November 5, 2013……

A day that will forever be etched in the life of Ronald Faulkner.

This is the day that Mr. Faulkner will finally see the outside of the razor wire he has looked at since May 1998. You see, the Utah Board of Pardons charged Mr. Faulkner with an additional crime during his Parole Hearing. They were convinced that Mr. Faulkner THOUGHT about committing the additional act.

Now, for those of you who don’t know, the Board of Pardons and Parole is a committee of five people, appointed by the Governor to oversee the “sentencing” phase of Utah’s Indeterminate Sentencing. In Mr. Faulkner’s case, he was given a sentence of five years to life by his trial judge. This was for a 1^st Degree Felony for Aggravated Burglary.

In September of 2009, Mr. Faulkner had his Board Hearing. At this hearing, the hearing officer, a Mr. Sullivan, decided that Mr. Faulkner was guilty of a crime of Sexual Aggravated Assault. The trial judge DID NOT sentence him on this….he was NEVER even charged with this offense!(The police report even stated that "no sexual intercourse took place".) Then the hearing officer gave a rehearing date to be held in twenty years! AND, he added that the Board would consider an early release if Mr. Faulkner completed the Sex Offender Treatment Program at the prison.

Now, this would be all well and good but in order to get into this program, the Offender has to CONFESS to committing the crime. And Mr. Faulkner was not CHARGED or CONVICTED of Sexual Aggravated Assault. So here begins the Catch 22 situation for Mr. Faulkner.

After many, many petitions to be heard, Mr. Faulkner finally won his opportunity for a rehearing which took place just a few weeks ago. Mr. Sullivan was not the Hearing Officer at this hearing and low and behold, the Board found that Mr. Faulkner had served his time and should have his Inmate Sentence TERMINATED IMMEDIATELY!

So, those who sit on the Board, take this as a lesson that you are not gods! You cannot and will not charge someone with something YOU think they might have THOUGHT about doing. In order for this system to work, the Board MUST NOT STAND AS JURY to those who come before them. They have already been adjudicated. IT IS NOT YOUR JOB TO ADD charges to those that brought the Offender before you in the first place.

Mr. Faulkner, good luck and thank you for being persistent!