Posted on 12/16/2002 6:58:35 AM PST by Theodore R.
SUGAR LAND (AP) — In 1989, Ben Elledge stood in a Fort Bend County courtroom and heard his son's killer, Timothy Acklen, sentenced to 50 years in prison for killing.
Last month, Elledge and his wife, Betty, of Sugar Land were stunned when they received a letter from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice informed them that Acklen had been tentatively approved for parole.
"That is not enough; 13 years is not enough time. Ask somebody on the street and tell them the nature of this crime, and they will agree that is not long enough," Ben Elledge said in Monday's editions of the San Antonio Express-News.
Elledge said he is desperately rallying friends and lobbying the parole board to keep Acklen behind bars. At least 60 people have sent letters to the parole board, asking that parole be denied for Acklen, now 30, Elledge said.
Elledge said Acklen should serve at least 25 years in prison.
Acklen was a 16-year-old student at Sugar Land Clements on July 1988 when he and another student shot at killed Paul Brandon Elledge, 17, as part of a plot to steal his $2,400 truck stereo.
Acklen was certified to stand trial as an adult on capital murder charges. He pleaded guilty in May 1989 and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Acklen's accomplice, James Garcia, then 18, pleaded guilty in August 1990. He also received a 50-year term and is in prison.
Parole board member Alvin Shaw was on the panel that authorized Acklen's release. "When we looked at this case, we felt that this kid was deserving of parole," Shaw said, "At first glance, we felt we saw something there that was salvageable with this kid."
Shaw said Acklen's first parole review occurred in January 2001, and it was denied. He said the parole board will consider the comments it receives about Acklen's case and could make a decision as early as Friday.
Paul Brandon Elledge was a promising student-athlete when Acklen and Garcia hatched a plot to kill him and steal the stereo from his pickup. On the afternoon of July 14, 1989, they asked him for a ride home from the school fieldhouse, and Acklen shot him in the face with a .38-caliber pistol along a dirt road behind the Sweetwater Country Club.
His body was found in the bed of the truck. Witnesses riding dirt bikes in the area gave police descriptions of the suspects, and Acklen and Garcia were arrested that night.
Unfortunately, at the time of this offense, the convict became eligible for parole after serving one-fourth of their sentence. This law was changed in the mid 1990s. However, under the constitutional ex post facto doctrine, the State must apply the law in effect at the time of the offense.
Keeping that in mind, parole is not automatic in Texas. We have mandatory supervision, which is automatic, but people convicted of murder are not eligible for mandatory supervision. These victims would do well to lobby the parole board to turn down this parole application. It has been my experience that in recent years very few people convicted of violent crimes have been paroled when they first meet eligibility.
For victim assistance call toll free at 1-877-592-1007 or e-mail us at tej@lawandorder.com.
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