The great Thomas Paine warned us this would happen...... #criminal_justice_reform_now

An avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty. It leads men to stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws. 

                                                                              ------  Thomas Paine

I ran across this quote a few days ago and can't help but think how much of a harbinger it actually was way back then. it is a perfect warning of what can happen and go wrong in our justice system. My case is a perfect example of this quote. 

I was given 55 years aggravated for aggravated assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon. Aggravated assault means you have committed "serious bodily injury". In other words, someone is seriously hurt really bad, in order to get this great charge. But in my case, no cops were ever so much as even touched! Where is the "serious bodily injury" at? They say, I was gonna "attempt" to "try" and "point" 2 shotguns "while handcuffed " behind my back from a small closet, where it would have been "impossible", to have even turned the barrel of a shotgun to actually point it... "especially impossible", while being handcuffed behind my back, and then you have 2 shotguns that don't belong to me, and that don't have my fingerprints on them. I ask you all reading this today: is this not stretching the laws of an aggravated assault? Keep in mind, no cops were ever so much as touched by me. All I did was run from them. No injuries to them whatsoever, yet I was still charged and actually convicted  of a real aggravated assault causing "serious bodily injury" and given a 55 year sentence for this! If you don't believe me, just look into my case (see www.gofundme.com/ctlatinojr or www.ctlatinojr.info). Why am I being charged with "their" thought crime? Because it is a thought, their "thought crime" that this has been accomplished, I did not commit no serious bodily injury, therefore the only way to convict me on something like this is to have stretched and miss applied the laws here, just like fore-father Thomas Paine warned everyone of hundreds of years ago. This is becoming "thought crimes".

I can remember at my trial in the voir dire part when the district attorney over this trial, told all the potential jury members that he didn't want any "free thinkers" on his jury, now why would he not want anyone to think for themselves? Ladies and gentlemen reading this today, this case of mine is a text book 101, on Thomas Paine's quote, from years ago, warning us on what can go wrong, when prosecutors are allowed to stretch and miss apply the law. In my case, it is clear that I did not commit any aggravated assault with serious bodily injuries, yet I have been convicted of one anyways, through a loaded jury and a prosecution that stretched and misinterpreted the laws. I desperately need help exposing this, therefore I am pleading for the whole worlds help with this. Let's start up a conversation on this and Thomas Paine's quote becoming true. Let's challenge these thought crimes that are taking place, before they graduate. Lets use my case to get started, anyone who will look into my case will see that not only did I not do this, but even if I could have, it would have been impossible, yet I am still in prison over this 10 years later. In the interest of justice, please someone look into this I pray. Thank you so much and please share this blog as much as you can.

Thank you

Carl Thomas Latino, Jr

Email: freedom@ctlatinojr.info
Website: www.ctlatinojr.info

How I Got Here

As I sit here and think about what I want to write about in my next post, I can’t help but think back to a famous quote by Billie Holiday that I read in one of my last books, called Chasing the Scream, by Johann Hari about the war on drugs. In her quote, she says, “I don’t know much about psychology and all that, but I do know that there are things that can happen to you during early childhood which can influence your whole life”. This got me to thinking about how most people that have never experienced childhood abuse and trauma and tragedy probably wouldn’t understand how someone could get hooked on drugs, but I do… and so did Billie Holiday, and there’s more to her story than you probably know. Being abused sexually and given drugs to take at age 11 was not something I asked for in life, they are only the cards I was dealt. This began a life of addiction for me that lasted most of my life, to not only feel the addiction, but to cover up the pain and scars and shame I felt from being sexually abused. It took a long time for me to admit all of this, but it seems that once I did, the road to my personal recovery became easier, as I’ve previously stated in my first post, I am clean and sober today finally for once, since I was 11 years old. I have been completely drug and alcohol free since April 9, 2009. Oh don’t get me wrong, I could do anything at any time in these prisons, as drugs and alcohol are everywhere, and the time before in jail and prison, I did. This time has been different, and I don’t know if whoever is reading this or not understands how hard it is to stop using, but it has been one of the hardest things to do that I’ve ever done, but I did it, and now that I’ve solved this problem in my life, I’ve got to find a way to get out of prison, so I can finally live life clean and sober.

It’s not something I’ve ever done before, so I’m very excited about it, as a matter of fact, I was extremely high and intoxicated the day of the arrest on the charges that I’m in prison for. (See gofundme.com/ctlatinojr, Sherriff’s Dept Statement of Facts: Exhibit A) where it says, “Mr. Latino appeared to be under the influence of some unknown substances, yet in my trial none of this was ever mentioned, instead they told the jury that I “knowingly” and “intentionally” tried to attempt to assault a police officer. How do you “knowingly” and “intentionally” do anything when you’re high and intoxicated? Most people who have ever been drunk or high know that it is easy to do something dumb or stupid that you wake up to the next day to regret, but in so many cases today, people are being prosecuted as “knowingly” and “intentionally” doing something, when they really wasn’t, and this isn’t right. I didn’t “knowingly” and “intentionally” do anything but run from the police because I was high and intoxicated, and I have had over 10 years to regret my mistake. I do wish that I could have that day all over again, because I would definitely not be here today, but I can’t change m past, I can only change my future, and so can anyone out there reading this today, Ya’ll can all help change my future too, by helping me get attention to my case, by sharing my story and helping me get an investigation into my trial and appeals, so I can get out of this prison and finally feel what it’s like to be free. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing by appealing to the people in common sense talk, putting it out there straight forward about what all this is really about, because this case is more than just about me, this case is, and should be, a wake up call of how far the laws are being stretched and shaped into all out crime. In my case, no deputy was ever assaulted, no gun was ever fired, my fingerprints are not even on the guns, yet I’m sitting in prison 10 years later still serving a 55 year sentence for assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon… that never even happened.

Therefore, I’m appealing to anyone out there reading this today to please help me bring attention to my case. Share this post along with my others and help me spread my story. Let’s start up a conversation for prison reform, and let’s bring change to the justice system in general and get back to justice and compassion instead of hate when it comes to someone who makes a mistake. I know if I can get the right attorney/investigator to look into my case I can get out of here and be able to go back home, but it takes money and it’s just something I don’t have. They don’t allow us to earn money in Texas prisons, so I’m hoping I can raise enough on my GoFundMe to get the help I need. Will you help me today, if you are unable, then will you share my story at least, so I can possibly reach someone else? Thank you and may God bless.

Stuck in Prison

 Read More: www.gofundme.com/ctlatinojr

                     www.ctlatinojr.info

Wow! I didn’t think this kinda thing would ever be possible. I’ve been locked up for 10 years now hoping for a way to show the people that I’m in prison for something I didn’t do. I’ve prayed and prayed about this for so long. Most people in America are clueless of what’s going on in the real justice system. Whether you are innocent or not is not what’s important, what seems to be most important is getting your very first appeal done just right, because if not, you will be stuck in prison the rest of your life, even if you are innocent. In 1996, a new law was passed in the US Congress, called AEDPA act, in which basically the Great Writ of Habeas Corpus (Human kinds legal safety net for wrongful convictions) was stripped down to only allow someone one chance to get it right on your first appeal, if not you will not get another chance, so if you get a bad lawyer, like I did, you could be stuck in prison even if you are innocent. All someone has to do is look at my Go Fund Me site and see all the errors in my trial, and easily be able to see if I could only re-do my first appeal, I could easily over turn this case, and get to go back home to my family, but the 1996 AEDPA law says we can’t re-file our appeal over again.

You see, everyone is not skilled in the law and the appellate system. It is literally Pandora’s box written in another language to someone who has never went to years of college for it, so for someone like me, I didn’t know about this 1996 law when I was going through this process, and I’m probably sure 99% of the citizens of America probably don’t know either, therefore, this seems to be a trap waiting to happen for anyone who could encounter trials in America, but just think for a second about all the other people who have been ensnared by these same traps since 1996, all the poor people who can’t afford the best lawyers and investigators get trapped in this kind of system. Ask yourselves if this seems right? This isn’t what America is supposed to be about. The land of the free. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights, etc… and we have an appeal system that’s a trap?

Under this regulated writ system we are under, you better have an attorney you can trust, who is gonna file every single error you have on your first appeal (called your direct appeal), or you’re gonna be stuck with only what that first attorney filed. Does this sound like something that is fair? You may find some errors later that the other attorney didn’t find or cite in your appeal and they may very well be some reversible errors, but you’re not gonna be able to use them, because they weren’t used in your first appeal. I ask you, does this sound fair? Now there may be some out there that are saying this doesn’t matter, because it only affects prisoners, but I’ll have you know that it affects anyone involved in the court system that uses the process of appeals. In my case, I was sentenced to 55 years in a Texas Prison for a crime that never even occurred. I was rail-roaded text book style 101 in a Hardin County Texas courtroom on April 8, 2009, and if I would’ve had an attorney representing me on my first appeal that would have filed all the errors in my trial, I would be exonerated of this hands down, but instead, the Judge (88^th District Court Earl Stover III) refused to appoint me an appellate attorney, who would help me. Instead he installed the same attorney (Bryan Laine) who had just lost my trial, to be my appellate attorney, even though I filed motions for a new trial and for appointment of effective counsel with the District Clerks office. This judge ignored my motions and appointed this attorney. Well, once he was appointed to do my first appeal (which we all now know is the most important one), I didn’t want this, because he had just lost my trial, and me and him wasn’t getting along, due to him not doing things that he said he was gonna do for me, (you know like actually represent me), nevertheless, he smooth talked my family (who even paid him $3,000 on top of being appointed to my appeal) saying he was gonna be filing all kinds of errors for me… that he knew my case was not right etc… So a long time went by and he still hadn’t filed anything, and he was ignoring my family’s calls, so my mom took it upon herself to file her own affidavit (see all these on my gofundme.com documents) of what she saw and witnessed that day. She filed this way before my attorney filed his first appeal, so he had time to consider all this, but he didn’t, instead he ignored everything me and my family wanted, and everything he said that he was gonna file, all kinds of errors that went wrong, but he filed an appeal that only said that one error occurred, and even that was shaped to concede guilt, as he said, “appellate had done it, but it should have been a lesser charge”. What kind of appeal attorney is this? I couldn’t do anything about it because of the way it went down. I was tricked in my appeals, because this lawyer told me and my family that he was gonna file all kinds or errors and he didn’t, and I never got to see this appeal until after it was already filed. (see gofundme.com site documents). I was bench warranted to the Hardin County Courthouse, in March 2010, and had never seen this appeal. I go into the courtroom and the judge asks me if I’ve been apprised of my appeal. I look over at Bryan Laine the attorney over this and he taps some papers at the other end of the table saying that was it, and I ask, “is that it right there?” and next thing you know the judge is quickly saying, “he acknowledges it”. Like I was approving it or something, and I hadn’t even seen it, yet it had been filed in 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals already (see documents on gofundme.com site). That’s how I got tricked into my first appeal and stuck under this conviction. I challenge everyone to look at my Go Fund Me site and look at all the errors in this trial. It is so obvious that I was railroaded and set up, yet under the new regulated rules of the Writ of Habeas Corpus that was passed in 1996, the courts won’t allow us to file a new appeal on the issues and errors, even if you are innocent of your charge and stuck in prison. The only thing they allow is new evidence and withheld evidence to be filed, but this requires lots of money to attorney’s and private investigators to go dig all into your case. Most people going to prison don’t have money for this. Therefore, this becomes a trap, and a snare to keep people in prison.

What makes it even harder is the fact that I got this prison sentence in Texas, where there is no safety net for people under the Parole system. I must serve ½ of 55 years in prison before even becoming eligible for parole. That’s 27 ½ years for just doing a dumb thing and running from the cops with handcuffs behind my back. No matter how much you change, grow up, better yourself, work or show good conduct you still have to do ½ of your sentence. What if someone changes, I mean really makes changes in his/her life, why should they still be made to serve ½ their sentence just to be able to interview for Parole? Isn’t that what the Parole officers are for, to see who is really changed and who isn’t? If you are not changing, then by all means make them stay longer, but if you are making changes and deserve another chance, then you should be able to at least get that, and this could be a safety net for someone that got a wrongful conviction and was tricked in their appeals… I mean you’ll still be on Parole for x amount of years, but at least there will be a way to provide relief, but under Texas Parole eligibility rules, they have their hands tied and are not allowed to even consider you for parole. I’ve served 10 years already on this. You think I ain’t learned my lesson about running from cops. I promise to God I won’t never ever run again. I’ve done a lot of growing up since that day in March 2007. I’ve come a long way too. I’ve finally became clean and sober, I’ve received my college degree, I’ve become a man who can be trusted and relied upon, but that doesn’t matter under our current laws which say I’ve got to serve 27 ½ years. I didn’t touch neither one of those 2 deputies that day, I only ran from them, because I was intoxicated and done a real stupid thing, but to be charged, convicted, and held in prison on the same charges as someone who would have really hurt a police is wrong. How can I respect the laws and rules of this great land when this is happening to me? It’s tough. I’ll tell you that, but my attitude is one of forgiveness and mercy and truth, because I know that sooner or later, I’m gonna get the break through in this that I deserve, somebody somewhere is gonna read and see this and do something to bring about the change needed to get me home. Let’s start up a conversation. Will you join us?

Thank you and may God bless.

Coming Soon.......

Carl Thomas Latino Jr.'s story is coming soon. Please text "free carl" to 31996 to show your support, receive monthly campaign updates and qualify to win free stuff.

Freedom For Carl, if not now then when!

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