From: Doretta Wildes Date: Tue Apr 18, 2000 10:06pm Subject: SAMPLE LETTER FOR LES COLEMAN

Hi RuMills Readers: Below is a sample letter to Judge Platt. Use it as a guide when writing your letter, but change it as needed to reflect your own thoughts. Remember to focus on the HUMAN SIDE OF THE STORY. Let the attorneys cavil with the judge over legal issues.

REMEMBER, AS RAYE HAS SAID BEFORE, "THERE, BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD, GO I." Les desperately needs our help. Let's be there for him with our letters and prayers.

Blessings to all of you and thanks so much for helping — Doretta

[NAME & ADDRESS]

The Hon. Judge Thomas C. Platt US District Court East District of New York 2 Uniondale Ave. Uniondale, NY 11553

18 April 2000

Dear Judge Platt:

I am a U.S. citizen writing in behalf of Lester Coleman, who is currently being transported from a Kentucky prison to appear in your courtroom this week. As I understand it, Mr. Coleman is appealing several counts of perjury issued in your court over his testimony regarding the Pan Am 103 tragedy, alleging that his plea was made under duress.

Because I have been following Mr. Coleman’s case, I am aware of the facts surrounding it, and know he is being subjected to cruel and unusual treatment. Mr. Coleman was recently released on his own recognizance by a federal judge in Kentucky, only to be arrested by federal marshalls two days later and taken into custody. The fact that this occurred a week before the Easter holiday makes it all the more cruel.

Mr. Coleman had met with his three young children the day before, and the family was looking forward to being reunited with their father. Mrs. Coleman has suffered extreme emotional distress as the result of her husband’s ordeal, and is unable to care for their children alone. Mr. Coleman is the family’s sole financial provider. His protracted imprisonment — over a civil case — has literally torn this family apart, leaving behind still more broken lives in the wake of the Pan Am 103 tragedy.

It’s obvious to me that Mr. Coleman poses no threat whatsoever to the public. However, I believe the federal prison system poses a huge threat to his health and well-being. In the months preceding his conviction in your courtroom, Mr. Coleman nearly died due to the prison’s neglect of a malignant growth and infection on his chest. The inhumane treatment he suffered was criminal, in my opinion, which is shared by Harvey Berman, M.D,/Ph.D., a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the New York College of Medicine, who testified in Mr. Coleman’s behalf in your courtroom in 1997.

Many organizations and people around the world who care about human rights are appalled by the facts of Lester Coleman’s case. Please consider this as you prepare to make decisions affecting his future.

I respectfully request that you release this man, who has already suffered enormously, so that he can be reunited with his family and resume his responsibilities as husband and father.

Sincerely,

NAME