January 23, 2011

Dear Sis~

Hopefully you've dug out of the snow by now.  For the last several weeks it's dipped down into the twenties here, too, and our water faucet out in the rec yard froze up and split open (it's made of PVC pipe, though)...
I've been very busy the last two weeks with my nose in the law books as I've tried to anticipate what the State is going to say in their response to my Rule 3.851 motion.  The judge ordered them to respond by Jan 24th and I'll probably get my copy around the 26th or 27th.  I'll only have a short period of time to write my reply to their response, then get it to my attorney in time for him to review it, type it up and then mail it to the court.  This motion is a big deal for me; it's probably my last court proceeding (barring some unforseen turn of events down the line) and my issue is unique, there's no Florida case law precedent for what I'm doing, particularly in the context of a capital case.  Everything I've done up until now is designed to convince the trial court to grant me an evidentiary so I can prove my case.  I'll be even busier in the next 10 days...
Do you recall when you and I went to the movie theatre and watched the movie Born Free?  It must have been around 1964 or '65 because I was 10 or so and you were 11. The movie was about the Adamsons, a husband and wife team in Africa who had raised Elsa, a lioness, from a cub to an adult and then tried to reintroduce Elsa to the wild.  The movie, and the book it was based upon, and the theme song from the movie, all became huge hits.  The movie was great and made a big impression on me, reinforcing my love for animals, nature and the environment in general.  The reason I mentioned this is because PBS just aired a one-hour program, an update on the whole story, which I enjoyed greatly. Lot of old film footage, which brought back lots of memories for me.  I can still close my eyes and remember myself with you in that movie theatre, 45 years ago, full of wonder as I watched fully grown Elsa, 400+ pounds, playing like a pet with the Adamsons in their tents and around the campgrounds.  Sadly, both the Adamsons were murdered by poachers in separate incidents years later.  They gave their lives protecting the animals they loved.  The future of lions in the African wild does not look good; they used to be very numerous across the continent but now they are almost an endangered species, and sadly, the trend is very negative.  Seems like there is not enough room on this planet for both humans and lions...
That's it for now, Sis, I've gotta keep hitting the books.  Give the doggies a pat on the head for me!
Love, Bill