I receive
comments from people on any item
I write on Sarah Pender, mostly from her supporters, who are predictably my
detractors. It’s good to read these comments,
although most are poorly reasoned and filled with typos and nasty personal
attacks rather than thoughtful insights that would at least reflect credibly on
Sarah’s behalf. One I recently received was simple and stupid: “sarah is
innocent.”
Well
no, even Sarah admits she was involved in a crime and deservedly served time.
“But
the truth dosn't sell now dose it,” someone else posed to me. Spellcheck,
please. Another
post blared “FREE STACY PENDER!” You get the idea.
But
something is going to happen that may change the right minds for
the right reason: A couple weeks ago, I was in Indianapolis taping a show with
NBC/Discovery, along with former Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Larry Sells,
about a problem in the trial of Pender. You can see it on page 115 of Girl, Wanted: The Chase for Sarah Pender, regarding the testimony of Floyd Pennington, a key witness in Pender’s trial:
“…there
was a problem with his testimony and, in the rearview mirror, its impact on the
jury. A letter discovered after the trial in the police file found that
Pennington had offered to turn evidence on a list of people, from drug dealers
to chop-shop owners. He named names on a yellow legal pad in his own writing.
But the list was never presented by the defense during Sarah’s trial.
It
would have been easy to pass that note by. I found it in the police file one
afternoon. I was leafing through the file in the office of Indianapolis Police
Captain Mark Rice. I even recall the day, a sunny summer afternoon. Larry was
with me there at a desk, sitting to my right, when I found the letter. I turned
to him with it, realizing that such a snitch list would have jeopardized his
case. He had a poker face – Larry is a poker ace, by the way – when he read it the first time, but he clearly
knew its implication. From the
book:
“I
never saw that list, and it would seem that the defense never saw it either,
since it wasn’t in evidence or used to combat Floyd’s statements for us,” says
Larry Sells, who prosecuted the case for the state.
What
if I had tucked it back into the file never to be seen again? That would have
helped my story, that Sarah Pender was a dangerous criminal who had been
rightfully convicted. Of course I didn’t do that.
One misguided NBC staffer, using some convoluted logic, tried to explain to me that had Pender not escaped, I wouldn't have written a book, and Pender would have had to serve her sentence with no chance for a new trial.
That ridiculous notion is easily refuted: If Sarah hadn't been living in a drug house with criminal meth heads, she never would have been involved in a crime of this magnitude. She wouldn't have had to escape from prison.
Our justice system generally works. But without a free press and open records, not to mention
people who are part of that press who understand legal possibilities, possible
wrongs can't be righted.
So
here we are, with what may be a substantial news show, Deadline:
Crime with Tamron Hall, debuts this fall. Judging by the questions and my conversations with the crew it is slanted toward Pender, whom they interviewed at a ridiculous cost of $5,000,
which the beleaguered Indiana Department of Correction charges. Still, is it
possible to right a wrong here? Pender could get a new trial, which anyone interested in justice should support. I maintain she is
a dangerous person. But there are
many dangerous people who are running around free, and to lock them up simply
because someone perceives them as a threat would make for a crazy society. And if she gets a new trial and a jury finds she is guilty of a lesser offense, or no offense at all, then her sentence should reflect that.
