Parole Board

In his first encounter with the criminal-justice system in 1991, Daniel Giddings was convicted of beating and robbing a mentally disabled man in his North Philadelphia neighborhood. Giddings was 10 years old. During the next seven years, Giddings was continuously in and out of juvenile institutions, where he was charged several times with assaulting staff, sending some to the hospital, according to court records. He told a court in 2000 that he sold drugs on the corner, raised pit bulls for fighting, and gambled.

IN YOUR June 15 editorial ("Serious Parole Violations, Disturbing Trends in New Parole Board Report") and the one on June 17, ("Safety Money"), you refer to the tragedy of the three children and a mother killed by an individual fleeing police. No matter whether these individuals were involved in the juvenile or criminal-justice system, it's a horrible nightmare for the victims, family and community. However, you concluded from this story that it affirms the auditor general's report released last week.

An inequitable and inefficient parole system is largely to blame for overcrowding in Pennsylvania's state prisons, leaders of state House and Senate Judiciary committees said yesterday. The lawmakers' solution: Abolish the state Board of Probation and Parole. At a news conference in Harrisburg, the committee members announced plans to introduce legislation soon after Jan. 1 that would place the Department of Corrections in charge of parole supervision and eliminate much of the guesswork over when an inmate's sentence would end. Instead of the current practice, in which the parole board evaluates an inmate's fitness to be freed before release, inmates would be let go automatically upon a date set by the trial judge.

An HBO film crew was in Dr. Brian Raditz's Huntingdon Valley home to capture the happy moment when he received the call that would confirm long-incarcerated former junior middleweight contender Tony Ayala Jr. finally was granted his freedom by the New Jersey State Parole Board. The call came at 1:29 p.m. yesterday, but the pained expression on Raditz's face did not indicate a celebration was in order. "I've been maxed out," Ayala told Raditz, the onetime prison psychologist who now serves as the inmate/fighter's manager-adviser.

State Rep. Mike Vereb introduced legislation Wednesday that would give crime victims and their families the right to speak directly to the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole before parole decisions were made. Technically, the proposal is known as House Bill 492. But Vereb (R., Montgomery) said at a news conference in Norristown packed with state and local officials that he was naming it the "Ellen Gregory Robb Legislation. " "Out of the tragic, horrific death of Ellen Gregory Robb, we are seeing something very positive happen," said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, who was among those who worked on the legislation with Vereb and the victim's family.

A federal appeals court yesterday gave Pennsylvania's parole board 45 days to decide the case of Louis Mickens-Thomas, the West Philadelphia man whose life murder sentence was commuted by Gov. Robert P. Casey in 1995 - and rebuffed ever since by parole officials. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit unanimously affirmed a federal judge's ruling last year. The judge decided that the parole board's use of stricter 1996 rules in the cases of Mickens-Thomas and other inmates was unconstitutional retroactive punishment.

Legislation that would overhaul the state Board of Probation and Parole as well as make changes to Pennsylvania's recently enacted gun law will highlight a brief pre-Thanksgiving session of the General Assembly. The House is expected to vote today on a bill that would expand the parole board from five to nine members and make it more difficult for violent offenders to be paroled. The bill was written in response to a number of cases, in particular that of Robert "Mudman" Simon, a Pennsylvania parolee who is accused of murdering a New Jersey police officer.

Gov. Ridge removed Allen Castor Jr. as chairman of the Board of Probation and Parole yesterday and - bolstered by an inspector general's critical report on the agency - said further changes were forthcoming. Nicholas P. Muller, the former chief federal probation officer in Western Pennsylvania, will replace Castor. Ridge, speaking at a news conference, called Muller a "no-nonsense parole professional. " Of Castor, who began as a parole officer 23 years ago and was named chairman in 1993, the governor said: "His management style and approach does not reflect what I believe is necessary.

Carbon County Judge John Lavelle says he has never met so dangerous a criminal as Robert "Mudman" Simon. In 1982, Lavelle sentenced Simon to the maximum of 10 to 20 years for the murder of a Drexel Hill woman. Ten years later, when Simon became eligible for parole, Lavelle sent a letter strongly warning state officials not to let him out. "I consider him one of the most dangerous individuals who ever appeared before me," Lavelle wrote in the May 7, 1992 letter. "This man has no respect for human life and I believe that it would be only a matter of time before he would kill again.

Thomas Trantino, New Jersey's longest-serving prison inmate, will be a free man once again today. The state parole board announced yesterday that it would lift a warrant filed against Trantino when he was arrested last year on charges of beating his girlfriend. A jury acquitted Trantino last week on six charges and deadlocked on a seventh charge. Prosecutors said they would not retry him on the remaining count, leaving his fate in the hands of the parole board. The board could have found that Trantino violated his lifetime parole even though he was acquitted of beating his girlfriend because the standard of proof for a parole violation is less than at a criminal trial.

Determinate vs. indeterminate sentencing isn't a topic that comes up in everyday conversation - until a convict's jail term or release boils over into a public controversy. That's what happened in January, when former University of Pennsylvania professor Rafael Robb's near-parole after he served a minimum amount of his five-to-10-year prison term for killing his wife, Ellen Gregory Robb, unleashed strong criticism. The state's sentencing system was discussed in a calmer fashion Thursday during a Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on possible changes.

New Jersey's parole officers can continue to carry their guns under most circumstances, according to a lawyer representing the officers in a court case. The parole officers and parole board came to an informal agreement tentatively settling the case just as the two sides were set to appear before Superior Court Judge Paul Innes Wednesday. The officers had asked the Mercer County judge to block a new work policy from going into effect restricting when they could carry their guns. "I was surprised at the health and safety issues that these employees face every day," said Robert O'Brien, of O'Brien, Belland & Bushinsky in Cherry Hill.

State Rep. Mike Vereb introduced legislation Wednesday that would give crime victims and their families the right to speak directly to the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole before parole decisions were made. Technically, the proposal is known as House Bill 492. But Vereb (R., Montgomery) said at a news conference in Norristown packed with state and local officials that he was naming it the "Ellen Gregory Robb Legislation. " "Out of the tragic, horrific death of Ellen Gregory Robb, we are seeing something very positive happen," said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, who was among those who worked on the legislation with Vereb and the victim's family.

Relatives and friends of Ellen Gregory Robb were astonished when they learned that her killer - her husband - was about to get out of prison. When they sought to raise their objections with the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, however, they had a hard time getting an audience. Spurred by their experience, State Rep. Mike Vereb (R., Montgomery) is proposing legislation designed to clear up confusion and give crime victims and other interested parties the ability to talk directly to board members.

State Rep. Mike Vereb introduced legislation Wednesday that would give crime victims and their families the right to speak directly to the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole before parole decisions were made. Technically, the proposal is known as House Bill 492. But Vereb (R., Montgomery) said at a news conference in Norristown packed with state and local officials that he was naming it the "Ellen Gregory Robb Legislation. " "Out of the tragic, horrific death of Ellen Gregory Robb, we are seeing something very positive happen," said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, who was among those who worked on the legislation with Vereb and the victim's family.

Six weeks ago, as their sister's killer was about to be let out of prison, relatives and friends of Ellen Gregory Robb struggled to get an audience with the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole. On Wednesday, State Rep. Mike Vereb, joined by other by Montgomery County and state officials, plans to announce legislation that would clear up confusing state laws and give crime victims or their representatives the ability to talk directly to board members about an inmate's possible release.

FedEx is sued after pot error PLYMOUTH, Mass. - A woman has sued FedEx, claiming the company mistakenly sent her a package containing seven pounds of marijuana, then gave her address to the intended recipients, who later showed up at her door. Maryangela Tobin of Plymouth said in the suit filed Feb. 12 that by disclosing her address, the company violated state privacy laws and put herself and her children in danger. About an hour after she got the package, she said, which she thought contained potpourri, a man knocked on her door looking for it while two men waited in a vehicle.

Rafael Robb must have been ready to get out of prison. After all, only a few weeks stood between him and the release date the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole had granted him six years into his five- to 10-year sentence for beating his wife to death with an exercise bar. That return to freedom was to come Monday. But frustration with the board's decision and a process that largely excluded the victim's family fueled a public campaign by relatives and elected officials to keep him behind bars.

Gary Gregory stifled his tears once, then twice, as he talked about justice for his sister, Ellen Gregory Robb, who in 2006 was killed by her husband, Rafael Robb. The emotion came after the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole on Wednesday rescinded its decision to release Robb, 62, from prison. The reversal came after the board received letters from Ellen Robb's family, friends, domestic violence organizations, and the judge who presided over her husband's 2007 trial. They all suggested that the former University of Pennsylvania professor remained a threat and should be kept behind bars.

WHEN FORMER University of Pennsylvania economics professor Rafael Robb pleaded guilty in 2007 to killing his wife, he told a judge: "I just lost it. " On Wednesday, Robb lost it again, but this time "it" was his chance at freedom: The state Board of Probation and Parole changed its mind and revoked Robb's scheduled parole after a tough fight by his victim's family, along with Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Montco state Rep....