Death Row Inmate busted with cell phone - Mother arrested

[joetnymedic]

Having been on both sides of the fence. I was a full time medic and had to go into the prisons and county jails when I was able to work. After I couldn't work I wound up doing something stupid and wound up doing 10 months. one 5 min call in 90 days is totally ridiculous. the federal system lets inmates at their expense, call 15 mins everyday at their expense. While I doubt guys on DR will ever have that freedom as it's a security risk obviously the regular units should be like that (15 min). Phone calls to family should be encouraged. BTW do I think this should be the case with high profile inmates, of course not. I worked the city and westchester pre, during and after 9/11. I never, ever want something like that to happen again. However for the ordinary inmate, phone calls as well as visits should be encouraged. When somone loses total touch with the outside, sometimes they give in and give up, but some guys just sat wtf I have nothing to lose anyways and then you have your fights, attacks on staff, etc. On poster said early on, what are they going to do to a death row inmate, they are already on at least 23 hr lockdown, and eventually if they are going to not have their sentence commuted, they are going to die, sorry but those guys are the ones with nothing to lose. Saying that, do I think the whole system should be locked down? No, and I am sure Texas as any other state or facility has random shakedowns, can contraband be totally wiped out, I for one totally doubt it. Every day a CO walks through those doors, they are just as much at risk as the inmates are. And would this be happening if the regular "joe blow" got a phone call or even a number of calls. absolutely not. So yes it sucks for all involved the families, the inmates and the CO's. Also from seeing it first hand from both sides of the fence, I've noticed that if a CO treats the inmates ok and I'm not talking smuggling stuff or giving them extra stuff or favors, but just treats them normal, that CO will not have an issue with the inmates as there will be mutual respect between both and I am sure that the CO's on this board would agree. As for penalties, just before I left, BOP instituted a disiplinary rule that made having a cell phone in an institution just as bad as having a weapon. I'm all for phone calls to family, etc but on the other hand does a cell phone belong in jail? absolutely not. Is there scum in jail, of course there is, but there are also people like me who was in a bad situation and made a bad choice. I paid my debt and am now looking at getting on with my life and I learned from my mistake. Whats going on here and now in the short term is the cell was introduced, calls to the senator were made, DOC looked bad and now because the commisioner looks bad, crap flows down hill and everyone gets their pee-pee's smacked for it. Hopefully things will return to at least pretty much normal for all involved in a short amount of time.

Joe

[Taty765]

Just heard on the news that they moved him (Tabler) from Death Row to a Psych Unit....i bet he got numerous Death threats..b/c he messed it up for everybody....

[JJS811]

I have taken the following from the CP forum, incase anyone doesn't get to read it. This was posted by Joy.

"Late Wednesday, officers found Tabler had ripped a 3-foot piece of bedsheet and attached it to a fixture in his death row cell. The inmate then was transferred to a prison medical psychiatric facility outside Houston because officials feared he was considering killing himself."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6073163.html

[$y$tem Failed]

Originally Posted by Fed-X

I just caught this on Channel 13 News out of Houston and decided to go do a check. A Texas Death Row inmate was bused with a cell phone and his mother arrested as she arrived at an airport to come visit him, I'm assuming.



The arrest of his mother is B.S. in my opinion based upon the law... I hope she fights it seeing as how she did not introduce that phone into the prison. Now, if the law states purchasing minutes used on a cell phone is a crime, then they have something to run with...

As for the rest... Stupid.. Stupid.. Stupid.. Calling a State Senator?? Jeez.. I wonder if they are going to sanction all the other inmates that they think or can prove used that cell phone.

Yeah, all the other inmates have to suffer for this dumb guys mistake. I was suppose to visit my stepdad in the Coffield Unit in Tenness Colony texas, hours away and they have the entire prison on lockdown for a month with no visitation. That is what a guard told my mom anyways but you know how they lie to the family but if so that is BS!

[PTO-110524]

Originally Posted by Taty765

I haven't researched this..but how do the other States deal with Cell phone contraband issue??

In Cali, if an inmate is caught with a cellphone it is now a new case - a felony. Staff who have been caught bringing them in as contraband are being let go, but I'm not sure if they are being criminally charged.

[deedee2]

If my son was on death row I prob would have bought him min too.
Mr. Tabler should have not called State Sen. John Whitmire that I agree.
Mr. Tabler should have settled with the phone, called loved ones, injoyed and be done with it. Shit happens in jail. Cell phone's are an honest temptation. BUT
Tabler fu_cked up once again. Now my loved one has to freaggin pay for it.

[jr'sonly1]

Are they surprised that the cell phone was found? or that this inmate chose to call someone totally off limits? Don't get me wrong, I do think this is way out in left field with what they are and are not telling the public. First of all, we all know that this inmate's mother DID not funish this phone and then $2100 dollars for the phone, who are we kidding? It was a pre-paid phone...But what I am totally ticked about is...why lock down ALL Texas units? It is clear and obvious where the problems are. And one gentlemen (I can't remember who is was) did research and tried to expose the contraband (cellphone, weapons) problem, but no one would listen, I guess.
So, they have all the names and other information of those involved, why does my husband have to suffer? He's not even part of this unit, we are just trying to do what's right to get away from these type ordeals. Because they are CRAZY!!!

[hartwin]

Without going into detail on what I do and dont know about the phone system with the cell phones. I can confirm that someone on the outside needs to pay the prison officer or one of his friends the money, before the phone is handed over. Often the phone is already in the prison, so the money to be handed over is the final part.

If a relative loves their person that much, they will pay anything, just to hold onto the small amount of conversations that they can. This sometimes leads to extra money being paid to secure a safe place to hide a phone. Although the places cannot be that safe can they !

Donna x

[Temeron0926]

Ok, my post is going to make me Mz Unpopular, but so be it. I am entitled to my opinion.

If the Mother paid for the minutes on the phone, OR helped pay the gaurd who brought it in, she broke the law, she deserves to be arrested for it. Don't get me wrong, IF I could have a way to talk to Ray more often, for LESS money than I am paying now, I would SERIOUSLY consider it!

The guy is an idiot to call a state senator, but hey, I am not convinced he is playing with a full deck anyway. I KNOW these guys want to talk to their loved ones, that is fine by me. Doing gang related business on a hot cell phone from prison is totally stupid, but it happens.

No, I am not from Texas and I totally understand people being upset for their loved ones being punished who had nothing to do with this mess. I DO feel for them.

The REAL issue here is the contraband that gets into the prisons. No, I highly doubt there is a way to control it, people will do what they do, it is a fact of life.

I am interested to find out what will happen in this case. Tabler pretty much can't be punished anymore than he is already. He has nothing to lose. The rest of the guys who had nothing to do with this are in my thoughts!

[rvlm]

A new phone system for offenders is being installed in all Texas prisons. It is suppose to be in place and operating by september of 2009. Each offender will be allowed up to 120 minutes a month phone time. It will use voice recognition and only allow calls to people on the offenders visitation list. As you would expect it is eagerly awaited by the offenders and should go a long way in cutting dow on cell phones in Texas prisons.

[deedee2]

I was watching Family Fued the other day and one of the question's they asked was " if you where to go to jail for 24 hour's what would you take with you... One family member said " CELL PHONE " well it was not on the board. Just gravy for thought...

[Kingsdaughter]

There is a very interesting running diary written by Mark Strohman who is on Texas dr. He has included dr info that I haven't seen on any other threads regarding this whole ordeal.

executionchronicles.org, click on Death Row