Terrance Shaw- an introduction

Terrance Shaw 138254 OSCI (65);PO Box 3310; Oshkosh, WI 543903 Terrance is another man who has devoted himself to self improvement. Other posts in this blog show these efforts.  He is a Vietnam War vet and was very ill with PTSD before there was a name for it.

RESUME
Terrance Shaw's Letter to the governor (pages are backwards on this -start with 2nd page-will change soon)

Terrance Now

Terrance at Arrest

(click on picture to view full size)

Prisoner's Lament

I flush the commode
And watch the contents swirl down
Like all the hopes and dreams
Of what my life could have been.

Terrance J. Shaw, #138254
Oshkosh Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 3310
Oshkosh, WI 54903-3310

Terry also has his own blog,with testimony and documents attesting to all he has done to improve himself. Click on :http://terranceshaw.blogspot.com/

My Crime and Successful Treatment
read his story on blogpost





My Crime and Successful Treatment

In 1981 I raped and murdered a 30-year old woman and was convicted in 1982 to Life plus 20-years in prison, with my first parole eligibility being in 1993. When I first came into the prison system, my Assessment & Evaluation (A&E) specialist determined that I needed to "participate in Sex Offender Treatment (SOT) to learn and understand the dynamics behind my crime, in order for me to lower my risk for parole.”

I was in SOT at WCI for 3-years and in the 2003 SOT Report Summary, "--WCl's Chief SOT Psychologist, Dr. Ankarlo, documented that I-currently have: NO HIGH RISK AREA TREATMENT NEEDS at this time (in 2003). He also wrote in the SOT Program Report that, "Mr. Shaw has benefited greatly from his participation in SOT and has displayed his understanding of the treatment principles in his self-disclosure and feedback." Dr. Ankarlo goes on to state that, "Clinical judgment alone would suggest that he has made sufficient progress in those areas to have completed his SOT need."

So, I figure that since nothing has changed with the severity of my crime since I was convicted and sentenced in 1982, as well as there is no new offense or action to require more treatment than was recommended programming for me at A&E in 1982, I have satisfied the A&E program need requirement recommended for me to lower my risk for parole, and I should be given a Grant for parole anytime after I satisfied the A&E requirement in 2003 with 3-years of SOT at WCI.

But this is not the case. I have seen the parole board 7-times since my 2003 SOT program report and parole says that I still have to "complete" the 3-4 year Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP) that wasn't even in existence at the time of my 1982 conviction, sentencing and A&E. I explained to the parole board that I was in the OSCI SOTP from 1997-1999 and was kicked out against my WILL in 1999 after 20-months of SOTP at OSCI for phony reasons/justification, and every time I requested Re-Entry into the SOTP I have been denied Re-Entry by SOTP.

Yet every time I go back up before the parole board each year, the parole board insists/demands that they won't parole me unless I also "complete" the 3-4 year SOTP.
SOTP and the parole board have put me in this phony "Catch-22" situation that is outside of my control. But according to my original A&E recommended program need, to "participate" in SOT to lower my risk for parole, I already did that, so I could/should be already paroled at any time since my EXCELLENT 2003 SOT program report by Dr. Ankarlo at WCI.

The above is an overview of my prison circumstances and parole situation through my past 28-years of incarceration.


My OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS

I will also relate here my other achievements during my past 28-years of incarceration that the parole board seems to be turning a blind eye to, so I will tell you those particulars about me too.
During my past 28-years of incarceration I only have one major conduct report on my prison record, And I still claim my innocence on that one major conduct report, but I won't go into explaining the particulars of it to you, other than to say it was for "Enterprising," for which I still proclaim that I still maintain my innocence, even though the prison found me guilty (because the foxes are guarding the chicken coop).

When I first came to prison in 1982 I didn't even know my high school fractions, decimals, and percents. But during my first year in prison I got clean and sober and had a Spiritual Awakening. I studied hard for my own personal enrichment to remedy my mathematical deficit and went on to the Univerisity of Wisconsin-Extension and got 4-credits in Algebra and 3-credits in Accounting,and became a prison GED math tutor.

I also took and successfully completed the 4-year Ambassador Bible College correspondence course by Herbert W. Armstrong out of Passadena California. After that I took and successfully completed the 3-year Kenneth S. Hagin's RHEMA Bible College correspondence course out of Tulsa Oklahoma for 60-credits.

Then I want on to get a Master's Degree in Religious Studies, a Doctorate in Biblical Studies, and a Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Religion. My Doctoral Dissertation is registered and copyrighted at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Here at OSCI I had a meeting with Chaplain Reinke and let her know that when I am paroled I would like to apply with the WDOC for an Assistant Chaplain's position, since I believe I am called by God -and my religious correspondence courses make me qualified. OSCl's Chaplain Rainke encouraged me, stating that the WDOC currently employs two former inmates as Chaplains. After I get paroled I also plan to volunteer to speak at jails,prisons, churches, or any place that will invite me to speak, about what I was like,what happened, and what I am like now, in hopes that maybe I can humbly reach out to others to help them turn their life around too.

I believe I have credibility with inmates since I have been an inmate myself for 28-years of straight incarceration. I actually have, and am, walking the walk; therefore I am not only qualified, but I have credibility. I can also relate to inmates (anyone) about faith and spirituality in general, even though my personal faith is Christian. Even to atheists, GOD can be considered a Good Orderly Direction.

The circumstances tending to establish my suitability for parole are that I do not possess a violent crime committed while a juvenile; I have a stable social history and a prior (full time) tax paying work record; I have shown remorse; I committed the crime as a result of significant stress in my life and the significant stress built over a long period of time; I lack any significant history of violent crime; this is my only felony and first time in prison; at 60-years old I am now of an age that reduces the probability of recidivism; I have made realistic plans for release, plus I have developed new marketable skills (that accommodate my various aging disabilities) through taking extensive correspondence courses while in prison; and have engaged in institutional activities that indicate an enhanced ability to function within the Law upon release.

Here, I have shown uncontradicted evidence of my rehabilitation and there is no other evidence that I currently posses a danger to society. My current behavior during my many years since my offense, and my current mental state, demonstrate that my past offense is no longer a realistic indicator of my "current" dangerousness.

I have engaged in extensive rehabilitation through the WDOC and on my own for my own personal enrichment, gained insight into my offense, expressed remorse, and made realistic parole plans. Mere recitation of the circumstances of the commitment offense, fails to provide the required "modicum of evidence" of unsuitability for release on parole. However, the WDOC parole board still refuses to parole me, and even raises new roadblocks to block my parole.

Details of conduct report for those who are interested: As an added point of interest, I was sent from here at OSCI to WCI in 2000 on a bogus conduct report when they found me guilty and gave me 8 and 180 days in the hole here and then sent me back to maximum security at Waupun after they made me do the hole time first. A jailhouse lawyer in Waupun subsequently got that bogus conduct report reversed in outside court so the WDOC had to expunge it from my prison file/record. It took about 18 months to accomplish it, but by then I had been on the WCI Sex Offender Treatment (SOT) waiting list for some time and had been admitted/entered into the SOT program at WCI by the time that bogus conduct report was reversed and expunged,
so when the Program Review Committee (PRC) at WCI was going to send me back to medium security here at OSCI, I requested to stay at WCI so I could continue to participate in their SOT program, and WCI PRC let me stay there in the program for a total of 3-years in the SOT program at Waupun before they sent me back to medium security here at OSCI in 2004.

The reason,I believe they get away with the tyranny that is perpetrated against inmates by some prison staff, unbeknownst to the public, is because there is a definite need for prisons and incarceration because there are definitely some dangerous and distorted inmates in prison that the public needs to be protected from. So under the disguise of justified security and half the inmates crying wolf, the prison staff can get away with banking inmates on bogus stuff behind the closed doors of the prison system and nobody on the outside realizes it and doesn't want to believe the system they pay for with their tax dollars has corrupt elements within it.

It is easier for the public to agree with John Walsh on Americas Most Wanted and "Get those scum bags off the street." And at the same time, there are also some fine, professional and ethical Staff working in the prison system too. It's only the corrupt element that I and others try to expose and defend against. I didn't want to talk about bad prison staff without also acknowledging there are good prison staff in here too.

( Click picture below to view full size)

Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and Terrance's Crime

Terrance J. Shaw, #138254
Oshkosh Correctional Institution
1730 West Snail Road
P.O. Box 3310
Oshkosh, WI 54903-3310
July 30, 2010

Attorney Michael F. Hupy
Hupy and Abraham, SC
100 E. Wisconsin Ave.,
#1110 Milwaukee, WI 53202-4107

Dear Mr. Hupy:
I am writing to you because I see your advertisement on TV every day and I thought if you took my case, after it is all said and done, you could get awarded a 7-figure award or settlement for me/us. I will give you a run down of my case and what I am trying to accomplish pro-se, but I would rather have a licensed (Bull Dog) attorney represent me in court.

I am currently in my 28th year of serving a life plus 20-year consecutive sentence. However, after I came to prison in 1932 for the 1981 crime, I have been diagnosed as having the Vietnam PTSD at the time of the crime, trial and sentencing, but it wasn't known by me, my attorney, the prosecutor, or the judge, at the time of the trial, conviction and sentencing. The court in 1982 never ordered me to be sent to a mental institution for the routine 90-day evaluation before trial, nor did the court order a presentence investigation to be done on me before sentencing me. Right when the jury brought back a guilty verdict, the judge thanked and dismissed the jury, then called me to the bench and sentenced me to life plus 20-years to run consecutive. But after I was in prison for several years and was diagnosed by the Department of Correction's, Dr. Richard Arnesen, as suffering from Vietnam PTSD at the time of my crime, trial, conviction and sentencing, as well as the Veteran's Administration sent their psychiatrist into the prison to evaluate me twice in the 1990s, and the VA psychiatrist also diagnosed me (both times) as suffering from the Vietnam PTSD, as well as did several other Department of Correction's psychiatrists that have subsequently also diagnosed me as suffering from the PTSD also. So I'm thinking if it wasn't for the court neglecting to send me to a mental hospital for the routine 90-day evaluation before trial, plus the court neglecting to order a presentence investigation done on me before sentencing me, my Vietnam PTSD and the part it played in the acting out of my crime, would have been diagnosed and possibly be compassionately taken into consideration at sentencing so that the judge might have given me the life plus 20-years to run concurrently instead of consecutively. OR BETTER YET, if the court had appropriately ordered a 90-day evaluation in the mental hospital before trial, like I believe they are supposed to do in all capital cases, my PTSD would have been discovered and diagnosed before trial, so that I would have been able to plead as suffering from diminished capacity, instead of pleading not guilty and taking it all the way to a jury trial and losing. Either way, I believe the court and/or "the system" screwed up. Now, here I still sit in prison 23-years later with this "new factor" that I now want to bring to the court, when it should have been discovered before trial if the court had ordered me to undergo the 90-day evaluation at the mental hospital before requiring a plea from me before trial.

So this is the issue I/we have to work with, if you would agree to represent me in this "new factor" that "the system" screwed up on 28-years earlier before I was tried, convicted and sentenced.

If you would agree to represent me, I can send you copies of everything I have for my legal argument and Exhibits that I have from my WDOC files as proof of everything I have to prove my case. Everything about the crime and PTSD factors that played out in the crime were later discovered by psychiatrists after I came to prison. I will send copies of everything I have if you are interested in representing me, Mr. Hupy, so you can see what I have, before you officially commit to representing me.
The reason why I mentioned at the beginning of my letter that after it is all said and dons, I believe we could get a 7-figure award or settlement for me/us, is because "the system" screwed up before trial. "The system" has deep pockets. I ended up being convicted as a criminal (instead of a war veteran suffering from Vietnam PTSD) and I have served 28-yoars in prison (so far). However, if the judge (the system) had before trial, appropriately ordered me to go to the mental hosoital for the 90-day evaluation, my Vietnam PTSD and how it played out in the acting out of my crime, would have been discovered by psychiatrists before trial, instead of it being discovered by psychiatrists after I was tried, convicted and sentenced. If "the system" hadn't screwed up in the way I've described here, I could, have pled out to diminished capacity due to suffering from Vietnam PTSD at the tirne of the crime. I could have been sent to a mental hospital for a few years (instead of prison) and been released from tha mental hospital aftar a few years and. treatment. I would have been able to ba a free man again over 20-years ago. During my 28-years of incarceration in prison as a criminal, my mother and stepfather both died believing I was a crazed criminal. I have lost contact with my two children, and subsequently my 4 grandchildren don't know who I am either, because my children have estranged themselves from me because they believe I am a criminal. Plus all the nutnerous daily indignities I have had to be exposed to and suffer during my 28-years (so far) in prison. So I figure I have wrongfully been sent to prison, instead of a mental hospital for a few years, and have served at least 20-years or more (so far) in prison, unnecessarily, because "the system" screwed up before trial. Is that any way to treat an Honorably Discharged veteran who served his country on a remote jungle outpost in Vietnam for one year and held a secret security clearance while doing so? So you see, Mr. Hupy, I believe all this might be worth over a 7-figure civil suit after the case is all said and done, if we are successful.
Before I close I also want to add that I am eternally sorrowful for the pain I have caused my victim, her family, my family, the community, and on so many other ripple effect levels.
The above is an explanation of my issues and situation, Mr. Hupy. If you would believe in me and my case and represent me, I would be very thankful. I have enclosed a SASE for your convenience in responding and letting me know what you think.
Sincerely,
Terrance J. Shaw cc: file