Relieved to Visit, Petition to Close Mon 5/29, PART TWO, LETTERS TO DA, PROSECUTORIAL VINDICTIVENESS

Good report from Prison, Gordon looked healthy and vibrant. He has his own cell, conditions at Marion are better than at Craven intake. They get to go outside a few times a day, he had some sun on his face. Gordon reports the people on the inside are much more generous and kind than folks out here, and he has folks looking out for him. My immediate fears for his safety, while never certain in a high-security prison, have been allayed. Other visits not allowed for at least three months, hopefully, he will be coming home before that. After Monday 5/29, I will be submitting the Petition with a letter to DA Todd Williams. If you would like to send him a LETTER in support of vacating the wrongful opioid trafficking conviction, below is PART TWO PROSECUTORIAL VINDICTIVENESS. See 5/16 Update before for PART ONE, ANOMALY OF STATE LAW TRAFFICKING BASED ON SIMPLE POSSESSION PROSECUTORIAL VINDICTIVENESS: This is a clear case of prosecutorial overreach, vindictiveness, and retaliation for Gordon seeking to represent himself and seek jury nullification. 1. Prior to trial, Gordon was held on over 100K bond, even though he was at not a flight risk, as he was eager to go to trial. He spent 64 days at the Buncombe County jail before able to post bond. This excessive bond was imposed to wear Gordon down and to impede his ability to represent himself and seek jury nullification. It had the intended effect. 2. ADA Alex Bass added charges, stacking multiple charges from what was at first, the family court matter. I need to review the history of what charges were added and when. 3. ADA Alex Bass googled the neighborhood and found, ONE YEAR LATER, that a day care facility was nearby. He then added charges of the violations occurring within certain feet of the day care center, even though no one even knew it was there and such was in no way relevant to the case. This is pure vindictiveness and retaliation. 4. Charging Gordon with the 18-24 yr mandatory minimum for trafficking opioids based solely on evidence of an expired pill bottle of his deceased mother was done solely to force a plea. It has no basis in fact or law. This anomaly of North Carolina law (see 5/16 Petition Update) that has been applied in this case in an effort to force a plea bargain, has been severely critized. It's use in this situation defies all logic or reason. The situation pretty much speaks for itself, no person, in their right mind, would turn down time-served probation than face a possible 18-24 mandatory minimum sentence. Gordon was in denial about the trafficking charge and presented no defense. The cumulative effect of ADA Alex Bass' vindictive and retaliatory prosecution rendered Gordon unable to represent himself at trial. Now that he has signed a release of our attorney-client privilege, I am able to share the delusional state under which he proceeded to trial. This will be part of my letter to DA Todd Williams. ADA Alex Bass overcharged the case and "upped the ante." Adding additional charges and the day care zones, as well as proceeding under a widely discredited maximum charge of trafficking opioids based on Gordon's failure to recycle his deceased mother's pill bottle, amounts to "stacking the deck" to try and force a plea. This is reprehensible conduct by an ADA. The DA Office has used Gordon as an example to anyone with any notions of jury nullification. Unbelievably, Todd Williams has refused to return my phone calls and has not responded to numerous emails, instead asserting all authority lies with ADA Alex Bass. What? I thought the buck stops with the boss, right? We can't vote out Mr. Bass now can we? This is a wrongful conviction the result of a vindictive retaliatory ADA. Public trust in the Buncombe County District Attorney's Office has been lost. Todd Williams is up for re-election in 2018. This will not stand. I pray that Todd comes to his senses and does the right thing, sooner rather than later. #BringGordonHome P.S. ATTACHED PHOTO FROM PRISON He gave me this when I visited yesterday explaining it was the result of a book he had read. He welcomes any and all books or magazines. I was not allowed to leave the card from the Block with him but will put in mail, along with the Campbell Law Review article, One Tough Pill to Swallow: A Call to Revise North Carolina’s Drug Trafficking Laws Concerning Prescription Painkillers (2011) http://law.campbell.edu/lawreview/articles/33-2-451.pdf Continue to pray for his continued safety. Much love y'all, Jen Niki Foster Mailing address: District Attorney's Office PO Box 7158 Asheville, NC 28802 Physical Address: 6th Floor, Buncombe County Courthouse 60 Court Plaza Asheville, NC 28801 (828) 259-3410 (828) 259-3411 (fax)