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story lede: Little
Rock, Ark -- As governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee aggressively pushed for the early release of a convicted rapist despite
being warned by numerous women that the convict had sexually assaulted them or their family members, and would likely strike
again. The convict went on to rape and murder at least one other woman. Confidential Arkansas state government records,
including letters from these women, revealed publicly for the first time, directly contradict the version of events now being
put forward by Huckabee. While on the campaign trail, Huckabee has claimed that he supported the 1999 release of Wayne
Dumond because, at the time, he had no good reason to believe that the man represented a further threat to the public. Thanks
to Huckabee's intervention, conducted in concert with a right-wing tabloid campaign on Dumond's behalf, Dumond was
let out of prison 25 years before his sentence would have ended. "There's nothing any of us could ever do,"
Huckabee said Sunday on CNN when asked to reflect on the horrific outcome caused by the prisoner's release. "None
of us could've predicted what [Dumond] could've done when he got out."  But the confidential files show that Huckabee was provided letters from several women who had been sexually assaulted by Dumond
and who indeed predicted that he would rape again - and perhaps murder - if released.
In a letter that has never before
been made public, one of Dumond's victims warned: "I feel that if he is released it is only a matter of time before
he commits another crime and fear that he will not leave a witness to testify against him the next time." Before Dumond
was granted parole at Huckabee's urging, records show that Huckabee's office received a copy of this letter from Arkansas'
parole board.
The woman later wrote directly to Huckabee about having been raped by Dumond. In a letter, she
said that Dumond had raped her while holding a butcher knife to her throat, and while her then-3-year-old daughter lay in
bed next to her. Also included in the files sent to Huckabee's office was a police report in which Dumond confessed to
the rape. Dumond was not charged in that particular case because he later refused to sign the confession and because the woman
was afraid to press charges. [See the full letters sent to Huckabee's office here.] Huckabee kept these and other documents secret because they were politically damaging, according to a
former aide who worked for him in Arkansas. The aide has made the records available, deeply troubled by Huckabee's repeated
claims that he had no reason to believe Dumond would commit other violent crimes upon his release from prison. The aide also
believes that Huckabee, for political reasons, has deliberately attempted to cover up his knowledge of Dumond's other
sexual assaults. "There were no letters sent to the governor's office from any rape victims," Huckabee
campaign spokesperson Alice Stewart said on Tuesday when contacted by the Huffington Post. Subsequently, however,
the campaign provided a former senior aide of Huckabee's who did remember reading at least one of the letters. But
Huckabee and his aides insist that his receipt of the letters is irrelevant because the decision to release Dumond was made
by the parole board. Huckabee on Tuesday again denied allegations by former parole board members that he lobbied them to release
Dumond. "I did not ask them to do anything," he said. "I did indicate [Dumond's case] was sitting at my
desk and I was giving thought to it." To read the entire story, click here. story
lede: Special handling
How the Huckabee administration worked to free rapist
Wayne Dumond.
By Murray S. Waas
“I signed the [parole] papers because the governor
wanted Dumond paroled. I was thinking the governor was working for the best interests of the state.”
—Ermer
Pondexter, ex-member of the board of pardons and paroles
New sources, including an advisor to Gov. Mike Huckabee,
have told the Arkansas Times that Huckabee and a senior member of his staff exerted behind-the-scenes influence to bring about
the parole of rapist Wayne Dumond, who Missouri authorities say raped and killed a woman there shortly after his parole.
Huckabee has denied a role in Dumond’s release, which has become an issue in his race for re-election against
Democrat Jimmie Lou Fisher. Fisher says Huckabee’s advocacy of Dumond’s freedom, plus other acts of executive
clemency, exhibit poor judgment. In response, Huckabee has shifted responsibility for Dumond’s release to others, claiming
former Gov. Jim Guy Tucker made Dumond eligible for parole and saying the Post Prison Transfer Board made the decision on
its own to free Dumond.
But the Times’ new reporting shows the extent to which Huckabee and a key aide were
involved in the process to win Dumond’s release. It was a process marked by deviation from accepted parole practice
and direct personal lobbying by the governor, in an apparently illegal and unrecorded closed-door meeting with the parole
board (the informal name by which the Post Prison Transfer Board is known).
After Huckabee told the board, in executive
session, that he believed Dumond got a “raw deal,” according to a board member who was there, and supported his
release, board chairman Leroy Brownlee personally paved the way for Dumond’s release, according to board records and
former members. During that time — from December 1996 to January 1997 — Brownlee regularly consulted with Butch
Reeves, the governor’s prison liaison, on the status of his efforts, two state officials have told the Times.
The governor, his office and spokesman Rex Nelson were repeatedly contacted for a response to this article, but none was
forthcoming. Brownlee also did not respond to phone calls, but the Post Prison Transfer Board responded in writing.
The Times has also learned that:
• Ermer Pondexter, a former member of the Post Prison Transfer Board, says she
was persuaded by the parole board chairman Brownlee to vote for Dumond’s release and because she knew the governor supported
it.
• The board did not allow its recording secretary to attend a closed session with the governor regarding
Dumond, nor was the session taped, a departure from custom.
• Board chair Brownlee [2005 note: Brownless has
since been reappointed to the Board by Huckabee] personally interviewed Dumond in prison and set in motion the reconsideration
of the board’s August 1996 vote to refuse Dumond parole. Normally, inmates must wait a year after a decision for a new
hearing. Thanks to Brownlee’s efforts, Dumond was granted a new parole hearing Jan. 16, 1997, just six weeks after his
request for reconsideration. This time, the board voted to parole. Brownlee later was reappointed to the board by Huckabee.
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