07.26.08
Posted in Statements at 9:46 am by Justice for Jason
This afternoon [7/24/08] before the hearing got started we gave the new prosecutor a letter detailing all the items we’ve received so far and all the items that we’ve yet received and to which we feel we are entitled. (Both state and federal law requires a prosecutor to turn over any and all evidence to a defendant if it may prove at all helpful to the defendant’s case.) We also asked the prosecutor to agree to drop the curfew that was originally imposed on Jason in February and amended in April. After providing her with a letter from Jason’s employer, she agreed to do so. Given the fact that she is new to the case, she asked that we continue the actual pre-trial hearing until 9/8, which we agreed to do.
Once the judge arrived we informed the judge of what we’d agreed to and we gave the agreements his blessing.
Between now and 9/8/08 the prosecutor will be working to find the items we’ve requested, and we’ll be working on preparing for the 9/8/08 hearing. On that date, we’ll report to the court on the state of discovery (i.e. the process by which evidence to be used at trial is generated), and tell the court what pre-trial motions, if any, we plan to file.
Of course, the big news from today [7/24/08] is the turnout. The fact that Jason’s supporters managed to fill up the old courtroom [150+ people] will be the buzz in the courthouse for the next week. Although it’s impossible to quantify the impact of such a turnout, I think it’s important to give you one example of how it matters. Courts are busy places and an understandable goal of the judges and clerks is to move cases. When you fill up the courtroom with supporters, judges and clerks not only take notice. They literally have to stop, if only for a few seconds, when those supporters exit en masse at the conclusion of a hearing. The message it sends to the court is, “this is not just another hearing because this is not just another case.”
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07.02.08
Posted in Statements at 5:42 pm by Justice for Jason
Save the date & ask for time off work…
Pre-Trial Hearing for Jason Vassell
Thurs. 7/24/08, 2pm
Hampshire Superior Court (15 Gothic Street,
Northampton MA)
For info about carpools from the Boston area, contact justiceforjason@gmail.com
This will be an important pre trial hearing for Jason Vassell, and it will provide an opportunity for opposing counsel to come up with a roadmap for how Jason’s case will be tried. Jason’s lawyers will be asking the Commonwealth to provide certain evidence and will agree to turn over other evidence that may come into our possession. At the present time, it is unclear who will be prosecuting Jason’s case as the Assistant District Attorney who was assigned to it has left or is about to leave the District Attorney’s office. The physical presence of friends, family members, and other supporters would be greatly appreciated!!
Background: On Sunday, February 3, 2008, two white men—not university students—appeared at the window of the dormitory room of Jason Vassell, a twenty-three year old African American student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The two men subjected Vassell to racial invective and threats of violence. They kicked in Vassell’s window and later gained access to an outer vestibule of the dorm, where they attacked Vassell, breaking his nose and causing a serious concussion. The injured Vassell, defending himself with a small pocketknife, wounded his assailants.
At present, caught up in a protracted and costly legal process, Jason Vassell—an otherwise decent, gentle, young black man and law-abiding citizen described by his professors as a serious, respectful, and diligent student—finds himself in a Kafk-esque nightmare. Removed from school he faces two charges that could, if the prosecution succeeds, subject him to 30 years in state prison.
If you haven’t yet done so, please sign the petition calling for the charges again Jason to be reconsidered: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/justiceforjason/ .
To contribute to Jason’s defense, you may write a check to Esmie James, Mr. Vassell’s mother.
Mail checks to “Justice for Jason,” PO Box 197, Amherst MA 01004
www.justiceforjason.org
http://umass.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8053969667&ref=nf
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05.12.08
Posted in Statements at 11:04 am by Justice for Jason
STUDENT/FACULTY GROUP DEFEND UMASS AMHERST JUNIOR.
GROSS MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE ALLEGED. COMMUNITY
PETITION CALLS ON PROSECUTOR TO REEVALUATE CHARGES.
jason_press_conference_release51208.doc
To: All Media
For: Immediate Release, May12, 2008
AMHERST, MA –A group representing students and faculty of the University of Massachusetts, as well as citizens from the surroundingcommunity is calling on Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel to“seriously and carefully” reevaluate her office’s handling of the Jason Vassellcase. A petition bearing nearly2,000 signatures, which urged the prosecution to reduce the charges, waspresented to the District Attorney at her offices in Northampton today.
Vassell is the twenty-three year old African American UMassstudent who has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault with adangerous weapon after a February 3rd 2008 altercation with twowhite men. The men kicked in hisdorm room window, repeatedly called him “nigger,” and later attacked him,breaking his nose and causing a concussion. It was his attempt to defendhimself with a small knife during the ensuing struggle which led to the chargeswhich Vassell now faces. Chargeswhich, if the prosecution was to prevail, could result in sentences of up tofifteen years on each count.
“This petition is an attempt to again communicate to theprosecutor the extent of this community’s concern and dismay at the apparentexcessiveness and unfairness in her office’s prosecution of this case.” saidProfessor Ekwueme Mike Thelwell a committee spokesman. “Can the District Attorney be unaware,or insensitive or possibly indifferent to, the extent of community indignationand outrage at the appearance of injustice in the handling of this case? I implore her to think again. Howeverreluctantly, one is forced to ask the inevitable question. Had the situationbeen racially reversed, had the intruders been two young blacks from Roxbury orSpringfield who came unto the campus, damaged a university building, screamedracial insults at, and attacked a white student who then responded as Jasonhad. And, had it later beendiscovered that one of them had a prior record of unprovoked, racially inspiredviolence against a white victim, would her disposition of the case be thesame?”
The Monday, May 12th press conference in Amherstreflected a broadly based coalition of concern from all areas of the largestate university. Among the speakers were Tiffany Vassell, the victim’s sister,Max Page, President of the Massachusetts Society of Professors, Malcolm Chu,President of the Student Government Association, and senior professors from anumber of academic departments. A statement was presented from Attorneys DavidP. Hoose and Luke Ryan of Sasson, Turnbull & Hoose, the highly respectedcivil rights law firm that has taken the case.
The Attorneys represented Jason’s emotional and legalsituation as follows:
“It has now been over three monthssince Jason was subjected to a vicious, racist assault by two white men whoentered his dormitory for the sole purpose of causing him harm. In addition to experiencing all thefeelings associated with being the victim of a violent crime, Jason remains confusedand deeply troubled by a series of decisions on the part of the DistrictAttorney.
He does not understand why theDistrict Attorney initially chose to prosecute only him or sought to have himincarcerated as a dangerous person. He does not understand why one of his assailants, Jonathan Bosse, hasnot been charged or why the other, John Bowes, has not been indicted. Jason does not understand why theDistrict Attorney insisted that he be subjected to electronic monitoring andstrict pre-trial conditions of probation, yet acquiesced in the release of Mr.Bowes on his own personal recognizance. Having suffered a broken nose at the hands of Mr. Bowes, Jason isparticularly perplexed as to why the District Attorney now takes the positionthat Mr. Bowes did not commit a civil rights violation which resulted in aninjury.
Jason’s confusion isunderstandable. As an AssistantDistrict Attorney acknowledged in court on March 14, 2008, the facts of thiscase are largely undisputed. Thereis no question that Mr. Bosse and Mr. Bowes instigated a confrontation withJason by invading his privacy, smashing his window, and uttering a stream ofreprehensible racist slurs. Thereis no question that Mr. Bowes threw the first punch. And there is no question that when Jason ended theconfrontation by retreating behind a locked door, Mr. Bosse attempted to breakdown that door while pleading with Jason to ‘finish the fight.’”
Professor J. Zane Barlow Coleman, one of Vassell’s teachersdescribed the accused’s conduct as a student:
“I first met Jason Vassell when hewas a student in my small summer session class of Introductory Biology100. This past year he also tookmy General Genetics Biology 283 class. In addition to interacting with Jason in the classroom, I have talkedone on one many times during office hours and around campus. I have to say that I have always foundJason to be a polite, courteous, and responsible student. He came to every class session and satin the front row. He interactedwell with other students in working groups, and he was very professional in hisdealings with me, both inside and outside the classroom. When news came to me of his arrest inthis matter, I could not have been more shocked. Jason simply is not a confrontational student. In my experience he is anythingbut. Jason in class is quiet,reserved, and has excellent manners. When we would debate something controversial in class, and the argumentswould get heated between students, Jason would always be the person to pull backand just listen. I absolutely knewwithout a doubt in my mind, when I read the newspaper account of this incidentthat this just had to have been self defense.
Jason is a dedicated andoutstanding member of this university community. I know of his volunteer service both here and at home. Most of all, I know Jason’s motivationand determination to do well in his academics here, and I know he would notvoluntarily do anything to jeopardize that standing unless he had not otherchoice. He is a good student,without any trouble or criminal activity in his past, and is an upstandingyoung man.”
Tiffany Vassell, Jason’s sister and a graduate of theUniversity, speaking for the family, thanked the community,
“Without our faith in god and yourconstant encouragement, we do not know how we would pull through thisexceedingly difficult time.
Our family immigrated from Jamaica to the United States of America over40 years ago. From the day we arrived, we have been law-abiding and hardworkingcitizens of this great country. Never taking for granted the opportunities wewere afforded. Always using education as a steppingstone to acquire a betterlife.
Jason means so much to our family and to see him going through such adifficult situation is heartbreaking. Yet we remain steadfast in our beliefthat the truth and justice will prevail.
Always a dedicated student, Jason has followed in the footsteps of threeof his older siblings. All of whom went through the UMass system within thepast five years. Education has always been a cornerstone within our family. We treasure this and realize that it is a privilege to which many do not haveaccess.
The judicial process has causedmental anguish and financial distress to my family… We never thought anythinglike this could happen to us. We work too hard. We stay out of trouble. We careabout our education. Why us?”
Professor Max Page, President of the Massachusetts Societyof Professors, the union of faculty and librarians at UMass Amherst, said,
“Our union represents morethan just the rights of our members at work; we pride ourselves on fighting forrespect and justice for all members of the university community. We seeneither in the actions of the prosecutor. We cannot stand by idly bywhile a student — by all accounts an outstanding member of our community — isunfairly threatened with years in prison. I have no idea how to explainto my faculty members and my students how this harsh and selective applicationof the bare letter of the law serves any public good. What message is beingsent? And exactly to whom? What social value is being advanced, what publicinterested protected?”
“It is important for you to understand why we are here,”said Professor Thelwell, speaking for the Committee. “It is impossible for usto believe that this truly distressing situation can represent anything morethan an egregious procedural error. An error fraught with potentially tragicconsequences for an exemplary young life. For this reason, we are convincedthat upon reviewing all the contingent facts, now available, the DistrictAttorney cannot fail to propose a disposition of the case more consonant withour community standards of fairness and justice. Toward this end we urge allmembers of the community to convey their opinion to the prosecutor with alldeliberate speed.”
For more informationvisit www.justiceforjason.orgor contact justiceforjason@gmail.com
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05.02.08
Posted in Events, Statements at 4:43 pm by Justice for Jason
Press Conference: Justice for Jason Vassell
Monday May 12, 2008, at 11 a.m.
Massachusetts Room, Mullins Center, UMass Amherst
Open to the Public
The press conference, featuring faculty and students, will raise awareness about the status of Jason Vassel’s case prior to Mr. Vassell upcoming pre-trial hearing (schedule for July 24, 2008).
Your presence and support is vital. We wish to show strong support for the campaign before the spring semester ends. We will also be taking this opportunity to deliver the petitions in support of Justice for Jason.
**If you have not yet signed the petition, please do so NOW***
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/justiceforjason/
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