TO: Senator Craig Pridemore Representative Bill Fromhold Representative Bill Fromhold Representative Jim Moeller

TO: Senator Craig Pridemore
CC: Representative Bill Fromhold
Representative Jim Moeller

Hi, Last March I was approached by another inmate and ask if I knew anyone that would kill his wife, I thought about it and we came to an agreement on how and when and where it would happen, I went to local authorities and we set this man up and he was arrested. that took 3 months to do to get the right evidence we needed to send him to prison. Now he's in jail on a million dollar bail and I have all these meetings with the prosecutor's and his attorney's and can't go back to work because of the involvement in this case. Three months go by and I am at the local Fred Meyer's store and on my way out of the store I see the same lady that just helped me yell at someone who was shoplifting and he pushed his way by her. When i seen what had just happen I followed the thief to a waiting car and as he got into this Chevy Blazer the driver jumped into his side put the key into the ignition as the thief told him "get the hell out of here" I was hit by this blazer and thrown 30ft into the air. With five witness's in whom i did not know telling the police what had happen they caught this man and took him to the same hospital I was sent to. I stayed two days and was released. The driver was taken to the hospital and released. In the newspaper and on the local TV station's they said he was caught and charged with 3 felonies, hit and run. vehicular assault and robbery. He was never charged. When i found out about this I question everyone including the prosecutors office who I was at the time their key witness in a "murder for hire trial". They said there was nothing they could do case close. he was never charged and no-one would tell me why. I emailed everyone in the city council here in Vancouver WA and finally I got the city attorney to file charges on this man. He was charge with assault four a misdemeanor but enough to get crime's victim involved. Now just about a year to the day when this man ask me if I knew someone who would kill his wife he goes on trial and because of my testimony he was found guilty and sentence to 53 years in prison. Great i am thinking this part is over and now i need to figure out why this other guy was not charged with a crime. I am getting no help from anyone the welfare denied me help crimes victim/witness denied me help and I am sleeping couch to couch. With pains in my stomach and bad thoughts running through my head i am beginning to think I am going crazy. I go to the hospital for my pains and end up having a surgeon coming into my room and telling me he wanted to take out my gallbladder, he did and after that he came out and told my friends that my gallbladder was good and that he was sorry and did not know exactly what the problem was. I spent seven days in the hospital with worse pains then before I went there. I go back to a friends couch and recover from this uncalled surgery and go online to Washington's courts and put this guy name in and find out he has NINE new driving offense's and is still driving. Now I am not thinking right and put myself into a mental hospital. there I was diagnosed with PTSD, Major Depression Disorder, Recurrent because of what I was going through. I sent the Crime's/Witness Program what I pulled up on the internet and they approved my claim. Now they approve my medical bills and because I did not work 3 month's in a row (I worked nine weeks) they say they do not owe me any compensation for me as a victim. In the year and a half of all this going on I was responsible for me getting back in forth to the first case and getting them a conviction but yet they turn their head on helping me. I worked with the detectives for three months to get a convictions and then the prosecutors for another nine months do you think they would help me out? No they would not even give me any money for the three times I was subpoena. What can i do to get these crimes victim/witness program to compensate me?
Sincerely, Ricci Castellanos



Ric,

Hi, I'm Sen. Pridemore's legislative assistant.

You've been through a lot. I'm sorry to hear about it all. I'll see what we can find out for you. Is this the crime victims program that you've gone through?
OVC Victim Compensation for Washington
Phone: 1-800-762-3716 or 360-902-5340
Fax: 360-902-5333
Web Site: http://www.lni.wa.gov/ClaimsIns/CrimeVictims/default.asp
Please let me know, and we can go from there. Thank you!


Alison Mielke