Rakeem Baskerville died either on Friday, September 3, or Saturday,
September 4, 2021. What happened in the week prior to Rakeem's death is
in dispute and therefore I will not discuss it here. Anyone else with
knowledge is welcome to discuss the situation in comments, though I
would advise that you comment anonymously. The only thing that we know
for certain is that Rakeem Baskerville died of COVD-19 in the custody of
the federal Bureau of Prisons.
Rakeem was a good man. We were
not in contact often in the last few years, but I would like to tell you
how I came to know Rakeem Baskerville. It should be obvious to anyone
that I know Rakeem from this case. In the first couple of years our
messages were short and basic. To me he was just a polite man who had a
case connected to the Paul Bergrin case. By later 2013, our contact was
frequent as an attorney on the Bergrin case needed the files and
transcripts from the Hakeem Curry and Rakeem Baskerville case and trial.
No one would give this attorney access to all of the files. Rakeem
desperately needed specific documents and transcripts for his 2255 and
any attempt to obtain the stuff only resulted in games from one party or
another. An idea was born.
Yes, I was the one with the idea that
failed on a grand scale, but I'm not sorry that I tried. I really
tried. The attorney on the Bergrin case also tried. Maybe Rakeem's trial
attorney tried. One of Rakeem's brothers tried. Nevertheless, the idea
failed. This great idea was for Rakeem to allow this attorney to get
custody of everything ---- all of the documents and transcripts ---- and
then pull the specific listed items that Rakeem needed for his 2255,
copy, and then send to him in the mail. Sounds simple enough, right? Ha.
First, we all underestimated the size of this massive trove of
documents. The attorney, Rakeem and I were all thinking that we were
talking about a car full of boxes at most. Nope, closer to a large van
or bus would be needed. At first it looked like Rakeem's brother could
pick it all up, but then the attorney and I realized that he wouldn't be
able to pick the specific items on Rakeem's list. And then the trove of
documents was in Pennsylvania and the attorney and Rakeem's brother
were in two entirely different areas of New Jersey. It was not workable
on his one day off to accomplish this mission.
The law office
offered to have it all delivered for a price. Deal. First big hurdle was
over. The next major issue was pulling and copying the specific
documents on Rakeem's list. Way more complicated than most could
imagine, though eventually it was done.
The next hurdle was
getting the stuff on Rakeem's list into his hands at Victorville USP out
in California. This proved to be impossible, even with the attorney
from the Bergrin case delivering the large, heavy box to Rakeem's trial
attorney's law office in Pennsylvania to ship. Someone, and I believe it
was the law office partner, made the colossal error of shipping this
big heavy box via UPS to a warehouse address for staff package receiving
in Victorville. Do you think the CO that answered the main phone at
Victorville USP or Rakeem's counselor in the facility would help to get
these important documents to Rakeem? We should all know better than to
believe in fairytale endings.
To add to the issues, before long
Rakeem was transferred to Yazoo City USP in Mississippi. I have no clue
where the box ended-up. It was not shipped back to the law office. Huge
fail on the entire fiasco. There was so much arguing between the
attorneys and I by that point that I don't even remember if the massive
trove of documents and transcripts made it back to the original law
office, and actually I do not believe they wanted any of it returned.
Through
all of the events I've described here there was never so much as a
harsh word from Rakeem Baskerville. He was always polite and a perfect
gentleman. Rakeem was truly a unique individual. He never blamed any one
of the rest of us for this massive failure.
After the big fiasco I was only in contact with Rakeem infrequently; perhaps 5-6 times a year by messages or by phone occasionally. However, I did get to know Rakeem and the details of his case in the process of all the mess and that's the main reason why I am not sorry I tried.
