety is over, the waiting is nearly over.
please leave a comment if you read this, words of encouragement, anything. i will show him this blog on wednesday, before getting on the plane back home.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Holly`s story
OOOOH it is sooooo exciting! so many things happening, such hope and promises, imagine: the nurse hugged him last week at the check-up, and said : "this is the last time", everyone is waiting and anxious.
My friend Maarten camer down to have Brad sign a contract to produce aerial smuggler, everything is happening at once!
He himself is anxious and nervous. I made a deal with him: whatever happens we will survive!
if worst comes to worst, he will be sent back to Adulto Mayor and sit it out until the 8th of march 2008, at which date he will definitely have paid his debt to the costa rican society, and will be free to come and go as he pleases. I promised to have Esteban bring him a laptop so he can do his work correctly, and we will go on as we do now, sending books and all. If the BEST EVER happens, he will board a plane with us on wednesday morning, to Nederland. In between there is a whole range of possibilities:
Deportation to the States and forbidden to ever set foot in Costa Rica again.
Parole: living with a family a few days a week and 2 nights a week in what they call halfway house (sleep there at night, work in the day) for 2-3-6 months or a year, till march 8th.
Anyway this is as it goes.
We had fabulous times at the jail, got to know so many men with touching stories, this one who shot his wife BY ACCIDENT during a fight in the car(like Bradley says: what was he doing with a loaded gun in the car?) This bank manager whose assistent ran off with 350 million dollars, and he took the fall, the gynecologist who drugged and raped his patient (Not a friend of ours, but an interesting story!) and so on. Of course they are ALL innocent, all waiting for a fair trial.
The director of the prison, the one who kindly let us use his computer last week came to hug us friday. the whole prison stood still. What a show! what a earth shaking news, what a juicy gossip to tell in the years to come.
There is a yellow line painted on the ground by the gate. The prisoners are not allowed to cross that line under any circumstances. One day very soon he WILL cross the yellow line and wave back one last time.
My friend Maarten camer down to have Brad sign a contract to produce aerial smuggler, everything is happening at once!
He himself is anxious and nervous. I made a deal with him: whatever happens we will survive!
if worst comes to worst, he will be sent back to Adulto Mayor and sit it out until the 8th of march 2008, at which date he will definitely have paid his debt to the costa rican society, and will be free to come and go as he pleases. I promised to have Esteban bring him a laptop so he can do his work correctly, and we will go on as we do now, sending books and all. If the BEST EVER happens, he will board a plane with us on wednesday morning, to Nederland. In between there is a whole range of possibilities:
Deportation to the States and forbidden to ever set foot in Costa Rica again.
Parole: living with a family a few days a week and 2 nights a week in what they call halfway house (sleep there at night, work in the day) for 2-3-6 months or a year, till march 8th.
Anyway this is as it goes.
We had fabulous times at the jail, got to know so many men with touching stories, this one who shot his wife BY ACCIDENT during a fight in the car(like Bradley says: what was he doing with a loaded gun in the car?) This bank manager whose assistent ran off with 350 million dollars, and he took the fall, the gynecologist who drugged and raped his patient (Not a friend of ours, but an interesting story!) and so on. Of course they are ALL innocent, all waiting for a fair trial.
The director of the prison, the one who kindly let us use his computer last week came to hug us friday. the whole prison stood still. What a show! what a earth shaking news, what a juicy gossip to tell in the years to come.
There is a yellow line painted on the ground by the gate. The prisoners are not allowed to cross that line under any circumstances. One day very soon he WILL cross the yellow line and wave back one last time.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Bradley´s contract
I promise my daughters
* these people will have no problem with me
* I will not drink any kind of alcohol
* I will never upset this family
* I will behave in a kind and decent manner
* I will be clean, wash up after myself and pick up my clothes
* I will never lean a mess for others to clean
* I will not fuck up my life, or theirs
* I will never get off at Penn Station!
Five minutes later, he added a clause and signed again:
* I will never get married again, for love or money!
¿What is Penn Station? i know everyone is wondering.
When Brad was a child, and forced to pray, he never understood the words "lead us not into temptation", but thought they were "Lead us not into Penn Station" (which is a train station in New York). It has become an inside joke and a beautiful metafor for all the temptations of alcohol and grass he will face on coming out.
* these people will have no problem with me
* I will not drink any kind of alcohol
* I will never upset this family
* I will behave in a kind and decent manner
* I will be clean, wash up after myself and pick up my clothes
* I will never lean a mess for others to clean
* I will not fuck up my life, or theirs
* I will never get off at Penn Station!
Five minutes later, he added a clause and signed again:
* I will never get married again, for love or money!
¿What is Penn Station? i know everyone is wondering.
When Brad was a child, and forced to pray, he never understood the words "lead us not into temptation", but thought they were "Lead us not into Penn Station" (which is a train station in New York). It has become an inside joke and a beautiful metafor for all the temptations of alcohol and grass he will face on coming out.
Holly's story
Nothing much to tell, we are visiting the prison everyday and spending the rest of the day running errands for Bradley and lying in the sun. I could get used to this!
Yesterday Maarten has arrived, it is always great to see a friend you love, but this time he has come especially to meet Bradley and talk to him about a movie he wants to make on "aerial smuggler". Bradley is thrilled and flattered!
Natascha and Esteban are invaluable helps. they call lawyers, arrange meetings with people for us, help us to think constructively.
Yesterday we met the family that will receive him when/if he comes out. he needed a place to stay, at least the first few days. Valerio and Patricia, beautiful people, agreed to put him up, this was 6 months ago. he could spend the first few months with him, because as Valerio put it, it´s his political belief that people should help each other. But it turns out that both of them have lost their jobs in the meantime, they are forced to sell their house and move into a much smaller flat, but they are still willing to put him up only they can´t guarantee a full year, or even a few months. they can guarantee him a job, so they will check with the lawyer and the judge if this is ok, that he moves out after a few days. They also wanted to know why he was in jail, we told them very clearly... because he is stupid, told them what he did.
next day we told brad that we were worried about him, and made him sign a contract that he will behave and not be a bother, not run away if it could remotely put Valerio and Patricia in trouble etc.
Yesterday Maarten has arrived, it is always great to see a friend you love, but this time he has come especially to meet Bradley and talk to him about a movie he wants to make on "aerial smuggler". Bradley is thrilled and flattered!
Natascha and Esteban are invaluable helps. they call lawyers, arrange meetings with people for us, help us to think constructively.
Yesterday we met the family that will receive him when/if he comes out. he needed a place to stay, at least the first few days. Valerio and Patricia, beautiful people, agreed to put him up, this was 6 months ago. he could spend the first few months with him, because as Valerio put it, it´s his political belief that people should help each other. But it turns out that both of them have lost their jobs in the meantime, they are forced to sell their house and move into a much smaller flat, but they are still willing to put him up only they can´t guarantee a full year, or even a few months. they can guarantee him a job, so they will check with the lawyer and the judge if this is ok, that he moves out after a few days. They also wanted to know why he was in jail, we told them very clearly... because he is stupid, told them what he did.
next day we told brad that we were worried about him, and made him sign a contract that he will behave and not be a bother, not run away if it could remotely put Valerio and Patricia in trouble etc.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Holly´s story
We have been able to visit him everyday, which is a privilege. Hope our luck keeps up! He gave me a handful of letters to publish on the blog, he is looking good and hopeful and healthy. We laugh and cry and talk, chat with other prisoners and talk some more. It still looks like a beautiful well kept park, prisoners sit outside all day and wait. and wait. and wait.
today something wonderful happened: i had with me a small ubstick, to plug in a computer. On it was a recortding of CJ playing the trumpet. I knew the prisoners had no access to a computer, but ... who knows?
Today during the visit the new director of the prison came to introduce himself to us, a young man with pleasant manners. on a whim, i asked if he had a computer i could use to show the old man his grand son... and he said YES, OF COURSE! so we all ran upstairs to his office, he explained that it is usually not allowed but Bradley hasn´t seen the children for so long...
so we plugged it in, Bradley cried and we all watched CJ on his trumpet... There was no sound, the computer didn´t have a sound system. But the images were perfect, he saw his bow and cried.
Now we are back at the hotel, sitting by the pool.
same tomorrow, same everyday.
everybody, cross your fingers!
today something wonderful happened: i had with me a small ubstick, to plug in a computer. On it was a recortding of CJ playing the trumpet. I knew the prisoners had no access to a computer, but ... who knows?
Today during the visit the new director of the prison came to introduce himself to us, a young man with pleasant manners. on a whim, i asked if he had a computer i could use to show the old man his grand son... and he said YES, OF COURSE! so we all ran upstairs to his office, he explained that it is usually not allowed but Bradley hasn´t seen the children for so long...
so we plugged it in, Bradley cried and we all watched CJ on his trumpet... There was no sound, the computer didn´t have a sound system. But the images were perfect, he saw his bow and cried.
Now we are back at the hotel, sitting by the pool.
same tomorrow, same everyday.
everybody, cross your fingers!
Bradley´s story
march 2008
On numerous evenings, the english speaking prisoners relax and analyze topics, from airplanes to zoology. Tonight´s subject: man´s greatest invention. which invention of the brain plays the biggest part in directing destiny.
Opinions differed, from the wheel, the printing press, the throwing stick, electricity, sailboat, shoes... After a heated debate including the utility, the improvement of standard of life or the point of view, the final determination all agreed upon was the invention of a living god.
I am not talking about the almighty engineer who created a cosmos. we know nothing of this infinite entity with powers that originated macrocosm. bAny answer we can give on this subject are metaphors for what we cannot grasp.
An example is the theoretical Jehovah´s bestowal of the 10 commandements, which the catholic church has altered to promote nordic supremacy. Any portrayal of God or angels are blue-eyed blonds. As a child i asked a priest " are there any black or chinese angels?" >I´ll never forget his answer: " don´t be ridiculous."
So this depiction is the supreme invention of man, and we all agreed.
On numerous evenings, the english speaking prisoners relax and analyze topics, from airplanes to zoology. Tonight´s subject: man´s greatest invention. which invention of the brain plays the biggest part in directing destiny.
Opinions differed, from the wheel, the printing press, the throwing stick, electricity, sailboat, shoes... After a heated debate including the utility, the improvement of standard of life or the point of view, the final determination all agreed upon was the invention of a living god.
I am not talking about the almighty engineer who created a cosmos. we know nothing of this infinite entity with powers that originated macrocosm. bAny answer we can give on this subject are metaphors for what we cannot grasp.
An example is the theoretical Jehovah´s bestowal of the 10 commandements, which the catholic church has altered to promote nordic supremacy. Any portrayal of God or angels are blue-eyed blonds. As a child i asked a priest " are there any black or chinese angels?" >I´ll never forget his answer: " don´t be ridiculous."
So this depiction is the supreme invention of man, and we all agreed.
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