Okay, I’ve read through the Jason Puracal stuff. From what I’ve read, it sounds like he’s gotten royally screwed. However, having said this, the briefing materials are all pro-innocence and I don’t have any strong sense as to whether there are counterarguments that legitimately speak for Jason’s arrest and conviction. I’m not saying I think he’s guilty….I’m just saying that right now, in all fairness, I don’t feel like I’ve given the other side (if there is one) enough attention to really make a definitive call. Is there anyone else besides the Nicaraguan government who believes Jason is, indeed, guilty? If such people exist, what arguments do they present in support of their belief? Also, I’m unclear about why the Nicaraguan government would do this? What is their motive? Money? Jamming their thumb in America’s eye? A power-mad regional prosecutor / judge intent on building an empire? If Jason is innocent of the crimes he’s been convicted of then why is he in prison…by that I mean, who wins by putting him there and what do they win?

Notwithstanding the “balance issue” above, from what I’ve read, this case has a lot of the hallmarks of a classic railroad job. Just to use the Innocence Project list of top seven reasons for a wrongful conviction as a benchmark, here’s how I would score what I know so far:

Eyewitness Misidentification No
Unvalidated or Improper Forensic Science Yes
False Confessions / Admissions No
Government Misconduct Yes, at least, it sounds like it
Informants or Snitches Yes, considering admitted hearsay
Bad Lawyering No?

The challenge with this one is that I don’t have any sense as to whether the Nicaraguan government places any special value on its reputation as a fair and just democracy. In the Kercher case Italy had the status of a modern western democracy to worry about. As a result, they couldn’t just ignore dissent and, by the dictates of their own judicial process, were required to follow certain rules. While we may not have always thought that they did this well, the reality is that it mattered at some level to the government and the Italian people that the system be seen as fair, both internally and internationally.

I know too little about Nicaragua to know whether they even care whether their institutions are seen as fair or just. The reason why this matters is that the answer to that question may dictate the kind of strategy to apply in helping Jason win his freedom. It may be that they are so institutionally corrupt that no amount of international or media pressure will matter to them. Or, quite the opposite could be true – maybe if the pressure gets heavy enough that it becomes bad for business, they might be inclined to shove him across the nearest border just to make the whole problem go away.

I guess what I’m laboring to ask is, what’s the plan?

That was my initial question, too. Does anyone have any idea why this may have happened to him?

Hi guys, I am Nicole and I work closely with Free Jason P team. I am here to try and answer some questions that you have. First and foremost, we appreciate you taking the time to learn about Jason.

As far as why Jason could have been a target, this news segment with former FBI agent Steve Moore explains it well. It starts around 1:15

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/125860513.html

Their theory at trial was there was large amounts of money going in and out of his account. But, it was an escrow account where the money was held in trust for clients through his Re/Max business. This was their biggest piece of "evidence"

Keep in mind, this is the same part of Nicaragua that arrested and held Eric Volz for murder in 2007 (check out his story at GringoNightmare.com if you want to learn more). At the time of the crime, Eric was 2 hours away with 10 other people, among many other undisputed facts that would prove his innocence. Yet just like Jason he was wrongfully imprisoned, convicted and held for over a year before he had a successful appeal.

You ask great questions, namely - why Jason? I'd just answer that with, Why Eric? We've seen this story before in the same town, same prison! Your questions are the ones we've been demanding answered for the past year.

So, when you ask these questions, we hear you! Send Anderson Cooper down there to investigate! Send Nancy Grace! The more questions we can ask, the more we can expose this injustice and complete disregard of facts, human rights, law - the better Jason's chances are of staying safe in the horrific prison conditions he's in.

Our immediate goals in this case is to get awareness around Jason's story. Dedicated individuals like you who take the time to learn and ask questions are the ones that will make the difference.

So as a member of the Free Jason P team, I hope you keep asking questions, and send those straight to the State Department, your congress person and the news. The more attention and the more people saying we won't stand for this, the better Jason's chances are of getting home safely and swiftly.

Thanks,
Nicole

Sarah,

Thanks for this. As much background and color as anyone can provide is helpful....at this point, even if it's guesswork.

From what I understand there were 10 Nicarguan nationals arrested at the same time as Jason? Was this a type of raid operation? Is there any evidence the other 10 defendants were involved in drug trafficking? If this is correct, is it possible that the government was actually first interested in the other 10 people and needed to find a way to tie them to "drug money" of which they were coming up empty? Hence, Jason's real estate business account.......

As a primer to Nicaragua and the kind of injustices that can occur there, I Kindled Eric Volz's "Grino Nightmare" yesterday and started reading. Dear God, is this ever a good book! Eric Voltz was an American businssman living in Nicaragua who was falsely accused, arrested and convicted of murdering his former girlfriend. His story bears a number of frightening similarities to Jason's. His story bears a number of frightening similarities to Amanda and Raffaele's.

I'm only about 1/3 of the way though it, but I can tell you right now that for those of you who are interested in the mechanics of injustice or are curious about Jason Puracal's case, this book is a must-read.

http://www.amazon.com/Gringo-Nightmare- ... 520&sr=8-1

http://gringonightmare.com/

I do know that one of the other men arrested was a local politician who was in opposition to Ortega's Sandinista government... this sort of bogus arrest to conveniently remove popular opposition is a common tool in Nicaragua. There was nothing connecting him to the other men arrested either.

My personal suspicion? Jason was arrested in the hope of getting a bribe from him. Bribery is so prevalent in their system, that everyone locally knows they have to bribe to be left alone. Jason (and Eric too, I think!) assumed that their innocence would protect them because they had the typical optimism of Americans abroad... but the local assumption that they are rich since they're Americans dealing in real estate makes them a reasonable target for that sort of shakedown.

What makes this all so terrifying is that appealing to truth and justice is essentially pointless. Of course there are honorable Nicaraguans... but within the legal system of that country, it's all political, it's all based on how much influence and muscle you can command. There's no incentive for them to treat someone fairly. The guilty walk free while the innocent are thrown in jail, all based on if they know someone in power, and how much money they're willing to bribe with.

Thanks suhouladoo - any available information and insight is welcome at this early stage.

A big part of the Eric Volz case was the media hysteria (distortion). How big a story is Jason in Nicaragua, and does he face the same public hostility that Eric did?

1. "Why Eric" can be explained to some extent by the fact the Eric Volz would be- not only in Nicaragua, but anywhere in the world- one of the usual suspects. But ultimately Volz's strong alibi prevailed, and the Nicaraguan courts released him.

Does Jason P. have as strong an alibi? For instance, can he prove that none of the transactions in his account involved dirty money?

2. Considering just Jason's side of the story, the case against him might appear weak. Needless to say, however, there are two sides to every story.

If there someplace interested parties can also take a look at the prosecution's version of events, so that they may come to a balanced and informed opinion about this case?

Hi, responding to the question about Jason's alibi. Of all his legal records seized, there was no "dirty" money. The judges did not let Jason's defense bring in anyone to testify that the bank records were in fact legitimate transactions. In fact, they used the money Jason was paid as a peace corps volunteer as evidence. As you can see, not much support for facts.

The court transcripts are not available, unfortunately. The closest thing is the case brief (35 pages) on Jason's website. As we've stated, the main theory that he was culpable was that there was money going in to and coming out of his bank account - all of which were legitimate real estate transactions.

Also, Jason was in the process of trying to get residency since he and his wife wanted to raise his son in Nicaragua. Per the case brief,

"In addition, Mr. Puracal’s passport shows that on October 29, 2010—14 days prior to his arrest—the Government of Nicaragua granted him the status of permanent resident. Mr. Puracal passed a police background check to qualify for permanent residency, rebutting the prosecution’s unsupported allegation that the police had been investigating Mr. Puracal for three years."

In addition, the DEA in the US published a letter confirming Jason was NEVER someone they ever had investigated. This creates big questions to the legitimacy of the allegations.

It is confirmed and has been published (in Nica papers) that one of the co-defendants was a popular opposition party leader. This puts the case in to perspective, as it may be a story beyond just Jason. In the meantime, we have to keep fighting these false allegations of guilt and working to bring Jason home.

I completely understand any and all questions. It is really hard for people to understand how something like this can happen. I'll try my best to continue to answer.

Well, it appears that the bottom line is that Jason did not get a fair trial. He's been convicted already now, correct? Convicted without a fair trial by all appearances. So what is next? Is there an appeal process? If not, we need to come up with the next likely way to see that notice is taken of his defense.

yes, the family has filed an appeal, and it is now a waiting game. There is up to an 8-month backlog of cases, so in order for him to have a fair and timely trial, we need to urge our government to do whatever they can to help bring about a fair trial for Jason.

Wouldn't necessarily have to be court transcripts. Any sort of documents or reports reflecting the prosecution's point of view would be helpful. For instance, Steve Moore has reportedly said he personally "went through every paragraph of the prosecution's case".

How did he do that, and how can any other interested parties do the same?

p.s. I've glanced at the case brief, and it's quite interesting. However, inevitably (and understandably so) it is strongly biased towards the defense. So is really only giving one side of the story.

Wald - I just started reading Gringo Nightmare. The first thing that jumped out at me was that Eric Volz's imprisonment eroded the relations between Nicaragua and the US. I'm wondering if that will hurt Jason's case.

Y'know Jstanz, I think that one the things that is going to be interesting about this case is the degree to which Jason's story mirrors Eric's. Eric's was essentially a political kidnapping, and U.S. / Nicaragua relations played a huge role in everything that happened. To the extent this is true in Jason’s case seems to be a big mystery. Unlike with Eric, Jason (from what I understand) is not a huge popular media villain in Nicaragua. This could be good for Jason in that the Ortega government may not feel the popular pressure to keep him locked up that they felt with Eric. On the other hand, lack of press coverage makes Jason anonymous.

As to your specific question, I just don’t know whether Jason will suffer from any Nicaraguan government “hangover” effects remaining from Eric’s case. Again, this is another reason why I see upside to Jason’s case being lower profile than Eric’s. The lower the profile, the less benefit there is to tormenting him as demonstration of power. Of course, this is ALL unsupported guesswork on my part.

I'm more than half-way through the book. I'm anxious to hear your thoughts on a couple things when I'm finished.

Thinking of the Amanda Knox case and the enormous number of journalists, family, and advocates it attracted to Italy as well as the amount of money they must have spent on hotels, meals, car rentals, etc., could it be that one motive for Nicaragua's action here may be to give a boost to the local economy by hosting a high profile case?

OK-I've had a couple glasses of wine so I'm not at my most lucid. But I keep wondering if any of the people out on the world wide web who have been so vociferously stating that Amanda has received so much attention because she's a pretty white girl and that she and her supporters are racists, have bothered to check out Jason's case. Are the racism touters out there supporting Jason right now? He could sure use it!

Now this makes complete sense to me. My family's from the caribbean, and it's accepted that bribery and corruption amongst the police is widespread, what with the low pay and the fact that the economic situation has always been brutal for the mass of people there . I think you find this occurs in any country where economic conditions are hard for the majority. I've read that it is also the case in Russia.

Does anyone know if there is a public discussion forum anywhere about Jason's case? If not, I think that needs to be started somewhere and attention should be directed to it somehow.

Jstanz,

This IS a public discussion Forum for Jason Puracal.
This section is open to the public like the Amanda Knox open thread.

Either one of these will bring people to the forum. The first one directly to the Jason Puracal forum.
http://www.injusticeinperugiaforum.org/jason-puracal-f99.html
http://www.injusticeinperugiaforum.org/index.php

Sarah,

I guess I should have said "other than this one". I'm getting a little upset that not too many people are coming.....
I want to pass the link on a little bit.

As nasty and egregious as this miscarriage of justice appears to be, I must point out that a "legal resident" may not want to be the object of "bring Jason home" if his home is publicly declared to be in Nicaragua.

Letters may be helpful for him, but if the defendant applied for residency and had no intention of returning to the US, as sad as I feel for his plight, my interest is minimal.

Wish Mr. Puracal the best.

This was actually something I would be interested in discussing. What exactly would Jason's plan be if he is freed? He did apply for (and was granted) residency in Nicaragua. He has a wife and son and home and life there. After this, would he want to stay there? Would his wife want to leave? What are we asking when we say "bring Jason home"?

On an even more serious note...would the United States get as involved with Jason's situation as they did with say, Eric Volz's because of the fact that Jason is no longer a United States "citizen/resident"? Are we considered US citizens still even if we apply for residency/citizenship elsewhere?

Hi, I am part of the Free Jason P team, and wanted to provide more clarity on his residency.

He had just filed to become a permanent resident. Not a Nicaraguan citizen. He would not have received a Nicaraguan passport and would not have relinquished his US citizenship either. Permanent residency allows him to live in Nicaragua longer than a usual Visa.

As some of you know, he had a wife and son there. He has expressed in previous interviews that because of his son's down's syndrome, they felt like the culture and environment in Nicaragua was a more supportive place to raise him. Jason did not ever plan to or give up his American citizenship.

I cannot speak for Jason's plans after he gains his freedom, as I have not discussed any of those plans with the family. Although, I think it is safe to assume that it is not a safe place for him, and that he and his family understands that.

I hope this helps. As always thank you for taking the time to discuss this case. We understand that there are always bigger questions, and we hope that the amazing contributors of this blog know that we are here to answer questions as best we can.

Thank you Nicole! I'm glad the citizenship issue is cleared up for me. I wasn't separating the two in my mind. I'm glad it was my mistake!

It's really no one's business what Jason does if he's released. I think I was raising it mostly along the lines of citizenship, but since I was wrong about that, it's all good. Hopefully, though, he will want to get out of there as fast as he can if he's released!

I wrote Jason a short note and I told him I hope he's out before I can write another. I think that's being overly optimistic but it can't hurt!

I'm almost finished reading Gringo Nightmare and will have a couple things to discuss when I'm finished. It really is amazing how much of what happened to Eric Volz is the same as what happened to Jason and Amanda and Raffaele! It's kind of looking like a pattern to me.

Jstanz,

No problem. It was a great question. And I agree, many of these cases of wrongful imprisonment have tragic patterns. Some who work in the field call them, "institutionalized kidnappings," which to me helps change how I look at these stories and the motivation behind them. The Hikers is another great example of this concept being played out.

I agree with you on the characterization of "institutional kidnappings." My friends and acquaintances through the Peace Corps programs worked very hard to bring the families they established during their service to the US. Anywhere around the world, a US-passport person would be a target for the "wealthy" gringos extortion.

Best wishes to Jason and his family.

I am wondering if Eric Volz has offered support of any type for Jason? It's my opinion that Eric had a good handle on how to survive his dangerous imprisonment the best he could. I think he could offer Jason invaluable insight!

I also wanted to ask if someone could tell me what else I can do? I'm not very computer savvy and other than here and random news articles I just don't really know how to get the message out there. I belong to Facebook but am not familiar with all the ways to use it!

We're going to continue with the letter writing campaign on the 15th of every month.

I think the next one will be to write a paper letter to Jason and mail in C/O the US state dept in Nicaragua!
Let them know we are here and expect them to take care of Jason!

The other thing you can do now is write letters to agencies. FreeJasonP especially wants the state dept to be written:

U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Other addresses:
http://freejasonp.com/contact-government-officials/


* Also, for Facebook - have you joined the Release Jason Puracal site? Just type the name of the group into the search on Facebook and you'll find it.

http://www.facebook.com/FreeJasonP#!/FreeJasonP

Thanks Sarah - I've written Jason and intend to write again on December 15th in whatever way is decided. I'm still trying to convince myself to write the letter to the State Department. I get nervous about stuff like that because I don't believe myself to be a very articulate letter-writer.

I've been to the facebook site - but how do you join it? I don't see a link anywhere to join.......only for the mailing list?

Hi Jstanz,

I don't have access to FB at the moment. There should be a button that says - LIKE. That is how you join the page. You will see it just to the right of the page title - Release Jason Puracal - LIKE

http://www.facebook.com/FreeJasonP

Sarah

If you don't want to write your own letter the FreeJasonP site has a letter you can copy and send to the different addresses:

Dear [(NAME)]:

I am writing this letter on behalf of Jason Puracal, a United States citizen from Seattle, Washington. Jason has been wrongfully imprisoned in Nicaragua since November 11, 2010. The prosecution charged Jason with drug trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime. He was held for over nine months before he even went to trial.

The trial was conducted by a political appointee of the Sandinista government who was neither a judge nor a licensed attorney. At trial, the prosecution did not present a single gram of drugs as evidence. All of Jason's bank records were seized, yet no illegal activity was found and not a single record was offered at trial. Jason was declared guilty along with ten other people, none of whom he knew before the arrest.

Jason was wrongfully convicted without evidence on August 29, 2011, and has been sentenced to 22 years in a Nicaraguan prison for crimes he did not commit.

Prior to trial, the Judge in Jason’s case refused to rule on a motion that would decide whether Jason was being wrongfully detained in violation of the Nicaraguan Constitution. That same Judge was supposed to be deliberating privately on that motion when he was instead meeting with the Police Commissioner who had Jason arrested.

Our Congress, State Department, and President must encourage the Nicaraguan courts toward a swift and fair review of Jason's appeal. 

Jason has repeatedly declared his innocence, and his family is working hard to secure Jason’s release.

Congressman Adam Smith has issued a public statement expressing his concern about Jason’s case: http://adamsmith.house.gov/News/Documen ... tID=239643

You can access the full details of Jason’s case at www.freejasonp.com

Please tell me right away what is being done by your office and the US government to secure Jason’s release.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
[SIGNATURE]
[TYPE YOUR NAME]

http://freejasonp.com/contact-government-officials/

ok - Thanks once again!

Lane99,

Please listen to this interview. Bill Carroll interviews his sister and asks some hard questions.

Bill Carroll of KFI 640 AM in LA interview's Jason's sister, Janis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzlUOLAEqo8&sns=fb

Part 2 Interview - Bill Carroll speaks to Jason from prison:
http://www.kfiam640.com/player/?station ... d=21647269


Thanks, Sarah

I do not want to make any definitive opinions on the little I've read here about Jason's case. I do want to say two things: I have avoided this case NOT because the victim appears to be a different ethnicity from 'white' Amanda Knox. As someone who has posted about racism and xenophobia being *part* of Amanda's persecution at the hands of the Perugians, I personally want it noted that I have had a different motive for not expressing more interest.

One main one is that I reserve my energies for people who I deem to not be involved in trying to 'make money' or easy profits financially in situations. It's simply my rule; I try to defend the people I think were completely minding their own business, often targetted and rendered powerless precisely because of that posture. It *appears* from a *very* superficial glance that Jason was engaged in a high-profit-margined business enterprise which may have been a reason he was apparently targetted. How much truth is there in that perception?

Jason was a real estate broker and, I believe, owned a ReMax franchise. Presumably he earned commissions on sales he facilitated.

Also, the common practice in real estate deals of clients depositing money in escrow for property until the sale finalizes showed large sums of money being moved back and forh. This is common practice, but the Nicaraguan authorities took that as drug money being moved around. I believe the investigation showed nothing illegal.

Presumably he was receiving commissions from wealthy people who purchased or sold real estate through his office. I read somewhere (from those working to free him) that he invested in his community to help better the lives of the people around him (he had not forgotten his reasons for joining the Peace Corps.)

Hmm...reading more about Jason he becomes someone more easily empathized with. It sounds like a very tough situation especially given extreme prison conditions and a young, disabled son missing him at home.

Why was Jason targetted along with the other men the government is trying to connect him with? Were the funds in escrow the real target, so that they could just be confiscated? Were there other reasons or at least rationalizations for linking him to the other arrestees? I just don't see where, how or why they connect Jason to whoever else they were after. In Perugia Amanda Knox became a distraction in my view to draw attention away from the fact that the cops allowed a dangerous armed burglar to remain free. She was linked to a crime she didn't commit just by living in the wrong apartment, at the wrong time, and being an easily llied about ethnicity and gender.

What does the Nicaraguan government gain by dragging Jason into the whole thing?

That's a question I still have also. I do know though, from reading "Gringo Nightmare" that there's alot of political corruption in Nicaragua. Have you read it? Excellent book and amazing parallels to Amanda and excellent information about Nicaragua and how things are done there. I strongly suggest reading it if you're at all interested in Jason's case. Jason's case doesn't seem to have the political connotations though that Eric Volz had. Eric seemed to be a threat because he had an influential magazine. I haven't been able to work out any way Jason could have been a threat to anyone politically. There's not alot of information about Jason available. That could also be because he was just leading a simple, normal life.

A dear friend of mine was in Uruguay through the Peace Corps. The family she established there returned to the US afterwards. The understanding of other cultures and remarkable success of that family has always been an inspiration to me. In the ensuing 25 years however, US citizens being held hostage in various extortion schemes has changed my pro-Peace Corps stance.

The realistic and touching CNN piece on Jason Puracal's plight was a thoughtful expose of the lack of diplomatic support and that encouraging cultural exchanges sadly comes with very high risks.