Affidavit and Declaration of Roland Hinkson
December 4th 2004
At 7:30 PM on April 7th , 2003, I received a phone call from my son, David
Roland Hinkson. he told me that he had been arrested and was taken to Coeur d’
Alene (Idaho). He told me they wouldn’t give him a blanket ─ he was cold,
thirsty, and hungry; however, they did finally closed the draft off in the cell
where he was placed. Following morning at 3:05 a.m. I drove from Ouray,
Colorado, via Missoula Montana to a Hearing beginning at 10:30 am in Coeur d’
Alene.
After the Hearing, David was chained and hauled away in a van to Bonner County Jail. The outcome of the Hearing is of record. Bottom line, FBI Agent Will Long testified, under oath, that David had admitted to him David was guilty of soliciting murder for hire. After getting a recorded tape, we recognized that Agent Long had willfully lied in Court.
At 11:30 on Friday April 11, 2003, I went to the FBI offices in Coeur d’ Alene and met with Agent Long. He told me: “I don’t believe that David is capable of hurting anyone, but given the types of people he lets into his life, someone may take him serious and, in fact, kill Judge Lodge (David never offered anyone money to kill a judge or anyone else).” Based on Will Long’s testimony, David was thrown into a cell. After two weeks on incarceration (April 22nd at 3:30 p.m.) , David told me that the conditions at the jail were very poor;
(1) an inmate, Dustin (evidently he worked in the kitchen), said they have fresh fruit in the kitchen but they don’t give any to the inmates;
(2) mattresses are only two inches thick and very uncomfortable;
(3) the guard staff are mostly very unfriendly;
(4) lights are too bright;
(5) where they play basketball has a hoop and bars over the ceiling; it’s like a cage;
(6) there’s nothing but boredom for the inmates;
(7) they took away my ear plugs;
(8) for recreation they have one TV and cards; etc.
Dave took pity on a few of the impoverished cell mates and asked me to leave $50 each from his account for two of the fellow inmates and $100 for a third. This I did. Also I interviewed the Sheriff, Phil Jarvis, who I concluded was a fair and decent man. Then I got a call from Sand Point that the Federal Marshals had taken David away to Moscow. He was put in a cell with 3 other inmates. The cell was 14X14 SF ─ Dave said it was like solitary confinement. On the door the guards (or someone) placed a sign on the door that read “Killer.” Later we learned in “Discovery” that the reason Wendy Olson (who replaced Nancy Cook) gave for moving David to Kootnai County Jail was that David was a danger and had given money to inmates to kill the judge etc. (The $50 each) Based on other equally absurd reasoning, the Court granted a change of venue to ADA County Jail.
On May 7th Dave was transferred to ADA County. An inmate at Kootnai Co. Jail said “they’re taking Dave away, but no one knows where.” During all this time, the Feds had been feeding the media every negative accusation conceivable (or nearly conceivable). Dave was placed in the general population area at ADA County, but immediately tagged as a CHOMO (Child molester). He became a pariah even in the jail. He was then placed in Solitary Confinement (for his own safety--Huh?).
On May 14th he expressed how depressed he was. He was forced to wear a yellow jail suit and was classified as a #3 danger (#10 is the least dangerous). By the 16th, everyone thought Dave was a CHOMO. The same time he complained that he wasn’t getting any mail (although mail had been sent early one). Then he asked me to find out who was responsible for shutting down his phone connection. On May 18, I called ADA County Jail speaking with SGT Toby Maes. He told me that “the U.S. Marshals have a hold on David; he’s in a single cell [solitary confinement],” and they are all aware of his civil rights.
Sgt. Glenn of ADA talked with me for an hour saying there was a communications gap about letting Brit Groom (Dave’s then attorney) see him. He explained that they put him in another tank. Dave was traumatized by one very dangerous inmate. I told Sgt Glenn “I’m going to hold you personally responsible if anything happen to Dave because he told me he’s scared for his life. I was informed that within an hour, Dave had been moved into solitary confinement, that they’d try to find a safe place for him. He also assured me that they aren’t influenced by the Feds.
I wrote an article called, SUMMARY MEMORANDUM REGARDING DAVID ROLAND HINKSON’S ORDEAL WITH THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT (As of March 3, 2004) and a letter both senators, both congressmen and the Governor with a reference titled “Inhumane Conditions at the Ada County Jail” dated March 2nd 2004. Only the Governor replied--his comment was to talk to the ADA County commissioners.
We are writing you as the Chief Executive Officer of the State of Idaho to point out the inhuman treatment of prisoners at the Ada County Jail in the hope that you will investigate the matter and use your influence to bring about a change for the betterment of the prisoners.
Our son, David Roland Hinkson, has been held at Ada County Jail as a “pretrial detainee” of the Federal Government for almost a year. Ada County receives over $150.00 per day and more than $4,500.00 per month from the Federal Government to house David while they violate both the law and his rights pertaining to his physical care and management.
David, who has never been in trouble, was charged with white-collar crimes related to his Idaho based mineral-water bottling business. He has been held illegally and without bail as agents of the Federal Government have aided others in attempting to steal his business. Although the white-collar crimes with which he has been charged (misbranding of a product and failing to file taxes, etc.,) are not crimes of violence and are yet unproven, David is being housed with convicts and treated like a criminal, contrary to Federal law pertaining to pretrial detainees. His medically-prescribed diet has been twice arbitrarily revoked by non-medical jailers as retaliation for speaking up against jail conditions, and he has been subject to all the indignities of prison life in spite of the presumption of his innocence. Three primary care areas in dire need of your attention are prisoner’s food, health/hygiene and legal access:
Food
The nutritional value of the food served to the prisoners delivers about one-half of the daily calories required by law, as substantiated by a dietitian. While we have been aware of this situation for months, I have monitored the type and quantity of food being served at the Jail for the past three weeks by talking directly to prisoners. Each day, the prisoners report the abysmal type, quantity and qualities of food actually served and tell me they are CONSTANTLY HUNGRY. Our son’s body now shakes continually from the effects of malnutrition.
Apparently in response to other complaints, Boise Channel 6 recently did an investigative report concerning the food being served to prisoners at the Ada County Jail. We were flabbergasted and found it to be extremely deceptive when the Sheriff’s Department “staged” a meal unlike any the prisoners had ever had when the camera crew arrived last week. The prisoners were served a fish dinner with nutritional accompaniments in a restaurant-style meal, causing the caloric value to jump from the typical 1200 calories per day derived from bologna sandwiches and corn flakes to the required 2500.
Because of this “charade”, Channel 6 reported on the Sunday night news, February 29, 2004, that the food at the jail is equivalent to local area restaurants! We point out that it was clearly an attempt to ‘cover up’ the poor conditions when jail officials claimed publicly that the meal served on the day that the Channel 6 News team visited was typical. (See attached Memorandum on Denial of Human Rights and Improper Jail Conditions.) This ongoing lack of nutrition in the prison population has caused serious health issues for many, including one instance of starvation-induced diabetes because of malnutrition.
Health/Hygiene
Prisoners are given little pieces of cloth called shoes with no real substance or arch support. Sheets and clothing often come back from the laundry dirtier that it went, apparently because no detergent is used (another money saver?) Because food is brought into the area where prisoners congregate, rather than them going to a dining hall, food is spilled on the carpet and never cleaned, causing an ongoing stench and health hazard. Prisoner’s opportunity for exercise in the small exercise yard has been inhibited by poor footwear and starvation.
Legal Access
There is a pervasive lack of access for prisoners to the legal system, research and attorney-client privileged communications. Calls and visits from our son’s attorney have been recorded or monitored, which has a chilling effect on any attempts at communication. The law library is often closed when it is David’s time to use it. He is restricted to one hour of use twice per week, which is usually cut arbitrarily to 20 minutes. The law books are not current nor are there complete sets of books, as the jail quit purchasing law books several years ago for the stated reason that all the ‘law is now on the internet’; however, inmates are denied access to computers and the internet ─ clearly, a “catch 22.” Our son has a paid–up Lexis Nexus account, but has been denied the opportunity to use his own laptop for legal research. An innocent man should be allowed to participate in the defense of his case, and provision should be made for him to use the internet if an adequate law library is not available.
While the public has been given the impression that the prisoners are being decently treated, they are being abused. It appears to us that Ada County is saving money on food, shoes, detergent and other ‘life necessities’ in order to build a jail addition to house more Federal prisoners to obtain more revenue from the Federal Government. Please take note of the attached Memorandum on Denial of Human Rights and Improper Jail Conditions with attached Inmate Grievance Forms, several of which have been signed by as many as thirty-seven prisoners. We are deeply concerned about the mistreatment of our son and the generalized abuse of all prisoners at the Ada County Jail. These Inmate Grievance Forms have been treated dismissively by the jail authorities and the jailers have retaliated.
We ask you, as governor of the State of Idaho, to personally inquire into the matters set forth herein, as we fear that more retaliation may come from the jailers if your office does not address the problem properly. Please do a formal investigation and apply your influence to correct this mistreatment. Best wishes to you and your staff in their conscientious endeavors to restore justice.
Sincerely yours,
Faye and Roland Hinkson
After the Hearing, David was chained and hauled away in a van to Bonner County Jail. The outcome of the Hearing is of record. Bottom line, FBI Agent Will Long testified, under oath, that David had admitted to him David was guilty of soliciting murder for hire. After getting a recorded tape, we recognized that Agent Long had willfully lied in Court.
At 11:30 on Friday April 11, 2003, I went to the FBI offices in Coeur d’ Alene and met with Agent Long. He told me: “I don’t believe that David is capable of hurting anyone, but given the types of people he lets into his life, someone may take him serious and, in fact, kill Judge Lodge (David never offered anyone money to kill a judge or anyone else).” Based on Will Long’s testimony, David was thrown into a cell. After two weeks on incarceration (April 22nd at 3:30 p.m.) , David told me that the conditions at the jail were very poor;
(1) an inmate, Dustin (evidently he worked in the kitchen), said they have fresh fruit in the kitchen but they don’t give any to the inmates;
(2) mattresses are only two inches thick and very uncomfortable;
(3) the guard staff are mostly very unfriendly;
(4) lights are too bright;
(5) where they play basketball has a hoop and bars over the ceiling; it’s like a cage;
(6) there’s nothing but boredom for the inmates;
(7) they took away my ear plugs;
(8) for recreation they have one TV and cards; etc.
Dave took pity on a few of the impoverished cell mates and asked me to leave $50 each from his account for two of the fellow inmates and $100 for a third. This I did. Also I interviewed the Sheriff, Phil Jarvis, who I concluded was a fair and decent man. Then I got a call from Sand Point that the Federal Marshals had taken David away to Moscow. He was put in a cell with 3 other inmates. The cell was 14X14 SF ─ Dave said it was like solitary confinement. On the door the guards (or someone) placed a sign on the door that read “Killer.” Later we learned in “Discovery” that the reason Wendy Olson (who replaced Nancy Cook) gave for moving David to Kootnai County Jail was that David was a danger and had given money to inmates to kill the judge etc. (The $50 each) Based on other equally absurd reasoning, the Court granted a change of venue to ADA County Jail.
On May 7th Dave was transferred to ADA County. An inmate at Kootnai Co. Jail said “they’re taking Dave away, but no one knows where.” During all this time, the Feds had been feeding the media every negative accusation conceivable (or nearly conceivable). Dave was placed in the general population area at ADA County, but immediately tagged as a CHOMO (Child molester). He became a pariah even in the jail. He was then placed in Solitary Confinement (for his own safety--Huh?).
On May 14th he expressed how depressed he was. He was forced to wear a yellow jail suit and was classified as a #3 danger (#10 is the least dangerous). By the 16th, everyone thought Dave was a CHOMO. The same time he complained that he wasn’t getting any mail (although mail had been sent early one). Then he asked me to find out who was responsible for shutting down his phone connection. On May 18, I called ADA County Jail speaking with SGT Toby Maes. He told me that “the U.S. Marshals have a hold on David; he’s in a single cell [solitary confinement],” and they are all aware of his civil rights.
Sgt. Glenn of ADA talked with me for an hour saying there was a communications gap about letting Brit Groom (Dave’s then attorney) see him. He explained that they put him in another tank. Dave was traumatized by one very dangerous inmate. I told Sgt Glenn “I’m going to hold you personally responsible if anything happen to Dave because he told me he’s scared for his life. I was informed that within an hour, Dave had been moved into solitary confinement, that they’d try to find a safe place for him. He also assured me that they aren’t influenced by the Feds.
I wrote an article called, SUMMARY MEMORANDUM REGARDING DAVID ROLAND HINKSON’S ORDEAL WITH THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT (As of March 3, 2004) and a letter both senators, both congressmen and the Governor with a reference titled “Inhumane Conditions at the Ada County Jail” dated March 2nd 2004. Only the Governor replied--his comment was to talk to the ADA County commissioners.
We are writing you as the Chief Executive Officer of the State of Idaho to point out the inhuman treatment of prisoners at the Ada County Jail in the hope that you will investigate the matter and use your influence to bring about a change for the betterment of the prisoners.
Our son, David Roland Hinkson, has been held at Ada County Jail as a “pretrial detainee” of the Federal Government for almost a year. Ada County receives over $150.00 per day and more than $4,500.00 per month from the Federal Government to house David while they violate both the law and his rights pertaining to his physical care and management.
David, who has never been in trouble, was charged with white-collar crimes related to his Idaho based mineral-water bottling business. He has been held illegally and without bail as agents of the Federal Government have aided others in attempting to steal his business. Although the white-collar crimes with which he has been charged (misbranding of a product and failing to file taxes, etc.,) are not crimes of violence and are yet unproven, David is being housed with convicts and treated like a criminal, contrary to Federal law pertaining to pretrial detainees. His medically-prescribed diet has been twice arbitrarily revoked by non-medical jailers as retaliation for speaking up against jail conditions, and he has been subject to all the indignities of prison life in spite of the presumption of his innocence. Three primary care areas in dire need of your attention are prisoner’s food, health/hygiene and legal access:
Food
The nutritional value of the food served to the prisoners delivers about one-half of the daily calories required by law, as substantiated by a dietitian. While we have been aware of this situation for months, I have monitored the type and quantity of food being served at the Jail for the past three weeks by talking directly to prisoners. Each day, the prisoners report the abysmal type, quantity and qualities of food actually served and tell me they are CONSTANTLY HUNGRY. Our son’s body now shakes continually from the effects of malnutrition.
Apparently in response to other complaints, Boise Channel 6 recently did an investigative report concerning the food being served to prisoners at the Ada County Jail. We were flabbergasted and found it to be extremely deceptive when the Sheriff’s Department “staged” a meal unlike any the prisoners had ever had when the camera crew arrived last week. The prisoners were served a fish dinner with nutritional accompaniments in a restaurant-style meal, causing the caloric value to jump from the typical 1200 calories per day derived from bologna sandwiches and corn flakes to the required 2500.
Because of this “charade”, Channel 6 reported on the Sunday night news, February 29, 2004, that the food at the jail is equivalent to local area restaurants! We point out that it was clearly an attempt to ‘cover up’ the poor conditions when jail officials claimed publicly that the meal served on the day that the Channel 6 News team visited was typical. (See attached Memorandum on Denial of Human Rights and Improper Jail Conditions.) This ongoing lack of nutrition in the prison population has caused serious health issues for many, including one instance of starvation-induced diabetes because of malnutrition.
Health/Hygiene
Prisoners are given little pieces of cloth called shoes with no real substance or arch support. Sheets and clothing often come back from the laundry dirtier that it went, apparently because no detergent is used (another money saver?) Because food is brought into the area where prisoners congregate, rather than them going to a dining hall, food is spilled on the carpet and never cleaned, causing an ongoing stench and health hazard. Prisoner’s opportunity for exercise in the small exercise yard has been inhibited by poor footwear and starvation.
Legal Access
There is a pervasive lack of access for prisoners to the legal system, research and attorney-client privileged communications. Calls and visits from our son’s attorney have been recorded or monitored, which has a chilling effect on any attempts at communication. The law library is often closed when it is David’s time to use it. He is restricted to one hour of use twice per week, which is usually cut arbitrarily to 20 minutes. The law books are not current nor are there complete sets of books, as the jail quit purchasing law books several years ago for the stated reason that all the ‘law is now on the internet’; however, inmates are denied access to computers and the internet ─ clearly, a “catch 22.” Our son has a paid–up Lexis Nexus account, but has been denied the opportunity to use his own laptop for legal research. An innocent man should be allowed to participate in the defense of his case, and provision should be made for him to use the internet if an adequate law library is not available.
While the public has been given the impression that the prisoners are being decently treated, they are being abused. It appears to us that Ada County is saving money on food, shoes, detergent and other ‘life necessities’ in order to build a jail addition to house more Federal prisoners to obtain more revenue from the Federal Government. Please take note of the attached Memorandum on Denial of Human Rights and Improper Jail Conditions with attached Inmate Grievance Forms, several of which have been signed by as many as thirty-seven prisoners. We are deeply concerned about the mistreatment of our son and the generalized abuse of all prisoners at the Ada County Jail. These Inmate Grievance Forms have been treated dismissively by the jail authorities and the jailers have retaliated.
We ask you, as governor of the State of Idaho, to personally inquire into the matters set forth herein, as we fear that more retaliation may come from the jailers if your office does not address the problem properly. Please do a formal investigation and apply your influence to correct this mistreatment. Best wishes to you and your staff in their conscientious endeavors to restore justice.
Sincerely yours,
Faye and Roland Hinkson