Letter from Mona

May 3,  2009

Dear family and friends and visitors,

I am writing to ask for your letters of support in my plea for clemency. In 1985, I was a passenger in a car that struck an individual causing their death. I was nineteen years old and under the influence of PCP. At my Wade/Huntley hearing, I was offered a three-to-nine year sentence for a plea of guilty. Because I was unconscious in the motor vehicle, and believed I was innocent, I chose to have a trial by jury and was convicted of depraved indifference, which did not involve the actual intent to cause harm to another person. I was sentenced to twenty years in prison. (Here in New York, twenty years or more is a life sentence. I can only be realeased now by parole or clemency.)

Having served over twenty-one years in prison, I believe clemency would not depreciate the seriousness of the crime, or in any way undermine respect for the law. During my years of incarceration my overall behavior is regarded by prison authorities as exceptionally good. I have taken advantage of educational and vocational programs. I have attended college classes and learned marketable skills that will someday help me to obtain gainful employment.

I am currently president of ‘The Inmate Liaison Committee,’ here at Albion Medium Security Correctional Facility. It is a position I had held for three six-month terms as a maximum security inmate at the Bedford Hills Facility. I believe my behavior throughout the years of my incarceration is an indication of my ability to take my place in society as a law abiding citizen. I have a wonderful support network of family and friends, good people who are available to assist in my reintegration.

In July of this year, I will be a forty-four year old woman. I am considerably wiser than the nineteen year-old girl who was convicted of this crime, and I believe in my heart that I have paid my debt for this terrible occurrence. I plead for your prayers and for your letters of support in regard to my clemency. With my deepest thanks.

Sincerely,
Mona Graves