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A number of changes have taken place in the trial dates of the case, see below. On Friday, March 12, 2010 A note on what has taken place since
the last trial. I am not sure if I have covered it, but just in case I did not. It seems that many of the items Aaron had with him were stolen from him during his murder. Those items were then sold to others on the reservation. We have always been under the impression that if we bought stolen property, we might be prosecuted as “receiving stolen property”. As it turns out, during the trial a delay took place because the federal system had to “get permission” to recover and do a forensics analysis of the stolen computer, camera, and other items! WHAT??? Oh well, that was over some time ago and has been filed in our memory that we need no longer worry about purchasing stolen property. After the last murderer was sentenced, we were told we would get Aaron's property (the stolen items) back shortly, within about 30 days. Today it's been quite some time. We have received at least 3 emails explaining a delay, the property office was being moved, the items were not readily available, etc.... Today, after I wrote another email requesting the items, I got the following note back... Quote- My detail at the San Carlos Agency expired on February 26th and prior to leaving made arrangements with Special Agent Andreau Grey and Valaura Imus who works with Victim Services to get the items returned back. I am unsure exactly what the delay was or if they encountered any problems but I will make contact with both of them again to have one of them contact you. Sorry for the inconvenience. End quote That note seems innocent enough, had we not already gotten so many just like it. So, once again, the victims are last in line with no rights! On Tuesday December 22, 2009 we attended a court hearing The following is the outcome:
Office of the United States Attorney District of Arizona FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Public Affairs Tuesday, December 22, 2009 SANDY RAYNOR Telephone: (602) 514-7625 Cell: (602) 525-2681 SAN CARLOS MAN SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR MURDERING PHOENIX MAN PHOENIX - Mason James Henry, 21, of San Carlos, Ariz. and a member of the San Carlos Apache Indian Tribe, was sentenced today to 25 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge James A. Teilborg. Henry pleaded guilty on August 5, 2009, to Second Degree Murder. On August 28, 2008, near San Carlos Lake on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, Henry, with co-defendant Melvin Pascal Nash, shot and killed a Phoenix man. The victim had been temporarily in the area working as a security guard for a construction project and had no prior association with either of the defendants. Nash was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison in November 2009, for his role in the murder. The investigation in this case was conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Gila County Sheriff's Office, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the San Carlos Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Thomas C. Simon, Assistant United States Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix. CASE NUMBER: CR-08-01377-PHX-JAT RELEASE NUMBER: 2009-396(Henry) ###
For more information on the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of
Arizona, visit http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/az/
On December 2, 2009 we attended a hearing. We arrive in the court house at about
0800 and entered the courtroom at 0820.
Judge Teilborg entered about 0830 and we got underway. The major topic was our request to see portions of the pre-sentence report. Up until now, it was forbidden for a victim to see this report! The criminal can see, and contest it, but we had no way of even knowing what or if anything we had said was in it. After a short discussion, the judge granted us permission to see parts of it to insure we were satisfied with what we had said was captured by the document. We could not take a copy, only read it. We each, Myself, Jill, and Ralph read it and agreed that it did have our thoughts in it. The hearing was over at 0845 and we met with our lawyer and the prosecution lawyer in a small room next to the court room to talk and discuss what we expect to take place on the next meeting. We expect that on December 22, we will be attending the sentencing hearing for Mason Henry. On Friday, November 6, we received an email AND phone message A status hearing is scheduled before Judge James Teilborg for December 2, 2009, 08:30 AM at Courtroom 503, Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse,
401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 for defendant(s) Mason
Henry. The purpose of this hearing is to determine if there are issues
that the Court needs to address and to schedule any necessary future
court dates. Because of the Court's schedule, hearing dates could
change on very short notice. If you plan on attending, you may want to
call the VNS Call Center or check the web site to confirm the date and
time. Please note, there is a 24-hour delay in information transfer to the web site. On Wednesday, November 4, we attended the first sentencing Melvin Pascal Nash, 23, of San Carlos, Ariz., a member of the San Carlos Apache Indian Tribe,
was sentenced today to 25 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge James A. Teilborg. Nash pleaded guilty on August 4, 2009, to Second Degree Murder. On August 28, 2008, near San Carlos Lake on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, Nash, with the aid and assistance of co-defendant Mason James Henry, shot and killed a Phoenix man. The victim had been temporarily in the area working as a security guard for a construction project and had no prior association with either of the defendants. On August 5, 2009, co-defendant Henry pleaded guilty to Second Degree Murder and is set for sentencing on December 22, 2009. The investigation in this case was conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Gila County Sheriff’s Office, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the San Carlos Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Thomas C. Simon, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix CASE NUMBER: CR-08-01377-PHX-JAT
RELEASE NUMBER: 2009-348(Nash) # # # For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/az/
Sandy Raynor On Wednesday, October 28, we received an email At 4:16 PM, With the following information in it; The sentencing previously scheduled for defendant(s) Melvin Pascal Nash on October 28, 2009, 09:00 AM at Courtroom 503, Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse, 401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 has been rescheduled by the court. VNS will continue to provide you with updated case scheduling and event information. The sentencing previously scheduled for defendant(s) Mason Henry on November 2, 2009, 10:00 AM at Courtroom 503, Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse, 401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 has been rescheduled by the court. VNS will continue to provide you with updated case scheduling and event information. The sentencing hearing for defendant(s), Melvin Pascal Nash, has been set for November 4, 2009, 08:30 AM at Courtroom 503, Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse, 401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 before Judge James Teilborg. You are welcome to attend this proceeding; however, unless you have received a subpoena, your attendance is not required by the Court. If you plan on attending, please check with the VNS Call Center to verify the sentencing date and time. Should you wish to speak at the sentencing or want to check for the most current information on the date/time of this event please call our office a day or two before the scheduled hearing. A United States Probation Officer prepares a report for the Court and may contact you to discuss the impact the crime had on you financially, physically, and/or emotionally. If you are contacted, please make every effort to provide accurate and detailed information. The sentencing hearing for defendant(s), Mason Henry, has been set for December 22, 2009, 09:00 AM at Courtroom 503, Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse, 401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 before Judge James Teilborg. You are welcome to attend this proceeding; however, unless you have received a subpoena, your attendance is not required by the Court. If you plan on attending, please check with the VNS Call Center to verify the sentencing date and time. Should you wish to speak at the sentencing or want to check for the most current information on the date/time of this event please call our office a day or two before the scheduled hearing. A United States Probation Officer prepares a report for the Court and may contact you to discuss the impact the crime had on you financially, physically, and/or emotionally. If you are contacted, please make every effort to provide accurate and detailed information. On Monday, October 26, we received 2 emails Then from the court system that said; FYI – Judge Teilborg issued an order granting the motion to continue sentencing for defendant, Melvin Nash from October 28, 2009 to November 4, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. No information received from the judge in regard to defendant Mason Henry’s request to continue his sentencing hearing.First from the court system that said; Good afternoon. This is to inform you the defense attorneys in the above-captioned case have filed motions to continue the sentencing hearings for the following reasons: US v Melvin Nash Sentencing Date: October 28, 2009 @ 9:00 a.m. Motion to Continue Sentencing filed by defense attorney, Tyrone Mitchell today, as he is currently involved in a criminal trial which he anticipates will run into October 28, 2009. Continuance requested for a period of 30 days. US v Mason Henry Sentencing Date: November 2, 2009 @ 10:00 a.m. Motion to Continue Sentencing filed by defense attorney, James Park today, who was recently appointed to represent defendant needs additional time to prepare for sentencing. Continuance requested for a period of 45 days. On Wednesday, October 15, 2009, we attended the motion hearing for Henry We arrived at the court house at 08:00 AM, Keli and Mary (from Voice for Crime Victims) and we talked. We got into the court room about 08:25. At 08:33 we all got a surprise when the alarm and strobe lights went off. We evacuated the building, but got back in and started when the Judge came in at about 09:11. The first topic was the motion for change of counsel. Henry stated in his signed motion that he “was ill advised by false pretense and signed into a plea bargain” and, his attorney, “was misleading and inefective, and coercive by making false statement false promises and coaching”, among other things. The judge asked Henry if indeed “he” had signed and submitted this motion. He responded “Yea”. The judge then read to Henry his sworn testimony during the plea hearing. In the testimony the judge asked Henry at least 4 times (each in a different way) if he had been influenced, mislead or promised anything in return for his plea. In each case Henry responded with a “no”. So, as we see it, Henry lied during the first sworn testimony or, he lied today in this motion. As we understand it, this action will most likely delay the actual sentencing for 30 to 60 days. The judge did agree to allow a change
of representation for Henry. But he postponed setting any new dates
to provide the new attorney, who ever it might be, time to understand
what it going on. The court adjourned at about 09:30. I know I have said it before, but I will repeat it again, when we got home, it was like we had been going full speed for 24 hours, we all collapsed from fatigue, stress fatigue. On Wednesday October 14, 2009 we received an email We received an email from our victims rights attorney letting us know that they received a notice from the court that stated: Three motions have been filed with the court and all three will be heard tomorrow October 15 at 08:30 AM. The motions are; 1. MOTION FOR CHANGE OF COUNSEL 2. MOTION TO DETERMINE COUNSEL 3. MOTION TO CONTINUE SENTENCING AND REQUEST EXTENDED TIME TO FILE OBJECTIONS TO PRE-SENTENCE REPORT We did not receive anything from the court regarding this subject.
We received a phone call from our victims rights attorney letting us know that they received a notice from the court that stated a hearing was going to take place on Thurday October 15 at 8:30 AM at the court house. The felt it was for Henry getting a new atturny. We have NO idea why he would need one at this time. We did not receive anything from the court regarding this subject. On Monday October 12, 2009 we received an email We received an email from our victims rights attorney letting us know that they received a notice from the court that stated: Notice
of Electronic Filing
Docket
Text:
We did not receive anything from the court regarding this motion. On Thursday September 3, 2009, we had a meeting We had a meeting today with the Probation officer assigned to the case. Yes, you read that correctly. As it turns out, once a person is convicted of a crime, or pleads guilty, the court assigns a probation officer to write up a report. A draft of the report is then given to the prosecuting and defense attorney. They have the right to object to any item in the report??? How can they strike something from the report that is simply true??? After that is worked out, the judge is given the final report before sentencing takes place. He uses this report to determine the proper sentence. Our meeting started at 10:00 AM with our victims rights attorney, then the probation officer arrived at 1:00 PM. The meeting concluded at 4:00PM. From what we are told, the probation officer does an in-person interview with the guilty person. Looks up and includes in the report any and all previous crimes. They then interview any of the victims. At that time the interview can be in person or by telephone. We were happy that our interview took place in person. We were asked a number of questions and encouraged to give our feelings. We are also able to include any letters or emails from any family, friends or members of the community that feel like making a comment (THANKS FOR THE EMAILS WE RECEIVED!!!). ALL of our personal information is removed from any items submitted. That includes names and info on the Emails. They do this as all of the information that goes into the report is open to and given to the guilty person. And, oh by the way, we, the victims, are forbidden from ever seeing the report! The guilty guys still have there right to privacy you know. Isn't it wonderful that the admitted murders of our son has his privacy rights upheld? On Thursday, August 20, 2009, we received the following by Email The sentencing previously scheduled for defendant(s) Melvin Pascal Nash on October 26, 2009, 03:30 PM at Courtroom 503, Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse,
401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 has been rescheduled by
the court. VNS will continue to provide you with updated case
scheduling and event information. On Wednesday, August 5, 2009, we attended the plea hearing for Henry We
arrived at the court at 1:00 PM and court was called to order shortly
after 1:30 PM. We did not speak at this hearing. We found out that
Henry's plea has a suggested/agreed to sentence of 15 to 25 years.
The judge took quite some time to explain to Henry his rights. The
plea was accepted by the court, and the hearing was adjourned at
2:07. At this
hearing, as in Nash's hearing, the judge ordered a report to be
generated as to the defendant's background so he can administer the
proper sentence. As it turns out, the sentence is done by guidelines.
They actually have a chart, sort of like, I'll take 2 of this with a
side of that=ones prison sentence. They are offered a”3 point
reduction” if they “Cooperate” and will only serve 85% of the
sentence for “good behavior”. The
most distressing point to us is that with the lower sentence (with
time off for good behavior) this
confessed murderer, will be back on our streets at the age of 33. He will then be better educated on what not to do next time. In our
mind, we know our son Aaron will NEVER walk the streets again. Henry's
sentencing hearing will take place November 2 at 10:00 AM On Tuesday, August 4,
2009, we attended the plea hearing for Nash We arrived at the court around 10:30 for an 11:00 start. The hearing started at 11:00 and Greg was scheduled to speak on behalf of the family. He was set to request the judge to not accept Nash's plea. Once Greg was at the podium, the Judge informed us that he would hear the plea and that it was a confession. The judge then informed us that although the agreement had a 25 year sentence in it, HE was NOT bound by that and that he would set the term later at the sentencing hearing and that Greg and any or all could/should make our case at that time. At the sentencing hearing, the term could be more or less time. Also, at that time, if the judge decided to extend the sentence to more than 25 years, Nash could choose to withdraw his plea, his confession would be disregarded and we would then need to go to trial. In this case, we would all pretend that he had never confessed. Nash's sentencing hearing will take place October 26 at 3:30 PM With Nash submitting this plea, and not needing to have a jury trial, Henry's trial will now start on August 13. It comes as a shock to us that the sentence of 25 years, (with time off for good behavior) will allow this
confessed murderer, back on our streets at the age of 45. By the way, when we got home from the hearing, we had an email from the court system with the following note in it; The
pretrial motion(s) hearing previously scheduled for defendant(s)
Melvin Pascal Nash, Mason Henry on July 14, 2009, 01:30 PM at
Courtroom 503, Sandra Day
O'Connor U.S. Courthouse, 401 West Washington Street, Phoenix,
AZ 85003 has been rescheduled by the court. VNS will continue to
provide you with updated case scheduling and event information. Thanks for speedy updates! At about 5:30 PM we got another call from our lawyers. It seems that Henry has requested a plea agreement and we once more need to be at the courthouse tomorrow at 1:30 PM to hear what it is. They were not sure what the details are. On Monday, August 3, 2009, we received the following Our lawyer from Voice for Crime Victims called us with the info that Nash has requested a plea agreement for a 25 years sentence. We were asked to be in court tomorrow at 11:00 AM if we want to talk to the judge and have our views about the plea heard. We also received a copy of the written request to not allow this plea. It's important to understand that the plea agreement contained NO help to our case (as in helping to implicate the other guy). It's just a request for a light sentence and save court time. He stated he would NOT implicate Henry. On Tuesday, July 30, 2009, we received the following Our lawyer from Voice for Crime Victims called us with the info that the issue considering the
matter of one of the defendants taking the investigators to the body
(a confession), WILL
be allowed to be presented at the trial. We feel this is a good thing,
but like all matter we are descovering, it may not be good later. ORDER denying Defendant's Motion to Suppress the photo identification as to Melvin Pascal Nash (1). Signed by Judge James A Teilborg on 7/23/09. On Tuesday, July 23, 2009, we received the following Our lawyer from Voice for Crime Victims sent us the following, long before the court got the info to us. ORDER denying Defendant's Motion to Suppress the photo identification as to Melvin Pascal Nash (1). Signed by Judge James A Teilborg on 7/23/09. ORDER granting Defendant's Motion to Sever as to Mason James Henry. Signed by Judge James A Teilborg on 7/23/09. On Tuesday, July 14, 2009, we attended a hearing. We attended a hearing for our son
Aaron's court case. We sat on the prosecutors side of the court.
This time a number of the defendants families and friends sat on the
defense side of the court. I can't begin to tell you how emotional AND physically taxing it is going through this! We would rather stand a months worth of night watches than spend one day in court. Sitting on our side, beside us was members of the “Voice for Crime Victims” team (more on this later). Also a court appointed victims advocate.A number of topics (motions) were
covered. During lunch, we talked to our lawyer
and to two members of the Gila County sheriff's office (Terry Blevins
and Virgil Dodd) that worked on the case in the early days. They were
there to testify regarding a lineup and other witnesses. We also had the chance to meet the
parents of one of the defendants. This was a heart tearing
experience!!!! We know that they are heart sick about this also. They
seemed like nice people. We realize that NONE of us are winners in
this. No matter how we feel about the defendants, there parents are
hurting also. We did not get to talk for very long, too many tears
were falling. The court reconvened at about 1:40. We
continued on the previous motion and then started on the request to
disallow the photo line-up. We ended up about 2:45 PM. In almost all
the motions, the judge said he was “taking it under advisement”.
That was the term used. It meant that the judge, after listening to
both lawyers statement, will make a ruling weather to accept or deny
the motion after some time. The only positive thing we found out is
that the trial, (at least the first one if they are split) was
delayed by 2 days and will start on August 13, at 0900. We would like to talk about 2
organizations that we have been in contact with. If you are reading
this and have been involved is a similar tragedy, you might want to
contact them in your area. Or, you might want to help support them. We have been to a number of meetings of
Parents Of Murdered Children (POMC). We were told about this
organization by a friend. We were very surprised by the number of
people at the meetings! The next surprise, what the disclosure each
person made at the meeting as we went around the room. The sheer
number of unimaginable murders that are way beyond what you see in
movies. The other surprise is the number of cases that the criminal
has either not been found, or got off with almost no punishment! We learned of one person who murdered a
person and got out of prison in under 3 years! We have found that justice in the USA
is SO lopsided to protecting criminals. No wonder crime seems rampant,
there is very little punishment! The next organization I would like to
talk about is “Voice for Crime Victims”. Without the help of the
lawyers and aids we would positively be insane by now. First, you need to understand that the
prosecuting attorney DOES NOT REPRESENT US. He ONLY represents the
USA or the state. He makes his decisions based on what he feels is
good for the state or the USA, not what we want. We are lucky as the
prosecuting attorney on our case has been in contact with us and does
take our wishes into consideration. But he also lets us know that the
final word rests with him. Knowing that, you can see why we feel
the overpowering need for our own attorney. We are supposed to be
notified and have the RIGHT to be present at ANY public event in this
case. Before we had our own attorney, they held the arraignment
without ever contacting us. When we complained, we were told,
“sorry”, and nothing more. NOW, with our Voice for Crime Victims
lawyer, if something like that took place, she could make them “do
over”! Also, in the hearing, the lawyers had a sidebar meeting. We
are NOT allowed to be present at something like that. BUT, our lawyer
IS. So, after the sidebar, she reported directly back to us on
everything that took place. Believe it or not, victims right have
ONLY been in existence for a few years now! If you are the victim of a crime, CONTACT THESE PEOPLE!!! This is SO hard on us. Recently, we were told that they need another sample of Aaron's DNA.
We had provided a hair brush and
Aaron's tooth brush to the Phoenix police a long time ago. During the
autopsy, we were sure that they took samples, but they were not good
enough. They told us they needed more. We searched and found a hair
clipper that MAY have some of Aaron's hair clippings, but they may
also belong to a friend. So, in our desperate NEED to do ANYTHING to
help the trial, Jill found a clipping of his baby hair. Can you
imagine giving up something like that? She spent days crying. Then we
came up with the idea that, due to his Army service, we could turn to
them for help. We found a contact point on the web and contacted the
Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL). I would like to
publicly thank them for their professional and fast help in this
matter! We were able to allow the AFDIL to send a sample of Aaron's
blood for testing. Our only involvement was to have Jill sign a
release and the sample was sent to the designated laboratory by a
“chain of evidence” method. THANK YOU AFDIL! On Monday, June 8, 2009, we received the following information: On Thursday May 14, we received the following information: 1. A pretrial motion(s) hearing has been scheduled for July 14, 2009, 01:30 PMat Courtroom 503, Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse,
401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 for defendant(s) Melvin
Pascal Nash, Mason Henry before Judge James Teilborg. The purpose of
this hearing is to clarify any outstanding issues prior to trial.2. A trial is scheduled before Judge James Teilborg on August 11, 2009, 09:00 AM at Courtroom 503, Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse, 401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 for the case which involves defendant(s) Melvin Pascal Nash, Mason Henry. On Friday May 8, we received an Email setting
a Status Conference/Motion to Continue Trial hearing that WAS scheduled
for May 20 was rescheduled for Monday May 11, 2009 at 1:30 pm. We attended this meeting and were able to see the defendents for the first time. At this hearing, another hearing to discuss motions was scheduled for July 14, 2009. And the trial date has been set for July August 11, 2009. On May 1, we received notice that a Status Conference which has been set for May 20, 2009 a 3:30 p.m. regarding the June 2, 2009 trial date. On April 9, we got word that the trial has been continued to June 2, 2009. We were also told that the hearing schedled for April 21 had been canceled. We have also added some photos of Aaron's early life to the link to photos above. On March 16, we got an email that said, "FYI – Status hearing set for March 18, 2009 at 3:30 pm regarding Melvin NASH and Mason HENRY has been vacated/cancelled. Do not come to court. " On March 16 we got an email that informed us that a new trail date has been set for May 5, 2009 at 0900 AM in Courtroom 503. On March 10, we got an email that said, "FYI – defendant, has filed a motion with the court to continue the trial date currently set for April 7, 2009". On March 3 we got notice that a hearing was scheduled for March 18, 2009. We replied that we would attend. Posted March 16, 2009 In January 09 we received an email from a member of the San Carlos tribe. We replied and were given permission to reprint it. Here is the exchange with our reply and another below... (NOTE: Words from the tribe member are in this color) So sorry to hear about your loss. I have also lost a brother on the reservation and to this day the individual who has killed my brother is still living comfortably on the reservation. Though my case has no hope for the murderer to be brought to justice, I am so relieved to hear that at least those who have taken from you are in custody and hopefully you will get some sort of justice, even if it isn't what you want. Some is better than none. Being that as it may, I am more so writing to offer my condolences and although I know you will never get him back but at least you could continue on with your life. I am a member of the San Carlos tribe and I don't agree with anything that they do, claim as traditional, nor their ideas of what is a fair and balanced legal or governmental society. I like what Rush Limbaugh has said about most of our culture. .. . ."that we have failed miserably in self sufficiency and have refused to accept responsibility for our own failures". I don't live there but live in the Phoenix area and have no itentions of going back. I can't live in an area that wants all the benefits of the society outside the reservation but yet assume that we are immune to all prosecutions when we make a mistake. I think that the door swings both way in this situation, if you want all the good of the world then you must pay the same price others do when you make a mistake. Unfortunately those who live there don't see it this way. Most see the reservation as a place to hide from law enforcement in Arizona, they come here to the Valley and run up credit cards, break the law, and run back there where no one can bring them to Phoenix to face trial or pay what they owe. Our reply On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 11:05 AM, we wrote: Sorry to take so long to get back to you. We have had family in town trying to comfort us and been busy. Posted December 20, 2008 On December 15, 2008 we attended a very good meting with Thomas C. Simon, Assistant United States Attorney downtown Phoenix. It was a meeting between the Mr. Simon that will be prosecuting the case and Sgt. Blevins of the Gila County Sheriff's office. The meeting lasted for almost 2 hours. During the meeting Sgt. Blevins went over his written report (about an inch thick!) of what he and Detective Dodd had found out during the time before Aaron's body was found on the reservation. As I said before, they did a very through investigation! After Sgt. Blevins went over his report, Mr. Simon went over some of the details from the BIA side of the case. I am not sure if Mr. Simon or Sgt. Blevins got a lot out of the meeting, but it helped reassure Jill and I that the case is still working. We were assured that the two men will remain in custody until the trial. After that meeting, Jill, Sgt. Blevins and I spent another 2 hours talking over all that has taken place so far. As of now, we are told that any motions for the trial must be submitted bu February 20, 2009 and a trial date of April 7, 2009. We were informed that the date may slip further. Posted November 27, 2008 It seems it's NOT the victims of crimes. Can you tell that we are feeling a bit of frustration with the legal system in the USA, AND the foreign land that is in the USA, but not part of the USA! We would like to relay a few of the facts that have taken place between when we were informed that they found our son Aaron's body and now (11/24/08). As you may know, our cruising came to an abrupt halt when our son, Aaron Tierno was brutally murdered on August 28, 2008. We first got word that Aaron was missing and the car he was driving was found, “burned to the axles” around September 3 or so. We were lucky in that we were in the Mazatlan Marina and had ready access to Email and an airport. We rushed back to the Phoenix area on September 5. We spent a number of days in a frantic search hoping to find Aaron. Our hope was that he may have been hurt and was wandering in the desert. We had a large group of people handing out fliers and searching on the ground and we had the use of a light aircraft to search from the air when the sheriffs office helicopter was not searching. His body was found on the San Carlos Indian reservation. The authorities were led to his body by a man that is now in custody. During the initial phase of the search and investigation we were in constant contact with Terry Blevins and Virgil Dodd of the Gila County Sheriff's office. During that time we were very happy with the exchange of information between the investigators and us. Once Aaron's body was found on the Indian reservation, jurisdiction passed to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). We were informed that as of then, it was as if the crime was committed in another country and ONLY BIA and tribal police had any authority on tribal land. When the change in jurisdiction took place we talked to both Virgil and Terry and were informed that not only were they not asked about what they had found out so far, they were excluded from the case and treated in a hostile manner. Once we were informed of the change, we made a call and set up a meeting with the officers now in charge of the investigation. We had our first meeting with Lewis Moran (BIA) and the chief of the tribal police on September 10th at about 1 PM at the San Carlos police station. A few of the points of that meeting follow: 1.We were asked many times NOT to talk to the press. We were told it would do no good and that it would hurt the case. 2.Although they said they had talked to the police, they did not know that Arron had a cell phone or what his phone number was. 3.They did not even know Aaron's middle name, date of birth or social security number and asked us for it. 4.When I asked, they said they had no idea what the chain of events were that the police had established days before. 5.They said they had 1 person in “tribal custody” that may have had something to do with the murder. 6.They only reveal that there MIGHT be a second person involved once I said I know that at least two were involved. 7.We were told many more times that they were 'experts” and had a lot of experience doing this and that we should not question them. I asked that they please, PLEASE, stay in contact with us. Once we got home I looked up “Bureau of Indian Affairs” on the Internet and went to their “home page”. You can imagine my dismay to read that the “charter” of the BIA was to protect and help the Indians! So, what we have, as far as I can tell is a conflict of interest. We have an investigator who has been in contact with the tribe for over 10 years, who's job it is to protect the Indians, and is in charge of finding out who murdered our son. At this point I have to say that I believe that a BIA agent SHOULD be on the “team” investigating the case, BUT, they should NOT be the ONLY agency working the investigation. On September 12, we met with the FBI, thinking they might have some influence on the Federal land. NOT SO! They would only offer help if asked, to our knowledge, they were never asked. On September 15, we had not gotten any calls from the BIA so I called Louis Moran at about 10:55 AM and had to leave a voice mail after a couple of calls. We were called back about 11:40 am and told, “things are going along” and that they do have 2 people in custody. I asked that they PLEASE stay in contact with us and keep us up to date. On September 19, after not hearing anything for a few days, I called Jason Thompson, BIA agent in Phoenix as we were told that he was in charge. He said he did not have up to date info and would have Lewis Moran call me back. Lewis did call me back and informed me that I was interfering with the case because he did not have the time to call me. I said I had a cell phone I kept with me 24/7 for nothing but the case. I said he could call on his way home from work or at midnight, ANYTIME he had the time I would be there. HE said he would NOT do that! I have not had ANY contact with him since then. He has refused to inform us of anything at all. Since then we have been in contact with Jason Thompson a number of times with very general information that the case was “on-going”. It's now November 24 and we found that two of the suspects were finally charged with the crime late last week. It seems strange that they have had at least one suspect in tribal custody since before September 10, yet just charged them on November 21. We have a flier from the “Victim Advocacy & Witness Support”. In it, it states that we have “the right to be present at all public court proceedings related to the offense...”. The animals that murdered our son went to arrangement last Friday without us even knowing that they had been transported to the Phoenix area. So, it appears to us that our “rights” are only guidelines and NOT rights at all. Today (11/24/08) we had a meeting with the assistant United States Attorney who briefed us on the charges that have been filed and what to expect. In all of our discussions up until now, we were told that as long as the criminals were on tribal land, they were ONLY bound by tribal law. We were told that once they were in Federal jurisdiction, they were then bound by Federal law. Here comes another surprise, we were informed by the assistant United States Attorney that, the tribe has “opted out of the death penalty”. So, that is not even a penalty that can be considered. This is a decision that gets to be made on the reservation-before the criminals have even been arraigned! How can ANY group of people in the United States just “Opt out” of a part of the law of the country? WARNING:
We want those of you who gamble or attend shows or shop on any Indian reservation to be aware,
that if you or a loved one, become a victim of a crime on a reservation— all your legal rights DO NOT APPLY. All of the preceding is just the highlights of what has taken place so far. Thanks for taking the time to review all of it, and give your kids an extra hug this holiday season! You never know what may come. Greg and Jill Delezynski parents of Aaron Tierno, brutally murdered on August 28, 2008 |