Suggestive Police Procedures and Mistaken Identification Resulted in Two More Wrongful Convictions and Incarcerations, One for 27 Years
By: Houston Criminal Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair
Our criminal justice system is flawed. Its imperfections can be found in the 255 DNA exonerations of innocent offenders and the 138 people released from death row since 1973 in this country. But, paradoxically, its perfection lies in its willingness and ability to correct the imperfections brought about by human mistake. According to the New York-based Innocence Project, mistaken identification is the “greatest cause for wrongful convictions,” playing a role in 75 percent of the nation’s DNA exonerations. Twice this year we have posted pieces dealing with the dangers, and, yes, tragedies caused by, the mistaken pointed finger (here and here).
Two recent Harris County cases involving wrongful convictions of innocent men brought about because of mistaken identification illustrate not only the tragedy but just how easy it for an innocent man to be sent to prison, especially with emotionally charged crimes such as sexual assault. The first case brought to the public’s attention by the Houston Chronicle (here, here, here, and here) was Allen Wayne Porter who was convicted of rape and robbery in 1991. The case from the outset had some strange twists and turns.
In June 1990, three armed masked men invaded a Houston apartment where they terrorized and robbed its four occupants, and also raped its two female occupants. The apartment reportedly was the residence of a known drug dealer and the armed intruders were looking for $30,000 in cash. The leader of the trio was Porter’s nephew, a man named Jimmy Hatton. Another man, though never charged with the crime, named Perry Harrison would later admit to being one of the other two men who accompanied Hatton. The robbers were driven to the drug dealer’s apartment by Hatton’s former wife, Stephanie Wallace-Venters.
Hatton was arrested shortly after the home invasion. He was put on trial in December 1990. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Porter attended the trial and was seen by one of the rape victims who immediately identified him as one of her attackers. Porter was arrested, put to trial in 1991, and, like his nephew, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Although he subsequently pleaded guilty to a murder charge in Fort Bend County and was given a 12-year sentence, Porter continued to maintain his innocence on the rape conviction. The claim didn’t gain much traction. The Fort Bend County murder involved the same kind of home invasion into a drug dealer’s residence as the Harris County robbery. The only difference is that one of the occupants in the Fort Bend County residence was killed with a shotgun blast, although Porter did not fire the fatal shot.
Still, Porter waged a letter-writing campaign and filed post-convictions pleadings from prison in a determined effort to get someone to hear his innocence claim on the rape conviction. He gained a little hope in 2004 when the Texas Legislature enacted a statute that allowed for DNA testing in some cases. He motioned the court for testing of the DNA found at the rape scene in Harris County. Porter’s DNA did not match any of the evidence collected at the crime scene, but a Texas Department of Public Safety analyst told District Court Judge Joan Campbell that Porter could have worn a condom during the sexual attack. Judge Campbell denied Porter’s motion, saying the non-presence of incriminating DNA evidence did not establish “actual innocence.”
Then last year Porter sent a personal letter to newly elected Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos claiming innocence and asking for a review of his case. He supported his letter with an affidavit from nephew Hatton attesting to his innocence. The DA turned the letter/affidavit over to her post-conviction review section. One of the attorneys in that section, Baldwin Chin, would later state that he was not impressed by Porter’s claim of innocence or Hatton’s affidavit because it struck him as “one family member looking out for another.”
But Chin was committed to completing an objective review of Porter’s claim. The Chronicle reported that he interviewed both Hatton and Harrison which produced the name of a third suspect not identified by the newspaper. Six finger and palm prints found at the crime scene had never been tested. Chin discovered that four of those prints match the unnamed third suspect. The attorney also talked to Hatton’s former wife who adamantly stated that Porter was not one of the three men she drove to the drug dealer’s apartment to “buy drugs” as she was led to believe.
On July 22, 2010, this new physical evidence and testimony from Hatton, Harrison and Wallace-Venteria was presented to Judge Campbell. The District Attorney’s Office had recused itself from the case because the attorney who had represented Porter in 2004 before Judge Campbell is now a member of the DA’s office. Judge Campbell appointed attorney Robert Loper to serve as a special prosecutor for the second hearing before the judge. Loper did not file formal objections to the request by Porter’s attorney, Casey Garnett, that the court declare her client “actually innocent” because the prosecutor wanted to hear the witnesses’ testimony first.
The evidence and testimony at this second hearing was enough to convince Judge Campbell of Porter’s innocence. At the conclusion of the hearing she was wiping tears from her eyes and informing all the parties she would recommend to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that Porter, who had spent 19 years in prison, be released as “actually innocent.” The following day Porter, accompanied by his attorney and friends, walked out of custody, free on a $30,000 bail ordered by Judge Campbell. Attorney Garrett told the gathered media that if the Court of Criminal Appeals accepts Judge Campbell’s findings, it would order a new trial.
“The court of criminal appeals still has to make [the] final decision,” Garrett was quoted by the Chronicle. “We will wait anxiously for them to make a decision. I’m hopeful and confident it will endorse Judge Campbell’s findings. I think the court of criminal appeals will do the right thing.”
“It’s a completely sad case,” special prosecutor Loper was quoted by the newspaper. “No one could imagine a family member going through that, and to know that for so many years this has happened and someone’s been crying out they’re innocent. You can’t wrap your mind around that.”
Loper informed the media that he would move to dismiss the case should the Court of Criminal Appeals approve Judge Campbell’s findings.
Less than a week after Porter walked out of prison effectively exonerated after serving 19 years for a crime he didn’t commit, the Houston Chronicle reported about the case of Michael Anthony Green who has served 27 years for a rape he did not commit. The newspaper reported these 27 years gives Green the terrible distinction of having served the “longest time behind bars of any Texan who has been exonerated.”
In April 1983 a Houston woman was talking on a pay telephone with her husband at a gas station when two armed men abducted her. They forced her into a car with two other men and took her to a secluded area where she was raped by three of the men. As in the Porter case, Green was convicted based solely on the mistaken identification of the victim which was brought about by some highly questionable law enforcement work.
On the night of the rape, the Chronicle reported that police were in the same area where the sexual assault took place looking for a stolen vehicle. They spotted a vehicle matching the description of the stolen car. They pulled it over, but the four black men inside it managed to escape. The police began stopping and detaining black men in the area, including Green who was detained in the back of a police unit. When investigators involved in the rape case learned about Green’s detention, they took the victim to the police unit where she could view him sitting in the backseat illuminated by headlights. She was unable to identify him.
The Chronicle reported that eight days later the victim was shown a “photo array” and picked Green out of the lineup. She identified him again later that same day in a live police lineup—and four months later she identified him again in a courtroom. Green was convicted and sentenced to 75 years in prison. No one else was convicted in the woman’s rape.
Once again the DA’s post conviction review section is credited with discovering Green’s innocence just as it had in Porter’s case. Attorneys in the section found a pair of jeans worn by the victim during the rape. They had been stored in a warehouse. The jeans were tested for DNA evidence and the results excluded Green as one of the attackers. DA Lykos told the Chronicle that her office has identified the four men believed to be the real assailants—three of whom have been convicted of other crimes with two of them still behind bars. But because the statute of limitation had run on the rape offense, none of the men can be charged, much less prosecuted, for the offense.
Assistant District Attorney Patricia Neal, now assigned to the Green case, informed the Chronicle that the victim was told that her mistaken identification had resulted in an innocent man spending 27 years behind bars. The victim declined to comment. It would easy, and it is tempting, to point a finger of blame at the victim, but we do know that suggestive police procedures obviously contributed to the mistaken identifications during the photo array and live lineup. But Green’s attorney, Bob Wicoff, didn’t mince words when it came to assessing blame, “DNA freed this guy. Bad police work put him away,” Wicoff told the Chronicle. “This was HPD’s fault.”
But the District Attorney Lykos was kinder to the police department, telling the newspaper that her office had found no “misconduct or negligence” on the part of the investigators or the attorneys involved in the case back in 1983. But, in a news release, First Assistant District Attorney Jim Leitner was not so merciful. He blasted the former administrations of DAs Chuck Rosenthal and Johnny Holmes: “The evidence in this case has been sitting in the District Clerk’s Office for 27 years, and no one had taken the initiative to do anything with it in the past. The difference now is that you’ve got the Post Conviction Review Section looking into it—and that made all the difference in the case of Mr. Green.”
Whether through negligence, misconduct, or simple inadvertence, the taxpayers are about to foot an expensive bill for the aggregate 46 years Porter and Green wrongfully spent in prison. Both men will be eligible under the 2007 Tim Cole Act for a payment of $80,000 for each year they were wrongfully imprisoned. They will join 62 other former wrongfully convicted prisoners currently receiving payments from the State of Texas, according to State Comptroller spokesman R.J. DeSilva.
Last year the Texas Legislature had a perfect opportunity to pass several bills that would have went a long way in preventing such mistaken identifications as those in the Porter/Green cases, but failed to do so. These bills included expanding access to DNA evidence, recording police interrogations, and improving eyewitness identification procedures—and in states where the same reforms have been implemented the number of wrongful convictions have diminished and the apprehension of the real perpetrators of crime increased. The Innocence Project of Texas reports that 80 percent of the state’s DNA exonerations involve mistaken identification. It would seem that the Texas Legislature would one day abandon the “ostrich approach” when it comes to the mistaken identification issue and forthrightly deal with it, but that doesn’t appear likely anytime soon given the political make up of that body.
It is not often that we get to compliment the District Attorney’s Office but its handling of the Porter/Green cases deserves significant kudos. These two men would still be in prison today, wrongfully convicted, if it were not for the integrity of the Post Conviction Review Section. We would like to believe there are no more cases like Porter and Green, but we know there are—but at least we can be hopeful that the Pat Lykos administration will address those cases when brought to her attention.
Our justice system is indeed imperfect because mere mortal cannot achieve perfections but they can exhibit courage and integrity in correct imperfections as the Post Conviction Review Section did in the Porter/Green cases.
By: Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair
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To Who It May Concern,
My 15 years old 6ft2 and growing son Bryce, was sentenced,in San Antonio TX, Bexar County Juvenile Dentention Center court Room That was July, 16th 2010…. for 30 years. His Father David L Vandergrift had hired Atty Anthony B Cantrell. to defend what was in others best interest not Bryce. When Bryce was 13 I let him go live with his father and his Step Mother Patricia Rerisi Vandergrift. bryce and I had lived in florida all these years. There came a time that I wanted Bryce to have more and he did to. from out of a low income life he went to live in a big house in an elite neighborhood, a back yard, two dogs, family vacations, full meals, weekend get aways and better middle schools. Since Bryce was doing better in not ticking so much as he was diagnoses with Tourettes Syndrome and It’s Comorbidities mid July 2003, The tics right on time were waning as predicted. Of course he still stayed on his medications Abilify, clonidine, Risperdal, Strattera and more recently some depokote as there was a flare up in mood. Flare ups have alwasy been common for Bryce as are in other children who have suffered from mental health impairments all their lives. I often wondered if the mood flared up because the tics were waning, but it’s more likely the transition from elementary school to middle school was failing. Since it was a very poor middle school, fights, lil gangs cropping up here and there, It was a good time for Bryce to have more. His first sememster in middle school was c and d in grades but he had Straight A and Bs in conduct. “That’s My Boy!”
Bryce’s Step Mother was the first to start to removed medications that he had been on for 8 years. And his father followed suit. They then took him to a University where a well knowns and respected psychiatrist of children and adolecent practices and taught. The UTSA. Dr. Patrick Holden M.D. Took what ever Bryces step mother and father said about Bryce. “He doesn’t neeed these meds, he’s just been living with a mother who has been suffering serious psychological problems all her life. Note, do I have mental health impairments also? yes I do, and that is why I never stop taking my medication and I touch base with my psychiatrist and if needed I go to therapy. Most of the time I simply take my medications and limit what “pollution” enters my mind which is of course, My Spirit.
Gentically I am predispositioned for Schiophrenia from my father and so is Bryce. But Bryce has Tourettes and “It’s Comorbids, I tic also and My brothers daughter was diagnosed with Autism. Genetics exist and when you top it off with a tramatic event, your impairments can worsen and or be triggered. When Bryce was almost 4 yrs old his father left us. The first time Bryce ever showed that he was a danger to himself and or another was when he was 6 years old. He was placed in a childrens psychiatric ward and remianed from then till age 13 under the care of the same Psychiatrist I started him with at age 5. He was with the same Psychologist too. At age 13, while living with his father and step mother, all the safety nets that were in place were being systamatically removed. Medications, Therapy, School accomodations and no more healthy social life for Bryce. He was ruining their lifestyle, They could have given him back. We have joint custody and shared parental responsibility. But that would mean more child support, because david income had almost doubled. Bringing in $7,000 or more in monthly income. In the month of April 2009 a few months before Patrcia divorced David do to conflicts in the home,While bryce was becoming friends with a teen who had wanted his own father Fred Cantu dead. Patty was gone, David was on Match.com and by September Bryce had become dark. Nicholas Texted bryce, “Today Is The Day” Again Bryce heard the demon Belial, Do It! Do It! Do It!!! Do It Now. he hounded and demanded from Bryce. On Dec 31 2009 Bryce took the shot gun that belonged to fred Cantu that Nick had gotten in the attic, where 4 other shot guns laid unsecure. And while Grace Cantu and her tenm year old son Matthew was asleep upstairs, and Nick is on the stairs, Bryce dressed in dark clothes, in a hood and brande new sneekers, opened the back door that nick had unlocked. And Bryce pointed the shot gun towards the couch where Mr Cantu laid asleep and shot it 3 times. One bullet hit Fred and the other are said to have entered the couch. Fred was pronouced dead at the Wilford hall medical Center On Lackland AFB In San Antonio TX. The boys were arrested, seperated in a room, no one was with Bryce and it’s said they confessed. But there is more to this case as it continues to build momenum when the lawyer that the father hired needs until April to secure a clear and detailed confession out of Bryce. Both boys were tried seperately and charged with the same crime. Premeditated Murder and Murder. Grace cantu says the boys said they had planned it for a month, The news said another time frame, Mr Cantus Brothers says 3 months, someone said for a year. And Bryce’s “defense Team” stated 6 months or more. Nothing was gathered but the shells and the boys, Not the computer that nick went on when he stayed over night at Bryces house as David was doing his weekend ritual of sleeping over a new girlfriends home. Let me try the nut shell way. Bryce has a well documented mental health history, I have everything about Bryce from age 0 to present. Well, not everything, but saying I have 90% substanical eveidence, documentation, records, and more. This is fact. Now you see why the didn’t want me included. Nut shell things not working, bear with me… I am the only one that wanted this whole case to go to trial. Not even Mrs Cantu, She anmd I recently got into an argument on the phone, I say she’s upset she did get insurance money, she, like others like her, want me to leave this case alone. I don’t think so, I don’t quit on my son and it’s not okay with me that The Judge, The Lawyer, The Father, Step Mother and more seek to throw bryce away and their part in his demise with him. Trully I can be such an annoyance, and since they see me as a low income peasant mom, ? whatever. The Doctor who okayed the removal of Bryces diagnosis, treament plan, medications, check ups, therapy, blood work and follow ups while in his care, Is the Judges Doctor, He is The Juveniles court doctor, a well like, respected man who was and still is being protected by Judge Lisa K Jarrett 436 bexar county Juvi court, newley appointed By Gov perry and seeking to keep her seat in November 2010′ Facebook shows she goes to a lot of galas. One the night before she senteced my son and another that evening. The Layer may have been be attendning the galas, because they knew one another in their early practiceing years, oh and he, not his firm, he contributes to her campain funds. I could go one and on the links I have found but here is what I fully believe to be true. Judge Lisa K Jarrett found my son Mental Competent in all areas, Maybe it helps that Dr holden in April had to place Bryce on Trazadone and Paxil as Bryce was now tramatized by being forced to learn the details. Odd you knwo because Dr. Arnulfo C Hernendaze Ojeda, LMSW, Ph.D of Juvi told me that when B ryce came to Juvi he was disassociated, He didn’t know where he was, why he was there, what he had done and why he was arrested. Dr. Ojeda told me Bryce barely knew who he was. But rememeber , david thinks he’s hit the jack pot with a lawyer that is hiding what he did, But the lawyer is more interested in what the Judge wants. Hiding what Dr. Patrick Holden did. Now Bryce is an adult, signed an waiver to ever appeal his case, and his records were sealed. ? Interesting, This case had all the earmarks of Insanity, but that wasn’t in the plan. Bryce sits in Bexar county Annex Jail, waiting to be transfered to some TDC. An as his mother I have been deeply damaged by the damaged that has be done to my son. It’s out of love for my son, and repsect for a man that didn’t have to die. That I tap into the stregth I am reciving from God, as he tells me this is my assignment, he says Bryces mom… you can do this. it will help others in different ways.He tells me I can and I beleive him.
I love my son with all my heart and I know of the crimes that were committed against Bryce before, during and after this tradgey.
Ms. doothy “Marie” michelle Pelletier
Marie_M009@live.com
Kind Regards
Bryce’s Mother : (
Comment by Bryce Vandergrift's Mother PELLETIER — August 10, 2010 @ 1:40 pm
My Prayer My Plea
It took 13 years to keep my son okay
fine tweaking this and that along the way
a new doctor here, a new doctor there
but several of his doctors where always there
a natural instince to care for this child
a mothers love in action shouting so loud
It took 13 years to keep this child okay
and only a few years to throw it all away.
Left to destroy himself is what i see
alone inside his mind saturated with grief
as his mother this pain could tear me apart
but then who’d be left to rebuild him
If by Gods grace he’s given a new start.
Bryce’s MoM 2-23-2010
Ms D M M Pelletier
Comment by Bryce Vandergrift's Mother PELLETIER — August 10, 2010 @ 1:46 pm
INVESTIGATE JUDGE LISA K JARRETT
Comment by JUDGE LISA K JARRETT CORRUPT — August 18, 2010 @ 10:22 am
EXSPOSE REP JUDGE LISA K JARRETT
ADVOCATES4BRYCEVANDERGRIFT
Comment by JUDGE LISA K JARRETT IS CORRUPT — August 18, 2010 @ 10:24 am
David L Vandergrift should be in prisoned for 30 years with adults, Not His Child Bryce Vandergrift.2010
Relentless
Comment by David L Vandergrift — December 5, 2010 @ 5:39 pm
Hi
Comment by Outside Observer — March 28, 2011 @ 4:41 pm
god bless you ma’am
Comment by Anonymous — June 29, 2011 @ 12:35 am
and bryce and the victim and the victim’s family.
Comment by Anonymous — June 29, 2011 @ 12:36 am
Hull PAT Testing Company – Prices start from 70p per item
Comment by Hull PAT Testing — July 21, 2011 @ 6:25 pm
While I can appreciate the points in MISTAKEN IDENTIFICATIONS SENT TWO INNOCENT MEN TO PRISON, I am tired and sick of hearing about the “economic recovery”. The US government borrowed and spent $6.1 trillion over the past four years to obtain a cumulative $700 billion rise in the country’s Gross domestic product. That means we’ve borrowed and spent $8.70 for every $1 of nominal “growth” in Gross domestic product. In constant dollars, Gross domestic product is flat, we have no “economic growth” at all for the $6.1 trillion. In constant dollars, the gross domestic product in 2011 might get back to the 2007 level, if the economy continues “growing” at the same rate reached in the first three months of 2011. If not, then the Gross Domestic Product will actually be below before recession levels. There is no recovery, the facts prove it.
Comment by Trenton Ganji — November 9, 2011 @ 11:15 pm
What defense attorney, doesn’t use the police report, a dying mans words and proof of manipulation, to defend and free his child client? Namely Bryce Seton Vandergrift. Wrongfully accused and convicted of a Capital Murder he did NOT commit. Fred Cantu Jr. RIP.
A mentally ill brain cannot handle defending itself against manipulation. Bryce’s history is his proof that while on his medications he did great. This factual documentation was also left out….on pupose.
2010 -TEXAS- Wrongfully Accused Convicted CHILD named BRYCE. On 09-09-12 Bryce will be 18. Then transferred into Notorious Adult Unit or cell. I am very concerned for my Child.
Our Child was born with a Genetic Brain Disorder. It’s associated disorders are OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, ADHD. Thought Disorders-Executive Function processing of information. Learning Disabilities and Similar including Bipolar.
While in my care, Bryce remained on his successful tailored treatment plan. He was hospitalized one time in 2/2001. This was a blessing because the health insurance finally took his doctors since age four, more serious when they requested testing for the benefit of our son. In Florida, Bryce was a success.
By January 2007, I had agreed for our son to move from Florida to TEXAS to live with his father David and step mom Patty. David said he would give our son more opportunities, I wanted Bryceto have more. Our Joint custody-shared parental rights remained.
In May 2009 my child met a boy named Nick. Nick had wanted his own dad Fred, dead before he met my son. Soon Bryce started to use illegal drugs more heavily. Bryce believed he was Nicks boy, a best friend for life. He continued to work at impressing Nick. By this time my child had been completely removed from his successful treatment plan. Medications, therapy as needed, check ups that included vital blood test, special needs accommodations for his education, ten minutes longer during a test is a Big Deal for a Special Needs Child.
On December 31, 2009, Bryce did NOT enter the Cantu Home, Though he had been there before.
Fred Cantu Jr. RIP Much Respect 06-1970/01-2010. Fred named his own son Nick as his murder.
Where is the proof that Bryce shot a weapon? Which weapon was the murder weapon? Nick told the police Bryce did this and supposedly Bryce told the police he did. Nick’s mom went along with it. I believe Bryce was questioned before his arrest, I know he is susceptible to manipulation. He believed everything his defense attorney and the other adults told him about this case. He still
does. Bryce has the important details about the manner in which Mr Cantu was shot, and other important crime scene details WRONG! If Bryce believes that he did something that goes against the detailed police reports, then we cannot believe in his supposedly confession either. Alone wavering his rights, is a violation of his DISABILITY STATUS of O.H.I. Other Health Impaired.
Factual documents prove that Mr. Cantu was shot one time in the back, while he laid sleeping on the couch in his living room. There were 4 to 6 unsecured weapons and ammo in the Cantu attic. Mrs. G. Cantu’s youngest son told the police where they were kept. Three bloody shirts were noted in the Cantu home. 1st shirt belonged to Mr. Fred Cantu Jr. 2nd shirt was his wife’s. After hearing gunshots, she came down stairs, leaving her youngest son upstairs. At some point Mrs. G. Cantu dialed 911. The 3rd shirt was a T-shirt that police found upstairs on the Master bathroom floor. The logo was Aztec America, a shirt Nick wore. Fred had been rushed to the emergency room by EMS with a life threatening wound. He later died in Surgery.
Of the 3 people in the Cantu home, one of them had refused to take a gun residue test. Nick told the police that his best friend Bryce did this. Some of those officer’s knew it was Nick. And they found NO blood associated with Bryce, not at the Cantu house and not at Mr. David Vandergrift’s house. Supposedly there was a shotgun found in David Vandergrift’s back yard.
This weapon was not the murder weapon. Inside Bryce’s father’s house, Black clothing items that had nothing to do with this tragic crime, were hand picked from different rooms and labeled as evidence. This is the typical profile attire for many crimes.
Bryce’s father took out a small line of credit. He got the name of an attorney from the court. They shut me out and did what they wanted. Including convincing Bryce that he had shot and killed Mr. Cantu, and now he was a competent adult. They told him his mother, Ms. D M M Pelletier is Nuts. And if he kept to listen to me, he was going to get life. They continued to
manipulate Bryce. The attorney once again, re-recorded a confession out of his client. This last time was just before the sentencing hearing, July 2010.
The New Psychiatrist that David and step mom-Patricia Vandergrift, had gotten from the health care providers list in 2007, turned out to be the juvenile offenders and courts head Doctor. This Psychiatrist removed my child’s diagnosis and was removing several of Bryce’s daily medications. Documentation shows this Doctor ignored warning signs. Bryce’s father and his step mom, were dissolving our child’s Individual Education Plan. The academic accommodations for learning disabilities. This plan began in kindergarten. The school committee members allowed this systematic removal, though Bryce continued to fail. All parties were refusing to communicate with me. I was again, shut out. In February, David’s wife Patricia filed for divorce, June 2009 it was final.
The hearings were separate. For her son, Mrs. G. Cantu accepted a public defender named James Wheat. Nick was charged as a co-defendant. Bryce’s attorney, Anthony B. Cantrell, told my son and the court that his client was the shooter. This defense assisted in the prosecution of Bryce. My child was taught to self incriminate himself. He was charged as the defendant, and the mastermind behind this tragic crime. The plea agreement is said to carry a 30 year sentence. This has not been verified as this document along with the transcripts have not yet been released to me. At the sentencing, My child stood in front of a newly appointed Judge- as she found him guilty without a reasonable doubt.
I was present for 4 or 5 hearing. I know what I heard and what I saw and what I was led to believe and what I fought against as I tried to help my child. This is what wrongfully accused and convicted looks like, this is what a mistaken identity could resemble. It’s got so many faucets,degrees,levels for all involved. One thing in common is, it could have been avoided. Texas, Give me back my son! Take his father as trade.
Seeking funding and Representation. Thank You for your consideration. Kind Regards, Ms. D M M PELLETIER-dorothy marie-michelle pelletier. Mother to Bryce Seton Vandergrift DOB 09-09-1994
TDC 01-66-1857-SID 08508535-CASE-2010 CR-5794 B D 436-Police Report 90979792 Dated 12/31/2009- Old Sid-943202-Bexar County, San Antonio, TX. 2010-JUV 003-22 A. 2010-P-0072
Bryce Seton Vandergrift Clemens Unit -Nicholas D. Cantu TDC 01658805-
01-66-1857
11034 hwy 36
Brazoria TX 77422
Ms. D M M PELLETIER
4604 Claymore Dr. 301
Tampa, Florida, 33610
Substantial Evidence/Documented Facts/Exceptionaly Well documented history
Comment by D M M PELLETIER — November 14, 2011 @ 10:48 pm
After being questioned and arrested on 12-31-2009, Bryce arrived at Juvi dissasociated.
The head Psychiatrist placed Bryce on 300 mg of Trazadone and a high level of Prozac.
Within 30 days of the plea agreement sentencing hearing, which was July 16 2010. Bryce
had already been deemed a competent adult and was moved from Juvi to the main prison,
6th floor, then moved again to the Comal street annex adult jail. His defense attorney video
taped and record Bryce making a confession to this Murder.
My son did NOT shoot Mr Cantu. My Son is NOT Guilty of this murder and NOT Culpable for his own
tragic postion. I must now raise 7,000 for legal cost of putting together a case for my child in legal
format and pay a lawyer to present a case FOR BRYCE. On 09-2012, My son will turn 18 and will be
transfered into adult unit, cell open bay. My son has a genetic brain disorder, a great personality
but he has impairments. Texas! Give me back my son. Ms. D M M PELLETIER
My son, while in my custody living in Florida was diagnosed with a genetic brain disorder that
manifests itself as behavioral problems, ADHD, OCD and tics. A doctor discovered his condition
through testing in 2001 when he was age 5 and my son began a tailored treatment program along
with therapy that proved to be successful in managing his disorder.
In 2007, Bryce moved to Texas to live with his father, David Vandergrift and his stepmother, Patricia.
We had joint custody and David wanted Bryce to live with him so I agreed. I did this with the
understanding that Bryce would maintain his medically necessary regiment and medications. I was
unaware at the time, but a new psychiatrist removed some of Bryce’s medications and it was quite
obvious, based on his grades and behaviors that this was detrimental to Bryce’s well being and
should never have been done. Bryce’s father stated he left it up to Bryce to take his daily Strattera
that the psychiatrist had precribed. Bryce even began taking illegal drugs and his mental condition
was deteriorating from the balanced state it had been in while he was on all the prescribed
medications and therapies that were known to be effective in treating his disorder.
I believe his mental state at the time of the shooting influenced his ability to be manipulated into
confessing to a crime he didn’t commit. I also believe his Private defense attorney was ineffective.
The defense attorney didn’t even provide a document written by a psychologist that clearly indicated
that it was a mistake to remove Bryce from the medications that were effective in controlling his
disorder. I believe this was omitted because the doctor who removed his medications IS the juvenile
corrections psychiatrist and the attorney didn’t want to make him look bad.
God Bless Us All ((((benevolent))))) http://www.brycesbattle.blogspot.com 813 625 0551
Comment by Mother — January 31, 2012 @ 8:43 pm