Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Feb 25 - Lawyers and the Fire Marshall

Wednesday, Feb 25

When he met with his family, Clayton went over more details about what meals are like at the facility.  He explained that for breakfast this morning the inmates had sausage patties with eggs and some kind of hearty cheese sauce, pancakes, and syrup.  Apparently breakfast always comes with milk here.  For lunch they had some kind of small hot dog with chili.  Dinner was a similar consistency to Dinty Moore beef stew with salad, green beans, and a cookie.  Clayton gave Andy his cookie, because he is trying to eat healthy.  Much to the shock of everyone in his family, he is actually eating the green beans and salad every day as well.

Clayton also mentioned that he gave Andy the top bunk when they changed cells yesterday.  He joked about getting up to the top just being one more exercise, but his wife remembered him talking about the bruises the upper bunks cause from the leap.  Clayton was also giving Andy the opportunity to read the Christian books from the chaplain, so they could discuss them together.  The first book he had been given was Finding God in the Dark, and the second was a book of testimonials that Clayton believed was called Resound.

Clayton explained to his family that now that he and Andy had both finished both books, he was very excited about passing them along.  Both books had a note written from the chaplain on the inside cover saying, "Pass these on."  Clayton had discovered during his stay that sometimes when someone was done with book, if they slid it out into hallway guards would offer it to other inmates in nearby cells to read before removing it.  He was hoping that someone else given a chance to read the books would learn more about God from them.  

Thankful

Clayton also mentioned that his lawyers came to visit with him today.  He explained that they planned to file motions for a mistrial and for an acquittal, but they did not want him to get his hopes up too high because of the way the legal system works in Alaska.  The lawyers get to be in the same room with Clayton during their visits, without the glass or video separation.  They were very encouraged by his law library research, and encouraged him to continue if he was able.  They also emphasized to him the importance of collecting letters from family, friends, and community members on his behalf asking for reduced sentencing.

However, he also explained that whenever he meets with the lawyers in person, he is chained to wall with belly chain.  This hadn't been done before at MSPT.  Here at GCCC his hands are cuffed to the belly chain separately.  In Clayton's opinion, one guard who walked him to his visit had been particularly considerate.  Guards do not have to, but frequently will, attach one hand with a set of double handcuffs so that the person has more room to move one hand for writing or holding a phone.  It is still awkward, but not impossible.  This particular guard had offered his personal set of handcuffs to give Clayton this use of his hand when there wasn't otherwise another set available, and Clayton felt very thankful.    When asked about the ankle cuffs, Clayton explained that they were not used in the video room or behind glass typically.

Fire Marshall Inspection

Interestingly, no showers were offered today because of new activity in the unit.  Apparently the Fire Marshall had come for inspections at the facility, and was checking smoke detectors and sprinklers in all cells.  Until the inspection, Clayton hadn't realized there was a smoke detector covered by metal grating in every cell.  He wondered why that would be true.  "If there's a fire, it's not like I can get out," he joked.  

Clayton said that he had asked multiple guards about cleaning supplies, but hadn't yet been successful in getting any to work on his cell.  He was hesitant to fill out a cop-out form because it might bug the guards.  His wife encouraged him that the guards expressed that this was the primary method of communication in the cells, and may be the only way to get a response so he planned to fill out a cop-out form for cleaning soon.  

Other than the visitors for the day, Clayton wondered about when responses and mail would arrive.  He had not yet figured out when the commissary he'd ordered would arrive or how much of a delay to expect in the process.  He also wondered how long it would take the letters from his family to arrive.  Someone from the family had sent in a question about whether gum was available on the commissary list, knowing his fondness for it, and he said there wan't.  He did advise his family though, that he'd figured out that he didn't get access to a phone much past 7 or 8 pm, so they didn't need to worry about waiting that late for a call from him.

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