"Justice for Casey Tyler Adams!"

Santa Rosa, CA, USA
female, age 30
committed relationship
Joined Dec 11, 2007

more about Jennifer Adams »

Please help me get justice for my brother... 12:35 PM

Don't let the guys who killed Casey plea to Assault

click here

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/dont-let-the-guys-who-killed-casey-plea-to-assault

To whom it may concern.  I am writing to you about a serious concern regarding the murder of my brother, Casey Tyler Adams, and the prosecution of the perpetrators who committed this crime.

On May 27th,
2007 my brother was camping at a local beach resort (Lawson's Landing) with
some friends.  At some point during the evening he and several of the
people he was camping with walked down to the privately owned beach
(Dillon Beach in Marin Co, CA).  While there they were approached by
three other young men who started an argument with my brother.  This
argument was very brief and began when one of the men in the second
group shined a flashlight into my brother's eyes.  He told them to stop,
the group left and then re approached my son a short while later and he
was punched in the face several times and hit on the head with the
flashlight from behind.  The injuries he suffered from the blows caused
an artery at the base of his brain to tear, killing him almost
instantly. The DA has informed us that if my brother had not died so
quickly the defendants would be looking at second degree murder.

The
perpetrators were arrested and confessed to having hit him under audio
and videotape, all stating they were not hit by my brother.  Originally,
Robert Martell and Robert Marcus were charged with involuntary
manslaughter and battery with serious bodily injury.  Darren Bell was
charged with assault with a deadly weapon.  At the preliminary hearing
the judge said that he was "appalled" at the behavior of these men, and
that they basically surrounded and attacked my brother with little
provocation other then words my son may have said.  He also said that
he saw no grounds for either self defense or justifiable homicide and
that not only would he not dismiss or reduce any of the charges, but
that the Marin County District Attorney could add involuntary
manslaughter and battery with serious bodily injury to Bell's charges. 

Subsequent to this preliminary hearing, the DA's office
offered to drop all other charges if the defendants would plead guilty
to assault with force likely, a felony non-strike-able offense
according to CA three strikes law.  It seems likely that these three
guys will probably get off with nothing more than probation for the
murder of my son, downgrading the charge to a misdemeanor that may have
the potential to later be expunged from their records.

Please
don't take this letter as the rantings of a distraught sister over the
death of her brother.  Although I am distraught, my family and I have been
doing a lot of research on this.  I am studying criminal
justice and she has spoken with a number of people with great
experience in this field who confirm that the DA may not be filing
charges appropriately.  Even the case law that the DA is citing points
towards a charge of voluntary manslaughter at the minimum.  Possible
reasons for this may include that they are facing the likelihood of
having to prosecute three separate trials, or that there is some other
inhibiting factor that the DA's office for one reason or another,
doesn't want t o share.  One of the men is a marine reservist. We have
spoken to two separate ex-DA investigators who have confirmed our
concern that the most appropriate charge should be voluntary
manslaughter, and yet as of now, assault is what is offered.

Regardless,
how safe can we feel in the world if people who attack and kill others
are encouraged and allowed to plead to a completely inadequate charge? 
Shouldn't we expect that when we, or our loved ones, are in a public
place that we should be safe from the threat of attack? Is this not a
Constitutional right? And if we are attacked isn't it reasonable to
assume that the District Attorneys office will prosecute the case
appropriately?  Shouldn't our DA send a better message than this to our
communities?

I am writing to you with the hope that you will do
your research on this issue and then respond to my request for media
coverage and any other help available.  I understand that the media is
the watchdog and the only tool available to me is to utilize the media
to insure there is no political agenda. It has been suggested to us by
an advocate for victim's rights that we get the media involved to
encourage the DA to prosecute this case in a manner where the
punishment fits the crime.  Our time is limited because the plea
agreement is only good until Dec. 14th.  We would like to see the DA
drop this offer, and that the perpetrators be charged with the
voluntary manslaughter they deserve. We are hoping that the defendants
are made to serve some prison time, if for no other reason than that
they will be forced to take some time to consider the magnitude of the
consequences of their choices.