Paralyzed inmate says keeping him locked up serves no purpose
As you may remember this story was first reported a few years ago in the Westword in a story written by Alan Prendergast Paralyzed.
the Denver Post
A prolific car
thief says keeping him in prison is extremely expensive and serves no
purpose because he can no longer swipe cars after he was paralyzed by a
policeman's bullet.
And Darrell Havens, 26, has an unlikely
ally: David Michaud, a former Denver police chief who later was
appointed state parole board chairman.
"I don't see the point in keeping him locked up," Michaud said. "The cost is enormous. His risk to the community is minimal."
But
opponents of Havens' fourth request for an early medical parole release
argue that his punishment is appropriate after he nearly ran over a
police officer. They say he should get no allowances because of injuries
he caused.
Colorado Department of Corrections authorities say
Havens' medical care costs the state about $22,000 a year. If he serves
his entire 20-year sentence for first-degree assault, it would cost
nearly a half-million dollars. Havens is eligible for parole in 2016.
Arvada
police have argued that Havens was shot because he nearly ran over a
police officer while trying to escape in a stolen Audi, and that even
after he was arrested, he managed to break the law by smuggling
marijuana into prison.
The Denver Post interviewed Havens at the
Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center last week. Havens, who uses a
wheelchair, said by the age of 16 he was stealing and burglarizing cars
to buy cocaine, and by 18 he stole about 50 cars and had graduated to
methamphetamine.
Havens had a record of putting victims and
himself in harm's way when he stole cars. Undercover officers were
following him on Aug. 4, 2006, when he plowed into the side of a car.
Despite permanent injuries including paralysis in his right arm, Havens
was stealing cars again within weeks after coming out of a seven-week
coma, he acknowledged.
On Jan. 3, 2007, more than a dozen officers
set up a sting in which Havens thought he could trade a stolen black
Audi for an "8 ball of meth" and $200. Instead the plan called for
boxing him in behind a Target store at Interstate 70 and Kipling in
Arvada and arresting him. Havens claims members of the task force rammed
his car before he realized what was happening. Paralyzed, he couldn't
take his foot off the gas pedal, he said.
But several officers
said Havens refused to stop and was very close to running over Arvada
Officer Bill Johnson when the officer fired nine times, striking Havens
in the mouth, chest and neck, according to court documents.
Havens
was charged with attempted murder and pleaded down to first-degree
assault in an agreement in which he was given a 20-year sentence in
2008.
In 2010, because of the high cost of caring for a paralyzed
man with only partial use of his left arm, prison officials requested
that Havens be released before his scheduled parole eligibility date
because of special medical needs, Michaud said. The parole board
initially voted to release him on parole.
But when Arvada Police
Chief Don Wick and former Jefferson County District Attorney Scott
Storey learned of the decision, they objected.
"We understand Mr.
Havens' physical condition, but serving less than one and a half years
of a 20-year sentence flies in the face of the original sentence,"
Storey wrote in a March 22, 2010, letter to Michaud.
One of the
arguments by police was that Havens proved he was still capable and
willing to break the law when he had someone sneak marijuana into him
while he was in prison — twice. Arvada police declined to comment,
citing ongoing civil litigation.
But Michaud said marijuana
smuggling doesn't make Havens a dangerous criminal. He said parolees
regularly violate more serious laws and are not sent back to prison.
"I
didn't see where that rose to the level that Havens should be denied
parole," he said. But the parole board voted a second time and rejected
his parole.
Havens has refiled for early parole release. He said
his sister, who is a medical aide, would take over his care, and he has
Medicaid.
In the past three years, DOC has granted special medical paroles 17 times for seriously ill offenders.
Each
day in prison, Havens must be bathed and dressed. He takes a cocktail
of drugs to control pain and reduce the spasms in his left leg.
"I require help from inmates to put on my boxers and pants," he said.
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