by Gunther Fiek, posted by Bob Chatelle

It’s been quite sometime since I’ve updated the status of my case. I’ve failed to inform all of you who follow my case about  the outcome of court proceedings. Court after court have denied my claims and all the hard work that was put into every single petition, motion and or affidavit seemed to  land on death ears. Years of going through several rounds of sparring with the state can get one exhausted. Every blow thrown at me and those that landed have taken me down to the mat one too many times. It is where I have stayed for the last few years. With my morale down, I pretty much had thrown in the towel with the hope of not receiving anymore blows.

As a martial artist, and more specifically, as a Taekwondo competitor, I have always sought to do my best in the ring and in life. You strive for a win yet are ready for defeat. Anything can happen; anything is possible. As part of one’s mental training you prepare yourself to accept the outcome and you move on having learned from the experience. But this fight for my freedom has been like David and Goliath. I’m just one small individual faced against the behemoth that is the criminal justice system of this country where only the rich and privileged armed with an army of lawyers are able to win battles. All I can do is search for that small pebble that I can sling at this giant thus helping me win the match.

That’s what I have pretty much been doing since my last status update. Searching. At times just waiting for something to come along while focusing on doing my time in prison and surviving the hostile environment that this place is, especially, for individuals like myself who are here with my type of charges. So I apologize to all those who have been following my case, sponsors, supporters and everyone interested, for failing to keep you informed. I hope to change that.

A lot has happened since that last update and I will attempt to summarize it in the Case Status section soon. Thanks to the National Center for Reason and Justice and supporters, I have the help now to look for that ‘pebble’, evidence, I need to set things in motion with the courts. A private investigator has been retained to do some digging and see what is there to find. I’m eternally grateful to the NCRJ board, to all those whose contributions enables the NCRJ to advocate for the wrongly accused and those this organization sponsors and especially to Bob Chatelle, who made this possible and has done so much not just for me but for many others. Thanks to everyone!

I will also be sharing stories about life in prison, personal thoughts, and various other topics through this blog that  Bob has created for me. Unfortunately, as in most states, the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) does not allow inmates access to the internet but we do have an email type messaging service via a company called JPay.com  that contracts with the GDC to provide its offenders with the messaging service among others services. So whatever I write I must either send it to Bob via that messaging service or snail mail.

I have always wanted to write about my experiences, thoughts on a number of issues, or about different topics, some maybe even controversial. But I’ve never seen myself as much of a writer primarily because putting thoughts on paper or typing them out proved to be a difficult task for me. Also, I must apologize in advance if my grammar or syntax are somewhat or way off. (I know Bob will help with the editing). I’m out of practice and English is not my primary language. But, as the saying goes, practice makes perfect. The more you write the better you get at it. Let this new endeavor begin. Peace.