caught this case
It’s a term that guys on the inside use to refer to their crime that got them locked up. “I caught this case.”
This patient is one of the “condemned.” He was sentenced to death for his crimes. Though now in this state, as of January 2022, “death row,” no longer exists. All of those that were on death row are now lifers without the possibility of parole.
Side note: he mentioned that many of those on death row don’t want to be transferred out of this prison, stating that they would rather face suicide over transfer from a place/staff/rules that they have know for a lifetime. This will be the fate of the previous death row residents as they are transitioned off of isolation cells into the general population at maximum security prisons in the state.
Though this patient is working on his legal case as he believes he has a probable cause to be eligible for parole based on a legal hiccup that occurred upon his sentencing nearly 30 years ago. Consequentially, he is being seen for a pain that limits use of his arms, which is impeding not only his exercise routine, but also his typing, writing and crafting So it’s important that he be able to type and write, especially as he’s working on his court case.
He was not yet 20 when he was incarcerated and has been at this prison ever since. Says he was from a good neighborhood but he ventured out to surrounding areas that were not so nice. And he was traumatized by the daily gun shots and crime going on.
He tried to get mental help numerous times when in high school. He went to the school counselor that sent him to a community program who then ping-ponged him back to the school. And the school in turn ping-ponged him back. In the end, he ended up not getting the help he was seeking.
He tried to join the military, but had a small theft charge on his record that he claims was because his friend tossed him the bag and he ended up being the one that got caught.
“And then I caught this case.” It’s an interesting term that seems to dissociate them from their crime.
He’s taking correspondence classes to build a career. When he gets transferred off of death row, he’ll have more access to schools and programs which would help him further this dream. His intention is to help others like him with PTSD (from prior to incarceration and then life inside). He heard other guys in here talk about their rape crimes and it made him so angry. So he particularly wants to support young women to avoid prostitution and stop that whole cycle. (Which is interesting given his crime.–yes, I made the mistake of finding out his crimes).
He’s also married. I had to ask where he met her because of his young age at incarceration, I assumed he wasn’t married when he arrived. Yes, it does happen. He was married to this woman while on the inside. She came from another country to be closer to him. Fascinating, right?
It takes about 3 visits for patients to start to share their stories. And 3 visits could be over 3 weeks or 3 months. In is case it’s been about 2.5 months. I do believe he wanted me to know that he wasn’t the same person that committed those crimes. And he was trying to atone by giving back if he ever has a chance to parole. So, we work together to reduce his pain so he can work towards these goals.
And if that happens, may he never catch another case.
**just to note, I’ll be leaving out the name of the institution that I work at. It’s a state prison for reference. Images are not from the prison as no devices are allowed in.
Prison PT 
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