HAPPY ClUBQ SPRING!

The hope is for some help. Some relationship management. Well, we are quite good at this as we know and have lived on both sides of the Bridge. All of us. Just like you. If you hear nothing else, hear this. We know that doing time is as real for the outside loved one as it is for the inside loved one. In fact, for what it’s worth, we think, on balance that it is harder for a bunch of reasons we can talk about some other time.

For now, let’s just agree that caring, loving, giving outside loved ones need help managing the ones they love on the inside.The actual work and research things – the phone calls, investigations, etc. we can handle for you. It’s the human stuff that’s so draining. We are told all the time, “I don’t even know what to say on the phone. I don’t know how to explain that I have a real life out here and that I have responsibilities, time constraints, and all other types of obligations – bills to pay, family members to care for and so on.”

“I would visit more often but I am totally uncomfortable and don’t know what to say or do to make the time go by flowing naturally.” “I’m exhausted, emotionally drained, and physically unable to do much more. I understand the frustrations of my loved one, but I simply can’t do it all and don’t even know how to stay sane and help my loved one stay same as well.”

Restoration Bridge to the Rescue. It’s not everything, but it is a start. Two Daily Devotionals for
Encouragement and Power

Tools:

1. Your tailormade daily devotional message, chosen from one of three (3) templates. Each
month, you will receive your daily message of hope and strength and hands on guidance,
crafted exclusively for loved ones of prison inmates. This is Devotional Number 1 Your
devotional is non-religious or faith based but there is no denying that some of the
encouragement principles overlap. For the outside loved one, the saints and soldiers – your
daily devotional is geared for practical ways to make things easier to get through the day.
Easier for you and easier for him. You will get actual things to say to your prisoner. You will
discover things to do together – even devotional principles that you can discuss together. For
the outside person, the key is proactive support to help you get through your day of helping
your loved one inside. You have never felt this empowered before.

2. Your mental health. Too little is understood or appreciated about the well-being of the
outside family member or close friend. Devotional 2 is designed and delivered just for you.

3. Things that go on in prison that your loved one is dealing with. Saint’s Guide is your
secret weapon. For every conceivable event we provide you with your instruction manual.
Each month, you will receive between 5 – 10 new things that you will now be knowledgeable
about and give you ideas on how to talk with your inmate – and, importantly train you as to
what really is going on and how to receive data for varying types of things that your inmate
faces each and every day. Knowledge is power and power is king/queen. The peace of mind
knowing that you can speak the language and know what things mean is priceless.

Restoration Bridge

membership costs $19 per month. If our beloved members require personal service beyond our deliverable Devotionals and Saint’s Guide, we offer personalized service, as needed – just a call, text, or email away. The cost for personalized counsel above and beyond is $75 per hour, or more likely – $20 per 15-minute blocks of time, if less thanone hour per engagement.

This month’s premier topic:

Charging and Sentencing Enhancements, Aggravated elements – Part A On the list of the 10 hottest criminal justice topics, habitual type criminal charging is perhaps on the top. Close by is how prosecutors get away with outrageous sentence multipliers because they regularly outsmart or outwork the defense counsel. Some states highest courts are in the process of taking a hard look at the status of so called 3 strike laws, habitual offender laws, etc. Our home state of Colorado for example is wrestling with our so-called 3 strikes law from seemingly the appropriate and (finally) realistic perspective.

What types of prior offenses really do qualify for enhancements? This is the question. Aquestion that has been conveniently side lined every step of the way for decades. Pick any state or Federal jurisdiction and you’ll get the same type of result.

The systemic problem is that the trial court judges are actually tasked with determining what actual past cases qualify as foundational “prior felony convictions.” The arguments from the defense side, for years, has been that the law in its natural force is patently unconstitutional – especially that a jury doesn’t decide what is and what isn’t an habitual enhancer, and even more vitally, does not determine the sentencing enhancements if any.

The other arguments are that even if the constitutionality can be cured, the habitual rules are simply bad policy – really bad policy. So, the big changes are coming, we think everywhere. First, let’s stop this nonsense of applying fraudulent charges in a 10-minute time frame and morphing this type of charge or conviction into an actual base case ripe for habitual foundation. Everybody knows how crazy this has been especially if the controlling instant case is in one state and the so-called habitual conviction cases came out of another state. Toss in cross-country with non-contiguous and non-treatise deals and you’ve got a recipe for disaster for the defendant and often counsel as well, not to mention the whole family.

Q|Nav’s observations. To fix this problem, first the lawyers have to do their jobs. Trial lawyers must become expert in how the statutes work and do the deep digging necessary to PROVE that past felony convictions do NOT qualify for enhancements. Second, insist on a jury’s findings – not the judge’s. Third, never, ever accept a prosecutor’s projection of what a prior case might qualify for. But if you can’t substitute a jury for the trial judge, then at least come prepared. What’s more offensive to a defendant when he wins some finer points of evidence, for example, which tightens the sentencing range – stipulated or at trial. Then, out of the blue, comes the 3x threat of enhancement due to some form of habitual sentencing rules. To win the tiny battles but lose the war of your liberty is about as bad as it gets. Fact: work a little harder – a lot smarter than the prosecutor and it’s likely you’ll win the habitual “3 strikes” types of enhancers. Do the trial and sentencing judge’s work for them.

A Case Study of Q|Nav incorporating ClubQ’s team for the winning combination. In 2020, about 5 years ago, Q|Nav’s parent firm acquired a client directly from a major western law firm which was splitting up and the senior partner who had domicile of the client case was retiring.

In sum, we got a golden client handed to us on a silver platter – or did we? Our relationship started without much fanfare or drama. As I (Will Hoover) experienced about all there is in criminal justice proceedings, we first wanted to get a handle on our new client’s immediate, day to day prison problems and opportunities. Long before ClubQ became a reality, we did just about anything and everything a guy or his family needed.

Our motto was, is, and always will be that if it’s legal, ethical, and the right thing to do, we will do it or at least die trying. As a firm believer in what some call Karma, there is no doubt to us that what goes around comes around, and that Murphy’s law is alive and well – that all chickens eventually do indeed come home to roost.

Our first duty was fun and rewarding. Almost instantly, we were successful getting our client reclassed and transferred to a far more attractive facility with better jobs, better food and overall better everything. Check! We’re on a roll.
Unfortunately, our second duty was uncomfortable. This client had become accustomed to receiving legal mail from several members and one partner of the law firm that was splintering. Over time, things got loose, and this client began receiving mail, packages, even electronics in so – called privileged legal mail with his law firm’s names, bar numbers, return addresses, etc. Everything looked right and the stuff kept coming in. Problem? For about a year this was still going on – a year AFTER we came on board! To be clear, this client was receiving all types of contraband in legal packages, some large boxes, that had nothing to do with legal mail, nor did anyone in our office even know about it. Well, let me be more clear.

We thought and worried that our client was receiving all of this and, far more damning, theDOC and IG thought so too. The plot thickens. Our client was NOT receiving these items, not one of them – as he never did anything wrong. After a fairly simple investigation, the real culprit – an ex cellie was identified as the real bad actor. We did have to arrange a bit of a sting operation though, as the DOC continued to press COPD and multiple Class 1 (A) disciplinary charges against our client. Even when the facility hearings officers knew that our client was set up, they continued to push the charges alleging that “he must have known about it and at the very least, is complicit and a coconspirator.” Typical DOC type nonsense. Right?!

Now knowing who the key players were, with the blessing of the IG, I personally arranged to have one of the packages sent to me for “repackaging” which simply meant that I would receive the contraband (untouched, unopened) and, as a favor to the parties, repackage with one of our lawyers’ ID information – so it was super easy to track at the facility [sorry, I have to leave out a couple of facts which create direct nexus – for obvious reasons]. The sending bad actor jumped at this opportunity because he and his receiving inmate were both sensing the heat; maybe even knowing that the calvary was coming. Still, they pressed on. Long story short, our sting worked – our client was completely exonerated and was grantedan expedited upper movement transfer within a week. But that’s not all. For all his trouble,we were able to negotiate strong support letters from executives and staff, while retaining all civil and criminal rights.

Now, almost 5 years later, our client is preparing to go home – defeating an effective life sentence, a determinate number of years, but years way beyond our client’s mortality. Following the traditional direct appeal and three separate, non successive postconviction actions, including one for an unauthorized, illegal sentence (all unsuccessful), we were surprised – actually shocked, to have a pile of undiscoverable new evidence dumped in our lap by the judicial district assistant district attorney. That was and remains the first and only time that the successor prosecutor wrote the appellate attorney (Q|Nav’s alliance) citing the police agency’s DNA and standard blood serology chain of custody and testing irregularities. Almost like a preprogrammed series of miraculous events, we received unsolicited recanted witness testimony, and a new set of fingerprints found on the surface of a RV owned by the deceased victim. Everything was highly exculpatory.

Working with the appellate attorney, our team started digging into the veracity of the allegednew evidence. As we had to prove that this new evidence could not have been discovered at the time of the trial, one arm of our team investigated only possible Brady violations which might have been missed before. Next, we had to prove that this new evidence was in no way available through traditional due diligence before at, or immediately following (10 days) the trial verdict.

The ADA that tipped us off was fired shortly thereafter. After being a fast-rising star in the large office, she had crossed the proverbial line of protecting the agency. But the DA’s problems were only just beginning. Q|Nav retained the number one police policy and procedures 4 th Amendment, probable cause expert – more accurately, an expert’s expert. As our company mission is to leave no stone unturned, we kept asking ourselves “what are we missing to make Robert’s case absolutely fail safe?” I insisted on strengthening our overall case with major procedural errors committed by the police agencies and subsequently the prosecution detectives and crime lab(s) personnel. We uncovered more than enough hard evidence to aggressively allege major probable cause and 4 th Amendment violations. In most jurisdictions like this one, the prosecution’s intent is irrelevant and while we didn’t quite meet the high bar of subject matter jurisdiction error, we came awfully close. Had we been able to prove either an alibi or a solid Miranda violation, case closed. Still, we had enough to proceed.

Postconviction victory is a much tougher task than many appreciate. In civil cases, typically a preponderance of the evidence is sufficient to win a judgment or settlement. In criminal court, of course, the level of reasonable doubt must be met and often exceeded to win a jury verdict. For criminal postconviction cases, there are steppingstone levels of evidentiary proof required. First, meritorious claims must be made with a degree of evidence but not actual proof. Rather, under Strickland, Giglio, (and their progenies) and the Sixth Amendment, claims that could be proven at the evidentiary hearing with adequate exposition typically find remedies in postconviction courts. Keep something in mind. DAs, trial courts, and defense counsels loathe postconviction cases. To get past first, second, and often third base, rounding home, you have to have a bullet proof petition and win big at the hearing with evidence, testimony, experts, and PROOF of constitutional ineffective assistance of counsel causing prejudice to the outcome of the trial. Finding and proving that an alternative actor was the true offender closes the deal for liberty. We didn’t have this dead bang winner, but it’s looking like we won’t need it.

After the normal delays, Robert’s case is docketed for a 3 day evidentiary hearing in the same trial court in which he was convicted many years ago. Because of the extraordinary degree of overwhelming new evidence (fully qualified), as of this writing, the prosecution has offered a deal of time served. Our client, on bond while the court makes its decision – waited for the resentencing hearing set for 3 months out – that never occurred.

A new plea deal was executed – essentially a joint, unopposed motion (prosecution and defense agree) for the court to rubber stamp. Time served, full release with no parole, no restrictions whatsoever. Robert keeps all of his constitutional and civil rights to continue to fight for full exoneration while preserving his state and federal civil rights for possible future litigation or settlement for illegal prosecution and/or incarceration.

Some closing thoughts.

1. AI is in our blood. Why can’t the postconviction universe move at light speed with greater efficiency and absolute accuracy? Watch us as we continue to invest into faster, better, deeper, more powerful research tools to gain more wins. Watch what Quantum Navigation really looks like.
2. Disruptor animal spirits. We are going to ruffle more traditional feathers and alienate some old school process driven people, agencies, advocates – everybody! DOC and BOP higher ups in medical, admin, case management, education, and classification (time comp too) are getting tired of hearing from us.
3. Watch as the carrot and stick way of having to deal with bureaucracies gets progressively uglier – but all for the greater good of protecting the rights of our clients and loved ones.
4. The Q|Nav, ClubQ, and Restore | Rekindle families are just getting started to rock the unaccountable world of criminal justice from soup to nuts. Be courageous or die. That’s our motto.

Before we sign off, a couple of more things. If you will please help us out, we appreciate it.

Q1. Do you think this is smart?

We want to lead the cause for national certification of Certified Criminal Defendant Agents. It seems to us that this whole crazy world of criminal justice is a
colossal hypocrisy and a dinosaur at that. What industries move slower than Corrections? Courts? Parole Boards? Anything and Everything that touches the pre trial,, pre plea process all the way through the final judgement? Some states have identified Q|Nav (for instance) as an approved type of “inmate agent” or “prisoner advocate.” The idea is to relax some old rules that are irrelevant today and allow non – lawyers who possess special
credentials, to have unfettered access into prisons, staff, management, etc. We want to be a giant accelerator for this movement for two reasons. First to help inmates and loved ones better navigate the daily grind, and second, to help families reunite faster. Period. Your thoughts please?

Q2. Before you answer this one, please take another look at our Restoration Bridge launch coming up soon.This is our national, and in some instances, international offering to a customer base without borders. We need help today and will hopefully need a lot more help down the road as we ignite R| B to the world. So, here’s our offer. If our loved ones (you!) are interested in a meaningful part-time side hustle and in making a few dollars to boot, we need you to help our team do more and better for our members. Interested? Please call Melissa.

We promise, this is the end. We are adding an exciting PS to all of our future newsletters called “Family and Friends Emerging Trends” or FFET for short. A couple of sentences highlighting what we see are the movements in courts, governor’s offices, parole boards, conviction integrity units, prosecutors, statutes, law reviews, and whatever else impacts our world – and just maybe – how we can push the envelope a bit more. Please let us know what you think.