I wish to express my appreciation for those of you who take the time to read my story. Anyone wishing to become involved, to get to know me better or help me through this injustice: I'm looking forward to hearing from you via daryl.wheatfall@hotmail.com or Polunsky #999020/Mr.Daryl Wheatfall/3872 FM 350 South/Livingston TX 77351/USA.
25-03-2011
Knock knock
On Feb.16 this unit was placed on lock-down. Again? Yes, again. Why? I don't know. On Feb.17 regional guards did the search. These guards came from a different unit. Anyway, prisoners were pulled out & placed in showers on different sections or on the outside yard. No one was able to witness the guards searching through personal or legal property. Once everyone was back inside their cage, most discovered property was missing. No one had a clue what guard had searched through their property & none of the ranking officials would acknowledge anyone seeking their attention! I had 10 bottles of water & copyright forms missing. Yes, I wrote a grievance, but without someone on the outside making a complaint, my grievance is only a record of what has taken place. Nothing else will be done about my stolen property. Listen to this, we prisoners will have to experience a shake-down every 90 days! This is what the ranking officer said. Also, guards are enforcing a new rule: they're being told to close the slot on theshower door. This is a safety hazard. There's no exhaust fan inside the shower; with the shower running, air isn't able to circulate with the slot closed on the shower door. I don't go to the shower any more since they started closing the slot door. I shower inside this cage now, it's less stressful and I get just as clean as inside the shower. It's been a year since my last case, you didn't know this, huh? Last year in February was the last month a case was written on me. Now, all I have to do is start developing more interest & involvement to go along with the news we received about my case...
It's my life, feelings & thoughts I'm sharing with you... The pain near my heart didn't make matters any better. I was taken to the infirmary for severe chess pain & my blood pressure was high (186/101). I know when something is wrong with my body but the unit doctor told me the problem wasn't serious! Nothing was done, they just placed me on a 6-week check: every Monday at 2 a.m. my blood pressure is checked. Since then I haven't had any problem - well, not any real problem.
The other day I found a rock inside my food! Almost broke my tooth. It's unbelievable all I'm made to endure behind these walls. Life seems so hollow due to how things are run here. So many rules are created as obstacles to cause disruption & confusion. I'm not complaining, I'm able to deal with whatever I have to, I'm just trying to make my situation clear by sharing how I'm unable to achieve what I'm trying to accomplish. The confusion created by this place & the miscommunication associated with those involved in my life prevent me from establishing what I'm trying to do. This is so de-energizing. My mail is being held/delayed disrupting my communication, destroying my efforts to build more support.
Did you know Anthony Graves was released from jail after spending 18 years on death row? State officials don't want to pay him his money for unjustly locking up an innocent man for 18 years. This is crazy! Unbelievable really. Now this man has to fight for his money juat as he had to fight for his freedom! The State had him incarcerated due to the prosecution hiding evidence. This misconduct was discovered & the Capital Murder charge was dropped by the courts...but they don't want to compensate him. The State is saying since the charges were dropped & the word 'innocence' wasn't stated in his release papers by law, the State doesn't have to pay him $1,4 billion. This is something I don't want to experience when I'm released from this living nightmare in Livingston, Texas. That's why it's so important for me to have my book & Newsletters & experiences on death row published to help generate interest & funds where I won't have to move in with people who aren't involved in my life & didn't assist in my struggles for freedom. Anthony has the love & support of his family, something I don't have. Anyway, this situation makes me think of how the government continues to talk about terrorists overseas while I'm more concerned with these bigots & rednecks right here in the US backyard in control of the justice system & the law than I am with Bin Laden. These rednecks & bigots have been terrorizing the poor & blacks for hundreds of years, so terrorists aren't new to me/us... Slavery, lynching, church bombing, using water hoses & dogs against innocent people & children! This hate & injustice was released upon millions, terrorism is nothing new. It's new only to the ignorant of the world. These are the ones who don't give a damn! This is why innocent people suffer.
Before I forget: the typewriter & radio taken away from me in 2008 when they said I had destroyed a mattress, remember? A guy in the next section informed me the other day my radio was given to him, I'm guessing they broke his & replaced mine for the one they lost. The rules are used to con prisoners out of their property, then it's used as they see fit...
I have some good news! I saw Richard Reyna the other day. At first I wasn't happy with him. I'd a serious attitude when I walked in to see him. "He'd better have something good to say to me" were the thoughts inside my head. I was going to let him have it if he didn't have anything positive to put my mind at ease! My eyes told him this by the way I looked at him once I walked into the attorney hold-over. I don't believe in abusing someone before hearing what he has to say. I recalled that Richard had promised to visit me but this had been over a month and a half before, so you can imagine I was upset. All of my built up frustration was going to be released upon this man if he said the wrong thing, anything I didn't want to hear at that moment. But afterwards I realized this man needs some room to discover the evidence to set me free... It's easier said than what I'm able to carry out psychologically. I can't give details because I don't want to harm the investigation, but I couldn't believe what I read. No, I'm not sure how long things will take now, I guess there's still a long way to go, but there's hope of me being a free man again...
A letter was denied to me due to it being uninspectable - they are saying they couldn't look behind the flower stuck to the card! In other words, they found an excuse to deny the card. These people have been finding stupid ass reasons to refuse my mail going & coming in. Mailroom personnel gave me a denial form forcing me to return the letter...
On October 14 the guards came through shaking down going through everyone's stuff. I happened to be the last person because of the amount of property I have. Research material, legal material, books & information to be used on the book I'm writing & things I've written already is what I have... When the major & captain showed up, standing around watching, now they wanted to be concerned about the policy as they observed my cage being searched - this concern was shown when the others were searched too. They said I needed a legal box, but to get one I have to give prison officials permission to go through my legal material - these people want me to fill out forms giving them the right to go through my legal matters - this ain't happening. This guy from the library stated he'll go through my legal work & tell me what I can have & can't - this is a joke! Do you understand what's going on? (1) They are telling me I have too much property; (2) to keep that property I need to get a legal box, (3) to get a legal box I have to give them permission to the (cause no.#), which opens up everything about my case. I have to do this to get a storage box to put my property! These people have created a policy that forces prisoners to expose their legal matters to prison personnel. There's no policy that makes a prisoner reveal his legal affairs to personnel. What I'm saying is: by law these people aren't supposed to be reading material nor trying to deprive me of my legal material. I've been confined inside these walls for 20 g.dd... years; even when I'm not doing anything, somehow they find a way to state I'm violating their policy - when they can't follow their own policy!
This place takes me down like standing over a gravesite. My typewriter is broken. I just paid for this trash in June last year. I heard they have new ones that cost over $200! There are too many distractions in my life that prevent me from focusing on my book. I'm afraid with these pressures being placed on me concerning my property, I may not be able to put all the necessary information inside my book. I still have this pain near my heart. It's not bad, but it's there. I don't know what it is & this place & its people don't give a shit if I live or die! The pain is small & it comes & goes away...
The visits with Marjan were beautiful. We shared a wonderful time. It felt as if we were two little kids who had been mad at one another for a long time. Somewhere, somehow we walked through this door & all of that energy was gone! We were back, the loving energy we shared surrounded us, we sat there laughing like two little kids. I totally enjoyed her & miss her right now. She told me she shared the wonderful times we had on her blog with her readers (www.bloggen.be/nodeathpenalty - in Dutch). The visits went by very fast. One of the guards was kind to us. On the first visit she told us we had 5 minutes left. So I reminded her of the time we lost on media. She remembered & promised she would allow us some extra time. True to her word she allowed us far more than 5 minutes... Marjan kept looking at her watch worrying about the time. I told her to relax and we ended our visit without some guard telling us. The last day is always the hardest because inside our minds we know it's the last time we're going to see one another for a while - something we dread the most. Watching Marjan walking away, going through the rolling steel door, down the long glass hallway - she always stops to see if I'm watching, waving goodbye for the last time, smiling, then walking through another door out of sight - this kills me! Inside watching this I'm dying because I want to walk out that door with her, into the sunlight, out of this dark place...
There are problems with the mailroom personnel again. Prisoners' letters aren't mailed out the same day they're picked up. They are saying they have 48 hours to mail out outgoing mail. This is an excuse. My letters have been posted 4 - 5 days after the date on the letters. Other prisoners have told me they're experiencing the same problem with their letters. The weather is changing here in Texas. For a few days it has been very cool, while it's always hot in Texas, even when it's supposed to be cold. I wonder how long will I have to witness the seasons change from one to the next from behind these walls? I would love to be out & about enjoying the sun, cycling like a little kid seeing different places & people & made to deal with the bad weather. This would be a good day for me! On Sunday the football team that I like, the Houston Texans, won a hard-fought, very exciting game. It looked as if my team would lose! However, slowly they began to come back. At one point it looked as though the Texans were going to win, the next minute it looked as if the other team would win, but the Texans were able to pull it out & win the game. You should have heard the sounds guys were making over the win. I stare at moments like this to view my reality in a strange sense to be normal, though I realize all around me guys are facing death, waiting to be killed by the State of Texas. Everyone has all kinds of problems & worries running around inside our heads, yet it's during these moments pulling for our team to win that we become like any other person doing so. It's at this moment we escape the madhouse for a few hours, no longer worried of being killed by the State of Texas, no one cares about the cameras installed to watch everyone, the many problems everyone has, no one is concerned about them - my mind takes all of this in, listening to guys holla, yell & kick on their cage doors as if they had just won a lot of money without even knowing if I was among those doing the yelling & kicking. It's at these moments all seems normal. But staring at the walls inside this cage the following morning, I wondered how it was possible for me to even think such a thought, knowing I'm living in a controlled environment & nothing is normal about this madness. As I began to move around, I noticed there wasn't anyone inside the dayroom - I discovered this unit was on lockdown again! The visit between Marjan and me was nice. I enjoyed the time I spent with her...
This place keeps me frustrated, unpleasant thoughts fill my head. Nobody is able to grasp the affect & feelings I'm made to deal with, no matter how I explain it. I have a serious headche right now. It's late at night, rec is stil being run. A guy is inside the dayroom talking very loudly! This is preventing me from concentrating. It isn't just this. I'm disturbed over how these people are going about doing their jobs. If they were doing it correctly, this guy wouldn't be inside the dayroom. Since these cameras came on, the warden is making up his way he wants these guards to carry out their jobs - the amount of work the guards used to do isn't being done because now the guards are using the way the warden wants them to carry out their jobs as an excuse not to do their work! On the night shift the sergeant has these new guards enforcing every small rule they can. This is provoking negative situations/reactions from many prisoners. Last night/this morning they gassed this guy because guards kept asking him to remove the sheet he had over his door. This wasn't a problem just a few days ago, now that these guards have to do a security check every 30 minutes, they are asking guys to remove sheets from over their doors because they have nothing better to do. This one guy got upset & threw something on the guards & they gassed him. I myself use another way to prevent from being on display. Nonetheless, I'm sharing this stuff with you hoping it provides a picture of what I'm made to deal with...
Lockdown ended on the 12th. Prison officials only locked down the unit because they were about to turn on the cameras - they wanted to play with their new toy. Confusion is everywhere, just as I predicted. No work is being done by these guards. What do I mean? Prison officials want the guards to go by policy i.e. count has to be done first thing in the morning, recs set up, strip search prisoners, search dayrooms & yards, escort nurse & mailroom personnel. All of this is done between the hours of 5:30 and 9 o'clock. This was being done before the cameras entered the picture, now guards are following policy and they aren't able to do 4 rounds of recs & shower 50 inmates in their 12-hour shift, they're using policy as an excuse on why they can't do their jobs. Here's what takes place in the morning shift once officers change out at 5:30: there are 3 guards working the pod, 1 inside the control picket & 2 walking the floor; on arrival the count is taken, which means both guards are going door to door counting each prisoner; once done, they go door to door again asking each prisoner if he's going out. This is called setting up recs, which eats up time, by now it's about 6:20. By this time another count is done around 6:35. The guards search the dayrooms & yards. It's about 7-7:15 by the time the first prisoner is put out. It will take over an hour to put 6 prisoners in 6 different dayrooms & 4 prisoners in 4 different yards because all prisoners have to be strip-searched before leaving their cage or the yard. This consumes time as the guards always have to stop before putting out 10 prisoners to do their security check. What's a security check? Every 30 minutes the guards will walk the whole pod, which is shaped like a C, which has 2 rows, top & bottom row. They're going door to door looking into each cage checking to see what each prisoner is doing. By the time they've finished doing this & putting out the recs, they're supposed to do showers. You see, there're 6 sections on a pod but only 5 sections rec a day. Each day one section remains confined to their cages. This section is showered first during the first round while the prisoners are doing their 2 hours' rec. This isn't happening. The nurse & mailroom personnel show up around 8-8:30. Now the guards have to escort these people around. If they have someone inside the shower, these people will end up staying inside the showers for a long time because once they're done escorting these people, they have to do their 30 minutes' checks again - do you see this picture I am sharing with you? The guards have to strip prisoners coming from out of the shower. I don't know what they're searching for, there are cameras everywhere! Once someone has been placed inside the shower, there's no way this prisoner is able to get anything from anyone! Nonetheless, this is only another reason why prisoners are left in the shower over an hour and shower at 12-1 o'clock in the morning! I don't have time to be sitting inside a hot ass shower waiting on guards to come back around to remove me from the shower. I shower inside my cage to remove negative energy & frustration from my mind... The madness doesn't stop here. Prisoners are only supposed to get 2 hours of rec but due to the manner guards are being allowed to do their jobs, now prisoners are receiving 4 hours. This would be a good thing, however everyone isn't getting an opportunity to rec or recs are being run at 12 o'clock at night. Some people don't want to be in the dayroom at that time or out on the yard; if so, these people inside the dayrooms are disturbing those trying to sleep or concentrate - many write letters & study their cases at night. It's not just this. These people are still showering at this time. A person is in a deep sleep & the guard comes & wakes him up asking him if he wants to shower! Or asking for his dinner tray or giving him his mail! Do you see the mental picture I'm describing? I could go on & on discussing the madness taking place here. Is it a wonder I feel depressed at times?
This unit is on lockdown again. It started June 28th. Since June 29th cameras are up & running. I believe this is one reason why we're on lockdown. This pod I'm housed on is waiting for the guards to arrive to begin their search through prisoners' property. I really hate this. Each year prison officials come up with some kind of new rule to prevent us, prisoners from having property we have been allowed to have...
Can you believe the mailroom was denying my outgoing mail from going out just because I put "Mr." Wheatfall? They stated Mr. was a title & I was violating board policy: 'has anincorrect return address (no titles allowed)'! I've addressed my letters that way for years! It's stupid! After 2 to 4 weeks of preventing my letters from going out, now they say we're not violating any rule! You see how these people can make up anything & claim it's a violation. This goes back to what I wrote: "Even a tiny amount of power can be monumentally disastrous unless the wielder has found his/her balance"...There isn't any balance when those in control are filled with hate.
I haven't had any problems & with each new day I'm putting things back together. This is my main goal to establish order in my life because with so many matters demanding my time & attention I haven't been able to focus on things like I've wanted to. As you know, now these people are putting up cameras & this has guards disturbed because a lot of things they used to do, they won't be able to do them no more: sleeping inside the picket, can't sit around doing nothing; they're going to work because Big Brother will be watching! However, it's going to force them to go by a lot of rules they weren't enforcing, so life will become frustrating for us, prisoners. I foresee a lot of problems coming once these cameras are up & running. All of this is because of one prisoner, but it's also due to corruption, but it isn't the guards who're being punished...
This situation I've been dealing with occupies a lot of my time & energy, so is this article, and my knee is acting up on top of all this, which prevents me from doing anything. I was given back my level 1. On May 6th it wasn't given back and I wasn't moved until the 12th! I don't know why these people find new ways to create frustration within me. For 6 days all of my property was packed up waiting to be moved. I was given back all the things level 2 prisoners are not allowed to have: allowed to go to commissary to buy everything level 1 prisoners are able to buy while housed on F-pod. I was moved to F-pod on April 20th but that's another story...
I made up my mind on the night of the 5th to find out why I wasn't moved like other inmates who received their level 1. While returning from rec I refused to walk back to my cage demanding to speak with some rank. After explaining the situation, I was told he would go and discover why. The next day I was moved back to B-pod. No, I never found out why. I was faced with another problem: I'm right back in the same situation which created my problem in the first place. Yes, I'm made to go out to rec first & last. They were going to move me inside cage 40 but I refused because whenever it rained water ran into the cage. I didn't want my property to be damaged by water. The only other cage open on the section was 30, which happened to place me back in the same position. It's not just this, because prison officials knew something was wrong with that cage. These people are nothing more than a big goddamn distraction! For 6 days I couldn't address my affairs because all of my property was packed up. I'm trying to finish my article while trying to reorganize my life, because from February to May there wasn't any order in my life whatsoever. Every day it seemed I was faced with some new dilemma.
Once I got my property back, so much had been taken/missing/stolen! Whenever I deal with these people they make it clear my personal property & my life is meaningless, it means nothing to them! I have to ask myself: what does all of this mean to me? why endure all of this bullshit? why should I care about my abusers?
For over a month now, workers have been getting the building ready for cameras, cameras are going to be placed on every pod, just like A-pod & the section I was housed on have cameras. It's going to be a lot of bullshit once these cameras have been placed everywhere because the guards will be aware they're under the watchful eye of Big Brother & be trying to enforce every little rule they can. There won't be any mor sitting around or going to sleep inside the picket. No one, neither guard nor prisoner, is going to like these cameras. The state is putting them up to watch their guards to prevent them from bringing in stuff.
I hope all of this madness will soon be out of the way & I'll be able to focus on my life & not this prison madness. I'll be finished with this article soon. Everything that has happened to me from then to now will be inside this newsletter so all the holes of what happened will be filled in...
This is the reaction from the Office of the Ombudsman after a letter of complaint was sent to them:
"All offenders have access to the Offender Grievance Process to present written concerns related to their classification, personal property, disciplinary status, or other confinement issues within the agency's control. Records reveal that Offender Wheatfall has addressed each of the issues you mentioned through the grievance process. The Polunsky Unit Mailroom staff are following agency policy in regards to processing incoming and outgoing mail. The Agency cannot vertfy the length of time the letters take to arrive at your destination overseas. In response to the disciplinary concerns, demotions in status, destroyed mattress, and sleeping on the floor. Details of disciplinary cases are considered confidential information and cannot be shared with the public. Offender resolved these issues through the Offender Grievance Process. The denial of Offender Wheatfall's book was also addressed throught the Offender Grievance Process.The book was originally denied due to its content. The Director's Review Committee instructed the Polunsky Unit Mailroom to confiscate the book for being altered. The unit commissary follows a strict schedule to ensure all death row offenders arre given the opportunity to use that privilege if they are eligible. The schedule allows for a spending period every 14 days as required. Offender Wheatfall is receiving the privileges afforded to his custody level."
I'm so psychologically exhausted & unorganized right now. This is due to how prison officials have been addressing things on this end. All of this has caused a major distraction & disruption with all I'm trying to do. May 7th I was given back my level 1. I packed up my property, thinking I would be moved to a level 1 pod, but I haven't. I'm still on F-pod. Why? I don't have a clue. This is preventing me from focusing on what I need to be doing with all of my property packed up.
I'm working on this new article but I'm dealing with a lot of distractions. I have to battle to go to commissary, to get my rec, guards knocking on my cage door every 30 minutes, disrupting my sleep! You wouldn't believe what I'm being made to put up with. I'm so stressed out it's robbing me of my energy & giving me bad headaches. I'm only able to buy #22 stamps, this causes a problem from being able to address my mail. This is very frustrating to go along with everything else. So this newsletter is taking longer than I planned. I was moved April 24, I was on A-pod. I'm tired. Moving from one cage to another took a lot of energy out of me - I had gone to rec before I was informed I would be moving; while outside I ran & worked out, afterward I came in to rest they woke me up to tell me I was moving; I'll be a level one in 12 or 13 days so I should be able to put up with living on this pod.
Every time I step one foot outside my cage door there are two cameras watching every move I make. This section is treated special because it's the only one with cameras on the run, by the end of the next 6 months other pods will have cameras on the run. All through the night the guards are knocking on the cage door checking to see if I'm alive! This is only because they're being watched. Now that I'm no longer on cage restriction the major is saying no one is allowed inside the dayroom on this section. The 2 other prisoners are on outside only restriction, which means they're not allowed to rec inside the dayroom. I'm not on any kind of restriction, if they try to force me to go outside when it's my dayroom time, I see myself protesting against this. I'm not going to allow unit officials to violate their rules while enforcing rules, to deny me is a violation when I'm not on any kind of restriction - if I was being housed on any other section, I would be placed inside the dayroom on the section I'm being housed on... Right now I'm working on a new InCaged article called "Official Abuse of Authority". You're going to find it very interesting. I've had a good interview with the guy surrounding the cell phones, the guy who stabbed two guards I've his story, & I'm organizing all the other information to the order I want it. It will soon be coming!
I'm one man, one man trying to deal with a lot: unit officials, guards, prisoners, my lawyer, staying focused with my case, organizing a book, newsletter, a few new pen pals I'm trying to educate & involve in this campaign to save my life. I'm under so much but I'm expected to function as if I'm living a normal life, but I'm not. I live inside a cage, I'm struggling to remain normal under the condition I'm forced to live under.
I just finished writing a story on a prisoner who stabbed 2 guards during a major use of force Feb.25, 2010. I'm also planning to put together a new InCaged article on abuse ofauthority. I'm trying to get everything done, things seem to be jumping out of nowhere demanding my time & attention.
My focus is upon the bullshit going on in my life. Several cases were written against me during my protest against the disciplinary case written against me that had me dropped to level 3. I'm a level 2 now. Nonetheless, I was placed on commissary restriction for these cases, a total 67 days. This means I'm only allowed to buy $20 in postage stamps and $10 hygiene. I'm only allowed to do this every 30 days, only allowed to buy 30 stamps - which are quickly gone. So I'm unable to communicate with the outside world without postage stamps. I've shared my grievances written against the commissary department by me & other inmates I've encouraged to write for the abuse of authority committed by the commissary department - making us prisoners go 21-23 days before being allowed to make commissary again.
Did I tell you cameras are at the end of the run on both sides? Any time I step out of this cage a video camera is watching me. The guy who was involved in the case of the smuggled cell phones is housed just a few doors away - he was the only one on this section, now there's me & the guy who stabbed the 2 guards. This section is bad, but it's really peaceful, I'm able to focus on addressing what need to be addressed without any distraction. Soon I'll be off cell restriction, will be able to get out and exercise. I'll go on fighting for a better life...
2010 has not begun to shine brightly down on me. The hunger strike is over. I officially ended it on February 23. I was deeply concerned about all I was doing to my body. I work so hard to develop and take good care of my body & mind that I don't want to slowly destoy it. All things happen for a reason, I truly learned a lot about the development of my mind & body and I could have endured weeks more if I had to.
I'm not on F-pod anymore. I'm now housed on A-pod, on a section with the cell-phone guy, someone many death row prisoners & some guards would kill if they had the chance. This fool cost me all kinds of stress. I didn't have anything to say to him, I feel he's just a sad pathetic ass liar! Why talk to this fool? The thinking man in me took over - with what's happening to me & all the many updates I've written I see a beautiful story for you. I'm next to death watch & I know just about everyone expecting to be killed in the coming months. I think my next InCaged article could share some insightful information with the people wishing to understand how one gets ready to die.
Like I said, things happen for a reason. Do I like what happens to me? Hell no! I like the spirit that runs inside of me & how it helps to deal with adversity, but battling adversity every day isn't something I wish to do...
