Letter from Efren via Helen

Dear Friends,

It is with great pleasure that I announce to you I have received
official notice from prison administrators that my public hearing has
been scheduled for Thursday, December 4, 2008.

I was grateful to receive the news, and am happy to share it with
family, friends and supporters who have fought long and hard to help
me arrive at this moment. We have all worked diligently to one day
witness this day become a reality. It is a culmination of our
collective spirit, ideas, energies, vision, and evidence of our
unwavering determination to pursue justice.

My mother cried when I shared the news with her. She was elated about
the prospect that I could be released as early as the Christmas
holiday or within the next couple of months. She witnessed my arrest
as a 15-year-old boy in the kitchen of our home on March 15, 1989 and
painfully observed as I was paraded away in handcuffs to a waiting
police car.

For almost 20 years my mother and others have traveled across the
state to visit me caged in prisons. Sometimes the visits have
occurred in contact visiting rooms, other times in small booths behind
glass partitions that separated us from contact altogether. My mother
now prays for the day she will be able to see me walk out of prison
without handcuffs — a free citizen for the first time in my life as a
35-year-old adult.

After the public hearing has been held the Parole Board will make a
recommendation to the Governor supporting or opposing my commutation
request. Upon receipt of the Parole Board recommendation the Governor
will deliberate over the matter and render a final decision about my
release.

The urgency of this phase of our campaign for justice can not be
underscored enough. It is imperative that we closely coordinate our
efforts and continue working to maximize our efficacy. This is the
most important opportunity to have my freedom restored — and perhaps
the final one — I may ever receive.

Only 34 days remain for us to launch the strongest phase of our
campaign yet. Within these days are the seeds of my potential
release. The manner in which we cultivate these seeds could determine
the final outcome of my public hearing and future.

Please take a few moments to download the attachment to this message
and print out as many copies as you can. Ask people to sign them and
please personally mail the letters in groups of 10 or 20 letters at a
time in large envelopes to the Parole Board. This will ensure as many
letters as possible are mailed.

Hundreds of support letters have been mailed to the Parole Board and
hundreds of support postcards continue to be mailed to the Governor's
office. We are doing a remarkable job with this aspect of our effort
and I want to encourage you to please continue doing it.

The next phase of our campaign will include organizing as many people
possible to attend the public hearing to express their support on my
behalf. In the next week I will be sending you more information about
the location and time of the hearing so everyone can begin their
preparations.

This is extremely important. We can expect that members of the
victim's family in the case and the prosecutor's office is going to
encourage opposition to show up at the hearing. Therefore, it is
imperative that we make a strong show of support and be well-
represented. We do not want to underestimate the number of people who
may appear expressing opposition to my release.

On a very personal note, I am asking all of you to please pray for
Helen's father, George, and our family. Recently George suffered a
heart attack and he has been hospitalized for two weeks. This week we
learned that George now has extensive irreparable heart damage.
Doctors have offered very discouraging news about his future.

I am hopeful that we will be successful with my campaign for freedom
so I can spend time with George while it is still possible. Time is
not on his side right now. Your prayers and thoughts would be very
much appreciated during this difficult time.

I am confident everyone will do the best they can to answer this
urgent call to action and impassioned appeal. Thank you for your
continued support, and thank you for helping me stay strong and
determined to never acquiesce to injustice. The source of our
strength lies in our collective effort.

In Solidarity,

Efrén Paredes, Jr.