Alliance Actions Misinterpreted

One could sense the loss and grief Jackie Thetford feels for her mother in her letter to the editor of Oct. 30 (“Keep Killer in Prison”). Perhaps it was this pain that caused her to misinterpret the actions of members of the Alliance for the Mentally Ill (AMI) at the trial of her mother’s killer, Kevin Kolodziej.

The prosecution repeatedly portrayed Kolodziej as a loser, less than a bum, with a history of substance abuse. This brought forth quiet gasps of disbelief but no derisive “laughter” as Jackie mistakenly believed. The needless tragedy of Velasta Johnson’s death, and the murder charge against Kolodziej, weighed heavily on all AMI members present. The atmosphere of the entire trial was tense, and I thought the judge felt this and tried to lighten things at appropriate moments.

People who know the judge say he is a fine man, but we were stunned by his verdict of guilty and sane. The prosecution’s argument that Kolodziej’s problem was a personality disorder and substance abuse was thinly substantiated compared to substantial evidence that he was indeed severely ill with schizophrenia.

LOU MATTHEWS

Ventura