◆ SpookStack

aa * wh al ow fo ™ no inmate could be singled out by the prison authorities, nor the importance or relevance of said inmate's statement be re- vealed to the authorities by the order in which the defense in- terviewed the inmates, the prison authorities required each | inmate to sign a form stating whether or not he wished to talk to the defense, and whether or not he wished a member of the prison staff present. Fully ninety percent of the inmates refused to state on the form that -they wished to talk to the defense attorneys! However, upon insisting upon the right. to interview all of the inmates, all but two inmates of some forty interviewed have given affiant statements containing relevant and material information. Many inmates stated to affiant that they were afraid for their parole chances and some stated they feared for their lives, if they even signed the forms distributed by the prison authorities. A high proportion of the ten percent of the inmates who stated they did wish to see the defense attorneys “oe have been maintained in maximum security status from January 16 to the present time, many without either disciplinary charges cr any charge preferred by the district attorney. One such inmate, ee with such an excellent prison record that the Adult Authority recently gave him a parole date of December 7, 1970, remains in maximum security status, although no disciplinary or other charges have been brought against him. Several inmates have told me that they have been explicitly told that they will not leave the institution alive. aAffiant recently received a letter from a Chicano inmate stating: : *t was in Y wing in Soledad when Officer Mills died and I know some things you must know that will help Jackson and the others....One of the reasons why I didn't come forward sooner was because I was scared what the officials here might do to me. But I have been mistreated enough and in my opinion they founé out I knew.something so they are shipping me out — and some other things also prevented me from getting up the nerve to write to you. This is the third