I guess if you want to get out of jail free you just have to say your poor and were "abused" growing up. What is the world coming to now of days. SMDH.
Quote:
Prosecutors and judge agree that after 20 years in prison, troubled mother deserves mercy and a new shot at life
ANNIE SWEENEY MARCH 23, 2021
Calandra Hulitt still faced trial and sentencing when Cook County prosecutor Jennifer Coleman took over the young mother’s murder case nearly 20 years ago.
Then recently assigned to Courtroom 207 at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Coleman found herself working a case that stood out even in a building filled with tragedy. Hulitt was accused of suffocating her own 2-year-old daughter by stuffing a sock in the child’s mouth and tying her up..
Coleman, pregnant with her oldest child at the time, navigated a somewhat complicated case, managing legal arguments that hit home with the expectant mother, including whether Hulitt’s postpartum depression had played a role in her actions. In the end, the assistant state’s attorney secured a 30-year sentence for Hulitt.
But late last week, after two decades, Coleman and Hulitt found themselves back in Courtroom 207, at least virtually, because of the pandemic.
Calandra Hulitt is seen in Chicago on March 22, 2021, after having been released from prison. She was convicted of murder in the 1999 death of her child. A judge recently agreed to release her based on her rehabilitation.
Coleman, now a mother of three, had risen through the ranks to first assistant state’s attorney, assuming the second highest-ranking position in the office. Hulitt, meanwhile, had served two decades in prison, earning numerous certificates and degrees, learning to parent her other two children from behind bars and working on the hospice wing to help fellow inmates.
The two returned to court because Hulitt was asking a judge for an unusual shot at redemption — a chance to leave prison early and return to society. Hulitt’s release was being sought by an attorney leading a new legal clinic, known as the Women and Survivors Project, which advocates for those who have suffered gender-based violence or who are convicted of crimes with links to issues that disproportionately affect women.
Coleman kept her remarks that afternoon fact-based and short, confirming for Judge Thomas Byrne that the child’s father supported Hulitt’s release and that the Cook County state’s attorney’s office had no objection to her being freed.
After hearing arguments from Hulitt’s attorney, Byrne, in a brief ruling, concurred with what both sides had agreed on. The right outcome was to resentence Hulitt to time served: 21 years and eight months, and release her from prison nine years early.
Hulitt walked out of Logan Correctional Center on Monday and drove three hours to check in at her reentry program, which helps newly released prisoners find work and adjust to life after prison.
Such early releases are unusual in a criminal court system often criticized as overly harsh, and where it’s still rare for a judge to take the time to reconsider a case and decide to extend mercy.
In an interview after the decision, Coleman, who has prosecuted countless murders, reflected on the complexity of 20-year story and why the resentencing could be called just too.
“I will tell you that at the time, I thought that 30 years was not enough for her,” Coleman said. “But 21 years has passed and she has done extraordinarily well. I think that is something we have to acknowledge — that is, one of the things justice is and what justice looks like. If someone is not the same person. If they have gotten better. And they have done everything we could expect of them and the family is forgiving them. I think that is part of seeking a safer society.”
In the summer of 1999, Hulitt was a young mother living with her boyfriend and their three children, who were all under the age of 3. The youngest was just 6 days old.
According to evidence presented by prosecutors at her trial, in the early morning hours of July 7, Hulitt was in need of rest, but her daughter Moneka was keeping her awake. In order to quiet her, Hulitt tied Moneka’s hands and feet together, put a sock in her mouth and wrapped tape around her mouth and neck, leading to her suffocation.
Hulitt was later diagnosed with postpartum depression, and there was debate during her trial about the legal implications on her actions that day.
Then last year, her attorney, Rachel White-Domain, filed a motion, made possible by a recent change in state law, to argue that new information about the extent of Hulitt’s postpartum depression was relevant and grounds for relief. The case was among the first handled by White-Domain as part of the new Women and Survivors Project, which since getting funding last year has represented some 30 clients in clemency petitions and in four resentencing hearings, including Hulitt’s.
In her filings related to the case, White-Domain sketched out extreme and persistent stress, physical abuse and poverty that Hulitt had faced her whole life, including at the time of the murder. Painful details of violence, depravation and mental illness were also detailed in prison records.
In July 1999, the family of five was living in a semi-abandoned building without heat, water or electricity, and struggling to work. And on the day of the murder, they learned they were going to be evicted the next day, something that triggered Hulitt’s memories of being assaulted while being homeless and alone as a teen, White-Domain argued.
On the day of the murder, Hulitt started hallucinating, saying it appeared to her that her infant son’s face was distorted, according to White-Domain’s filing and to notes taken by prison officials. She also became convinced that her 2-year-old daughter Moneka was making too much noise and was a threat to her other two children. She said she heard voices telling her to put a sock in the girl’s mouth.
Hulitt has never denied her actions that day and has expressed remorse and been open with others about how she has coped with it, according to prison records.
“Calandra has struggled to come to terms with her past,” one letter from a fellow inmate reads. “And even though the pain will always be a part of her, she uses that pain to reach out to other young women. She is still remorseful and of course still has days where it is the only thing she can think of.”
While in prison, Hulitt, 44, has stabilized her mental health and enrolled in numerous programs and vocational courses, White-Domain said. She earned the trust and support of fellow inmates and prison officials alike. She sang in a church choir and participated in Bible study groups in addition to working on the prison’s hospice wing to provide comfort to other inmates.
Numerous family members have pledged to support Hulitt as she leaves prison. And Moneka’s father submitted a letter stating that he has forgiven Hulitt and believes she deserves a second chance, according to the records.
“Locking her up for nine more years is not going to push the ball forward from a public safety perspective,” Coleman said. “... There’s always hope for rehabilitation. That is true for almost anybody.”
In court Thursday, before Byrne rendered his decision, one of Hulitt’s adult sons also spoke on his mother’s behalf, telling the judge that he struggled to build a relationship with his mom at first, but that they are close now.
“It was awkward in the beginning because I never had her,” said her son, Charles Powell Jr. “But she is a pretty cool person. I’d love to have her be part of my life. Everybody deserves a second chance. I’ll help her any way I can.”
“I would like to say to the whole court and my family and everyone who is present that I am sorry for my past mistake, causing the tragic death of my daughter Moneka,” Hulitt said, then pledging that she is no longer the young, immature mother she was.
_________________
Seacrest wrote:
The menstrual cycle changes among Hassidic Jewish women was something as well.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
