Updated to correct name
In addition to shooting down the email-rumor Lotus reported (tip for future reference: When two minutes with the Bureau of Prisons inmate locator suggests Montgomery, a little caution is in order), this morning’s Tupelo Journal has the disturbing unofficial news that murderer Douglas Hodgkin has been granted parole by the state parole board after a January 14th hearing.
I attended a good bit of the Hodgkin trial, and (with a high threshold on reasonable doubt) came away convinced he’d been proved guilty of a truly terrible murder. Under the law at the time, he was eligible for parole in ten years (the conviction was in 1986) and has been coming before the parole board as frequently as his lawyers could persuade them to give him a hearing ever since. The family of victim Jean Elizabeth Gillies and members of the Oxford Police Department have appeared at each hearing to oppose parole. As Errol Castens reports in the DJ article, “Retired Oxford Police Chief Steve Bramlett, then a police investigator, called Gillies’ murder ‘the most heinous crime’ he has ever seen and predicts Hodgkin will kill again.’” Without endorsing Chief Bramlett’s prediction, I share his alarm.
h/t Ben Cole in comments.
I see on its website that the MS parole board includes:
Shannon Warnock – Chairman
Bobbie Thomas – Board Member
Clarence Brown – Board Member
Betty Lou Jones – Board Member
Danny Guice – Board Member
Who are these people?
Please someone hear me and if I have a character flaw just say you are a sicko and this just does not happen.
As the product of A Mississippi Public School Education with no other cultural education until I become an adult and lived in other States and traveled to other Countries have I ever seen the classification of people so engrained in Mississippians as to one’s worth as to the status of wealth.
People can kill, steal, bribe and do any sort of heinous crimes which will never be discussed or litigated or paid for if one has the status of being wealthy.
Is it just I that see’s this in every walk of life from school children with parents of means not being on ritlan to the tax boys leaving the big corporations alone and not tax auditing them.
And reading of crimes that happened more than 20 years ago and can recall the words of the newspapers declaring the wealth of the parents, and not the scene of dealth at the hands of the crazy killer.
mag, not having lived there since early childhood, all I know is what I witnessed decades ago firsthand and have learned here over the past 15-16 months. That said, Mississippi’s civic society sounds as close to feudalism as I know of in this country. Really uncomfortably close to it.
Apparently Alabama and Louisiana are in much the same shape, and maybe some other states are too. But I declare, if you’re not inured to it, it’s pretty stunning to see what’s passed for acceptable behavior there.
Magnolia’s point doesn’t seem to fit with the events in this thread:
a) Donald Hodgkin certainly didn’t just walk away from this crime due to money. He’s been in the penitentiary since 1987. That’s pretty serious punishment. I just am alarmed at him getting out. Under the law, it was just a matter of when on parole for him– at the time of his conviction, the prosecutors were absolutely opposing life without parole because they wanted to have fear of parole in the jury’s mind in death penalty cases. It is probably too late to oppose this decision and I can assure you that the victim’s family and the Oxford police did everything they could to delay the day Hodgkin got out.
b) Hodkin isn’t from Mississippi. His family (which was quite wealthy) is from Kentucky.
c) I can’t imagine in any meaningful sense how the word “feudalism” describes what goes on in Mississippi (or Alabama or Louisiana), other than as random pejorative, like calling someone a Nazi. I am also not buying into Magnolia’s view (and recall distinctly that she was convinced there was something corrupt or wrong about the judge who sentenced Langston retaining the case because of her mistaken impression they were close and that meant Langston– who got the maximum sentence possible under his plea agreeement– would get favorable treatment).
This doesn’t pass the smell test.
Well, NMC, “close-to-feudalism” has been my shorthand for what’s played out in Mississippi for a long time. I know you personally work hard to oppose that system, but you’re way outnumbered.
Not that it matters, but he is not the Donald; his name is Doug.
I would like to know what the statistics are for grants of parole to prisoners serving a life sentence.
NMC @ 4: Life without parole was never a legitimate option for Hodgkin. Back in the day, a few DAs around the state had plea bargained a few capital murder cases in which the defendant agreed to accept life without parole in exchange for the state agreeing not to seek the death penalty. The Mississippi Supreme Court, in its infinite wisdom, struck those plea bargains down, which left the prosecutors with the choice of trying the case to get a death sentence or letting the sentence become simply a life sentence (which meant parole eligibility after 10 years).
In Hodgkin’s case, the jury hung on the death sentence (11-1 in favor of death, I believe). Hodgkin elected not to appeal, because had his conviction been over turned he would have been subject to the death penalty upon retrial.
Ron Lewis is the lawyer who saved Hodgkin’s bacon.
Based upon what I’ve learned about the case, I understand why Bramlett believes Hodgkin will kill again. And I agree with him.
BTW, if Mississippi is feudal, what is Chicago? What about Michigan? Baltimore? Philadelphia? lotus, comments like yours is why I have this blog bookmarked under “Entertainment.”
NMC Maybe I still feel that way about your last blurt, and now this makes me wonder why you bring it up.
You would have been kinder to have just called me sick-o.
Observer, I am aware the law did not allow life without parole then. That was my point. Your recollection (that Hodgkin got a hung-jury life sentence 11-1) matches mine. My sense in the court room was that the degree to which Hodgkin and his family came across as middle class– and therefore more like the jurors than usual defendants– affected that juror enough that she wouldn’t vote for a death sentence.
At the time, Judge Lamb told me that he believed there had not been a death sentence in Lafayette County in the memory of anyone he’d known to ask (which would have been back to the 20s). Since, I’ve become reasonably certain that the last one was about 1903, when two men were sentenced to death for the murder of two federal marshals. There have been a number of cases that in many jurisdictions would have produced a death sentence (a drugged-up-sniper-random-killing of a child in a car seat in her parent’s car, for instance) in many jurisdictions. I really think the result in that case had as much to do with where it was tried as anything.
You’re also right that Ron Lewis was one of the defense lawyers.
An old saying from a rural county (I forget which) in North Mississippi: “We’ve never acquitted a guilty person in this county; hell, we acquit damn few innocent ones.”
Lotus & Magnolia: I wholly disagree with your feudalism, status, and wealth comments. I’ve lived outside Miss. most of my adult life … South Carolina, Florida, Virginia, California, Washington, and Maryland. The “wealth” of criminal defendants and victims is no different here than anywhere else … if they have it, it’s reported and commented on in the news; if they don’t, not much is made if it. Either way, I’ve never seen that wealth and/or status had any bearing on a prosecutor’s choices of charges or a jury’s verdict.
And I agree with NMC about capital cases arising from Lafayette County: these citizens just won’t impose the death penalty, so prosecutors don’t seek it. Matter of fact, the last death penalty prosecution I recall was a federal case … defendant cut a deal and got life, which means just what it says in federal practice. I don’t see any links to feudalism or lords and manors. Those labels have no sticktion.
But I will say this: I’m disappointed our state’s justice system doesn’t hammer defendants to the fullest in vehicular homicide cases … deaths arising from drunk driving don’t produce the guilt determinations or sentences that I think are warranted. That’s one I just don’t get.
11:
That would be Union County, LQC, I am almost certain.
Charles Ray Crawford was given a death sentence in Lafayette County in 1993 or 1994. It was a change of venue case from Tippah County. Crawford kidnapped Kristy Ray, a college student, from her home in rural Tippah County, raped her, handcuffed her to a pine tree and stabbed her to death.
I concur with NMC that prior to Crawford there had not been a death penalty returned in Lafayette County since the turn of the 19th into the 20th centuries.
LQC in 7:
I looked around and saw no statistics available on the web about parole. I was always of the impression that at some point Hodgkin would be getting parole, because of the nature of the law when he was sentenced and because of the sentence. At the time, eligibility for 30 years-to-life started at 10 years. All of that changed with the so-called truth in sentencing laws, of course. All that said, given what I saw in the trial, I find the prospect of him getting parole alarming. But it would not surprise me if this was what we’d expect, which leads me to ask:
Ben Cole in 5:
Is there something about this that makes you think it doesn’t pass the smell test? He’s been eligible for parole for over 10 years. If anything seemed like the possible impact of pulling strings or influence, it was the frequency with which he seemed to be getting new hearings, but even that may be normal for all I know.
NMC@4 –Bravo.
Observer@8, dead on target with the facts.
To say that Hodgkin escaped punishment due to his wealth is ridiculous under these facts and the law. His sentence was life imprisonment. And the law at the time allowed parole. And here we are at this point. He has been granted parole after serving over 20 years in prison. While I personally think it is the wrong decision by the parole board, it is within the law —the same law applicable to anyone else sentenced under such laws at that time. And I doubt that Hodgkin is the first murderer to be paroled after serving over 20 years in prison — in fact, there are undoubtedly many murderers throughout the country who are now free after serving less than 20 years in prison —too numerous to count — and from all backgrounds (a couple of them who served no time reside in Chicago and are friends of the Obamas and are politically connected prominent citizens of Chicago —how is that for feudalism?).
Hodgkins family was uber-wealthy , from Kentucky, and provided Hodgkin with the finest legal defense money could buy. It probably saved his life —barely. But, this was indeed a heinous crime — one of the worst I have ever heard about —- right up there with some of the horrible Tallahatchie County murders in the past. And even with all of that money, Hodgkin was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. The evidence against him was compelling. The prosecution wanted the death penalty. And Hodgkin dropped his appeal after the MS Supreme Court would not render an opinion prohibiting a death penalty sentence in the event a new trial was awarded. In other words, he could have prevailed on appeal, and then been found guilty again at his second trial, but with a death penalty sentence imposed instead of life imprisonment.
NMC @ 15: Smell test … I dunno. Just idle speculation. It piques my cynical antennae.
Hodgkins has come up for a hearing about every year (I believe) since he became parole-eligible, and has been summarily rejected. I just get suspicious when something has been decided the same way again and again and again, then out of the blue a directly-opposite decision arrives. What could he have done in the past 12 months to justify the board’s reversal?
There seems to be no transparency to the parole board’s actions and decision-making processes … at least, I’ve never seen any transparency. Maybe they make sound, reasoned, cogent decisions and reduce them to well-written opinions that can withstand inspection and challenges … I dunno.
Is there any legal recourse from a parole board’s decisions?
He’s come up not quite every year but almost– the odd thing about this one is that I don’t think it’s been a year since the last no, which strikes me as peculiar. I reiterate, though– it seemed clear to me that on one of these rounds, they were going to say yes.
I know of no recourse on the decision, although I’ve made no attempt to research it. I would have to assume that the victim’s family is checking on that.
May I ask again who are those six on the parole board? What are their reputations? How did they get onto that board — guv-appted? open-ended or for terms?
I don’t know any of them but have the distinct feeling that Google may provide lots of answers to anyone who tries it. Just a guess, though.
I will say this in defense of the parole board to some extent (although I still disagree with their decision to grant him parole). Hodgkin, on the surface, appears to be a nice person — he is rather innocent looking, passive, and has good manners. I suspect that he has been a model prisoner to-date. And with respect to what could have triggered the commission of such a crime, there was strong speculation at the time of this murder that Hodgkin was taking a popular drug called ecstasy or “X”, which is a mind altering drug that can have severe behaviorial side effects. Could he possibly repeat such a crime as he committed? Yes, anything is possible. Is such likely? I don’t know. I am not qualified to opine on that. I would hope that the parole board has consulted with people who are so qualified.
We don’t know what facts the parole board has in front of it to support its decision. Most of what we hear and read comes from the perspective of the victim’s family, which understandably, is based upon very strong emotions. I do indeed feel badly for them. In some way, having this matter now resolved (from a parole standpoint) may be a blessing in disguise for this family, instead of having to periodically relive the entire ordeal, over and over, every time Hodgkin comes before the parole board for possible parole.
Danny Guice is the name that I recognize:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 5, 2008
GOVERNOR BARBOUR NAMES GUICE TO STATE PAROLE BOARD
Longtime legislator resigns from Mississippi House of Representatives
(JACKSON, Mississippi) – Governor Haley Barbour has named former Representative Daniel “Danny” Guice, Jr., of Ocean Springs, to the Mississippi State Parole Board. Guice, who represented District 114 in the Mississippi House of Representative since 1984, resigned his legislative position to fill a vacant four-year term on the state Parole Board.
The State Parole Board maintains a central registry of paroled inmates, including offender information such as name, address, photograph, crime for which paroled, and other information necessary to monitoring parolees.
“As a dedicated public servant, both as a former corrections officer and long-time legislator, Danny has served his state with honor and strong leadership,” Governor Barbour said. “I commend Danny on his record of service and look forward to his continued good works as a member of this very important board.”
Guice has extensive experience in the criminal justice sector, serving as a former corrections officer at the Mississippi Department of Corrections and former Jackson County Justice Court Judge from 1980 to 1984. During his 24 years in the Mississippi House, Guice served as a member of the Appropriations, Constitution, County Affairs, Fees and Salaries of Public Officers, and Marine Resources committees. Within his community, Guice served as coast director of the Associated General Contractors of Mississippi, a position he held from 1989 to 2008.
He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Guice holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Southern Mississippi. He is married to the former Janie Betrand.
Governor Barbour said he expects to call a special election in the near future to fill Guice’s unexpired term in the Legislature.
Thanks, NMC, I bleeve I’ve heard of that Google thingy somewhere. Just hoped for a little more first-hand skinny, should it have been available here.
Thanks also, Plexix.
AFOTL, the word I heard about drugs was scarier than ecstasy but I never felt I’d had confirmation. Also, some family stuff slightly slipped out during the trial (both inside and just outside the courtroom) that suggested background stuff that did not really come out in mitigation but could have suggesting the surface picture was far from the whole thing.
You’re right about how he appeared, though: A quiet, passive college kid. He took guitar lessons from the husband of the woman who taught my daughter violin, and so I was vaguely aware of him before the incident.
Without being too specific, it is correct to say that there was more to the drug use issue than came out at the trial. It was a “double-edged” sword that neither side decided to really pursue for strategic reasons. I will leave it at that.
How much of any of that type of “evidence” is part of the information provided to or considered by the parole board is anyone’s guess.
From wikipedia: “Ultimately, the many ways the term feudalism has been used has deprived it of specific meaning, leading many historians and political theorists to reject it as a useful concept for understanding society.”
Based on the word’s use in this thread, I have to agree with this sentiment.
some family stuff slightly slipped out during the trial (both inside and just outside the courtroom) that suggested background stuff that did not really come out in mitigation but could have suggesting the surface picture was far from the whole thing
Without being too specific, it is correct to say that there was more to the drug use issue than came out at the trial. It was a “double-edged” sword that neither side decided to really pursue for strategic reasons. I will leave it at that.
Remember when you were about four and your parents spelled the words they didn’t want you to understand? Cute trick, wadnit?
ducky emails:
The Clarion-Ledger is running a picture of Hodgkin. He looks quiet, but he sure doesn’t look passive.
I barely recognize him from 20 years ago. Not how he appeared then.
I am absolutely disgusted by the determination of the Mississippi Parole Board. As a citizen of this state, it is almost impossible for me to not be outraged at the decision to all a rapist/murderer out of prison when 11 out of 12 of the jury voted for him to receive the death penalty. In case you don’t know the facts behind this case… He did not just rape this and kill this woman. He tortured her for HOURS before finally taking her life and that of her unborn child. She begged for his mercy for herself and her baby and this disgusting animal showed none. I cannot understand how a Parole Board could surmise that this mongrel deserves to be shown any type of mercy for his actions. I hope that TRUE justice arrives at his door swiftly!!!
And this piece of crap does not have to even register as a sex offender upon release!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi, Sassy. Yeah, that’s almost as big a stunner to me as the parole itself. Can’t imagine how the lege arrived at that.
As a childhood friend, I can only attest that Doug has been a model prisoner for over 20 years of absolutely zero infractions. A priest friend who has also befriended Doug attests as well that Doug has done everything he can behind bars to live a model life as a convict.
Oh, and the picture of Doug in the Clarion-Ledger is quite old. It’s his last official prison photo.
How nice that AFTER he raped a woman and killed her and her unborn child your “friend” has and continues to treat the prisoners he is incarcerated with kindly!!! I bet it is because those MEN he is there with can defend themselves unlike a helpless college age female. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!! He has not been around women in more than twenty years. If he could not control himself then and had no respect for women then…WHAT HAS CHANGED????!!!! It is an insult to my capabilities for someone to explain what a model “prisoner” (key word here) this piece of scum has been and I wonder if you would be so quick to defend his honor if it was your mother/sister/daughter he had committed these vile acts upon. There is no way that this lowlife deserves to see the light of day or walk the streets that poor woman and her child will NEVER walk!!!!
This is a quote from her faimily regarding her death…
Douglas G. Hodgkin of Winchester, Ky., was convicted of capital murder in her death and sentenced to life in prison.
“For us as a family it’s exhausting, first of all, to relive the horror of her death,” said Paul H. Herbert of Wheaton, Ill., Gillies’ adopted brother. “She was beaten, raped, sodomized, tortured, dragged around an apartment house, her body brutally damaged over the course of hours before she was essentially executed by hand strangulation.”
An animal capable of this should never be given the chance to be among society again. Ever!!!
Gov. Haley Barbour
Phone: 1-877-405-0733
Phil Bryant, Lt. Governor of Miss.
http://www.philbryant.com/contact/
Christopher Epps,
Commissioner of Miss. Dept. of Corrections
cepps@mdoc.state.ms.us
State of Mississippi Parole Board
201 West Capitol Street
Suite 800
Jackson, MS 39201
(601) 354-7716
Parole Board Chair:Swarnock@mdoc.state.ms.us
jcookies wrote:
For links to Barbour’s announcements and bios of parole board members:
http://www.governorbarbour.com/appointments/2008/aug/Jones.htm
http://www.governorbarbour.com/appointments/2008/aug/Guice.htm
http://www.governorbarbour.com/appointments/2008/may/Warnock.htm
http://www.governorbarbour.com/appointments/2006/jan/index.html
http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/contact_us.htm
sskipper@mdoc.state.ms.us
Was a motive for the murder ever determined?
I’m Jeannie’s brother. Hodgkin’s parole is an outrage no matter how well he has behaved in prison. His was a crime that deserved a true life sentence. He beat Jeannie unmercifully. He raped her. He sodomized her. He stripped her. He bound and gagged her. He dragged her person around the apartment. He strangled her to death. Then he went to bed, and pretended the next morning to be bewildered by her battered, naked corpse on the bathroom floor. I was part of nearly all consultations with the prosecutors. There was no evidence of alcohol or drugs and we never made any “strategic” decisions to avoid that topic. If you are outraged as we are, please don’t just blog. Please write and call the governor and your representatives. Demand that every legal avenue for overturning the parole be explored. Tell them you want Hodgkin and other rapist-killers registered as sex offenders. Tell them you want a review of parole hearings for capital murderers to determine why this one gets 8 hearings in 12 years. Tell them you want a new parole board. Make this parole, if it goes through, publicly visible and politically painful. Don’t just do it for Jeannie. Do it for the safety of your own loved ones. Do it to spare another young woman this fate, and another family our anguish. As for this parole being a blessing in disguise…that can only be imagined by those who have not walked this walk. It is not about vengeance, my friend, but justice. Thank you. Paul Herbert
Doug was a nice normal friend I had the pleasure of knowing through his childhood. I like everyone was completely shocked at the news of this terrible crime. There is no excuse for it. I assume drugs of some if not many sources were involved by both Doug and Ms. Giles. Pregnant,single and drugs? Both of these people put themselves in a horrable situation. One is dead the other has lost 20 years of his life. Both seemed to have been going down the wrong road. All the wealth which is reported on both sides of this case is just a distraction. If Doug has been a model prisoner over these 20+ years it is more of a reflection of his life for the first 20. Send him home. I am sure 20 years in prison has been inconceivable. The Doug I knew (I have not spoken with him since he went to prison) can hopefully be a beneifit to our community in the tradition of his civic minded family. He has served his time. Let’s give him a chance.
I am so disgusted by what you have to say Kentuckian. She brought it on herself and he was a good kid!!! What an insult to her family. I do not, like many others, feel that this man served his time. And “let’s give him a chance” is a joke. That animal had his chance and he should NEVER get another one!!! I don’t want to be his next CHANCE!!!!! What if your mom is his next chance????!!!!!
Thank You Mr. Herbert for taking the time to share your story. I have to say that I find it shocking that a person could read your post and immediatly retort with “Let’s give him a chance.” I am overwhelmed by the state of a
nation that finds it fitting to allow this criminal to walk among polite society again.
I’ll have to second Sassy2u, Kentuckian. I understand your perspective as a childhood friend, but don’t understand your suggestion that the victim of this appalling crime was complicit, no matter what drugs she may or may not have taken.
I’ve not heard a direct report about her (just about him, in the legal community), but there’s no amount of drug taking that explains or justifies this crime, and any suggestion that the victim (for taking drugs, being pregnant) put herself in the way of this horrible event is wrong.
I want to point out to people coming to this thread through search engines that there is a later post about an Oxford Eagle story in which there’s a note that the victim’s family is asking people to write the governor and the parole board:
“The Gillies family is asking concerned citizens to register their opposition by writing letters to the Parole Board and Gov. Haley Barbour. Letters to the board should be sent to: State of Mississippi Parole Board, 201 West Capitol St., Ste. 800, Jackson, MS 39201. The governor’s address is: P.O. Box 139, Jackson, MS 39205.”
Or scroll up to 28 and 37 on this thread.
Doug is a human, not an animal, at least not in the sense that I read in these posts. I wouldn’t begin to argue with anyone in the Gillies family. Their pain is theirs, and no words can explain the existential anguish they must experience on a daily basis. But it is possible to take a different position on Doug’s future–especially for those of us who actually knew/know him–without demonizing those you disagree with. No ad hominem attack and no amount of exclamation points will change anything for those of us who were around when the crime happened. The Russell Banks novel The Sweet Hereafter describes all to well the tendency of those who have nothing to do to with a tragedy to swell with anger and then come to believe that they are actually hurt by that event.
Kentuckian, wtf is your problem?
“I wouldn’t begin to argue with anyone in the Gillies family. Their pain is theirs, and no words can explain the existential anguish they must experience on a daily basis. ”
No offense, but I would guess that every woman who reads this blog – especially those of us with daughters of our own – feels some kinship with the Gillies family. And the fact that her kin want to spare the rest of us the the horror they have endured strengthens that bond. Their pain is not just their own.
I am glad Douglas is out and getting a chance.
I do not believe it was proven he did the murder.
Even if he did, he deserves a chance if the parole board says he does.
Statistically, murderers who serve out their time do not kill again.
I knew Doug well for many years and do not think he will.
Unfortunately, newspapers can only print very basic descriptions about murder scenes so they can pass the “Kellogs Test” and people don’t lose their breakfast when reading the paper.
But I’ve heard about this murder scene. Three police officers have gone to Jackson for the last 10 years or more to testify because the scene was so horrific. Do you think they do that for all murderers being considered for parol? This woman was tortured for hours, sodomized, raped, beaten beyond recognition. That’s not a crime of passion. Your childhood friend is a very sick man and I pray no other woman has to find that out. I pray no one has to say “I told you so.” Mike, your friend never appealed the verdict. Do you really believe someone could have done this to this woman while he quietly slept near by? I know it’s hard to imagine someone you knew and liked was this sick but at some point, you have to accept he fooled many people.
Doug didn’t appeal because to have done so would have exposed him to a potential death sentence on retrial. The jury voted 11-1 for the death penalty, so he and his lawyers made the wise choice that they shouldn’t appeal. The odds clearly weren’t in his favor.
It is one thing to disagree, but the “he was my friend and he wouldn’t hurt anyone” BS in this thread is beyond comprehension for a reasonable mind. Geez, making me break my personal peace treaty…did Mara send these people? What the hell?
Mike @ 49, like lydialaw @ 50 says, there is a reason why police officers, often at THEIR OWN EXPENSE, have gone to every parole hearing for Hodgkin. These officers are aware of evidence that has never seen the light of day (and never will) which indicates to them that Hodgkin is extremely likely to kill again. One thing is sure, Hodgkin has never expressed remorse or accepted responsibility. Without doing so, he should not have been released. There is no arguable basis at all upon which Hodgkin can claim he was wrongly convicted. You think it was never proven he did the murder? Eleven of 12 jurors wanted him to get the death penalty for it.
MrScrivener, who’s Mara?
Attempted to kill the Buddha the night before his awakening.
Observer at 53 (first I want to note that I am agreeing with him in case it’s not absolutely clear):
I want to reiterate what I’ve said already: I came away from seeing substantial parts of this trial convinced that the prosecution had proved their case.
Given that, and the jury verdict and judgment of conviction, I think any discussion has to be premised on his guilt of a truly horrible crime.
Thanks, MrS.
bad joke…well only half joking
isn’t this more or less what you meant MrS: Mara is in part “a metaphor for various processes of doubt and temptation that obstruct religious practice.”
Well darn. Thought I got it, but now I think not.
I think he’s saying that these friends of the defendant are demons sent to provoke doubt and interfere with ou effort to seek truth.
or something like that.
but that’s just a guess and anyone else’s gloss would be as good as mine.
it was just a bad joke i derived from this morning’s breathing meditations and reading. but yes, NMC, i was making analogy to the attack on enlightenment. i am headed for the corner now (i have known for years that i have no humor in me, so i don’t why i would try today).
Golleee, why’s this corner so popular around here alla sudden? They got good eats there or something?
Really, MrS, I got it!
One final thought for Mike @49. Mike doesn’t think Dougie committed the murder. The trial was held before DNA evidence was widely used. In all the time that has passed since the trial, why hasn’t Dougie sought to have DNA evidence tested to exonerate him? Could it be because DNA testing would again confirm his guilt?
I think Observer gets the unanswerable point of this day.
In response to Paul @39, it seems that you were very offended by some points that I made, as you seemed to quote them verbatim in your comment. I can assure you that I did not intend to be offensive, nor am I in support of Hodgkin’s release on parole.
I hope that I never have to walk in your shoes. IF I ever did, I am afraid that I would not have handled it as well as you and the other family members. I am not certain that I would trust myself not to take the law and justice into my own hands upon such a horrible tragedy.
My comments were only as an observing lawyer suggesting reasons why the parole board may have taken the action that it did. They were not meant to suggest that the Board’s action was the correct one. Like I said before and again now, I disagree with his release on parole.
My comment about the evidence of drugs and it being a double-edged sword was more from a strategic defense perspective than anything else. At that time, it is my understanding that the ability to test for the presence of certain drugs was not very good —certainly not what it is today. I am suggesting that there was other, non-scientific evidence of drug use that was not used. Drug use by the defendant would not have been an exculpatory legal defense, but only a partial explanation of how something like this could have happened. And even if true, would not make Hodgkin any less dangerous to society today (if the crime was triggered by a reaction to certain drugs, what assurance does society have that the drug use by the defendant and psychotic violent reaction will not occur again?).
Again, please accept my apology. I certainly did not intend to pile on to this tragic situation that you or your family have endured in this matter.
The woman answering the phone at the parole board, btw, said the board is asking that people put their objections in writing. When I pressed her for information about possible process to reverse the parole, she said there is nothing in place. When I asked about when he will be released, she said that information will not be made available.
Since his release seems hinged to whether Kentucky is willing to accept him, maybe thems the folks that need to be alerted and set to work on their officials.
Just so you know… he is married. Got married while in Prison.
uh… I think more details might be in order here.
The news posted by Surprised @ 68 reminds me of the following:
Many years ago a foreign student at Ole Miss shot his girlfriend, led police on a high speed chase out Old Sardis Road, and then (supposedly) shot himself several times. His wounds left him a paraplegic, confined to a wheel chair. (Yeah, that was redundant.) The defendant, a Muslim, was not prosecuted for murder but instead pled to manslaughter. He went to Parchman on a 20-year sentence.
The foreign student association at Ole Miss, and certain Ole Miss officials, worked to get the defendant early release. He was released, came back to Lafayette County and moved in as the boyfriend of one of the Ole Miss officials who’d worked to get him out of prison.
Then one day they had an argument and he was attempting to kill her. They lived in a rural area east of Oxford. The woman fled in her car, and he chased after her in another car. He eventually ran her off the road, and she died in the wreck. The newspaper photograph of her overturned car showed a bumper sticker on the car which stated: “I oppose the death penalty.”
Hodgkin’s wife should be told that story.
Now, Observer, tell us what his religion or her bumper sticker has to do with the story.
He has been married around a year or so. His wife has been looking at home in the Kentucky area. I believe she was a high school classmate. I know there have been questions about how he will deal with women he meets… and such… but he’s married. Someone let Nancy Grace know….
Oh… she knows the entire story… I don’t believe she thinks he did it… I just wonder how they intend on keeping all the money from his family away… and how are they affording a $1,000,000 home…?
I never said that Douglas was my childhood friend.
I never said he did not do it either.
I have always wondered why the State of Mississippi, in an effort to keep him in prison, did not do dna testing themselves?
Do not even hint that the State of Mississippi does not know what they are doing.
In the eighties, I aw things in county institutions that would make your hair curl, and it did not matter what status the inmate had, as long as he was beige.
I am saying that even if he did it, if the state says he deserves a chance, he does.
I know numerous cases where people are convicted of much lesser crimes, get early release, and do a heinous crime soon after.
Does surprised even know his wife really?
Where did he get this information about the cost of a home she was looking at?
I know a person very close to her, and according to them, that is a bunch of hogwash.
By the way, those other people committing horrible crimes have not wealthy families either.
[Have another run at this one, sassy. I've stopped accepting all-caps comments, even ones that say something.]
It seams that so many want to express so much anger and hatred toward someone who they have never met. Everyone is an self proclaimed expert in this case, human nature and the law. Sassy2u, you just don’t get it. Life in 1987 was not life without the chance of parole. To answer someone with BLAH speaks volumes about your intellect and maturity. Assuming the man did the crime he has served the time. Sassy2u consider sending 7,300+ days and nights in the enviroment of a high security Mississippi prison then tell everyone how glamorous it was. Our justice system does provide for a second chance for those who have been a model prisoner and the parole board has decicided to give a second chance.
I responded to that comment with the intellect that it deserved. And I do not need to spend a MOMENT of my precious time considering how I would enjoy a stay in prison because I did not rape, sodomize, beat, torture, and murder that poor woman as well as kill her unborn child like your “friend” did. So I could care less than nothing about whether or not that animal is happy to be in prison. News flash!!! It is prison and he is supposed to hate every one of those 7300+ days that make up his less than adequate stay. “Assuming the man did the crime” says so much about your intellect and maturity. And I GET IT!! Life did not mean life in the backwoods legal system that was in place at the time of this crime. That does not mean that he should have been awarded parole, just that he was legally entitled to the chance of parole.
Ane I do not require a formal meeting with a rapist/murderer in order to determine that he is a disgusting individual. Just like I can determine so much about a person that defends such a character!!!
I have concluded that the members of this parole board are missing a few neurons in their brains. After they let the State of Kentucky have your trash, will anyone in that state be told what they have unwillingly received? Will they be told that he will repeat his repulsive crime and they best not open their doors?
For something like this to happen (his being released) just serves as another example of the lack of justice in this country. No matter what anyone says or does, nothing is in concrete. Getting a life sentence means – must do 10 years. Getting the death sentence just means living in prison for the duration of their life, MAYBE. What is the point of even having the justice system if 5 people can ultimately choose the fate of one person against the fate of an already enforced death he gave to a person that should be alive. But ISN’T, because of this pig! There is nothing they can say to justify their decision. Obviously they don’t care at all about his victim that he brutalized beyond comprehension. Apparently they just don’t want to see his face any more. It must be easier on them to just release him than to do the paperwork to say no. What is the point of having a jury, when no matter what they decide means nothing? What is the point of having a judge, when his ruling of life in prison is worthless? MAYBE there wouldn’t be repeat offenders if they actually had to serve what they were sentenced to. MAYBE new criminals coming up the ranks wouldn’t be so quick to commit a crime if they knew that this state actually enforced the sentences given. Your judicial system is a joke if this is what you do. But it is a very sick and sad and scary joke.
I knew his brother and my sister knew him during high school years. We’re appalled that he has been paroled. I can only ask this question to his “friends” in this string…..Seriously, imagine that this horrific, brutual crime happened to your sister, would you say “he served his time” or “he derserves a chance” I dare say not. I remember hearing from a judge I knew about details of the murder and it was SHOCKING!
Read Willie Morris’s “Homecomings”. published in 1989, chapter entitled “Anybody’s Children” It tells about the trial in Oxford.
Beez…it’s been a long time since I read Willie’s Homecoming, I’ll have to revisit it. I guess that’s why NMC remembers Willie being at the trial.
GG – The book would not have been the only reason NMC would have remembered Willie Morris’ attendance at the trial. WM was a very eccentric person (in a good way) whom made a indelible impression upon you every time you encountered him. My first meeting with him, I was seventeen and staying with one of my Mother’s Delta friends who lived in Uptown New Orleans. Willie, wearing a mohawk, and another punkster pal showed up at this proper matron’s home (she being a SDA alum from Greenwood.) We had the most entertaining conversations about Literature, Music and Art, the contents of which I no longer remember. We lost a national treasure when he passed.
Yeah, DLM..Willie & I both hailed from the same place, YC. While he was older than I, I remember him well.
What, btw, is a SDA alum?
[Comment deleted for violating the rules of the blog.]
Can I have the moderator or whomever contact me to discuss this please? I will appreciate it, thank you!
GG, SDA =>
Greenwood’s very own Southern Debutante Assembly