(From mail...no link...so posted in full.)
From: Jerry Falwell
To: My Christian Friends
Date: June 01, 2004
RE: Seeking help for a friend
Dear Friend:
I want to ask you to join Dr. Tim LaHaye, Dr. James Dobson , Rep. John
Duncan (R-Tenn.), Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.), and me in helping a Christian
brother who desperately needs our help. I believe a critical issue requires
the action of Christians across the nation; but before I tell you how you
can help, here is the background.
William ("Bill") Kennedy, the one-time publisher of Conservative Digest and
owner of a precious metals company, was convicted in 1994 on mail fraud and
money laundering charges. The problem is that the men I mentioned above and
I (in addition to thousands of others) believe that Bill Kennedy was a
victim of politically-motivated prosecutorial misconduct and was
subsequently given an excessive sentence, especially for a first-time
offender.
As a result, Bill has spent the last ten-and-a-half years behind bars, with
his wife Debbie and his children (now grown with children of their own)
continuing to seek his pardon. Sadly, Bill has another seven years to serve
in prison, with no hope for early release, unless something is done on his
behalf.
Consider that the average rapist spends only 5.2 years in prison, or that
the average murderer spends just 8.6 years in prison.
Bill's friends are now seeking the help of President Bush, asking that our
good president pardon him.
In a recent letter to President Bush, his friends wrote: "We believe that
sentence for Mr. Kennedy, a first time offender (who has no record of
violence) is exceptionally long for the crimes of which he was convicted,
and particularly when compared to others convicted of financial offenses.
We believe that the principles of restorative justice would be better served
by Mr. Kennedy's release from prison. Upon release, Mr. Kennedy's friends
are committed to support his efforts for employment and thus enable him to
fulfill his intention to make restitution to his victims."
Bill's supporters also recounted to President Bush "sworn evidence"
including "substantiated serious wrongdoing on the part of government
lawyers who prosecuted Bill's case and has impacted Bill's ability to prove
his innocence at trial."
His friends asked President Bush to seriously reflect on this evidence when
considering a pardon for Bill.
Prominent attorney Craig Parshall is representing Bill in his request for
clemency. Mr. Parshall says he has "overwhelming sworn evidence" of
prosecutorial misconduct in Bill's original criminal case. He added that the
prosecutor deliberately " overran Bill's legal team by "interviewing, and
extracting privileged information and documents, including attorney-client
letters, from a former defense law clerk." That makes the prosecutor's
actions "particularly egregious given the fact that he had been explicitly
warned against violating attorney-client privilege," said Mr. Parshall.
This misconduct, says Mr. Parshall, is cause for great concern.
Mr. Parshall says that the government's case against Bill was utterly
circumstantial, "and was built on two former employees of Mr. Kennedy's
company who were indicted" who in turn testified against him under a plea
agreement. One of these government witnesses had earlier told the FBI that
there was no fraud committed in the case. Nevertheless, after being
indicted, that employee accepted a plea bargain and dramatically altered his
earlier testimony. The other witness who took a plea bargain admitted to
having repeatedly lied to the FBI over the course of several interviews.
You can see why Bill's friends are working to help him.
Here's the worst part -- the federal bankruptcy court had actually approved
a plan for Bill Kennedy to repay investors; he was preparing to do just that
when he was indicted. Tragically, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
has since refused to authorize an appeal of Bill's case, saying "even proof
that the prosecutor had lied to defense counsel about his unethical and
illegal invasion of Kennedy's attorney-client privilege ... was not
sufficient reason to entertain the sworn affidavit that proved the
attorney-client breach and its taint on the trial."
My good friend Tim LaHaye said of Bill: "I have personally read the
compelling, sworn evidence that was finally uncovered, showing not only that
Bill was wrongly convicted by the misconduct of a federal prosecutor, but
that evidence of his innocence was covered up by the government."
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
If you would like to join with thousands of others, including many prominent
Americans, who are asking President Bush to intercede on behalf of Bill
Kennedy, please click on this link:
http://www.justiceforkennedy.com/You will be taken to the JusticeForKennedy website, where you will discover
how you can contact the White House (by phone or by e-mail) to ask President
Bush to pardon Bill Kennedy. You can also sign up to receive ongoing
updates regarding this effort to intercede on behalf of this man.
Dr. LaHaye and I thank you in advance for briefly taking time out of your
schedule to add your name to a rapidly-growing list of Americans who are
concerned about justice for Bill Kennedy ... and ultimately for us all!
Your friend,
Jerry Falwell
http://www.justiceforkennedy.com/
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