Your Name
Street Address.
City,  ST   99999
 
 
 

August 27, 1998

Honorable Lawton Chiles
Governor of the State of Florida
The Capitol
Tallhasse, FL   32399-0001
 
 

RE:  Clemency request - Michele Roger DC#973481
                                      Convicted murderer

Dear Governor Chiles:

In regard to the above matter, and on behalf of the family of David A. Richmond, who was murdered by MS Roger, I am objecting, in the strongest possible terms, to this petition for clemency which has been put before you.  MS Roger received a fair trial and under appeal the decision handed down by the court in Sanford, Florida was upheld.

The "Battered Spouse" defense, while valid in too many cases, is ridiculous in this instance because, first of all, just the opposite was true, and second, this defense was rejected by the jury in Sanford after considering expert and actual witnesses during the trial.

To grant clemency in this case will only serve to cheapen the cause of legitimate battered spouses who may have genuine right to this defense.

The cold blooded nature of her crime, the calculated manner in which she and her family disposed of the body and consorted to cover up their crimes does not serve to entitle her to any form of clemency whatsoever.

When you have reviewed the details of this case, I am hopeful that your response will be to agree that clemency is neither warranted nor deserved and will deny any relief to MS Roger.
 
 

Sincerely,
 
 

SIGNATURE HERE 
 
 
 
 

NOTE:

This letter may be too wordy for many cases.  It is the one which we recommended that people, who were not family members, use for our case.

We did get som feedback from one aide, who stopped just short of saying that our communication campaign was too much.  However, it is only a single page in length, which is important.  Just be concise and accurate.  Get the address right, include the name of the criminal and their Dept. of Corrections number, the sentence they received, date of sentencing, make sure you oppose their release, be polite(remember, they're on our side-?-).  If you include facts, be accurate.  The people to whom these letters should be sent have access to transcripts and police reports.