From:
WacoTragedyNews@aol.com
Sent:
Monday, September 18, 2000 10:36 PM
To:
undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject:
25 years knocked off the prisoners sentences! Livingstone
included!!
Thank
you to Carol Moore for telling me this was going to happen before the
newspapers
did, excellent work! This is joyous
news indeed that Livingstone
Fagan
is included with the final appeals even though he never filed one. For
ONCE in
Judge Smith's life, he's done the right thing. Albeit he only did
this
after being forced to change his original sentencing, he could have also
reduced
the prisoners time much further than he chose to. Well folks, we're
hitting
1 out of a million here in Waco statistics... not very good odds, but
today
is a small but vital victory.
Bless
all the men and their families.
~Sharlene~
PS. I will have more information about
Livingstone in the next e-mail!
http://www.accesswaco.com/auto/feed/news/local/2000/09/18/969334661.23405.7436
.0160.html
Judge
reduces sentences for six Branch Davidians
By
TOMMY WITHERSPOON Tribune-Herald staff writer
A
federal judge in Waco has reduced the lengthy prison sentences of six
Branch
Davidians, three months after the U.S. Supreme Court said he
overstepped
his authority by increasing punishments for most of them by 25
years.
The
order by U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. will cut the sentences
of five
of the six Branch Davidians from 40 to 15 years and the sixth from 20
years
to 15.
Although
Branch Davidian Livingstone Fagan chose not to appeal, the judge
reduced
his sentence anyway.
The
judge wrote in his two-page order that it would be "manifestly
unfair"
not to
reduce Fagan's sentence despite his decision not to appeal.
Smith's
order reduces from 30 years to five years the sentences he imposed on
Fagan,
Kevin Whitecliff, Jaime Castillo, Renos Avraam and Brad Branch in 1994
for
using a weapon during a crime of violence. Those five-year terms will be
stacked
on 10-year sentences for manslaughter.
Graeme
Craddock, who was sentenced to 10 years for possession of a grenade
and 10
years for using a firearm, will have his sentence reduced by five
years.
Waco
attorney Richard Ferguson, who represents Branch, said the sentence
reductions
likely will make the Davidians eligible for release in about 51/2
years.
"We
are very happy for our clients," Ferguson said. "Forty years is
almost
like a
life sentence without parole for men who are in their 30s and this
gives
them a chance at having a life. My clients feel they should be let out
now.
They feel they were wronged as much as anyone. But we feel we have given
them 25
years of their life back and we feel like we have accomplished
something."
Another
by-product of the ruling, Ferguson said, is that the Davidians likely
will be
sent to less-restrictive prisons.
"When
you go from having a 40-year sentence for manslaughter and for using a
machine
gun to a 15-year sentence with just an ordinary firearm, you get
reclassified
and sent to a place that is a lot more palatable. They were
putting
them in with some pretty tough cats," Ferguson said.
The
Supreme Court ruled that Smith erred when he determined on his own at
sentencing
that the Branch Davidians used machine guns or "enhanced weapons"
during
their Feb. 28, 1993, firefight with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco
and Firearms.
The
agents had come to arrest cult leader David Koresh for weapons violations
when
the gun battle erupted. Four agents and five Davidians were killed and
many
more, including Koresh, were wounded.
The
high court ruled that the type of firearm used in a crime is an essential
element
of the offense alleged and must be decided by a jury during trial,
not by
a judge at sentencing.
Members
of the federal court jury in San Antonio, who acquitted the Davidians
in 1994
of the more serious charge of conspiracy to murder federal agents,
were
not asked to determine what types of weapons were used.
Four
Branch Davidians were acquitted of all charges stemming from the raid
and a
fifth was convicted on a weapons count. Six others were convicted of
manslaughter
and carrying or using a firearm during a crime of violence.
Davidian
attorneys believed the firearm charge carried a mandatory five-year
prison
term.
However,
Smith, adopting a motion by federal prosecutors, found the Davidians
used
machine guns and increased their prison sentences from five to 30 years
on the
weapons conviction.
"The
court has been advised by the government that it has no desire to
attempt
to retry the defendants on the offense charged in Count 3," Smith
wrote
in his order. "Therefore, the court will impose the least sentence for
that
offense — five years of imprisonment consecutive to the sentences
imposed
on the other counts for which the defendants were convicted."
U.S.
Attorney Bill Blagg of San Antonio, whose office prosecuted the
Davidians,
declined comment Monday, saying his office had been recused from
all
matters relating to the Branch Davidians before the trial of the
wrongful-death
case against the government in Smith's court this summer.
Craddock's
attorney, Stanley Rentz of Waco, said he had hoped Smith would
have
reduced Craddock's sentence more.
"I
would have liked to have seen him cut it down to one or two years or a
proportionate
departure downward off the five years," Rentz said. "But it is
certainly
better than nothing."
Stephen
P. Halbrook, the Fairfax, Va., attorney who argued the case before
the
Supreme Court in April, said it would have been "quite a tragedy" if
the
Supreme
Court had not reversed the case.
"It
took going all the way to the Supreme Court and a lot of persistence, but
we are
thankful that the case has reached this point."
Tommy
Witherspoon can be reached at twitherspoon@wacotrib.com or at 757-5737.
God
Bless The New Mt. Carmel Church!
Collectors
Edition 2000!
Never
before seen video footage of Mt. Carmel!
Interviews
from survivors and volunteers who helped rebuild Mt. Carmel!
Take a
tour of the beautiful property and see the church rise before your
eyes. Hear for yourself what world renowned
investigator Gordon Novell and
others
had to say when they showed up at the April 19, 2000 memorial. Hear
the
bell toll in memory of the 82 who were killed after the 51 day siege.
Your
$20 contribution will go towards the septic and air conditioning systems
still
needed. Your contribution will also go
towards building housing for
the
elderly ladies who were left homeless after the slaughter.
These
beautiful ladies have been living at the Salvation Army in a communal
apartment
and wish to finally come home!
Please
share this amazing video with friends, family, community leaders,
patriot
groups and others!
PLEASE,
send your donation in today and receive this awesome video.
Please
note: If you use PAYPAL to send money for the purchase of this video,
$5 is
automatically given to the church in addition to your generous $20
contribution,
and you are also given $5 in your PAYPAL account for future
purchases!
I set
this up specifically for that purpose, so please follow the link below
to
begin the process of obtaining this collectors video NOW!
<A
HREF="https://secure.paypal.com/refer/pal%3Drebuildthechurch%40aol.com">htt
ps://secure.paypal.com/refer/pal%3Drebuildthechurch%40aol.com</A>
RebuildTheChurch@aol.com
is the referral address.
Or
write to:
RebuildTheChurch.Com
PO Box
19061
Austin,
TX 78760
www.rebuildthechurch.com
My Waco
website:
<A
HREF="http://www.wizardsofaz.com/waco/picturethis.html">Please
take a
moment
to picture this...</A>
<A
HREF="http://www.wizardsofaz.com/waco/picturethis.html">http://www.wizardso
faz.com/waco/picturethis.html</A>
If you
wish to not receive Waco Tragedy News, please reply to this e-mail
with
"Unsubscribe" in the subject line.
If you
have received this e-mail in a forward and wish to join, type
"Subscribe"
in the subject line.
Confirmation
will be sent within a day.