BIG T Posted June 3, 2002 Share Posted June 3, 2002 KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- A prisoner's respectful letter to a federal judge finally led to his release -- more than two years after the judge ordered him set free because his conviction had been overturned. Reynaldo Tovar-Valdivia, now 42, was arrested by Kansas City police in April 1998 and charged with possessing methamphetamines with intent to distribute. A little over a year later he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. But he appealed on grounds that he had been searched illegally, and won, and U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs signed an order for Tovar-Valdivia's release in January 2000. LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topicBankruptcyDiscriminationDivorceEstate PlanningLandlord-TenantPersonal InjuryTaxes But somehow, the release never happened, and Tovar-Valdivia remained behind bars at a federal prison in California, where he had asked to serve his time. In March, Sachs got a letter from Tovar-Valdivia, including pages from the October 1999 ruling by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that told the judge to order the prisoner's release. "I would like to humbly request that this court makes an order invalidating my conviction," the prisoner wrote. It was not clear why he waited so long before writing his letter. But in the letter, he said he had not been able to reach his lawyer in two years. His attorney, Larry Pace, said he never heard back from his client. "I assumed he had been released," Pace said. "He wasn't released. It's nuts." After Sachs received the letter, he issued a new order, and Tovar-Valdivia was finally freed April 4. No one knows what happened to the original order, according to court and prison officials and deputies. Patricia Brune, clerk of federal court in Kansas City, said her computer records indicated the order was routinely processed. "We don't know what happened," she said. According to court records, police arrested Tovar-Valdivia on April 6, 1998, at a Kansas City bus station after officers found more than nine pounds of methamphetamine taped to his body. They had already searched his bag, with Tovar-Valdivia's permission, and had found nothing out of the ordinary, but then noticed bulges under his shirt. In October 1999, the St. Louis-based Court of Appeals ruled that the search was improper because there was no probable cause, and sent the case back to Sachs to issue the order freeing the prisoner. For a man wrongly imprisoned for more than two years, Tovar-Valdivia didn't appear bitter in his letter to the judge. He ended it, "Thanks for your time, and have a nice day." :eek: :eek: man i would not know who the fuck to kill first... 2 years in jail for nothing.... ouch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Mask Posted June 3, 2002 Share Posted June 3, 2002 Originally posted by BIG T For a man wrongly imprisoned for more than two years, Tovar-Valdivia didn't appear bitter in his letter to the judge. wrongly convicted perhaps....but he still had all that shit strapped to his body...they just fucked up on procedure. Its not like on of those wrongfully convicted murder cases where DNA sets the guy free.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wilt Posted June 3, 2002 Share Posted June 3, 2002 in my opinion he wasn't wrongfully in jail..because he commited the crime..he got out on a loophole...so...i think its good he stayed in..im sure hes a fine upstanding american other than the fact he has poison in his pockets...:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
girl-lies Posted June 3, 2002 Share Posted June 3, 2002 on a tuesday afternoon my mom came in my room and said get the fuck up out of bed and get a god damned job so i told her hey hey fuck you mom and i threw the phone at her head but i missed and hit her in the snatch so i slammed the door in her face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG T Posted June 3, 2002 Author Share Posted June 3, 2002 well yeah he might have broken the law, but the game of cops and robbers(or drug dealers as the case may be) is just like any other game... there are rules for a reason, and if one side doesnt play fair than it like getting the ball back. so the fact remains that he was in prison for no reason. if they would have played by the rules that might have never gotten to search him and therefore he would have gotten away clean and free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEE_rase_war Posted June 3, 2002 Share Posted June 3, 2002 "that is just the fact of the matter" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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