Thread: Grandmother, 73, held as sausage looter

http://prisonplanet.com/Pages/Sept05/160905sausages.htm

Grandmother, 73, held as sausage looter

Witnesses, even deli owner, says church deaconess was wrongly arrested

AP | September 16 2005

Merlene Maten undoubtedly stands out in the prison where she has been held since Hurricane Katrina. The 73-year-old church deaconess, never before in trouble with the law, now sleeps among hardened criminals. Her bail is a stiff $50,000.

Her offense?

Police say the grandmother from New Orleans took $63.50 in goods from a looted deli the day after Katrina struck.

Family and eyewitnesses have a different story. They say Maten is an innocent woman who had gone to her car to get some sausage to eat but was wrongly handcuffed by tired, frustrated officers who couldn’t catch younger looters at a store in Kenner, a suburb of New Orleans.

Even the deli owner doesn't want her charged.

“There were people looting, but she wasn’t one of them. Instead of chasing after people who were running, they grabbed the old lady who was walking,� said Elois Short, Maten’s daughter, who works in traffic enforcement for New Orleans police.

Short has enlisted the help of the AARP, the senior citizens lobby, the Federal Emergency Management Agency legal assistance office, made up of volunteer lawyers, and a private attorney to get her mother freed. But the task has been complicated.

Maten has been moved from a parish jail to a state prison an hour away. And the judge who set $50,000 bail by phone â€â€

‘The wheels of justice have stopped turning’

“50K: The Price of Freedom in New Orleans.�

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050916/ap_ ... ly_sausage

Grandmother Accused of Looting Released
By DOUG SIMPSON, Associated Press Writers
Fri Sep 16, 7:53 PM ET

GRETNA, La. - A 73-year-old woman who was jailed for more than two weeks after authorities accused her of looting was released Friday evening.

Merlene Maten said the first thing she wanted to do was visit her 80-year-old husband.

"I thank God this ordeal is over," she said after being released from the parish jail. "I did nothing wrong."

Police arrested Maten the day after Hurricane Katrina on charges she took $63.50 in goods from a looted deli. Her bail had been set at $50,000.

Family and eyewitnesses insist she only had gone to her car to get some sausage to eat when officers cuffed her in frustration, unable to catch younger looters at a nearby store.

Despite intervention from the nation's largest senior lobby, volunteer lawyers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and even a private attorney, the family fought a futile battle for 16 days to get her freed.

Then, hours after her plight was featured in an Associated Press story, a local judge on Thursday ordered Maten freed on her own recognizance.

Maten still must face the looting charge at a court hearing in October. But the family, armed with several witnesses, intends to prove she was wrongly arrested.

Defense attorney Daniel Becnel, family members and witnesses said police snared Maten in the parking lot of a hotel after floodwaters swamped her New Orleans home. She had paid for her room with a credit card and followed authorities' instructions to pack extra food, they said.

Police Capt. Steve Carraway said Wednesday that Maten was arrested in the checkout area of a small store next to police headquarters.

The arrest report is short and assigns the value of goods Maten is alleged to have taken at $63.50. The items were not identified.

Christine Bishop, the owner of the Check In Check Out deli, said that she was angry that looters had damaged her store, but that she would not want anyone charged with a crime if the person had simply tried to get food to survive. "Especially not a 70-year-old woman," Bishop said.